This week I headed to one of my favorite places, California! We had a jewelry show out there and then I met up with two of my best girlfriends for a girls weekend. We try to do one or two trips a year and we met in Napa this time!
I flew in to San Francisco where a friend of mine hosted a jewelry show at her house and then headed to Calistoga for the day before I met up with Carrie and Tina. I had heard incredible things about the mud baths and the healing properties of the warm springs.
I booked a last minute appointment at Indian Springs Calistoga for the mud bath and am SO glad I did - it was one of the coolest experiences! After the mud bath I headed to the mineral spring heated outdoor pool.
This is the hot springs and the pool - you can see the geyser in the background - it’s the hot spring that discharges steam and water. The pool is loaded with healing Minerals from the hot springs and feels like a hot tub! After a soak I went to the restaurant at Indian Springs called Sam's Social Club - it was so good!
Indian Springs was right across the street from where I was staying - Dr. Wilkinson's. I found a great last minute deal on the Hotel Tonight app (if you haven't tried Hotel Tonight you should!!). It was a renovated motel that had a very cool surfer vibe and an incredible farm to table restaurant called House of Better.
A lot of the places in Calistoga focus on wellness and healing and I loved walking around the town. If I had more time, I would have gone to Evangeline for dinner. I popped my head in and it looked and smelled delish!! I also read great things about staying at the Solage in Calistoga - maybe next time. Before I left, I grabbed a quick breakfast (and t-shirt for Bryan) and Calistoga Depot. A cool market vibe with all things local to the area.
In Napa we stayed at the Stanly Ranch - it was incredible! Once we checked in we headed to Bear for a quick bite which is on site at the hotel and then headed to the sauna and spa. It was my first time I’ve ever been in a salt room.
One of the many reasons I love traveling with Carrie and Tina is that they are such great sports and let me share all of their favorites and photograph them in all our new pieces! The first night before dinner, I had the girls test run and get a sneak peek of some new pieces. They have the best fashion advice and I love to hear what they think about everything. Starting off with the new Napa Hat - it's a must have! I found these hats in LA and love it because you can bend it and fold it flat to fit in any bag, but it still keeps it's shape once you take it out! Carrie loved the hat paired it with the new Freshwater Floral Studs and kept them both on all weekend. They also loved the Vacation Mode Earrings, the new Calistoga Tote, Creamy Resin Hoops, and the Zodiac Necklaces! I've been working on the Zodiac collection for a while and was so excited I could bring them with me to show them.
The second day I woke up early and got coffee and breakfast at the hotel while the girls slept in. Once they got up we all shared our current favorite products -we do this every time we're together and they always have the best finds! Carrie brought her Eberjay PJs that I've told you guys about before, they are the most comfortable pjs ever. I loved Tina's phone case - it's only $14 - love the silicon feel and color, it would be so cute to switch it up for summer! Carrie loves Josie Maran products because there is argan oil in all of the products, she loves that glowy, dewy look and the argan oil really delivers. She was raving about the Josie Maran blush stick too - but Nars also makes a great blush stick that she loves. All three of us use the Bobbi Brown bronzer - it gives the best sun-kissed look. I've also been loving Ilia - I love the mascara and use the true skin serum foundation (I'm literally scraping the sides of the bottle to get every last drop).
And of course I brought my Bloc Bag for my makeup and toiletries. They are lightweight, hold SO much, and you can wash them! The best part is that for every bag purchased, they donate a bag to a foster child in need. If you missed it on Instagram, we are doing a giveaway with Bloc Bags! We are EACH giving away a $150 gift card to shop our websites. Click here to go enter!
Since it ended up raining all day the second day - we went downstairs to the hotel coffee shop and hit the road to spend the day shopping and restaurant hopping. My friend Tina is the DJ on our road trips. She always introduces me to new music. Here is her playlist that we listened to!
We started at Bouchon Bakery for the best croissants. I fell in love with the store Alchemy Works, they had the coolest selection of home goods. Then we went to Oakville Grocery for lunch - I had a prosciutto and brie panini with honey butter. Next we headed to Oxbow Public Market - there were lots of cute vendors with sweet treats, olive oils, cocktails and handmade goods. It was also my first time trying Ritual Coffee and loved it - I had the best lavender oat milk latte I've ever had.
Our first dinner of the night was Charter Oak - because the weather was so cold they set up yurts for outside diners. The veggies with dip was amazing. I know it sounds simple but I could literally bathe in the dip... it was heavenly! We couldn't decide where to go to dinner so we made two reservations. Our second dinner was at Farmstead and was also so good. We started it off with homemade biscuits and honey butter and ended with the most amazing powdered donuts in a caramel sauce that was to die for.
Whew... it was a quick trip but we had an absolute BLAST! We went to Calistoga, St. Helena, Napa and I feel like we fit everything in two days that could have taken us a week! I so enjoy my time with these girls and hope you enjoyed the round up!
