I Went To Bustle’s B.Happy Event In LA & Found My Joy

Finding joy can be as simple as snacking on a sweet treat or spending time with your bestie. As small as these moments may seem, they can make a huge difference in your overall happiness and well-being. That’s something Bustle empowered guests to feel at its first-ever B.Happy event in Los Angeles, California.

The one-day immersive celebration of joy in the heart of Hollywood — hosted by Elite Daily’s sister site Bustle — included activities like drag karaoke, breathwork seminars, and even an Insta-worthy “Maze of Merriment.”

The stars also came out to play. When guests weren’t grabbing a Shake Shack burger or getting permanent jewelry from Rellery, they could be be found taking in a variety of panel discussions with celebs like Whitney Port, Tay Lautner, Jessica Knoll, and Euphoria’s head makeup artist Donni Davy.

The phone is a challenge. [...] I need to feed another part of myself, and nurture another part of my brain.

To kick off the event, Bustle and Elite Daily Editor in Chief Charlotte Owen (hi!) moderated a #HappyCore panel with Port, Lautner, and actor Nazanin Mandi, who shared that her phone habits often get in the way of self-care.

“The phone is a challenge. I’m not going to lie,” Mandi shared. Her solution? When she notices she’s on her phone for too long, she replaces it with something productive: “I need to feed another part of myself, and nurture another part of my brain.”

Taking that lesson, I put my phone down — aside from snapping a few IG moments, of course — and really focused on my happiness at the Bustle-hosted experience. Here’s every *joyful* moment I got out of it:

Getting Lost In The Maze Of Merriment

After checking out the #HappyCore panel and getting my heart rate up at a Hype Girl Workout with trainer Bec Donlan, I visited the “Maze of Merriment” immersive experience, presented by the all-new Toyota Camry.

The disco-inspired walk-through had photo ops, a coffee bar, tarot readings, and prizes to be won. I first stopped at the laundromat claw machine, where I got a pair of socks, before ordering a vanilla latte and reusable cup at the coffee corner.

My friend wanted to get her tarot cards read for some more clarity on her future, but I continued on in the maze, ran into a prize wheel, and won a very Y2K Bustle B.Happy trucker hat.

The final stop was a passenger princess photo moment with the all-new Toyota Camry. A professional photographer snapped my pic in the car, while wearing a bejeweled crown, and I felt like Taylor Swift in the “Look What You Made Me Do” music video.

For completing the maze, guests got a Joy Mart swag bag filled with TikTokable wellness essentials like:

• Goodonya hydrate sticks
• Nez mini deodorants
• Côte nail polish
• Dazzle Dry mini nail kits
• Wellious protein powder
• Omorovicza skin care
• Iconic London illuminator drops
• Naturium SPF
• Rael exfoliating cleanser
• Fig. 1 mineral sunscreen
• Kreatures of Habit overnight oats
• JBK Wellness Labs facial oil
• Knesko eye mask
• Seen hair serum
• GHD styling oil

Enjoying Happy Hour With Spice Girls & Barbie

Over at the main stage, panels were still going on like “Happiness Hacks” with moderator Krista Williams and speakers Alyssa Amoroso, Payton Sartain, and Kamie Crawford, as well as a BookTok discussion between Owen and author Knoll. In between, Open led a 20-minute guided meditation for guests to relax and settle in.

I caught the end of the “Glow Up 101” panel with Davy and Scotty Cunha, where the Euphoria MUA said Season 3 was still up in the air (ugh) and not to lose hope for its return. That was followed by a breathwork exercise led by Millana Snow, which really got the positive energy going.

If you didn’t want to partake in the exercise, though, you could check out the other activations around the space. Dairy Boy offered custom embroidery on a pair of the comfiest jeans I’ve ever tried, while Rellery had a permanent jewelry station.

There was also a Donut Bar with Woo More Play, where you could frost a doughnut with edible coconut lube to your liking before digging in. To wash down the dessert, Human Desire had cans of its Pleasure Tonics in mini fridges for attendees to grab.

The first few guests also got to receive a personalized fashion sketch drawn from Artless Forever. And if you wanted to take some creativity home with you, Air Milkshake and Paint Anywhere had DIY kits as well.

The night ended with a “Happiest Hour” karaoke with drag queen Laylah Amor. As everyone sang along to “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls and “Barbie” by Aqua, Shake Shake handed out classic burgers and fries, while Fonuts provided gluten-free doughnuts for a sweet treat.

There’s truly nothing more happiness-inducing than chowing down on something delicious while singing about “what you want, what you really, really want” with a room full of people and roller skating hype women in disco cowboy hats.