My girls' weekend

2 weekends ago I took a trip to CA on my own for a weekend away from mommy and wife duties. It's been the first time in over a year that I've had the chance to do this and thought I was long overdue. I fly in Thursday night and stayed at my parents' house. While the weekend was an excuse to spend time with my best girlfriends, it was also a chance for me to see my parents and brother.

Friday morning I had an appointment at Burke Williams. I'm embarrassed to say Kristi and Thane gave me a BW gift certificate oh about 5 years ago and I never used it. I figured what better way to start my weekend away than with a facial and visit to BW. This was the first time I've ever been to a spa and had a facial and let me tell ya I'm hooked! It was pure bliss! Nothing says time to relax like a few hours at a spa. I loved it!!! After my pampering and relaxing, I drove around Orange County for a bit, got to visit Michael at his Pier One store in HB, did some shopping at Trader Joes, and met up with Sierra at Barnes & Noble for a brief visit. It was so fun walking around Pier One and showing Michael all the things I want to buy once he transfers to a store in CO. That could be dangerous for me. I'd love to decorate my house with stuff from his store. You may be wondering why I shopped at Trader Joes. Well, we don't have a TJ in CO, and they have some of the best snack foods. I actually brought an extra duffle bag to load up on TJ goodies. I especially had to get a few boxes of TJ Fig Bars, which Inara, Avery and Jack LOVE!

For dinner that night, Mom, Michael and I went to one of my favorite restaurants: Lazy Dog Cafe. Boy do I miss that place. It was great to get some alone time with Mom and Michael. After dinner, they dropped me off at Bella Terra shopping center to meet up with my girls: Elizabeth, Sierra and Cami. They were dining at Cheesecake Factory, so we hung out there for awhile and chatted and, of course, indulged in a little cheesecake. Hey, I was on vacation, so I splurged. We then walked around our old stomping grounds, Barnes & Noble. Boy, has the store changed. It was fun looking at books with my best friends I met at the store what seems like a lifetime ago.

The next day the four of us girls met up with our other best friend Chara for lunch at Kabuki. It was great chatting with Chara and hearing all about her experiences student teaching. (She's getting her credential to become a health teacher. Way to go, Cbu.) We then went to a showing of Alice in Wonderland. It was perfect that I came into town the weekend this movie opened because Elizabeth is a huge Alice fan. I'm so happy I got to see it with the girls. It was a fun movie, weird, but fun. I headed home after the movie to rest a bit and have dinner with Michael and my parents. Later that night I headed over to Elizabeth and Cami's place for game night and hanging out. I have to send a big thank you to Mike, Sierra's hubby, for watching their baby girl Layla all weekend so Sierra could hang out with us as much as possible, which I know isn't easy to do with a 5 month old.

I had hoped to get in a trip to California Adventures to do a little Disney shopping, but (my luck) the weekend I was in So Cal was crummy weather. I was bummed to have to cancel my trip to CA Adventures because I was looking forward to getting time to see Diane (Jason's mom). I did get to chat with her on the phone for awhile though at least. Instead of a trip to Dland, Sunday morning I visited Sierra and Mike and got to see baby Layla. She's so adorable!!! I can't believe how big she is already. Sierra and Mike are such amazing parents, and it made my heart sing to see the two of them SO happy with their baby girl. I joined the three of them along with Cami and Sierra at Rockin' Crepes. They had warned me that they come to this place because of the food and the atmosphere, not the service. The restaurant was super cool looking with pictures of metal bands all over the place. The crepes were scrumptious too!

That afternoon we all got together at my parents' house for our Academy Awards celebration! The four of us used to always watch the Oscars together, so this was a big reason why I chose this particular weekend for my trip to OC to spend time with my girls. It was just like old times. We even had our ballots out, gabbed about who was wearing our favorite dresses, and munched on yummies. It was a perfect ending to my trip. I'm so grateful I got to spend time with my best gals. I miss them all so much. I love you girls!!!