so I was thinking of going to

los angeles!

Ive been thinking of saving up money so I could go to LA for a week or two this summer!

I've been thinking how awesome the shopping would be,
plus, I could personally meet and work with the WLB folks for my internship! how cool would that be?

and...they just got a Benefit boutique in LA, and I want them to do my brows. mm.

Gardner even said he'd go with me - and I'm thinking if I just cave and start working at Kroger, then I can save up 400 for each of the tickets, then any extra money could be saved for a hotel and food, spending money, etc. He also said he'd help pay for the trip, so that saves me a lot of trouble, too!

so my question is this;
how much do you think I'd need just for a decent hotel, food, and shopping? not like, altogether, but separate prices?

which hotel would be best? something cheap and affordable, but still nice?
best eats?

and lastly, how does the idea of LA sound? how much would it cost to fly to and back? about 1200-1400, right?

I just want to make sure I have like, EVERYTHING planned,
so when I propose the idea to mum, she'll know that I actually know what I'm doing! she may say yes since she'll know its for my internship.

help? :]

whew. you better start working, LA is so freaking expensive. o.o

I wish you luck though!

have the people you're doing your internship with actually said that you could come up and meet them, etc etc? because if that's going to be your main selling point, then you should have that lined up before anything else. and, if they want you to come in, they will probably have a set of dates that they find preferable that you could plan your trip around.

airline tickets vary in cost depending on your day of departure. if you're leaving aroud major holidays, expect fares to be higher. i did a preliminary check, and on cheaptickets.com, expect it to be AROUND $500 round trip per person. but i got that figure using random dates, and i didnt look into it all that much.

check for hostels in LA. sketchy, yes, but cheap. also, chain hotels will probably be cleaner and less sketchy than a locally-owned motel, but will be more expensive

and as for spending money and food, well, that really depends on your budget. judging on the fact that no matter where you work, you probably wont be earning much more than minimum wage, I would say you probably won't have much spending money. but that really depends- if you dont spend like ANY of the money you earn during the year, you might be fine.

eating out is expensive. really, really expensive. obviously, you can cheapen it up by eating mcdonalds or something for every meal, but that is still 3 meals a day for at least a week that you have to buy. check and see if your hotel has a continental breakfast or something, and when you do eat at a restaurant, know that if you can't afford to tip well, you can't afford to eat out. also, local, ethnic restaurants tend to be cheaper than chains. if i were you i'd probably end up eating a lot of chinese food.

another thing to consider is how you will get around. make sure you know ahead of time whether you will be taking taxis or riding the bus or whatever, because you need to have enough money for that, and if you are taking the bus, you need to try to find a hotel that is close to a bus stop.

thankkkkk you. that all helps loads.

I wouldn't be traveling until, hm...maybe July.

if things are still looking up about two months before the planned trip, then I'll have a chat with Ben or Kate and see what they think - I think Kate likes the idea so far, because I told her not too long ago that I'd be hoping to fly down there.

as of the actual budget, I think Gardner and I can make enough. I have work experience, so I'll make above minimum wage; Gardner is above that himself. I think we'll be able to work up enough for the plane tickets, so that's not what worries me.

I didn't really plan on eating out. I'm looking up hostels right now, and some have kitchens where you can make your own food, which will definitely be cheap for us...I'm thinking that'll cost about $200, maybe more, for groceries to last us a week. if I don't find a good one, I may look for a chain hotel and see how much that'll cost; or I'll just ask Kate and see if she can help.

then there's car rental, that's about $20 a day, which I don't mind paying for.

ahh so much to do. Im super excited. by then I'll have debit and credit and all that crap so I wont be stuck carrying around loads of cash.

any other ideas? ;-;

I have a good idea!




Bring me

hahah, surrrre. :]

sweeeeeet. I'll be good I promise!

You might be able to rent an apartment for a few weeks, which can be less sketchy/dirty than a hostel.
Just for example:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/sub/440250263.html
300 dollars a week, so you can Gardner could split it. Usually hostels have dorms so you're split up if you're a boy or a girl, unless you rent a room which is more.

You should come to Boston or NYC instead though, way awesomer.

oo, that sounds cool.

and I hope to go there, too! isnt american apparel in Boston? gwar. Im trying not to get my hopes up too high about the LA thing, but I want everything super planned in case!

if this trip goes well [like me not dying on a plane] then I'll prolly have more opportunities to travel, which would be awesome. :]

Fly Jetblue! I just remembered how nice and spacious the leg room is.

leg room = <3.
cos I have long legs...and my left leg is my bad leg so if I can't move around...then Im screwed ;-;

otherwise...I'll talk to Jerry about the Kroger job...I'll be working with my boyfriend and his mom, how awkward...she already thinks Im shy >.<

then I can start my savings account!

woot ;D

it might be hard getting the rental car... i remember my parents told me something about usually they wont let you rent it unless you're over 21 or something. not positive, but i do think it is terribly difficult to rent a car when you're our age. phooey.

There is american apparel in Boston and Ny, prolly in LA too though!
I've never been to LA, so what to I know, but I've been to San Francisco and that was amazing.
Oh yea and I think you actually have to be like 25 to get a rental car or something ridiculous. Are there even subways in LA? There must be some kind of public transportation.

Yep, theres definately an american apparel or seven in La
http://americanapparel.net/storelocations/metroareas.asp?metroareaid=6

LA is SOOOO expensive. Like, 14 dollar parking...expensive (actually not really because here it's like 40)! And my personal belief is that it's a wee bit overrated, but I'm a Norcal girlie myself so don't trust me.
You have an "excuse" though to go there to get the most out of your internship so it will definately be worth it.

I'd say hostel but probably not in LA. You'd be with Gardner but for safety's/security's sake I'd go for a hotel or renting someplace.

There are ALWAYS cheap places to eat--can't promise you exquisite food though. PF Changs or something...they're okay. If you like salt, dipped and fried in salt, with salt on top.

For shopping...there are Sephora's EVERYWHERE. I couldn't keep my ass out of one every time we left the house so just be wary.

Overrall it's a fun place to be but whatever you expect will be the opposite of what you get.

Basically this was completely not what you were asking about but I can tell you this: Bring assloads of money.

Wendy's is the best fastfood when you're trying to eat cheap. I always get a baked potato, chicken nuggets and a salad when I travel. Of course, buying food from the grocery store is the best way to eat cheap. Or the dollar store. There's a dollar store near my friend's appartment in Queens where you can buy actual food for really cheap (like a dollar!).

holy crap.

thanks for the advice kate =D
I'd rather know the negatives than anything else!

and Jerry has said he'll def go with me for sure so it'll be easy to save up.
and depending on how much I make each check,
I can take x amount to save and use the rest for monthly girl stuff. =D

and I would have posted sooner but I went to check and le forum lost the little orange thingy that tells yah when there's new posts ;-;