A weekend in Laguna Beach
Earlier this year, I realized that I hadn’t done a girls-only trip in LA since my best friend and former roommate moved out there two years ago. Although we’d caught up over dinner and drinks when I was out west for work (and when she was back in NYC for work), we decided that it was high time for a proper catch-up weekend. Although she lives in Santa Monica, we thought it’d be fun to have a bit of a staycation, complete with ocean views–especially once our Sacramento-residing friend Katelyn decided to join us! 
We headed down to Orange County for a weekend at Laguna Beach House, and it was absolutely perfect. It was super chill: we took plenty of beach walks, sipped wine with ocean views, took a yoga class and read magazines by the pool. And it was just the bit of sunshine and friend time that I needed before heading back into a New York winter! (Here it is in video form if you missed it.)
First things first: we can’t say enough good things about Laguna Beach House. When we arrived, we were greeted with a (free!) glass of wine, which we enjoyed in the hot tub under the twinkly lights and then at the fire pit once it got dark. Our room was simple and comfortable with colorful accents–and a refrigerator, which I always appreciate! It also has free coffee and yogurt parfaits in the morning, and free milk and cookies at night. And the hotel is located right around the corner from the beach, and a short walk to the heart of the Laguna Beach shopping and restaurant district. Honestly: it checked every single box of my favorite things in a hotel, and it was the perfect base for a chill girls weekend in Laguna Beach. 
Another great perk is wine hour: the hotel serves free wine between 5 and 6pm everyday for sunset! Bonus: you can go down the street to Inn at Laguna Beach (their sister hotel) and take part there on their terrace overlooking the beach. The staff is super friendly and not stingy with the wine at all: it was such a great start to our Saturday night! 
My friend Katelyn is an early riser too, so we started Sunday morning with a sunrise walk on the beach: it was so incredible to have basically the entire beach to ourselves. 
Sunset on the beach is a free show every night. It’s easy to forget what a beautiful and geographically diverse country we live in: for as many far-flung vacations that we take to beautiful beaches, I think that Orange County has a pretty good selection of them too!
On Saturday morning, we started the day with a vinyasa flow yoga class at Yoga Works. All of us have fallen out of yoga shape a little bit, so it was challenging but also such a nice way to begin the weekend! Bonus: I used my flex location in ClassPass, so it was (kind of) free. Afterward, we went to Madison Square Garden for brunch: the food was great, but I think the real highlight was the dog-friendly backyard and storefront full of weird tchotchkes. 
We took a long walk on the beach that afternoon, and Aly showed us all the joys of tide pools: she found a bunch of crabs and sea urchins! 
On Sunday, we ended the trip with brunch at the Beachcomber Cafe in Crystal Cove State Park. It was a bit of a wait to be seated, but it’s located right ON the beach: not a bad place to wait!
Overall, it was such a fun trip and I’m so glad we made it happen! Definitely need to make more girls-only trips and more beachside trips part of life going forward.
Thanks to Aly and Katelyn for making it such a fun weekend, and many thanks to Laguna Beach House for kindly offering us a complimentary stay; however, all opinions are my own.
