LA Girls' Trip

I spent this past weekend in California with two of my favorite girls and had a wonderful, fun, and relaxing time. We stayed at the Thompson Beverly Hills, and after a weird "your reservation was somehow canceled by someone" situation, it turned out to be a great hotel (although they handled the situation very strangely...but that's a story for another day). Anyway, Anita, Andy and I flew into LAX and met at our rental car place before heading over to The Thompson, and it was so fun to have a reunion, since the last time the three of us were together was Las Vegas back in October when we took a girls' trip with a few more of our friends. I talk to Andy and Anita every single day- they have both become two of my closest friends and it was fantastic to be able to spend the weekend catching up in person.

After we got to the hotel and got settled we headed out to Real Food Daily for dinner. I've heard so much about this place and I was really excited to try it. I ordered the BLT wrap (all of their food is organic and vegan) and it was SO good. Really, really delicious and we all loved our meal. I highly recommend it, and I was so sad Hank and Henry weren't there to enjoy it too! After dinner we drove around LA and Hollywood for awhile; we did the Walk of Stars, checked out all of the touristy stuff, and oohed and ahhed over the beautiful homes up in the hills. We ended our night at Sweet Lady Jane's, a Hollywood bakery, and ordered a ton of desserts to split. The best of the group was the Key Lime tart...it was to-die-for.

The next morning we woke up and went to Toast for breakfast. It was also really, really good. We spent the rest of the day shopping in the rainiest weather and although we were soaked to the bone it was a fun time. After lunch I had a little meeting regarding some blog business, then later in the afternoon I started to feel really tired so I napped for a couple hours while the girls stayed out. They came back later to wake me up before dinner, and we headed out the door to El Cholo, our Mexican restaurant pick for the night.

(Are you noticing a theme here? Shop, eat, shop, eat! It was my kind of trip!)

Dinner was traditional Mexican food and my favorite part was probably the guacamole they made right at our table. We all loved it, but Andy started to feel a little sick afterward so Anita and I dropped her off at the hotel and headed over to Magnolia to pick up some cupcakes to go. We'd both experienced Magnolia in NYC before and weren't the hugest fans, and these treats unfortunately proved no different. I really love cake, but Magnolia has disappointed me a couple of times. We did get some cookies though that were great. We spent the rest of the night girl-talking and hanging out, enjoying our last night of vacation together.

The next morning we went to Swingers and ate great diner food, then did Fred Segal and a few other shops, and ended our afternoon with In-N-Out since Andy doesn't have one up in Seattle.  My flight home ended up being canceled due to the crazy snow we got, so I got on Anita's flight and we flew home to Phoenix.

I can't say enough how much fun this past weekend was. I feel lucky to have such wonderful girls in my daily life, and I also feel lucky to be able to have weekends away like this. And as much as I love going on fun trips with my girlfriends, nothing beats coming home to my boys.

Here are some random Instagram photos from the weeekend.

What happens in Vegas...

...stays in Vegas, right? I kind of feel that way because I don't really even know how to begin summarizing this past weekend, but I'll try my best! It was so, so much fun. Friday Anita drove up from Phoenix and picked me up, and we drove the three and a half hours to Vegas. The drive was quick and I don't think we even had a pause in our conversation. It's funny because Anita and I have been acquaintances for almost a decade- we go all the way back to livejournal days. It's only been in the last year or so that we've actually been hanging out...about time! ;) So yes, we had a great trip up there, and when we arrived we were greeted by Brittney, Vanessa and Andy. Interestingly enough outside of Anita and me, this entire trip was all based off knowing each other online. Brittney and I met from blogging years back, Vanessa and I the same, and Anita and I met Andy on Instagram. However, we all know people and have mutual friends from "real life" too...talk about a small world. All of us ended up walking across the street to Fashion Show Mall to shop for a bit, then we came back to the hotel and got ready for the evening. We ended up eating dinner at Holstein's. I got the vegan burger and it was really delicious but fell apart a little too easily. But besides that pretty great. Afterward we headed over to the Marquee in the Cosmopolitan, but not before admiring the Chandelier Bar, pictured below. I pretty much fell in love with that place. We stayed at the Marquee for a bit, but then decided to get a little crazy and venture off the strip to a local dive bar (via a cab with a driver that sounded EXACTLY like Larry's bff Jeff from Curb Your Enthusiasm), and afterward found ourselves dancing until 3:30am at Piranha, a gay club across the way. To say the night was insane was an understatement. My calves are still sore today from the 3-4 hours of non stop dancing. It was really one of my most favorite nights out I've ever had, and I'm still smiling about it today.

The next day we slept in for awhile, then headed to lunch and ended up shopping well into the evening. Saturday night we found ourselves at TAO, but for a short time. I think at that point we were all sick of being hassled about our tattoos (drunk people + a group of heavily tattooed girls is a recipe for annoyance on our part), so we ended up going back to the hotel and hanging out for the rest of the night. I slept in Brittney and Vanessa's room the first night, and then Anita and Andy's the second, and that night the three of us ended up talking until 5am! I kept thinking that I should probably try and get some sleep, but it was just way too much fun staying up like we were 12-year olds at a sleepover.

The next morning the other girls headed to the airport, and Anita and I eventually headed home. I can't even explain how amazing it is to see my sweet Henry after being away from him for a couple of days. I swear he was bigger and he was definitely making some new little noises. I sure love having fun with my friends, but nothing beats coming home to my boys.

Here are just a few photos from our trip. I'll tuck the rest away into a "what happens in Vegas..." folder on my computer, and look at them from time to time when I need a laugh. ;)

Shirley's Bachelorette Weekend in CA

This past weekend I had the best time with some of my most favorite girls on the entire planet, all in celebration of Shirley!  I talk about Shirley all the time in this space- she is one of my best friends that I met in college. She came up to NAU already being childhood best friends with Autumn, who I had met when she rushed Pi Phi her sophomore year, and had become one of my closest friends too. One evening on one of our regular nightly runs, Autumn suggested that we swing by one of the dorms so I could meet Shirley and we could all run together. To make a long story short, it was friend love at first sight, and over the next three years of college the three of us would become inseparable. We ended up living together both in college and after college too, and I consider both of these girls not just two of my very best friends but also my sisters. We've seen each other in so many stages of our lives- crazy college nights, serious boyfriends, serious breakups, heart aches, happiness, marriage, kids, new careers, etc. And over those years at NAU our group of friends grew as we all met girls we couldn't live without, and all of my most favorite memories involve Alana, Brenda, Erin, Carrie, and Amy. I feel so lucky to have had such a fun/crazy/memorable college experience, and I fully credit all of those girls for all of those memories.

What's great now though, is that even though we are all so, so different, with our own families, different interests, and different lives, we all manage to come together to celebrate each other in these various stages of life. We've gone on countless girls trips, celebrated bridal showers, baby showers, bachelorette parties, weddings, and everything in between. Outside of Autumn, Shirley, Erin and Alana, I don't see the faraway girls as much as I'd like, but I know that if I needed them, they'd be there in a heartbeat, and vice versa.  And I also know that no matter how much time has passed, it will always feel just as good to reunite.

So this past weekend was a very special time.  Shirley is one of those girls that you immediately fall in love with. Her heart is the biggest and kindest of anyone I've ever known, and it was neat to be around her other groups of friends and see how much they love her too. The couple of days we spent celebrating Shirley was a blast- we stayed in Venice at the Marriott Marina Del Ray (originally Manhattan Beach but we changed hotels at the last minute) and it was a great time.

I flew into LAX on Friday afternoon and even though it was so hard to leave Henry, I was super excited for a "me" weekend. I hopped into a cab and headed to the airport upon arrival in LA, and the girls were already having fun and getting ready for the evening. That night we went to dinner at Primitivo in Venice and I had one of the best meals I've ever had- a mixture of a million types of tapas and a scallop/shrimp meal. To-die-for delicious. Afterward we headed to a bar close by and had a good time dancing and being silly.

The next morning we woke up and walked down to breakfast at The Terrace then a few of us went for  a nice run along the beach. We got to experience some of Venice's "local flair" and interesting patrons too. The rest of the day was spent over in Santa Monica, walking around, having lunch, and enjoying some drinks at the Hotel Shangri-la, and we actually spent the evening down in Santa Monica too. First we came back to the hotel to get ready and to throw Shirl a lingerie shower, and then headed back out for sushi at Makai and drinks and dancing at a few different bars. It was a really, really perfect bachelorette party kind of night, and by the end of the evening (3am, yikes!) my feet were sore from dancing so much, and my cheeks hurt from all the laughing. Mission accomplished? I think so.

Here are some photos from the weekend, from my little point and shoot (c/o Samsung) and iphone -