TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2016

My second day of spring break was spent in LA with my friend, since he had the day off of work. I’d been wanting to go to the recently opened The Broad Museum in downtown LA, right next to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, so we dedicated the day to that. The new museum holds several cool exhibits of contemporary and modern art, and best of all, admission is free. Well, it’s sort of a good thing. Since it’s free, most people reserve tickets online in advanced so they don’t have to wait in line to get in. However, tickets have been completely reserved through the end of May, so my friend and I ended up having to wait in line… for two whole hours. And might I add that it was very windy and cold that Tuesday.

When we finally got into the museum, which was around 3pm, I went to see if I could get tickets for one of their featured exhibits, the Infinity Mirrored Room by artist, Yayoi Kusama. The room is made completely of mirrored walls and hanging LED lights, and each person only gets to stand in the exhibit for about forty five seconds. I’d been wanting to experience the room ever since I’d heard about it. However, to my utter disappointment the exhibit had been completely booked up for the day, as I guess it does every day unless you get in right when they open. I guess maybe next time then…

We ventured further into the museum, greeted by cool sculptures on the ground floor, and then a winding staircase leading up to the main exhibits. All those stairs kind of killed my legs, as I had worked out the night before… But it’s the third floor that really has all the cool art. I think my favorite exhibit was the one with art and sculptures created by Jeff Koons. Who wouldn’t like giant, shiny balloon animals? My favorite color is blue and I absolutely adore dogs, so his sculpture of a blue dog balloon totally captured my eye (and matched my outfit). The art work is based off of birthdays and parties, which was also perfect for me since my birthday is coming up on Thursday. Other artists like Andy Warhol and John Ahearn were featured in The Broad, as well, and the museum had a very eccentric feel all the way through.

Another cool thing about the museum is that they allow everyone to take pictures, as long as there’s no flash or use of a selfie stick. Since there was no flash allowed I couldn’t take any photos with my Polaroid camera, but I was happy the museum allowed pictures at all. Chris had brought his Nikon DSLR camera (aka his fancy photography camera) with him, so we got some cool pictures of the artwork and my outfit, too. This was the first place I’ve taken pictures since I’d gotten my hair cut last Sunday. I cut off five inches, yikes! Still, I liked how most of the pictures turned out, hair included.

The inside of the museum seemed so much bigger than it did on the outside. There were so many interesting paintings and intriguing sculptures, and we ended up walking around for almost two hours. After waiting in line for so long, we wanted to make sure we saw absolutely everything we could. Since admission was free, and everything was super cool and fun to look at, I would say the wait was worth it overall. I mean, the artwork was so different and weird that it actually made you want to read all the little blurbs about it. There was even an exhibit featuring a lamb preserved in formaldehyde. If I ever come again, I’ll definitely come bright and early right when the doors open to avoid the wait and so I can actually see the Infinity Room.

Another one of their most unique exhibits was a larger-than-life sculpture of a giant wooden table with matching giant wooden chairs. It was a huge piece of artwork and most people could easily walk under the table itself. While you weren’t allowed to touch it, or any of the other artwork for that matter, people could still get some really awesome pictures with it. To me, the exhibit had a very Alice in Wonderland feel, as though I drank from the bottle in the movie that says “Drink Me” and causes Alice to shrink.

Outfit:
Hat: Some Boutique in Manhattan Beach // Dress: Marshall’s // Shoes: H&M

Once we viewed everything we could, and took pictures of everything we liked, it was time to head back downstairs. This time we took the elevator, which was also kind of cool because it had all clear glass walls and no cables visible. Once we were at ground level, we headed over to the gift shop to see if there was anything interesting to look at there. The gift shop consisted mostly of art books (no surprise there) and some t-shirts with the words “The Broad” printed across. There was basically nothing that compelled either of us to buy anything, so instead we sat on the little couch in the shop to rest our feet and decide where to eat dinner. We were famished, and since my friend loves anywhere with burgers and beer, I knew just the place we should go.

I’d recently heard that a Shake Shack had finally opened up in West Hollywood, as the first location here on the West Coast. I’d been dying to try it and convinced my friend it would be worth it even though it was about twenty minutes away. I knew that there would probably be a long line since it just opened last week, but I figured 5pm on a Monday evening shouldn’t be too bad. Once we got there, we only waited in line for about thirty minutes. I ordered a Shack Burger and coffee shake, and my friend ordered a double Shack Burger, fries, and a large cup of Shake Shack’s specialty beer. Everything was SO DELICIOUS. The single patty burger was the perfect size for me, the fries were cooked to perfection, and the shake was the ideal sipping consistency. That meal might have just been the highlight of our day, especially since I definitely hope to go back soon.

xo, Rachel