u/McFlyJohn

Hey Pasadena!

My wife and I are heading to California this Saturday-Monday from the UK.

It’ll be our 4th time in LA/Santa Monica and as a huge Shrinking fan and really wants to spend a day in Pasadena, as so much of the show is set there.

I was just wondering if there were any local recommendations of things to do / places to eat for the day trip.

Were 35, pretty physically active, ill have a car (we’ll be coming from WeHo via a hike) but just looking for a nice day wandering around / having a lovely lunch

Hi wonderful people of Santa Monica

My wife and I are heading over to California on from the 9th-20th of October, closing our trip with four nights in Santa Monica.

We first visited on our honeymoon back in 2023 and totally fell in love with here - this will be our fourth stay since then and was just after some new recommendations for food/drinks/things to do that aren’t the typical ones.

We’ll be staying at The Georgian this time but places that we’ve really enjoyed include some now closed places

- The misfit
- Esther’s
- Tar & Roses
- Orla
- Elephante
- Nobu (Malibu)
- So Cal Vibes
- Blue Plate Oysterette

Doesn’t have to be particularly fancy, nice casual places would be great, especially for nice happy hour drinks. But also just any fun things to do over that long weekend!

My wife is a huge Shrinking fan, so gutted we’re missing the Jason Segel talk by a week, so really up for anything fun and “culturey” really.

Thanks and super excited to visit again!

My uncle, who has learning difficulties needs to go into hospital for an operation, and will be in for a week or so.

He’s incredibly stressed out about going in, but a huge metal head so we’re hoping we can set him up with music to help make him more comfortable.

I’ve set up an iPhone 11 with accessibility mode etc so he can listen to downloaded Spotify playlists - but I’m struggling to find some headphones for him.

I’m looking for closed back, super comfy headphones with a wired connection (ideally removable so I can just switch it out to a 3.5m to lightning).

Appreciate wired means no ANC but I think he’ll struggle managing Bluetooth etc

Budget around £100-£150.

Any help would be massively appreciated

On paper and on the surface I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I have a really comfortable bank account, self employed with loads of freedom in what should be a dream job - but feel so empty and devoid of purpose. There are days I just lay on the sofa unmotivated to do anything at all.

My Dad, my best friend, died a few years ago, before my wedding, my wife’s Dad passed away recently too after a 8 year battle with dementia. For years me and my wife (both mid 30s) have tried to over compensate with crazy vacations and experiences - which we can afford thanks to my business. We fly first class, have done once in a lifetime holidays like Japan, or Ozzy’s last gig, sushi at Nobu Malibu and other insane restaurants, huge California Road Trips etc.

And even though I *know* I should be happy, I’m just… tired. I have an increasingly growing to do list that I have all the time in the world to tick off… but don’t.

We lost our baby last month, I’m not sure if it’s the straw that broke me completely. But I’m just utterly stuck in a “can’t be fucked with anything” mode. Nothing brings me more than fleeting moments of joy - before I’m just bored and tired and apathetic again.

But I also know how privileged I am and how much of selfish, out of touch piece of shit I’m being. Does anyone one else feel like this? What helps you?

Mike Hedges MS, one of Welsh Labour's last Senedd Members had a frosty encounter with ITV today, refusing to speak to the media saying "You've had the result you wanted, what more do you want?"