Trolling Melrose in WeHo

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That’s how Sophia and Ava like to refer to our trip to visit Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood (WeHo, get it?) After all, when you hang with the cool kids, you pick up some lingo.

Last week we spent our long Thanksgiving weekend at the Beverly Hilton, mixing it up with the Angelenos for turkey day. One of our favorite outings was to Melrose Avenue to shop, see and be seen.

So Many Murals, So Little Time

On a quest to find the famous angel wings mural that Sophia insisted we visit, we found many others along the way. I guess murals are a thing on Melrose, and each of them were incredible works of art. As we drove along the street headed east from Beverly Hills, we spied literally dozens of artworks on walls in all shapes, sizes, colors and styles. My favorite looked like a cubist Goldie Hawn/Mr. Monopoly mashup from outer space, but here are some other family favs:

The famous angel wings mural did not disappoint. We must have tried 80 poses per girl.

The graffiti murals of Melrose are epic, and we found a whole parking lot filled to the brim.

Triton was, quite literally, made in LA.

Sidebar: It was hilarious to see the hoards of tourists gathered in front of some of these murals to take selfies, sometimes several people deep. #humanselfiemachines

Shopping High and Low

The collection of retailers on Melrose is pretty eclectic – everything from high end boutiques to the iconic Fred Segal on Melrose and Crescent Heights (I have a pair of Fred Segal sneakers that I totally love). There were stores like the K-trash Dash (no, there were no K’s in sight), and then down and dirty skate shoe emporiums catering to a grittier crowd. The girls really liked a new boutique called Sorella, which carried some pretty cool women’s fashions I would characterize as urban chic with an edge. Sophia must have tried on two dozen slutina outfits before settled on something more “age appropriate”.

Sidebar #2: Is it ironic that she paid $$$$ for a pair of cutoff Wrangler jeans from 1985 that I probably had in my closet at one time?

Somehow a photo of the girls with this mural seemed appropriate.

Celeb Sightings

Last time we were in LA, we ate dinner at a great vegan/Mexican restaurant called Gracias Madre, which is also on Melrose. Don’t let the idea of vegan Mexican scare you off, because the food is de-licious. This time we opted for lunch there, and are so glad we did. As we walked in the door, a family was exiting and it turned out to be Tobey Maguire with his wife and kids. Just a regular schlub out for a bite in his tshirt and sweats. Shortly after we sat down, the table next to us was seated, and Sophia let out a squeal and said in a not-so-subtle stage whisper, “That girl is famous but I don’t know her name!” As I tried to look over my shoulder, VERY INCONSPICUOUSLY I MIGHT ADD, I realized it was Katie Holmes with Suri Cruise.

Sidebar #3: Have you seen the parody tumblr site called Suri’s Burn Book? Oh it’s goooooooood….

The stars shine bright at Gracias Madre Restaurant on Melrose Avenue

All in all, a good Hollywood kind of day.