One could spend the entire day at The Getty Center and never get bored. That’s what my best friend and I did this day. The eye-catching structure off the 405 sits upon a luscious green hillside and features panoramic views of LA’s major skylines. It’s glorious architecture constructed of Travertine stone and perfectly manicured gardens make this castle in the sky one of the most sought out tourist attractions in Los Angeles.

The Getty Center opened on December 16, 1997 and I’ll never forget this day because I was there. My mother pulled both my brother and I out of school to attend the opening event. She always did her best to keep us cultured and did a damn good job. I can’t remember what part I enjoyed more – the fact that I was playing hooky for the day or the endless amount of rolling landscape to run around on.

On this day, Shannon and I attended a special summer event called “Saturdays off the 405,” which featured cocktails in the courtyard and live music from the all stars of The Do Over, a Los Angeles events company that throws dope hip hop parties. The event was cracking, to say the least, which meant seriously long bar lines, too. We failed to take note of the two drink maximum sign and missed out on rocking a double fist, but groovy music and an upbeat crowd was enough for us to get down on the dance floor.

One of the most wonderful parts of living in Los Angeles is that there’s never a shortage of things to do. I grew up in this crazy city but I’m constantly discovering places to visit, new restaurants to dine at and numerous events to attend on the weekends.

When you have a best friend from South Carolina, you get to play tour guide on a daily basis and it’s a constant reminder of how lucky I am to live in a city I call home. People dream to move to Los Angeles and people make dreams a reality by moving to Los Angeles so, before I start my day complaining about 101 traffic and cursing the boiling hot weather, I’ll remember to count my Cali-inspired blessings.