Brian De Los Santos 0:00

[holiday music in] There's like an essence of a 'basic girl' during the holidays, right? And we're talking specifically when it's cold. But, you know, in LA it's not really freezing weather, but there is some sort of aesthetic.

Megan Botel 0:13

But basic girls, we get cold, even in LA.

Brian De Los Santos 0:15

Even in LA, you're wearing a pea coat down to your like boots, long ass boots, some tights. But that's the beautiful part of being basic.

Megan Botel 0:24

Can we take a selfie in front of the- [someone says: Yeah, we have to.] Santa's castle? [someone says: Ok.]

Brian De Los Santos 0:28

I feel like we're gonna become a Tik Tok trend somehow. [Megan and Brian laugh]

Megan Botel 0:33

Said every basic girl!

Brian De Los Santos 0:34

Said ba- every basic girl! [more laughter]

Brian De Los Santos 0:36

[holiday music changes and swells] All righty, y'all. It's the holidays. The city's all decked out with decorations and lights everywhere. And you know what that means. It's time to get basic. [laughter] This is How To LA, and I'm Brian De Los Santos. Today I'm in the studio with one of our producers, Megan Botel.

Megan Botel 1:03

And we're talking all the basic girl holiday things in LA.

Brian De Los Santos 1:07

All the things that for the rest of the year, we pretend we're too cool for, but we secretly love.

Megan Botel 1:12

Because if the holidays show us anything, it's that we're all a little bit basic. Right?

Brian De Los Santos 1:18

So we're taking you on an LA journey today.

Megan Botel 1:21

And just know this. This isn't a day to do anything tasteful.

Brian De Los Santos 1:25

Nope, there's gonna be absolutely nothing cultured about this episode. [laughs]

Megan Botel 1:31

This is your basic girl holiday special.

Brian De Los Santos 1:36

But real quick, let's get some important definitions understood, y'all. [music out] What does it truly really mean to be a basic girl or guy or them? It's not as simple as you think.

Megan Botel 1:46

[laughing] So what does being a basic girl mean to you?

Brian De Los Santos 1:51

For me, it doesn't really matter if you're associated with the gender of being a woman. It's just like you want the small necessities to be like so charming in your life. And those like small necessities could be like a PSL, some fake snow, watching Christmas lights. I don't know- having a really cheesy date with your boo, and like, just being like, Babe, we're doing Christmas sweaters and we're doing this...

Megan Botel 2:13

It's like caring too much about all the little things and getting just absolutely giddy about it. It's like, basic girls, we don't wake up and just make coffee. Like we have our frother, and we put it in our favorite mug. We want to take a picture of it, and we'll like, text it to our boyfriends who are still sleeping. [laughter]

Brian De Los Santos 2:30

[music in] You guys get it now, right? Okay, so now that we're all on the same page, let's put on some T Swift on the stereo and head to one of the most basic places you can go in December.

Megan Botel 2:41

We're headed toward the Fairfax District, and we're going to The Grove. [music swells] [Brian and Megan chat over music: ...they'll slaughter me on the DM... They will. They'll go to Apple and be like, no more...]

Brian De Los Santos 2:50

First things first though. [music out] We wouldn't be true basic girls if we didn't fuel up with a Starbucks in one of those holiday cups.

Brian De Los Santos 3:04

[farmer's market ambi] So we just arrived at The Grove, specifically at the farmers market. It's decked out with ornaments and Christmas stuff. Look at this! What are those? Poinsettias? Oh, it's this way.

Megan Botel 3:16

[Starbucks ambi] So there are a few basic girl holiday drinks you can get at Starbucks. The PSL, Pumpkin Spice Latte, of course is one of the most iconic basic girl drinks.

Brian De Los Santos 3:25

I'm a PSL girly for sure. Hello, we're trying to order the most basic girl drink you have. [laughter] What do you think is the most basic girl drink right now on the menu? [employee: A white mocha.] A white mocha?

Megan Botel 3:37

We keep talking about pumpkin spice lattes, but those are over. It's December. So peppermint mochas-

Brian De Los Santos 3:44

Oh girl, we're having one of each. [laughter]

Brian De Los Santos 3:50

[Starbucks ambi and music] Alright, so we have our coffee. We're ready to go. And so we're walking through the Original Farmers Market at The Grove.

Megan Botel 3:57

I've never eaten here. Oh my God, macaroons...

Brian De Los Santos 3:59

Oh wow! Wait. I'm introducing you to the farmers market [Megan: Yeah!] food?

Brian De Los Santos 4:03

It's a year round permanent farmers market with fresh produce, food stands, little gifts, and trinkets. And right now, it's all decked out in holiday gear.

Megan Botel 4:12

There's really something for everyone here. You know, I've been to The Grove so many times, but I never spent much time at the Original Farmers Market. It kind of reminded me of one of those European holiday Christmas markets. It was just so festive. So many cute little stands, so much sugar, definitely a great destination for a basic girl holiday outing and a great [music in] place to buy Christmas gifts.

Brian De Los Santos 4:33

Ok. They're avocados.

Megan Botel 4:36

Oh my goodness. My favorite thing in the world!

Brian De Los Santos 4:39

Really! Is that a basic thing? [laughter]

Brian De Los Santos 4:45

Okay, y'all. Now we're digging the farmers market and taking you on a very important holiday destination here at The Grove.

Megan Botel 4:53

We're headed to Williams Sonoma to buy some peppermint bark. It's one of the most basic girl holiday things you can do.

Brian De Los Santos 4:59

I didn't know this is a basic girl thing to get peppermint bark from Williams Sonoma [Megan: Oh yeah.] until you mentioned it.

Megan Botel 5:05

Hello. Do you guys have the peppermint bark?

Brian De Los Santos 5:08

That's all we came here for.

Megan Botel 5:09

Oh, it's right in front of us.

Brian De Los Santos 5:10

Oh, this is it?

Megan Botel 5:11

So they started making this holiday bark, Williams Sonoma, more than 20 years ago. They started after labor day every year. And it's become this sort of cult phenomenon and a super nostalgic holiday thing.

Employee 5:22

You want an espresso, or you want something different?

Megan Botel 5:24

One is good. Thank you so much.

Brian De Los Santos 5:25

And pro tip: Put it at the bottom of your cafecito before you pour your espresso or coffee over it, for a holiday coffee surprise.

Brian De Los Santos 5:33

You're converting me, Meg. You're converting me like, I feel like, a little jittery and holiday cheer. Honestly, it sorta just tastes like coffee, because the bark didn't really melt, but you get the point.

Megan Botel 5:45

Thank you. We really appreciate it. So [Brian: Thank you.] much fun.

Brian De Los Santos 5:49

Now we're walking through The Grove to our next destination, but on our way...

Megan Botel 5:53

You gotta take a selfie in front of the giant inflatable Santa and his sleigh.

Brian De Los Santos 5:58

It's totally ridiculous. And it's super big.

Megan Botel 6:01

And it's 100% basic. So it's a must. [Megan and Brian laugh and chat: It's like the sun is setting... How pretty. Okay we're gonna do that first... Beautiful!... Come here! Come here!]

Brian De Los Santos 6:11

So keep walking through The Grove. Take as many selfies as you can walking along the way.

Megan Botel 6:16

And make your way to a basic girl Christmas shopping favorite: Diptyque!

Megan Botel 6:21

Dip- Diptyque. I can ever say it right. [Brian: Oh, wow.] Can you say how to pronounce? [employee: Diptyque. Like-] Diptyque. [employee: Like boutique. Diptyque.] Okay.

Brian De Los Santos 6:31

It's a candle shop. [Megan: Been coming here for years.] This is for your bougie basic girlfriends because these candles are like $70.

Megan Botel 6:38

But basic girls love $70 candles.

Brian De Los Santos 6:41

I don't even know what they are. Like, do they say anything?

Megan Botel 6:44

They're just $75 candles. [Brian laughs]

Brian De Los Santos 6:47

It's the scent. I love the scent. [Megan: Eww.]

Megan Botel 6:50

I'm gonna put it on the radio so that anybody who wants to buy me a Christmas gift... [employee: You guys doing ok over here?] Yes.

Brian De Los Santos 6:56

Yeah, we're just cruising... Meg, do you have a basic girl Diptyque story?

Megan Botel 7:00

Yeah, I actually do, Brian. So a few years ago, I was really sad. I had a terrible horrific day. It was the worst. And I was super upset. And I was like, You know what? I'm gonna dust myself off, drive myself to the Diptyque store in the Palisades, and I bought myself a $70 candle.

Brian De Los Santos 7:17

The $70 question is, did it make you feel better?

Megan Botel 7:21

You know, Brian. It did not make me feel better. [laughs] [Brian: Oh!]

Brian De Los Santos 7:24

All right, y'all. Let's get out of here quickly before I turned into the $70 candle girl too. And we're gonna be totally honest with you. We fully planned on going ice skating as one of our basic girl activities for this episode, but in true basic girl fashion, we were 45 minutes late and there was LA traffic.

Megan Botel 7:42

And then we got lost.

Brian De Los Santos 7:43

Are we going the right way? I feel like we're going- We're going west, girl. [Megan: Oh no!] [laughing]

Megan Botel 7:49

Basic girls are really bad at [laughing] directions!

Brian De Los Santos 7:53

So we skipped ice skating, and we went straight to the bar.

Megan Botel 7:56

We parked a little illegally. But guys, we're basic girls, and this is a holiday special. So this isn't some random dive bar. This place [bar ambi and music] is decked out. It has fake snow.

Brian De Los Santos 8:10

It's this really cute holiday pop up called Blitzen at a pub called Here and Now that's located in the Arts District.

Megan Botel 8:16

This is basically the most Christmassy place you could possibly go to in LA. They do the Christmas pop up every year starting Thanksgiving week. It's every night but Monday.

Brian De Los Santos 8:26

Wait, do you see all the fake snow? Oh my god. I mean, can I record- I'm gonna record this.

Megan Botel 8:29

There's the snow, which they told us is made of soap. It looks really pretty but don't inhale it. There's a wild amount of Christmas decorations. Tonight there's a three piece jazz band. There's ridiculous amazing holiday drinks.

Brian De Los Santos 8:45

And on the food side, there's biscuits and butter, a holiday salad, pigs in a blanket, tamales, and a leftover Thanksgiving sandwich.

Sarah Meade 8:53

2016 was the first year that we did it. We were kind of struggling as a new business. And it was like let's maybe do something for the holidays and, and go all out. Do you steer your heart into it or steer away from it? So we just decided let's just steer right into it. I'm the owner of Here and Now, Sarah Meade. Each year, trying to build off of what we did the year before and try and top it off. Just really trying to bring that Christmas spirit out, and especially in a city like Los Angeles where it's so warm, it's hard to get into that Christmas spirit. People come in and they're not there to complain about what's going on politics wise or at work.

Brian De Los Santos 9:30

What's the best drink on the menu? Give me your secret.

Sarah Meade 9:32

On the hot drinks, my favorite's Little St. Nick. It's a hot chocolate, um kind of inspired by like a Mexican hot chocolate. So there's definitely like some spices in there. Um, it's got tequila, mezcal...

Brian De Los Santos 9:43

Let's go get it! We'll get some right now.

Brian De Los Santos 9:47

Cheers, y'all. This is so good. Don't sleep on this, y'all. But the pop up only goes until January 1st, so make your reservations now.

Sarah Meade 9:55

[bar ambi and music] When you see guests walk in, like you feel that Christmas spirit. It sounds like, silly and whatever, but the Christmas spirit like, you're like, Oh, that's real!

Megan Botel 10:15

So Brian, we're both basic girls. Is there anything you learned from me about being a basic girl during the holidays in LA today?

Brian De Los Santos 10:22

Yeah, I mean, you totally introduced me to Williams Sonoma and peppermint bark. And I've gotta thank the nice dude at the Williams Sonoma for introducing me to the peppermint bark latte situation. And then we got the $70 Diptyque candles. I really gotta thank you for that one.

Megan Botel 10:37

I will have to say it was really fun to without any guilt, order a venti peppermint mocha from Starbucks, and I've maybe never been that caffeinated. I drank it so fast just because I wanted to get it out of my hands because I was holding the audio equipment. So it was really fun frolicking through The Grove with all of you know, our fellow basic girls, just being super caffeinated out of my mind. I had a great time.

Brian De Los Santos 11:03

And we asked you guys on Twitter and Instagram, what was your favorite basic holiday things in LA? And this is what you said: Allegra213 said the train at Griffith Park- heart eyes. AKI underscore C underscore Lorenzo said Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills. Rikki underscore Tikki Tavi said Christmas lights bike ride on Christmas Eve. We ride the Chandler bike path from NOHO to Burbank, getting off and up/down the intersecting streets whenever we see lights. There's no driving, no lines, no crowds, and it's free.

Megan Botel 11:34

And then we have What's Up Lucy, who said walk down Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena. Mushroom Roses says drive around the city because there's no traffic. [Brian: Cheers to that.] And a lot of people said go to The Grove.

Brian De Los Santos 11:47

Thanks Meg, for hanging out and being basic with me.

Megan Botel 11:50

Anytime.

Brian De Los Santos 11:52

How To LA is produced by Evan Jacoby, Megan Botel, and Victoria Alejandro. Aaricka Washington writes our newsletter. Chris Farias is our social media producer. Our intern is Olive Bieni. Our engineer is Hasmik Poghosyan. Megan Larson is our executive producer, and I'm your host, Brian De Los Santos. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. [music out]