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Girls Trip to Santa Monica

Every year, my sisters and I plan a trip together.  This year we decided to go to Los Angeles.  My mom and my sister-in-law joined us!  How did we decide LA??  Easy!  Southwest was having a big sale and my sister, Richelle in El Paso, and I started searching for cheap flights to somewhere we haven’t been to since we were children.  I’m always on the lookout for inexpensive flights!

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The crew:  Julie, Andrea, Richelle and Rita (not pictured:  ME!)

We decided to stay in Santa Monica within a few blocks from the beach so we could walk around the city with ease or use the Bird Scooters!  You have got to check those out if you go to Santa Monica!  When we went into LA, we took Uber so we wouldn’t have to pay for parking.

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Definitely head to Venice and check out the shopping on Abbot Kinney.  After you shop til you drop, you have to wander over to Venice Beach just to say you’ve been there!  We didn’t stay long.

One day we went into LA to check a couple places off our list.  The first was the OUE Skyspace and the fun slide!  We had brunch at Perch and enjoyed the views from the rooftop.  We strolled through the LA library and then took an Uber to Griffith Observatory.  Here is your fair warning about Griffith Observatory:  Be prepared to sit in traffic on your way up.  Also, it is not as peaceful as it looks in all the pictures online.  It is crowded and there are people everywhere.  On the flip side, it has gorgeous views!

 

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It was a great girls getaway and I’m looking forward to next years with my sisters and my mom!

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Day 2 of Sisters Weekend in Brenham

Day 2 started off with a rainstorm that woke us up before 7 am.  With 9 kids between the 3 of us, we were looking to sleeping in, just a little!  Oh well, it left more time for mimosas in the morning before we were off to the spa.  Julie made us some sausage and eggs and we paired that with cran-pomosas (my version of a mimosa – champagne & cranberry pomegranate juice).  We finished breakfast and then took our cran-pomosas to the hot tub!  It was still early enough that the mosquitos weren’t quite out yet.  We soaked in the hot tub and talked all things sister.  Richelle is moving to El Paso soon (insert crying emoji here), Julie is putting her house up for sale soon and her kiddos are switching schools, and me…. well for now, there are no life changing events happening.

Let’s head back into Brenham!  We booked massages at the Thyme Day Spa & Salon.  While the massage (and masseuse) was awesome, the staff…. not so much.  It seemed like they only had 1 masseuse and 1 hair stylist.  It was a really cute place with alot of potential if they had more people working.  My advice – skip this and save your money to do some shopping.

Lunch was at the Funky Art Cafe.  This was one of the places I scoped out online the week before and it did not disappoint!  We ordered a Bucket of Bubbles (more champagne!), Chipotle Corn Dip, Chicken Artichoke Pot Pie and a wrap.  DELICIOUS!!!!  Check this place out next time you are in Brenham.  Food was great and so was the service.

SHOPPING!!!  This is the main thing I wanted to do!  I love antique shopping!  Hermann Furniture was next to the cafe and they were having a warehouse sale.  I found a box of huge outdoor Christmas ornaments for $4 each!  And Julie found a petite silverware set for her daughter that she knew she would love.  There were some great shops but alot of the antique stores were pretty pricey.

After shopping for a couple hours, it was starting to get hot so we headed to Burton, TX, off of Hwy 290 to Saddlehorn Winery.  The staff there was really sweet and we had fun doing a wine tasting of 6 different wines.  I ended up buying a bottle of Pinot Grigio, even though I’m more of a Chardonnay girl.  Saddlehorn usually pizza cooking in the evenings but they had cancelled it earlier that day due to all the rain.  We will definitely come back on a Saturday night to enjoy wine and pizza!

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When we got back to the cabin, we snacked on a meat, cheese and olive plate and sipped our wine.  We took a walk around the property and watched the sunset.  It was gorgeous!

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And that’s about it for Sisters Weekend 2016!  Sunday we didn’t do much but sleep in a little.  It was a fun weekend of relaxing, shopping, exploring and connecting.  Next year, Richelle will be in El Paso so Sisters Weekend 2017 will be in West Texas or maybe…. New Mexico.

 

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Sisters Weekend in Brenham, TX!

My 2 sisters, Julie and Richelle, are my best friends.  We like to take one weekend out of the year and take some time to ourselves.  This year we decided to meet halfway between Houston (where they live) and Austin (where I live) in the town of Brenham.  Julie found a cabin in the rolling hill country.  The cabin was easy to find and was ready for us along with a personalized sign on the door welcoming us.

We brought along our own snack foods, water and of course champagne and juice for mimosas!  The owners left breakfast in the fridge for us to prepare in the mornings – muffins, biscuits, sausage and eggs.  It was perfect!

After we settled in, we went to check out the closest winery, Pleasant Hill Winery.  It’s a pretty small winery.  We ordered a tasting to learn a little more about the wines but each time, we were told that the grapes from that particular wine came from Lubbock.  So we weren’t too sure if any of the wine we tasted actually came from grapes at this establishment.  Would I recommend this winery?  Mixed feelings…. The staff was very nice but the establishment was small.

Time for dinner!  We ventured into the town of Brenham to check out Volare.  These Italian girls had to check out the Italian restaurant!  Super cute restaurant with decent Italian food.  As we walked back to our car, we noticed the museum was having an event at that time.  The Brenham Heritage Museum was having an event to showcase the guns of the Texas Rangers and that included food and drink, typical of the saloons of Brenham and Washington County. Richelle and I let Julie do all the tasting!  

 

We decided to head back to the cabin with a quick stop to RedBox to rent the movie, Sisters.  HILARIOUS!!!!  We had been waiting until we were were all together to watch it and it did not disappoint!  We ended our fun Friday night in Brenham on a good note.

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