For some context, I’m not a professional runner. I’m just a gal who fell into the classic soccer-to-cross-country-pipeline in high school. I sprained some ligaments in my ankle at a soccer tournament the summer before…
View Post
This blog post is longgg overdue! One of my absolute favorite places in Los Angeles is a zero-waste refill store called re_grocery. I will literally go on a day when I’m off from work and…
View Post
After taking 80 classes over the past two years in Los Angeles, I can say ClassPass is indeed worth the money for me. I started by taking the 14-day free trial in December 2022 (read…
View Post
Here are some things I can’t get enough of lately! *Lively by Laura is a part of several affiliate advertising programs. This means that if you click and/or make a purchase through certain links on…
View Post
The past couple months have been a little funky, and the past week in particular has been anxiety-inducing (more to come on that eventually). During my 10-minute instances of what I am currently calling “soft…
View Post
I’ve been photographing Cayla since college, and I’m obsessed with the way our Pacific Palisades photo shoot came out! Earlier this summer, I was running with a friend by the beach and we looked up…
View Post
This year, my parents invited my sister and I to join them in Hawaii! Growing up in Seattle, I feel like Hawaii is the default vacation destination to escape the rain, so I’ve been lucky…
View Post
My friend, Anica, got bangs this year, and we did a downtown LA photo shoot to document this era! If you live in LA, you know that downtown isn’t really the place to be. It’s…
View Post
I started 26 off in Lyon, France, and it was a great start to what was a great year. I was fully out of my flop era and got to do so much traveling and…
View Post
My friend, Camilla, and I spent 2 days exploring Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. We were on a roll and visited 4 national parks in the first half of 2024 (read my blog posts…
View Post
The hard part can be finding a mentor, but once you find one, then you need to figure out what to talk about and come up with questions to ask your mentor. If you know…
View Post
I wanted to get back into photography this year, so I planned a Venice Canals photo shoot with my friend Julia who came up from Orange County to model for me. She has been on…
View Post
After our successful Joshua Tree National Park road trip, my friend Camilla and I decided to road trip from LA to Death Valley National Park! Camilla said the park was known for being “otherworldly” and…
View Post
I registered for my second half marathon and chose the Rock ‘n’ Roll half in Las Vegas, so my mom came to support me! We did a few days in Southern California and then drove…
View Post
If you’re looking to get into running, meet new people, or find new walking routes, check out LA run clubs! If you’re following me on Instagram, you know that I’ve spent the last few months…
View Post
Over MLK weekend, my friend Camilla and I did a little road trip from LA to Joshua Tree National Park and Palm Springs. The park was extra crowded because we went on a holiday weekend,…
View Post
Not your typical blog post part 2, two years later. Here is some poetry I wrote in 2022 and 2023. Some of these poems are based on my life, but a lot of them aren’t.…
View Post
New year, new resolutions! My resolutions have started as general goals and then now they’re very specific measurable habits I want to build into my life. I think I established a good foundation for my…
View Post
2023 RESOLUTIONS RESULTS: 5/10 I know 5 out of 10 doesn’t seem great, but my 2023 resolutions were really about creating better habits for myself than typical big “resolutions,” and I’d say building 5 new…
View Post
I love food and do my best to try as many new restaurants as I can. I went to over 150 restaurants in 2023, and here are my favorite 15 dishes. I traveled a lot…
View Post
I’m proud of myself for reaching my 2023 goal of reading 25 books by mid-November and ultimately read 30 books! If you’re trying to get back into reading, check out my 6 tips to read…
View Post
If you’ve ever wanted to get Jeopardy tickets and watch a live taping, read this blog post for all the information you need to know before you go! I’ve been to tapings for Regis &…
View Post
Here are some things I can’t get enough of lately! Exhale in Santa Monica I’ve been using ClassPass this year, and I really like it! I’ve been trying different fitness studios around LA, and Exhale…
View Post
My mom and I did a two-day Olympic National Park road trip! The weather out on the Olympic peninsula is fickle and it’s likely to rain, even in the summer, which was the case for…
View Post
I got to see my sister, Sarah, a lot this year, so that’s fun! She took a few weeks off from her lab this summer to come visit me in Los Angeles and go home…
View Post
Starting in May, my social media feed has been full of friends and influencers traveling around Europe and it begs the question, how are people able to afford an international adventure? View this…
View Post
We only had 24 hours in Nice, and I would go back for the food!! I really didn’t know what to expect in Nice. It kind of felt like a party town, but also relaxing…
View Post
I didn’t really know what to expect of Marseille, but when planning our Europe 2023 trip, it was about 2 hours by train from Lyon. In French school, I feel like what I heard most…
View Post
Although Lyon is the second largest city in France, it feels like 20 times smaller than Paris. It definitely felt way less touristy and reminded me a lot of Prague, with the smaller cobblestone streets…
View Post
I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Paris four times in my short life. The first time was with my fifth grade class (I went to a French bilingual elementary school), the second was on summer…
View Post
Hi, I'm Laura Claypool, and I'm so jazzed you're here! I'm a blogger and self-taught photographer seeking adventure, artisanal ice cream, and other experiences that make me feel alive!
Read More