GW2k18... Beach stylin' and profilin'

When it comes to best friends, I consider myself a lucky gal. I have not one but two and bonus... they also love each other! Usually they say three's a crowd but we've found the opposite is true for us. We all have this ridiculous sense of humor and spend most of our time together giggling like school girls. Katie and Carrie hadn't spent a ton of time together until I got engaged but ever since then we have all been incredibly close. And ever since Carrie and her husband bought (& renovated) this amazing condo in Ormond Beach, the countdown was on for a girls weekend!

Katie and I both live in the Atlanta area and planned our travel together. Originally we were to meet in the Sky Club for a drink before our flight but there was a ton of traffic and things didn't pan out. However, once we boarded... I was able to surprise Katie and buy her a champagne for the flight!

First stop - beach!

Lead the way!

Doesn't this make you think of Message in a Bottle?

Feels great to be back!

Since it was the day before Cinco de Mayo, we decided to celebrate a day early. Carrie found this cute place, La Fiesta (fitting for this trip) - just be sure to put it in the GPS right or you'll end up in Daytona! We all enjoyed our experience, excellent food, atmosphere but especially great margaritas!

#mARTgaritas

Get in my belly!

The decor was great!

None of us tend to sleep in too late, so by 8:30 the next morning we were up and ready for adventures. The original plan was to sit on the beach all day but the weather wasn't cooperating, so instead we decided to explore a bit for a couple hours. Carrie, being the amazing host that she is, suggested Rockefeller gardens and a walk around the Casements. Despite being cloudy, it felt great to be walking next to the water. We kept going on toward the Casements and stumbled upon an adorable outdoor market put on by local artists.

Beautiful water sculpture

This touched my heart!

Underneath the bridge

Even though it was cloudy, it was still gorgeous

The Casements was the winter home of John D. Rockefeller!

After we finished window shopping, we began towards the next stop: the Sugar Mill ruins at the Bulow Creek State Park. Another great stop - there's a short trail leading to the ruins and it's got a ton of history to go along with it.

Amazing scenery on the drive to the Mill

The drive in is insanely beautiful

On our way!

Love these two!

I thought this sign was funny

Picture in picture

Finally, the clouds began to part as we were nearing Carrie's car. And with that, it was time for us to settle in our beach chairs and feel the ocean breeze. For the most part, we had beautiful weather although a few times we did get sprinkled on. There's just something about being on the beach with your two besties to make all of life's stress just melt away...

It's hard to see but there's a crab!

All good things must come to an end and soon enough it was early evening. Since it was Derby day, we all wanted to rinse off and catch the race. Even though our beach day was cut a bit short, I am glad we were able to catch the Derby especially since Justified managed to capture the Triple Crown! Dinner, however was a quite the opposite, in fact not worthy of any crown. We went to Alfie's... it wasn't the worst experience outright, but we weren't feeling the vibe and it seemed overpriced. If you're in the area, I'd skip this place and head on over to Betty's A1A Cafe.  We were so unsatisfied from dinner, that we actually ended up walking back down to Betty's to grab some adult beverages and pie. After that, we settled in for the evening with a great rom-com and of course more laughter.

Brunch is a must on girls weekend! So as soon as we woke up Sunday morning, we made our way to Peach Valley Cafe for some mimosa's and food! It was great but the wait can get pretty long. I'd suggest arriving early to beat the rush. All in all, we had a wonderful weekend, my only regret was not taking Friday off so we could have an extra full day together. C'est la vie and with that..  ta ta for now!

One last shot of the beach

San Diego Style

San Diego, commonly referred to as "my happy place,"  is a place we get to more than most because we are blessed to have family there. I believe this was our third trip out together and my fourth overall but we can't wait to get back again soon! To me there's just nothing better. San Diego has beaches, breweries galore and amazing scenery. Here's the highlights:

Our first stop is always In-n-Out Burger. I'm not a huge fast food person, but In-n-Out simply is a must. All ingredients are locally sourced and the taste reflects it! We made it here twice this time around and wanted to go for a third but it didn't work out in our favor.

OMG YUM

Another new thing for me was walking through Balboa Park. I'd been to the zoo, which is technically in the park but I'd never actually taken a stroll through it. It's worth it from the scenery alone, but there's a ton of museums and across the street is an amazing rose garden, too.

Balboa Park is full of beautiful architecture

Botanical gardens

Rose gardens across the street

Next to the outdoor ampitheater

This felt like a secret garden

I love the vegetation in SoCal

From there we decided to head down to Point Loma to Cabrillo National Monument. The cost is  $15/car but there's tons of trails and tide pools you can explore. Just be sure to get there early, there's not much parking and the line gets pretty long! We ended up staying longer than planned due to slight car troubles but hey, there are worse places to be stuck!

A look at the city from afar

Tide pools 

Monument to Cabrillo - he came to America in the 1500's!

Hubs enjoying the scenery

A beautiful lighthouse

In winter and spring gray whales can be seen all the way down the coast from this park. 

Beautiful view of the Pacific

Bees are so important to our environment. I was really excited to see this little guy!

A friend to accompany me whilst we waited for the car to be fixed

We hit up the Karl Strauss brewery in the Gaslamp district for lunch. Can't go wrong with this one! The food was amazing and the beers were top notch. The main location is in Pacific Beach and if you time it right, you can enjoy some music whilst you drink.

You definitely have your choice of beaches when visiting - Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Dog Beach... I could go on... but my favorite is La Jolla. The drive in is incredible and the views are spectacular. Again, you have to get there early to get a parking spot!

Flowers we were enjoying in Grandma's garden

Grandma has inspired me to put out bird feeders!

I'm not usually a huge cat person (we have two amazing pups) but I did fall in love with Waffles on this trip. He's a cool cat.

Hydrangea's are one of my favorites and Grandma's were so beautiful!

Stalking his prey... 

We spent a lot of time with Hubs' Aunt and Uncle who were awesome enough to take us to a few cool spots. First, we went for lunch to a Mexican joint in the Barrio called Las Cuatro Milpas. Another place to get to early but the food was extremely authentic! We had a great time. Afterwards, we decided to get swanky with it and drove over to Coronado to have drinks at the Hotel Del Coronado. Even if you don't want a drink, I definitely recommend at least checking out the hotel, it's massive! And the island itself is adorable with tons to do.

It was the perfect weather for drinks by the water

Feelin' fancy

One of my favorite things to do is catch a sunset over the Pacific. And boy, did we catch a great one!

Sunsets and dinner by the water make a great date night!

Waiting patiently for the show to begin!

Here we go!

The clouds were incredible.

On our last day, we were lucky enough to venture out to the Desert Tower which is about an hour outside of San Diego. Not only can you see for miles and miles, but there's also a boulder park you can climb and hang out in. We enjoyed a beer whilst we enjoyed the views. Oh and bonus, the people who run the Tower have a peacock! Sadly, I'm not sure I'd ever seen one up close so that was pretty cool for me! I gotta admit, I was in awe once we were out in the desert. I'm not sure I've ever really been to the desert, so it was exciting for me to have a this cool experience.

You can see all the way into Arizona on a clear day!

The owners of the tower have a peacock and I was excited it let me snap a few pics!

The Tower

Entering Boulder Park

Watch out!

Admiring the view

Cheers from the top!

In the tower!

How did I get up here?!?

Boulder Park

With Uncle and Lily

We always have a great time in San Diego, but I think this was our best trip to date. It was the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure and it definitely has us excited to go back soon!