10 Girlfriend Getaways

We all know adult life gets busy but one thing that makes me ecstatic is spending time with my closest girls. The whole process of planning a trip is exciting and then all that anticipation leading up to it. I just love it.

The bestie and I recently took a long weekend trip to Cocoa Beach where we just relaxed and spent time catching up. While we were lounging on the beach, we started chatting about doing a couples trip to Europe where we would explore a few countries and then take a cruise through the Greek Islands. This is a dream trip for the both of us and something we hope to make happen when finances and the time is right.

Until then, long weekend getaways and smaller trips are still in the cards so I was researching some destinations that would be fun to visit with your best friend or even a group of girls - whether it may be to relax & unwind, explore the food scene, or take in some good old nature.

San Juan, PR

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Savannah, GA

   
Nassau, Bahamas 

Sonoma Wine Country, CA

 
Treasure Island, FL

Bonus Road Trip to Tampa: 
Tampa is only a short drive away from Treasure Island so if you happen to visit in late January hop over to check out their annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival. This is one of my favorite street festivals in Florida and Tampa goes above and beyond to put on a fun show.

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Charleston, SC

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New Orleans, LA

New York City

Orlando/Disney

San Francisco, CA

I'd love to hear your recommendations for fun/relaxing girl friend getaways!

I can't end this post without saying:

Happy birthday Kate!
2016 is going to be an extra EXCITING year for you and I'm looking forward to celebrating your birthday when I return from my trip this weekend! xo

California Dreaming

I had the opportunity to travel to California twice for work over the past few years and I took some personal time to explore. Both times I stayed in the heart of San Francisco and on the second trip I was able to make it out to Sonoma Valley with some friends to explore wine country. I'm dreaming of the day I can make it back to see other parts of California because San Francisco and Sonoma stole my heart for the entire beautiful state. Just look at that majestic view of the Golden Gate bridge I was able to capture on a clear day. It's typically quite foggy around the bridge.

Here's a glimpse at some of the scenery I witnessed while touring California.

San Francisco

Sonoma, CA

This recap makes me want to plan a trip asap back to California to explore more of the beautiful US west coast.

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San Francisco Recap

I didn't have much time on this trip for touring the city instead I used my one free day to visit Sonoma Wine Country with some friends which I posted about last week.

I flew out there on Saturday and enjoyed the views of California from the plane. 

I checked into my hotel and went exploring the downtown financial district which has lots of good shopping. 

Later at night I checked out the Waterbar restaurant which had a beautiful view of the Bay Bridge. (Grainy iPhone photo)

On Sunday we drove by the marina before heading over the Golden Gate bridge to Sonoma for some wine tasting and lunch. 

On the way back from Sonoma we stopped off at a lookout spot for some beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were stacked full of work at the conference followed by a quick dinner and then off to bed. 

The last place I want to mention is Bask Tapas restaurant. The same friends that I went to Sonoma with suggested we have dinner there on my last night.  We shared several small plates including the meatballs, duck foie gras, mushrooms, croquettes, tiger prawns, and a tomato & cheese plate.

That was the extent of site-seeing on this trip. I went to the same conference last year and had a free afternoon to explore the city on a double decker bus where I was able to cover a lot more ground. Here's my San Francisco recap from last year.

Such a beautiful city!

Great Week, Good Friday

Happy Friday lovelies!

I'm so relieved we have Good Friday off of work today. Otherwise I would be a zombie at work after arriving home late last night after 5 nights in San Francisco. It was an awesome and extremely busy trip. I'm talking 11-hour work days but thankfully I had some time to squeeze in some site-seeing and meet up with friends.

I posted about my trip out to Sonoma Wine Country last weekend which was such a great experience.

Other than work, I...

* Visited The View Lounge with coworkers to enjoy some views of downtown San Francisco.

* Went to Haight Street for $2 beer night with a friend (like the good old colleges day). Truthfully, I prefer dive bars than a fancy digs to relax and unwind after busy, business/formal days.

* Did more shopping than I had planned and had to buy an extra duffel bag to bring stuff home. (My hotel was in the heart of the shopping district which is just bad news.)

* Got kicked out a taxi because the taxi driver said we were touching the back of his neck (my friend and I were in full conversation in the back of the taxi not even paying attention or "touching" him). Taxi dude clearly showed up for work high on some sort of drug. Best we get kicked out, right?

* Went to Bask Tapas restaurant with friends followed by walking around Little Italy and a few more drinks before calling it a night.

* Flew home bright and early yesterday morning. With several delays and a layover in St. Louis, I made it home in about 12 hours. Not to mention the 3 hour time difference which totally screws you more so flying back to the east coast. I'm so, so happy to have the weekend to readjust and get back to reality.

Happy weekend to everyone and hope you enjoy Easter!

Joining the lovely Amanda for Friday Favorites.