I celebrate my birthday all month long. I have said this before, and I will continue saying it because why limit yourself to one day when you can claim the entire month?

So yesterday, I decided to celebrate in possibly one of the most me ways imaginable: by going on a bookish pilgrimage through the greater Los Angeles area.

I had gone to Threads looking for recommendations for bookstores and bookish places to visit, and let me tell you, Threads did not disappoint. I came away with a list of indie, eclectic, inclusive, and downright charming places scattered across San Marino, Pasadena, and Monrovia.

So my husband and I got in the car and made a day of it.

And what a day it turned out to be.

Starting the Day at The Huntington

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108

Our first stop was The Huntington because what better way to begin a bookish birthday celebration than at a place with Library literally in its name?

Except there was one tiny problem.

The public Library exhibition halls are currently closed while The Huntington undertakes a massive renovation of its historic Library/Art Building. The research library is still operating, but those exhibition halls are not expected to reopen to the public until spring 2029.

So, fine.

Apparently, I already have a bookish date with The Huntington in 2029 because I absolutely want to see what they do with the place when everything reopens.

Luckily, The Huntington is much more than its library.

We wandered through the art galleries and gardens instead, and let me tell you—the Rose Garden!

The scent was out of this world.

I turned to my husband and said, “You smell that?” before taking one of those ridiculously long, dramatic inhales like I was trying to absorb the roses directly into my soul.

Divine.

And then there was the art.

I finally got to see Thomas Gainsborough’s famous The Blue Boy, painted around 1770, alongside something I appreciated even more: Kehinde Wiley’s A Portrait of a Young Gentleman.

Wiley’s 2021 painting was commissioned by The Huntington as a contemporary response to The Blue Boy. It borrows the language of those grand historical portraits—the poses, scale, status, power—and places a young Black man squarely inside it.

And listen.

I appreciate The Blue Boy. I do.

But Wiley’s painting?

That one spoke to me.

To me, it feels like a big fuck you to the status quo. A reclamation of space. A declaration of I belong in this frame too.

And you know your girl is all about that.

After art, roses, and a reminder that books apparently weren’t going to be the only thing making me emotional that day, it was finally time to start hitting the bookstores.

Enter Vroman’s Bookstore

Vroman’s Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

Next stop: Vroman’s.

And holy bookshelves.

From the outside, Vroman’s almost feels tucked into its little corner of Pasadena. I loved the ceramic artwork near the stairs leading toward the entrance. There was something whimsical about it, almost like the store was a little nook hidden beneath the trees.

Then you walk inside.

And it EXPANDS.

Two floors.

Books everywhere.

Gifts.

Cards.

Pens.

Stationery.

More books.

I was immediately overwhelmed.

In the best possible way, but overwhelmed nonetheless.

And fun fact: Vroman’s has been around since 1894 and is recognized as the oldest independent bookstore in Southern California.

That is more than 130 years of putting books into people’s hands.

There’s something kind of magical about that.

Eventually, however, I needed refuge from the seemingly endless sea of books, and I found it exactly where anyone who knows me would expect:

The stationery section.

Listen.

Give me some beautiful paper, a good notebook, and fountain or ink pens, and suddenly I am at peace.

Vroman’s had all of it.

So yes, I took notes.

Literal and mental ones.

But after experiencing the massive scale of Vroman’s, I was ready for something smaller.

And the next bookstore turned out to be exactly what I needed.

Octavia’s Bookshelf Was EVERYTHING

Octavia’s Bookshelf
1353 N. Hill Ave., Pasadena, CA 91104

From Vroman’s, we headed to Octavia’s Bookshelf.

And it was EVERYTHING.

Where Vroman’s had been massive, Octavia’s Bookshelf was intimate enough that I could slow down. I could look carefully through the shelves, pay attention to the titles, and actually absorb what was around me instead of feeling like my brain had entered book overload.

Octavia’s Bookshelf focuses on books written by BIPOC authors, and that intention is visible throughout the store.

But you know what grabbed me immediately?

The Octavia Butler wall.

Y’all.

I was done.

I think I grabbed three books from that wall alone.

There is something powerful about seeing an entire space devoted to Octavia Butler and not just tucked into one science-fiction shelf, not reduced to one or two familiar titles, but celebrated.

I loved it.

I also loved seeing the free community books outside.

Because access to books matters.

You know? It got me thinking about how we talk about literacy and encouraging people to read, but those conversations mean very little if we ignore the fact that books cost money. Not everyone can casually spend twenty or thirty dollars every time they want something new to read.

Creating opportunities for people to access books without having to purchase them matters.

That little detail made me love the store even more.

By this point, however, the book buying had worked up an appetite.

Luckily, lunch was basically right down the street.

The Portions at Millie’s Cafe Defeated Us

Millie’s Cafe
1399 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104

From Octavia’s Bookshelf, we headed over to Millie’s Cafe.

We were hungry.

Or at least we thought we were hungry enough for Millie’s.

We were not.

The portions were way bigger than our stomachs, and I felt highly guilty that I couldn’t finish everything because the food was delicious.

Millie’s has been doing its thing since 1926, with the Pasadena location sitting right there on Washington Boulevard.

After admitting defeat to our plates, we did the logical thing anyone does after announcing they are too full to finish their food.

We went looking for dessert.

Obviously.

There’s Always Room for Sliders

Sliders Bakery and Ice Cream Factory
1355 N. Hill Ave., Pasadena, CA

We stopped at Sliders Bakery and Ice Cream Factory because apparently my stomach operates under separate rules when sugar is involved.

And listen, the prices alone deserve an honorable mention.

In this economy, when simply leaving your house sometimes feels like it comes with a service charge, finding a place where you can grab something fun and sweet without your wallet crying deserves recognition.

Sliders had all these interesting ice cream concoctions, and I ended up trying Split City, their banana-split-inspired ice cream.

Their version includes banana, strawberry, pineapple, and other banana-split flavors mixed directly into the ice cream.

I am not even a huge ice cream person.

But that?

Super tasty.

With our bellies officially, unquestionably, do-not-offer-me-another-thing full, it was time to resume the bookish pilgrimage.

So we headed east toward Monrovia.

Witchy Vibes at Black Cat Fables

Black Cat Fables
415 S. Myrtle Ave., Unit B, Monrovia, CA 91016

Our next stop was Black Cat Fables.

Ohhh, this place is quaint.

And the COLORS.

Your girl loves some purple and all its derivatives, so aesthetically, they already had me.

Then you add books?

Black cats?

A slightly witchy atmosphere?

Come on.

I was all about it.

Black Cat Fables is also a woman-owned independent bookstore that explicitly describes itself as committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming space, which made the atmosphere feel even better.

And because it is a smaller bookstore, I could once again take my time browsing. I’m starting to realize that while I love the idea of enormous bookstores, there is something about the intimacy of a small indie bookstore that works better for how I actually shop.

I want to study the shelves.

Pick things up.

Read the backs.

Put them down.

Pick them back up because apparently I lied to myself about not needing another book.

You know.

The process.

Right before the register, Black Cat Fables had a deeply discounted shelf of used books.

Now, sometimes you see a clearance shelf and understand immediately why those books have been sitting there.

Not this one.

These were books I actually wanted.

I scooped up two hardcovers for a grand total of fourteen dollars.

That’s SEVEN each!

Listen.

At that point, I felt like they had made the financial mistake and I had simply benefited from it.

And somehow, the next bookstore was only a few steps away.

Underdog Bookstore Had Me at the Actual Dog

Underdog Bookstore
312 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016

From Black Cat Fables, we went down Myrtle Avenue to Underdog Bookstore.

And there was an actual dog.

LOL.

Immediate bonus points.

Aesthetically, Underdog and Black Cat Fables could not have been more different.

Black Cat Fables felt coordinated, moody, witchy, and intentional.

Underdog?

Underdog had what I can only describe as the Punky Brewster of decor.

And I mean that lovingly.

Color.

Personality.

Art.

Books.

Things everywhere demanding that you look at them.

I LOVED IT.

But what made me love Underdog even more was its mission.

Underdog is a nonprofit bookstore built around diverse books, inclusive events, and amplifying underrepresented voices. The store specifically highlights stories from marginalized communities, small presses, and local authors.

And as someone who is constantly advocating for diverse books and representation, that filled my heart.

Representation wasn’t tucked into one little corner of the store.

It was front and center.

They had banned books. Diverse stories. Queer books. Books by authors who don’t always receive equal shelf space elsewhere.

That matters.

Especially now.

Books are one of the ways we encounter people whose lives are different from ours. They allow us to inhabit another person’s perspective for a little while. And when certain stories are removed, challenged, ignored, or simply never given the same publishing and promotional opportunities in the first place, spaces that deliberately protect those stories become even more important.

Underdog also had a table featuring prints and artwork from artists, and naturally, I found something.

A vampy sapphic print.

Because of course I did.

I cannot WAIT to frame it and put it on my wall.

By then, the sun was beginning to go down on our bookish adventure.

But I had one last stop in mind.

And this one wasn’t about books.

Ending the Day With a Taste of Home

Karibbean Cuisine
8693 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034

Earlier in the day, I had spotted a Dominican restaurant near my mother-in-law’s house called Karibbean Cuisine, and immediately made a mental note.

We are stopping there before we leave.

Karibbean Cuisine started as chef “Tía” Ilonka Garcia’s food truck, serving Dominican food in Los Angeles, before eventually moving into its brick-and-mortar location on Venice Boulevard. And considering how hard Dominican food can still be to find in this part of California, there was absolutely no way I was driving past it without getting something.

There was only one problem.

I was still full from Millie’s.

Very full.

But did that mean I wasn’t getting Dominican food?

Absolutely not.

Please be serious.

We ordered everything to go instead.

Rice and beans.

Steak.

Oxtail.

Yuca.

Then we packed it all up and brought it back with us to the Inland Empire.

And when I finally ate it?

Delicious.

But more than delicious, it was nostalgic.

There is something about food from home that bypasses every logical part of your brain. One bite and suddenly you aren’t simply eating dinner. You’re remembering kitchens, people, sounds, smells, places, versions of yourself.

I love my food.

And I will eat it every chance I get.

Sometimes You Have to Leave the House to Refill Your Cup

By the time we headed home, I had accumulated books, art, stationery inspiration, dessert memories, Dominican food, and a ridiculous number of photos.

And I was sooooo happy I had done this.

Because here’s the thing.

A lot of times, when the weekend comes, I don’t want to leave my house.

I want to stay home.

I want to recharge before the workweek.

I want to retreat into my little introverted cave where there are books and snacks and nobody expects me to wear real pants or put on a bra.

And sometimes I absolutely need that.

But this weekend reminded me that recharging doesn’t always have to mean staying home.

Sometimes it means going somewhere that feeds the parts of you that the workweek doesn’t.

Walking through a rose garden.

Standing in front of art that challenges who historically gets to occupy positions of beauty and power.

Getting completely overwhelmed inside a 130-year-old bookstore.

Standing in front of a wall filled with Octavia Butler.

Finding spaces where BIPOC, queer, banned, marginalized, and independent stories aren’t afterthoughts but part of the foundation.

Buying books you didn’t technically need.

Supporting indie bookstores anyway.

Eating food that tastes like home.

That filled my cup too.

And maybe that’s what I loved most about this little birthday pilgrimage.

It wasn’t simply about adding more books to my shelves.

It was about remembering why I love books and the communities that grow around them in the first place.

So yes.

I celebrate my birthday all month long.

And after a day like this?

I highly recommend it.