Girls weekend in Palm Springs

I flew out to Palm Springs for a girls' weekend on Friday morning. With the government shutdown, they were saying that flights were going to be canceled since there weren't as many air traffic controllers. So, I was a little worried my flight would be one of them! But, luckily, I was able to get out on time with no issues. One of the girls that was supposed to come with us woke up super sick Friday morning and wasn't able to fly out. So, that was a bummer.

When I got on the plane to my seat, I noticed this next to me! My first thought was oh, great, someone had gotten sick in the row and they had to clean it up. But, the flight attendant told me there was some sort of sticky gummy stuff on the seat belt and cushion and it was making the seat belt unusable. So, they had to get rid of the middle seat cushion and replace the seatbelt. Some guy named Wayne ended up sitting in the window seat after they fixed the seatbelt, but the middle seat remained empty - score! The rest of the flight was completely full, so Wayne and I were pretty happy with this!

And in other news, I don't fly American very often, but I was super happy to see they serve Diet Dr. Pepper on flights!

We all arrived Friday afternoon. We got settled at JJ's place and then went out to dinner at Las Casuela's. We went to the location closer to JJ's house, but we had eaten at the one downtown and loved it. This one had an outdoor patio with a band playing. We all had margaritas, yummy food and dance a little bit. It was a great way to kick off the weekend! Oh, and there was a even a clown there - random! We ended Friday night back at JJ's place with some drinks in the hot tub.

On Saturday morning, we woke up early and had plans to do a hike. There was a heat wave in Palm Springs and the temps were above 90 degrees. We were required to have 32 ounces of water to be allowed to do the hike by the park district. The hike we had planned to do was supposed to end in the mountain with a waterfall, but it was all dried up. So, instead we headed back downtown for brunch and mimosa flights!

It was Pride Weekend, so the streets were shut down with lots of booths. We walked and shopped and people watched!

JJ, Sarah and Crystal are in there somewhere!

There was a Ferris Wheel at one end

So many fun booths!

It was so hot the misters were on! They felt nice!

On Saturday night, we went out for dinner to The Tropicale and then off to an 80's party at Canopy Wine Lounge.

Fit check!

The Tropicale had fun drinks and great food!

Blood Orange martini and Lychee martini

Peanut butter cup martini

We ordered a bunch of their sharables for dinner - so good!

After dinner, it was a short walk to the Canopy Wine Lounge. We got a great spot on the couch on the patio, which was where the DJ was set up. We got one glass of wine with out ticket.

Prince made an appearance!

They were playing the actual music videos along with the songs... I forgot how terrible some of these videos were - ha!

Such a fun night!

DJ Devo

We dance SO much at the 80's party! We all had a blast! Afterwards, we headed back to JJ's place to crash!

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning and a little cooler, so we sat outside for a bit. Sarah had to get up early and head home (she drove from Arizona). JJ, Crystal and I went to Breakfast Republic for breakfast.

Oh, by the way, this is what was going on back in Downers Grove on Sunday morning! It snowed!

JJ dropped me off at the airport around 10:45. I found out my flight was delayed (thanks to the government shutdown and the weather). At least I was able to enjoy the nice weather since the airport has an outdoor area.

We boarded the plane around 1:00, but were initially told we weren't going to take off until 2:30. But, we were able to get out at 1:45, so that was good! The flight was uneventful - I watched Bridget Jones' Baby. The winds were pretty bad in Chicago, so our landing was a little scary... but we made it! It took almost 30 minutes for my Uber! There were at least 30 people also waiting for Ubers. And then this is how my drive home started... snowy and traffic jam! It had just started snowing again around 8:00 PM and it was low visibility in places. The roads hadn't been cleared either. Ugh - gotta love Chicago weather! I was happy to make it home around 9:00.

As always, a fun weekend hanging out with some great ladies! I think we're making Palm Springs an annual trip. :)

Girls Trip - St. Louis

I met up with JJ and Crystal in St. Louis this past weekend for a Girls Trip. We stayed in St. Charles at the Ameristar Casino. Crystal's friend comped us a great room!

On Friday, we went to Bella Vino Wine Bar for drinks and apps. Afterwards, we walked around the area through the shops and the craft fair. There was a store with all kinds of fun things... I thought these earrings were so crazy!

We headed back to the sports bar at the casino to watch some football. We also grabbed some more drinks and apps.

On Saturday, we had brunch at the hotel and then took an Uber to Augusta, MO to tour some wineries. We started off at Augusta Winery, but their outdoor beer garden wasn't opening for another 45 minutes, so we went over to the next winery, Mount Pleasant.

At Mount Pleasant, we did a wine tasting. All very good!

Then, we decided to do the chocolate port shot - port in a little chocolate cup.

I'm not sure we were all that jazzed by the port shot. I love this picture - all of our faces are like "um, that wasn't great!"

Then, we walked around the winery and got a bottle of wine to enjoy in the beer garden.

I wanted to try the wine slushy... it was surprisingly stronger than it first seemed!

After we finished up at Mount Pleasant, we went back to Augusta Winery. With a quick stop off at the Friendship Garden!

No other pictures from the Augusta Winery, but the band was great! JJ and I had a wine tasting flight. We also got some sangria which was really fresh and delicious. They had a small store where we bought some cheese, pretzels and sausage, which really hit the spot. While we were there, they did some Taylor Swift trivia and had some vendors selling random things. It was a nice afternoon!

On our way back to St. Charles, the Uber driver stopped off at this picture spot that has huge butterflies on the side of the cliff. Also, there are painted silos at the same stop.

Crystal took a pic of us taking a selfie

And here's the selfie!

Our Uber driver took our picture - he was great!

On Saturday night, we went to a cooking demonstration class at the Kitchen Conservatory. It was a Taylor Swift themed night, so they played TS songs and made foods that are favorites of hers. So, we had honey mustard salmon, coconut rice and grilled green beans. We also had a fun drink with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice.

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast at this cute little spot in St. Charles called the Bike Stop Cafe. As always, it was fun to catch up with JJ and Crystal!

Girls Weekend in Palm Springs

I had my annual girls' trip this past weekend with my high school friends, JJ and Crystal. We went to Palm Springs again and stayed at JJ"s condo there. Also, this year, we combined our weekend with her college friends' visit (Toni and Sarah). We were all bridesmaids in JJ's wedding. Also, Toni, JJ, Crystal and I had taken a trip to Cancun many years ago!

Crystal, Toni and I flew in Friday around noon. Sarah had driven in the night before. Once we were all in town, we went downtown to Las Casuela's for lunch and margaritas.

Then, we all got ready for our "early bird special" at a place called The Nest. The only reservation available was at 5:00 and JJ said this place comes highly recommended. It's sort of like half restaurant - half dinner club with music and dancing. I only have one picture from the night, but the food was good and the people watching was fun! There was even a clown walking around, which really was odd!

On Saturday morning, we grabbed brunch at a place called The Broken Yolk. They had mimosa and bloody mary flights - yum!

Selfie with Sonny Bono while waiting for our Uber.

After lunch, we headed up to the tram. We were able to get tickets to a tram within in an hour, so we enjoyed some drinks in the sunshine while we waited.

We rode in the tram up to the top. The whole tram rotated a couple of times on the ride up.

Once we made it to the top, we decided to do the 1.5 mile hike which has 5 different lookout spots.

Here we are at the start of the trail.

Here is one of the 5 lookout points to stop at along the trail.

After the hike, we stopped at the bar at the top for some delicious drinks!

Then we headed back down on the tram.

And yet again, I have worn something green-ish when taking a green screen picture and appear to have no legs!

We did some shopping and stopped off at the Rooftop Bar for Mexican Candy shots. These things are so tasty! Contains Tamarind Vodka and Watermelon Pucker.

We ended the night at JJ's condo with drinks and movies.

On Sunday morning, Sarah had to leave early. The rest of us headed back to the Rooftop Bar to watch the Chiefs game. Turns out, they make the Mexican candy shots in a mixed drink form, too! So, of course, we had a few rounds of those.

The Chiefs ended up winning in dramatic fashion! Afterwards, we did some more shopping and stopped off for photos along they way.

At the end of the day, we hung out by the hot tub/pool by JJ's condo.

The rest of us flew out Monday morning. Such a fun and relaxing weekend! I'm already looking forward to the trip next year! :)

Also, check this out... it's a shadow box Crystal made with pictures and buttons showing all the places we've been together! Starting with high school through the present! It's awesome!