When I told my husband I wanted to have a little Galentine’s Day celebration, he had no idea what this was. “What is Galentine’s Day? You get together with your girlfriends, dress in black and vent about men?” I couldn’t help but laugh. I think he was thinking more of an Anti-Valentine’s Day celebration which isn’t what Galentine’s Day is at all. It’s about celebrating the girlfriends in your life, getting together and showing your love for each other.
Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec explains it best, “What’s Galentine’s Day? Oh, it’s only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, my ladyfriends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it, breakfast-style. Ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus frittatas!”
And the best part about Galentine’s Day is you can make it whatever you want. Brunch + Mimosas, Wine Tasting, Movie Slumber Party, Pot Luck, Game Night. It’s a chance to recognize the impact that our friends have on our lives and celebrate!
We wore our PJ’s, drank some bubbly and wine, ate charcuterie and sweets, gave some toasts, played some games and just talked and hung out with each other. I also made pasta from a recipe I saw on TikTok (yes I caved and downloaded TikTok) and it was pretty tasty! You can find the Baked Feta Tomato Pastarecipe here.
Of course we can and should celebrate our gals anytime throughout the year. It’s just something about wearing your PJ’s while sipping on pink champagne with your besties that makes this holiday feel extra special. ❤️
Today my sister-in-law texted me a video of us from a year ago. It was nighttime, 78 degrees outside, all dressed up, sitting in a cycle rickshaw (where the person pedals on the bike and you are in the back), smiling, laughing, celebrating my bachelorette in Austin, Texas! It’s crazy to think one whole year has already passed since we were there. I can’t wait until we can take another girls trip. In the meantime though I thought I would write a quick blog post from that weekend reminiscing on my time in Austin with some of my besties.Also, because who says you can’t write a blog about a fun trip that happened in the past. 😊
My friends surprised me and organized everything. From planning, communicating with each other, getting the house, tickets, food, goody-bags..just everything. They are amazing! We stayed in a big house with a pool (quirky place with an elevator to get to the main living space) in between Lake Travis and downtown Austin.
One day we rented a huge boat (and I do mean HUGE, I think the boat holds around 20-30 people). The driver took us all around Lake Travis which was a blast. Another day was spent at the pool, floating around, drinking mojitos and playing games.
At night we went out to Sixth Street and it reminded me a little like Mardi Gras; craziness. Highlights from the nights include: Delicious dinner, Champagne Bottles, Bull Riding, Table Dancing, Photo Booths, Unlimited Free Drinks, Strip Club Stories and Cracking up with my best friends.
It’s hard to capture everything when you are having so much fun but below is a video of a glimpse of our weekend (with some of the footage that was appropriate enough to share 😜).
I would love to travel back here again someday (and listen to live music since we never got around to this!). Definitely recommend traveling to Austin, Texas because there is something there for everyone. But really, anywhere you go as long as you are surrounded by the people you love will be amazing.
Looking for a fun, all-inclusive, affordable, beautiful beach vacation for a girls trip? Head to Punta Cana! My girlfriends and I traveled to the Dominican Republic in August 2018 for our annual girls trip and we had a blast.
We chose to travel to the Dominican Republic for a couple of different reasons.
Distance. The plane ride from Seattle to the Dominican Republic is very reasonable. We took a red eye flight from Seattle to Charlotte, North Carolina. Then had a 2 hour layover and flew another 3 1/2 hours from Charlotte before arriving in Punta Cana that morning.
Weather. We wanted to plan a tropical girls trip with beautiful beaches and scenery and that is exactly what we got. We went to Punta Cana during the last week in August and the weather couldn’t have been better.
Price. This trip was very affordable, especially since we chose to stay at an all-inclusive resort. The best decision with unlimited food/drinks (and unlimited bottles of our favorite drink – champagne). The total amount paid with round trip flights, transportation, accommodation, food, drinks and excursions was around $1,200 for 5 days.
The Boss. The Mom. The Hot Mess. The Bride. The Wild One.
We stayed at Majestic Colonial Resortand booked our all-inclusive trip through Expedia. We arrived at the resort and were immediately greeted with drinks and some small bites while we waited for our butler (yes we had a butler during our stay) to check us in and show us to our room.
While waiting for our room, we took the short walk to the beach, went swimming and got some pineapple drinks from our favorite bartender. That night we went to dinner at one of the six restaurants there and explored the resort. My favorite restaurant from the trip was Ma + Suri which was delicious hibachi style food with the best atmosphere.
We spent our next day at the beach, relaxing and enjoying the sunshine. Punta Cana is similar to Mexico where vendors will walk for miles in the hot sun and relentlessly attempt to sell you things. It really wasn’t hard for them to sell us souvenirs because we were eager to buy them. We all got henna tattoos and purchased jewelry with the famous Larimar stone. This stone is typically only found in the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean so we stocked up.
The next day we had a pool day and lounged around the main pool areas. Our butler got us our own personal golf cart and drove us around the resort to whatever places we wanted to go. Swim up bars, pool snacks, inflatable floaties, music, sunshine and endless tropical drinks makes for a fun day in paradise. Mid-afternoon they also have a foam party, so the lazy river pool is filled with foam to swim in.
The following day we decided to do an excursion. The resort makes it very easy to plan since they have an excursion booth on sight and everything is within walking distance. We chose to do the Shark and Sting Ray Tour. We took a speed boat about 30 minutes out to this area in the middle of the ocean where they had the sea animals. It felt like a sand bar that was full of people and other tours (there was even a pirate ship excursion with pirates walking around). We put our fins and snorkel gear on and jumped in. The sting rays have their stingers removed and are held and passed around to tourists each day. You are able to swim around with the nurse sharks in this huge under water cage. It was a very memorable experience swimming above the sharks and being able to touch the string rays. But honestly it made me feel sad thinking about the sea animals living in this way and I wouldn’t do this excursion again.
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We spent the rest of our days enjoy the sunshine and exploring the resort. They have a show every night and one night we went to see their number one hit, Michael Jackson. An impersonator with lots of singing and dancing. Later we went to the resort sports bar and watched/sang Karaoke with the locals and other tourists. One night we put on our bath robes, got on the golf cart and got some late night eats because why not, it’s vacation!
We had 4 nights at Majestic Colonial Resort and that was the perfect amount of time. Any more nights would have been too many in my opinion since we saw and did everything at the resort during our time there. The one thing we did not do was venture out and explore Punta Cana. If you are looking for an adventurous vacation where you are out and about exploring the city, Punta Cana may not be the best place to do this. Where it lacks in local bars and cultural sights, it makes up for in the all-inclusive food/drinks and beautiful beaches. Going to Punta Cana is an easy way to experience an exotic destination while feeling safe, comfortable and pampered the entire time you are there. If this sounds like your type of vacation, I recommend planning a trip! Plus, girls trips are the best.
Today I was reminiscing and looking through photos of my bridal shower in June 2019 and thought I would share! My in-laws hosted the shower (my husbands cousins) at their moms home in Mercer Island and it was the perfect day.
I had my makeup done in the morning (for the first time ever besides one time when I got fake eye lashes glued on for Halloween). The makeup artist was the same artist who did my makeup for my wedding so this was my wedding day trial. I loved how it came out! (Future brides – I recommend scheduling your makeup trial the same day as you will be out and about. This way you can see how well it lasts and can show your friends/family.) Joey Van Pelt was amazing and made me feel so beautiful. Check her out if you are looking for a talented makeup artist in the Washington area.
My best friend picked me up and we drove to my in-laws house. Once we walked through the door, I was immediately greeted by my closest girlfriends and beautiful women in my family.
We drank champagne from the “Bubbly Bar” (because who doesn’t love a Bubbly Bar), mingled on the patio in the sunshine, took some photos (Dress is from Lulus-find it here) and played some games before sitting down to eat together.
My bridesmaids but together 3 games. 1. How Old Was The Bride? The girls guessed how old I was in each photo (even my mom had a hard time remember my age on some pictures) How Old Card Template found here. 2. Advice for the bride. We took a polaroid together and then they put all the photos and advice cards in a scrapbook. I also put all my cards in the book because I love saving cards and looking back on them. You can find the Advice Card Template here. 3. Does the Bride really know the Groom? I always get nervous being the center of attention but this was a fun game to play. And for the record I know Tommy pretty well 🙂 Bride knows the Groom Template found here.
We ate a delicious lunch and enjoyed each others company (my cousin in-law gave a little toast that made me tear up a bit). It felt so special to have had many of the important women in my life all eating together in one place.
Later I opened gifts in front of everyone in the living room. (Always nerve-racking being the center of attention but I felt at ease with my best friends there). I just remember feeling so grateful and so very loved.
We had dessert that my talented sister-in-law and mother-in-law made before saying goodbye to everyone. (I don’t have the exact dessert recipes but here is one that looks similar if you are interested). Then after the shower some of my girlfriends and I went out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants in Edmonds, 190 Sunset for dinner and martinis.
To say I felt the love this day is an understatement. I will always cherish these memories and I feel so very lucky to have many beautiful women in my life who I can call my best friends and family.
Nicole Kanuch 