California Getaway

Isn't it funny that when you don't fly with a baby, the airplane part becomes part of the vacation? We pulled out of our house in the uber and felt like we were free as birds!

We had been flying a ton of Virgin America when we were flying back and forth to Chicago and LA, and since now the airline is merging with Alaska, we cashed in a few points so that we could upgrade ourselves. It was such a fun, relaxing flight, and kicked off our vacation on the right foot.

As soon as we landed, my best friend Shelby picked us up from the airport and took us right to Joel's favorite LA restaurant, Fishing with Dynamite. 

We indulged in tons of rose, oysters, dessert....we just took a long, leisure lunch and enjoyed every second. 

 

 

 

We stayed with Shelby, who happens to live in our old building. It was so fun/weird/amazing/sad/etc. to be back in our old building, but we rallied, and really just enjoyed feeling back home.

Friday night was honestly perfect. We put it put it out to a few friends that we would be in LA and met up for happy hour.

Being with these girls was just what I needed. It is like no time has passed at all, we pick up from where we left off, and we can all be our true selves. 

Happy hour moved into dinner, and we all drank way too much catching up back at Shelby's, soaking in every minute together that we could. 

Saturday morning, Shelby and I started the morning off right with 8 sets of the Santa Monica stairs. 

Not kidding, my calves are still killing me. 

We had coffee back with Shelby and her sweet baby Tucker that I miss everyday, and just had the best time ever.

Joel and I snuck away for a lunch date at A.O.C. which was so much fun. 

If you live in LA, their brunch is bomb.  

We got back to Shelby's right before 2:30pm, spent some time hanging, and then got ready for our dear friend Ami and Alex's spectacular wedding in Bel Air.

The wedding location was breathtaking, and I was so glad we got plenty of time to soak in the ocean.

The wedding was so lovely (personal vows get my every time), Ami's dad's speech was on of the best I've ever heard, we met such cool people at the wedding, and we had just an amazing time in the company of such kindness and love.

 

 

 

Sunday morning was a little brutal but after coffee and bagels, we rallied with Shelby and Tucker and drove down to San Diego so we could spend some time with Joel's brother's family. They welcomes a new baby in January and we couldn't wait to get our hands on her.

We spent the day relaxing, soaking in baby cuddles, and being together. 

The four of us, and our sweet niece Evie, snuck away for a really, really nice dinner in San Diego. 

 

We loved being together, even though it was way too short, and somehow, Monday morning rolled and we were en route to the airport. 

We had the absolute worst flight home of my life. The last 45 minutes I actually thought our flight was going to crash. A few people were throwing up in front of us, I was hysterically crying, and grown men were hollering out every time we tipped, dipped, and whipped. It sucked so. horribly. bad. 

I honestly kissed the ground when we touched down - and was even that much more thankful to get my baby Leo in my arms.

A good weekend away, good for Joel and I, and so, so good to get home.

Bachelorette Party in Austin

My best friend, who just happens to be my cousin, is getting married in October and gave me the title of Maid of Honor. It's actually my first time filling that role, so this also made for the first bachelorette party that I've hosted.

Thankfully Amanda, the bride, had an amazing bridal party that helped me pull it all together, but it was a little intimidating planning a weekend for 13 people in a city I had never been.

Thankfully Austin, Texas is absolutely fantastic and made it easy for me to turn out a fabulous weekend! 

The bridal party arrived early which gave us a chance to kick off the weekend with cocktails at the Four Seasons Pool. 

After we finished up with happy hour, we organized Welcome Bags for all of the guests arriving the following day and stopped at a market near the hotel to stock up on snacks and booze. 

  We had a 7pm dinner reservation at Second Bar and Grill which is just a few blocks away from the hotel.

Our food and on draft rose was really good, but I didn't love the ambience (or location). After dinner we bar hopped along Rainey street which was a blast. Lots of awesome bars with tons of live music and a really low key, easy crowd. 

 

 

We turned in pretty early Thursday night, but that meant we were able to fit in a gym session come the morning. 

After the gym, we met for coffees and then walked to South Congress which is a must see section of the city. We had a blast popping into the really cute and cool shops along the way, and then snapping photos at the infamous blogger wall.

We took a "fasten" (they don't have uber in Austin, and this worked well for us while we were there) back to the hotel and freshened up for lunch at Bangers back on Rainey Street. 

Bangers was the perfect spot to spend the afternoon. We had the rest of the group meet us there, had tons of awesome local texas beers, and a delicious lunch. We sat outside at giant picnic benches and caught up with all of the girls.

After a few beers we sort of broke into this cool new hotel Van Zandt for a drink on their rooftop bar.

  

We got back to the hotel around 5pm, which gave everyone a little time to chill and get ready for the night. We met back in the lobby at 7:45 so that we could fit in a group picture before heading to dinner.

It was kind of a pain to get three cabs to stop for 5 minutes, but they complied and we got a super adorable picture, so  I think it was worth it.

For dinner we decided to do Guero's Taco Bar (the outside section) for dinner. We had $2 tacos from their little stand, cheap beers, and listened to an awesome local band. It was really good and perfect and easy for a big group. 

Our big activity for the night was a private karaoke room at The Highball - and thankfully we don't have too many pictures or videos to show for it! It was actually a blast, and we didn't want to leave our private room at 11:30 after our two hours of singing were up. We stayed and danced at their bar with yet another live band, and then made it back to the hotel a little after midnight. 

Saturday was our big activity day and our plan was to rent a pontoon boat for the day (with a driver) and hang on Lake Austin. We used Float On as our rental company and had an amazingly easy and fun experience (with a really cool driver).  

Lake Austin is beautiful and I loved checking out the real estate along the way. After the first hour of exploring we dockd up  hung around the lily pad for the entire afternoon.

 

We had Jimmy Johns bring party platters to the hotel in the morning before we left so we had lunch on the boat, listened to music, danced and had a blast. 

It was an absolutely awesome way to spend the day.

 We got back to the hotel around 4pm, and everyone needed to take a cool shower and a nap. Hanging in the sun all day caught up with everyone, but I was really impressed with everyone's ability to rally for the lingerie party that night. 

 

We upgraded one of the rooms to a suite so that we could have a space to hang and the bridesmaids came together to have a few fun games, cute decorations and groom video.

 

Amanda walked away with great gifts and we ended up having pizza delivered to the room before we went out on 6th street for our final hurrah.

  

Sixth street was awesome to see - but wild to be in! There was a UT game so everyone was out in full force, but we popped into a few bars, danced like college girls and then took pedal cabs back home! 

 

 

 My 9am flight showed up reallly early the next day, but it was nice to get home to my boys and have a day to chill before we start another wild week!