East LA - Have you ever had Japanese Souffle Pancakes??

When we have the energy, we can really pack in some fun stuff into our weekends. It's incredibly easy to do nothing and lounge all weekend. I think sheltering in place made not leaving the house seem normal when I used go out and about every single day. It's always cheaper than going out. 

HOWEVER we also love to explore our backyard (in case you haven't kept track, we have had 17 different mailing addresses in 10 years) so I have LIST after LIST of places to see, things to eat, and then hopefully remember to keep a new list of places that we loved.

The pins saved on my LA list always seem so close together but in reality it could 30 minutes between each. More, if there's traffic. But on this Saturday, we ticked a lot off my LA to-do list.

Sprinkles: we went to the one in the The Americana at Brand in Glendale. I don't usually go for cupcakes. They are more often than not a major disappointment. HOWEVER, the black and white cupcake at Sprinkles was totally worth it! 

We love the Highland Park area. York Street Market on Saturday mornings is lively and unique. Also there are back to back stores that are beautiful and enchanting. Two stationery/art supply shops next to each other? Yes, please! A hardware store (with the nicest owner) and crazy good deals on indoor/outdoor plants? I'll take the fiddle leaf fig and try my luck, thank you very much!

We went to Cafe Otto for the Japanese Souffle pancakes! They are actually worth the hype! It was fun to watch them be made. The texture is fluffy and light, a little egg-y obviously but in a nice way. We tried the Creme Brulee and Mango. I got the mango sauce on the side in hopes of sharing my plate with my two girls but they weren't into it at all. That's ok...more for me!

Look at those little mountains of perfectly prepared fluff. Because there can only be 6 going at once (technically 12 because there are 2 griddles) it's a bit of a wait but not outrageous considering how many people were there to eat them on a Saturday morning. You order on a screen and grab your own number to take to a table that are constantly turning over. 

We visited the location in Pasadena but there are a few different places that serve them. Another I want to try (due to it's larger breakfast menu) is Gram Cafe and Pancakes. I'll report back.

We had a little at-home salon morning and this girl showed off her color choices to everyone in the cafe while we waited for our food. It was adorable and stressful. Stressful because I never want to be a bother (that's a 'me' problem) and it's impossible to tell who is going to fully ignore my child or start chatting and be sweet to them. 

We love to see the shows that flow through LA. Somehow the Ahmanson Theatre has become our go-to. We saw Prom the Musical, the revival of Oklahoma (still have nightmares about that), and Secret Garden. It's a convenient spot for us to visit downtown so we love to make it for their productions.