2nd Annual girls trip!

Laurel and I planned a little escape to San Diego long ago, not realizing that it happened to land on spring break.  Mom's here kept asking me what fun things we were going to do for spring break and when I answered, "Well, I'm taking myself on vacation...and the kids will be home doing nothing and loving it." I got very strange looks. However, making time for self-care is a sacrifice worth making and I knew that I was in need of some refreshment.  It's lovely that the kids are old enough to take care of themselves, so even if Ben had to go into work, they were able to get what they needed.  

 

Laurel picked me up from the airport and our first stop was a giant salad from Urbane Cafe.  It was as delicious as I remember.  Then we went to the outlet mall that is basically in Mexico...oh the memories I will have of adventures with Laurel.  For dinner that night, we went to a Mexican restaurant just a short drive from our hotel.  We picked it for the ease, but it ended up being fabulous.

 

 

 

Our hotel was right on the water, looking at Coronado Island.  We spent the mornings sipping coffee on our balcony, watching the boats go out and then evenings out there again, with treats and watching the moon come up.  

 

No girls trip is complete without a little pampering and HGTV :)

 

 

Several runs/walks along the water was just what I needed!

 

 

 

 

 

Both full days of our trip, we went over to Coronado.  We would go on base, stop by the exchange and get a drink (and maybe do a little shopping) and then go to the beach...and sit.  This has become our spot and definitely a time I am thankful for the military perks.  A beach all to yourselves?  Yes, please!

 

 

 

 

 

I forgot how vicious the birds are in California.  We took a walk along the beach and when we came back, our bag of crackers was gone.  I found it down the beach, in the water and completely demolished.  It made us laugh...I guess the seagulls love Trader Joe's as much as we do.

 

It's funny how there's not much to tell about the trip, other than we did a whole lot of nothing and it was AMAZING.  We sat and let our brains not think about anything.  I will say, that I know it was even more relaxing knowing that we didn't have to worry about how our kids were doing-so thank you to our wonderful husbands for just being you.

I was curious how it would feel to be back in California and it is still a very refreshing place for me.  However, I was surprised how calm and quiet it felt there.  The roads felt open!  What?!  That's crazy...it's a big city and the traffic used to seem insane to me.  But now the traffic seemed fine because no one was trying to run into you all the time.   It took all of 2 seconds back in NY to affirm why I needed that trip.  Life here is loud.  Everywhere is loud and chaotic and tense.  Some people love the hustle and bustle and there can be times that it's energizing, but it's also draining for a quiet person like me.  I sent this video to Laurel to show her what my "normal" is like.  This is from the airport, waiting for Ben to swing by in traffic so I can jump in.  Usually there's more honking and a couple of guys in the street yelling at cars, but there's always the large crowds.