The Girls Trip - A Non-Negotiable
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There's that moment on a good girl's trip - you're sitting on the beach, staring out at the water, no agenda, no timeline, no one needing anything from you. The women next to you are the ones who know you the best - in our case, nearly twenty years of kids, sports schedules, and showing up for each other through all of it.
And you think — this is exactly what I needed.
Not a spa day. Not a long weekend squeezed between obligations. A real trip. With your people. Where the only plan is to have no plan.
We just got back from Atelier Playa Mujeres in Cancun — women who met because our kids played sports together, thanks kids, and we've stayed friends even though they are grown and on their own. Friends who needed, more than anything, to just BE for a few days.
Here's what a perfect day looked like, or every day in our case:
A slow morning. Leisurely breakfast with mimosas and nowhere to be. A stroll to the beach, where our chairs were already waiting. The hours passed with talking and relaxing. Drinks and lunch with our toes in the sand. At the end of the day, a quick dip in the pool before heading back to get ready — actually getting dressed up for fun, because we felt like it. Then dinner together, unhurried and filled with stories and laughter!
That's it. That was the whole trip. And it was everything.
Here's what I've learned about getting away with your girlfriends — it's not a luxury. It's perspective. Getting out of your daily routine, the emails and the errands and the comfortable numbness of ordinary life, gives you the clearest possible view of what's actually beautiful about it. You come home, and you notice things. You're more patient. More grateful. More yourself.
The trip doesn't have to be extravagant - although this one was. It has to be intentional.
The "Favorite Things" Exchange
We started a new tradition this year – a "favorite things" exchange. Not gifts exactly — more like something we each genuinely love and want the others to have and love. It was one of my favorite things about the trip!
I brought the Malvados Playa flip flops. They were given to me as a gift, and I have loved them ever since — the kind of thing you slip on that works with every outfit – I should have left all my other shoes at home. That's my litmus test for a true favorite. If someone gave them to me, I'm giving them to the people I love most.
What came home with me: a raffia tote bag from Laurel Canyon Works on Etsy — the kind of useful, beautiful bag you didn't know you needed, it holds all your beach stuff - except sand! And Trader Joe's Invisible Gel Body Sunscreen SPF 40 and Facial Mineral Sunscreen SPF 40 - if you haven't tried it yet, just trust me and go get it. Lightweight, no white cast, no greasy feeling in 80-degree heat. I'm a convert.
Other Stuff Worth Packing
Good trips deserve the right things. Here's what I'd take again without hesitation:
Vacuum Packing Cubes - These made it possible for me to bring my "favorite things." Everything was neatly condensed and arrived perfectly organized. Game changer for a carry-on.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi - The best book I've read in a long time - you'll strive to be more like Theo.
Favorite dinner dress - Getting dressed up for dinner when you're on a girls' trip is one of life's small pleasures. This dress was comfortable, packable, and stylish.
Find your people. Find your chairs on the beach. Stare at the water together with nothing to do and nowhere to be.
That's the gem.
