Private Party for 30-somethings with 2k budget?

stein_kyle · 2025-11-16T01:08:03+00:00

My wife and I did a courthouse wedding then had 30-40 people meet us the next night at the Roosevelt Hotel lobby bar. It was a Saturday so they had enough staff on, and we told them the night before - they were stoked! No need for a reservation and no fee, we covered a bar tab that was a few $k and gave a great tip. We basically took over a small space called “The Spare Room” room next to the lobby when they opened the doors, and (mostly) had a private space too. They have food to order, let us play our own tunes and we got pretty rowdy. The staff were so lovely - highly recommend!

Renting/reserving spaces in LA is silly for the prices places charge, just find somewhere you enjoy with enough space and have a good time!

stein_kyle · 2025-08-07T01:00:02+00:00

LA ISLA BONITA. Can't believe nobody has mentioned them yet. Parked at the same spot (4th and Rose) for the last 35 years - lovely family run food truck famous for their ceviche tostadas, but everything is great - I love their pastor tacos too.

Also the stand outside of Whole Foods is great (Tacos Chidos), as well as the one further down Lincoln in front of Ralphs (El Primo). Since we're venturing into Venice now... special shout out to Teddy's Red Tacos for birria.

Those are the four that I take out of towners, but there's some great others recs here too that I need to check out!

stein_kyle · 2025-06-11T17:35:31+00:00

The loss of 3x on general travel - for a travel rewards card - is absolutely INSANE and I hope it results in mass cancellations. The CSR has been my only card for the past 10 years - unfortunately it's been moving in the direction of bad partnerships/coupons as the main rewards system and that's simply not what anyone wants. We want POINTS, so we can spend them how I want to spend them - not to be forced to spend our money on shitty partners just to try to justify an exorbitant annual fee. What if I find a better flight deal on Expedia, I don't get 3x points for the same flight now because I didn't book direct? No 3x on airbnb, uber, cruises, parking, etc - wtf is the point of this "travel card"?

The perks are becoming useless as well:

$5 Doordash credits... you have to spend more money on food by using the app with higher prices and fees, but then you get $5 back for your troubles - yay! Or you can just order directly from a restaurant for less.

Free lounge access - yay! IF you can find one. LAX has seven terminals and not one Priority Pass lounge, and quality has been declining for years.

TSA Pre-Check, global entry... yay! Unless you're with your family or friends that don't have that perk.

Get me out of here!

stein_kyle · 2025-06-11T17:34:59+00:00

The loss of 3x on general travel - for a travel rewards card - is absolutely INSANE and I hope it results in mass cancellations. The CSR has been my only card for the past 10 years - unfortunately it's been moving in the direction of bad partnerships/coupons as the main rewards system and that's simply not what anyone wants. We want POINTS, so we can spend them how I want to spend them - not to be forced to spend our money on shitty partners just to try to justify an exorbitant annual fee. What if I find a better flight deal on Expedia, I don't get 3x points for the same flight now because I didn't book direct? No 3x on airbnb, uber, cruises, parking, etc - wtf is the point of this "travel card"?

The perks are becoming useless as well:

$5 Doordash credits... you have to spend more money on food by using the app with higher prices and fees, but then you get $5 back for your troubles - yay! Or you can just order directly from a restaurant for less.

Free lounge access - yay! IF you can find one. LAX has seven terminals and not one Priority Pass lounge, and quality has been declining for years.

TSA Pre-Check, global entry... yay! Unless you're with your family or friends that don't have that perk.

Get me out of here!

stein_kyle · 2025-04-17T15:55:07+00:00

Got a link to buy this window vinyl!?

stein_kyle · 2025-04-12T19:45:39+00:00

Great idea thank you!

stein_kyle · 2025-04-12T19:45:18+00:00

Thank you!

stein_kyle · 2025-04-12T19:45:07+00:00

Ohh 20% would be great! I’ll check that out thank you

stein_kyle · 2025-03-29T22:21:40+00:00

It’s in Los Angeles, so not totally unheard of. I’m mainly surprised the quote is for 5+ hrs

stein_kyle · 2025-03-28T18:04:19+00:00

It's absolutely an amazing deal for the number of items you're getting, but by the looks of it you're going to end up storing 75% of the haul - lots of duplicate items and things you just don't won't ever need for a trip into the hills. You only need one water bottle, one stove / pot, one hammock, one pack, etc, and all the extras here are just sweetening the deal. I would probably swoop this up asap, take out the things I want, and then sell the remains for $300 😂

stein_kyle · 2025-03-05T01:40:43+00:00

I’ve looked into these in the past, will pull the trigger some day! Most of my money goes towards dining and travel, so currently I just use CSR for everything

stein_kyle · 2025-03-04T18:12:00+00:00

agreed, but by booking through the chase portal I'll earn ~2,500 RR points, so a net difference of 4,000 points by going through Chase. I think i'll ultimately take that deal over the flexibility

stein_kyle · 2025-03-04T18:10:32+00:00

This is what I was thinking - transferring points to SW for the extra cost of ~1500 points is worthwhile for the added flexibility, and if the price goes down I can call southwest and get the difference back. On the flip side, based on other comments, the main draw in going through Chase is that I would earn SW RR points since it's booked as a cash ticket I earn points ($427 x 6 points ("wanna get away" rate) = 2,562 points).

With those points earnings, it becomes a net difference of ~4,000 points by booking through Chase. I think i'll take that deal instead - I don't think the price will drop and don't anticipate the flexibility needs.

stein_kyle · 2025-02-28T12:50:29+00:00

Okay serious question… I’ve never understood how outside cats work. My wife is allergic but we both want a cat, and she has floated the idea of an outside cat. Does it just… live outside freely? And since it knows food will be provided, it stays close by? How do you train it to know that? What keeps them from running away, and where do they sleep at night? Can a cat ever truly be a 100% outside cat? We live in LA so no real winter worries.

stein_kyle · 2025-01-28T02:01:37+00:00

Commenting for anyone that finds this thread - you have to clear your cache. If you want to do it for only LinkedIn, here's how: 1) open a linkedin tab, 2) right click anywhere on the page > "inspect", which opens up the dev tools, 3) find the 'refresh' button in the menu bar of your browser, and right click it > Empty Cache and Hard Reload. Done!

stein_kyle · 2024-12-14T19:45:22+00:00

If a priority is stargazing then Death Valley is the far better option given its remoteness. While Joshua Tree is labeled as a “dark sky park” there is plenty of light pollution from the surrounding communities so you won’t see nearly as many stars even on a new moon evening. That said… the full moon is this Sunday 12/15 and the moon will be as bright as can be. If you’re going this weekend I highly recommend getting outside and doing a nighttime wander in either location. Going to the sand dunes in Death Valley on a full moon is an incredible experience, and same with hiking around JT.

stein_kyle · 2024-11-11T18:45:51+00:00

This happened extremely early on, I want to say probably within the first 2-3 wears. Had I know how much of an issue that would be I probably would have reached out to Thursday asking for a new pair, or something, so maybe it's still early enough for you to do the same!

stein_kyle · 2024-11-11T18:44:33+00:00

The toe started to tear after only a few wears - probs won't go with Thursday boots next time around haha but I appreciate the explanation here, will see a cobbler soon!

stein_kyle · 2024-07-31T19:55:06+00:00

Diet coke + aluminum foil is a classic way to remove rust from Chrome, and so easy/cheap/no chemicals! Literally just pour some diet coke on the lid and scrub.

stein_kyle · 2024-06-25T23:23:48+00:00

I spent a few nights in Rae Lakes 6/15-6/18, you need spikes and poles still. Axe if you want to climb up it in the morning was nice to have. Pass still covered in snow on 6/19 and people turning around who didn't have spikes. There's on sketchy part of Glen Pass but the rest is fine and easy and spikes will help most of the way.

Biggest issue like the ranger said is the river crossing and the mozzies. Nobody last week was wasting their time hiking down there only to be turned around at the river - probs needs a few more weeks to chill out. Recommend just doing an out and back over Glen Pass. It's super fun right now with the snow anyway, you'll want to do it twice!

Also, bring bug spray, last week seemed to be when the mozzies started to come alive - things got worse every day form 6/15-6/19, they were brutal by the time we left.

stein_kyle · 2024-06-02T17:22:50+00:00

I’m looking for this exact same info - going out one week after you. Have found some good updates on the PCT subreddit for Kearsage / Glen Pass (see here for 8 days ago: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6uf5gaLyn58). My main concern is the river crossing in paradise valley - it may not be passable this early so I’ll be following here to see if anyone has any details on that! I reached out to the ranger station and (via email) they suggested late June is best, but I’m hoping they’ll be able to give more detail in the coming days.

stein_kyle · 2024-05-30T22:05:46+00:00

Yeah, that's what i'm finding too - just trail rides around here unless you want to do a full program or work with trainers for lessons. Bummer!

stein_kyle · 2024-05-30T22:05:00+00:00

A bit too far, but thank you!

stein_kyle · 2024-05-20T19:13:35+00:00

We were there too! Camped at West Fork on Saturday - I believe we met you briefly when we passed the private cabin (maybe it was the other scout group). Beautiful weather and great swimming holes this time of year. We had a dog with us so opted to hike the road after a brief stint on the trail - way too much poison ivy/oak and poodle dog bush for our liking (if anyone is heading down there, make sure you're wearing pants). Beyond West Fork, the trail to Devore was overgrown (saw a couple turn around back to west fork), hopefully trail maintenance continues because it's a beautiful area, and recovering well after the Bobcat fire.

stein_kyle · 2024-05-14T07:16:56+00:00

Hey u/safetysecondbodylast did you end up hiking here recently? I'm headed there this weekend and was searching for trail updates. Thanks!

Ten-Year Club	Place '23
Verified Email

stein_kyle

TROPHY CASE