Culver City is a cute little city to the west of Los Angeles that is close to the beach and to the airport. It is home to Sony Picture studios, it is well cared for, it has beautiful weather, and Culver City has a great walkable downtown. There are many cafes and restaurants, a movie theater, and a Trader Joes in the downtown area (there is a large parking garage next to TJs...the movie theater validated our parking..I don't think that anyone else does)
The odd thing about this downtown is that there aren't many "shops". Two thrift shops, a menswear store, and a gift shop that was closed are all that I remember.
I recommend the Public School restaurant and Cafe Vida in the downtown area. Also, The Starbucks had a very nice outdoor seating area:)