Tales from the Mythical Land Called Southern California

Alternately titled: St. Regis Monarch Beach Hotel and Laguna Beach, you are so lovely and hence have ruined my life.

 

Well, I have uncovered myself from my post-trip laundry and was all ready to blog about my adventure but then I got swept up in preparing for birthday season (you could read about it here, here, and here, but simply put, from the months of March to May, we have a slew of birthdays thrown in with Easter). The kickoff to the season is at my house this Saturday, so I’ve been a bit busy.
 

 

Which is a far cry from my incredible time in California. (Especially the part when I went to Spa Gaucin to get a massage and afterwards, ate grapes and sipped wine in the cozy post-treatment room).

 

First of all, it was 70 degrees and sunny Every. Single. Day. And get this, people actually go OUTSIDE to walk and get exercise. They don’t pack up their kids to go walking for exercise . . . at the mall. And it should be noted that outside included a beautiful beach and bluff with lots of flowers. This definitely creates a different experience than walking past the store fronts of Forever 21 and Wetzel Pretzel.

 

Also, there were healthy food options everywhere I looked. For breakfast, I had a Mediterranean omelet with roasted tomatoes, artichokes, feta cheese, and chicken sausage. Another day, I had an egg white burrito with chicken chorizo. (Which totally balanced out the pound of prosciutto and fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese I had on my “ham and cheese” sandwich). (I did say healthy “options,” but seriously, I could not pass up that prosciutto).

 

It just makes me realize how hard I work to have an active lifestyle in Michigan . . . especially with all the ice we got today. At the end of March. Mother Nature has no mercy for us, none! (And not even in the summer because in July, we’ll have 90 degree heat with 100 percent humidity). People just seem to have a much easier time being healthy. Maybe that’s why the overall vibe was laid back and casual, as in, “Hey, I am going for a seven mile hike today up the coast and bluff. But afterwards I might want to eat at a really cool restaurant so I am going to wear my ‘good’ workout clothes that actually look like an outfit, not some baggy, faded maternity rags.”

 

I realize that where we were staying was probably not representative of the major cross section of Southern California’s socioeconomic status. I mean, I am sure not everyone lives in houses like this (although MTV would like to have us think so):

Houses right by our hotel. 
Check out those windows!

 

Houses right on Laguna Beach.
What's it like when the ocean is
your backyard?

  

At least my family who lives in Bakersfield in Northern California doesn’t have a house like that.

 

But it seriously was beautiful and I don’t even know what the word is, maybe unique?

 

I’m thinking that maybe the cool artists’ colony in Laguna helped with that vibe. We went on a tour and our guide was amazing. We got to see how etching was done and watch an artist paint in her gallery. Everything just seemed so relaxed and natural and effortless. It really got me thinking . . .

 

I know part of traveling is appreciating home (which I am coming to), but there was a huge part of me that was kind of depressed that living in the suburbs of southeastern Michigan isn’t as beautiful and artistically inspiring as Laguna. Part of me left thinking that maybe I was accidently born in the wrong state. (And maybe traveling without a diaper bag and a 30 plus pound weight on my left hip made things seem really relaxed and effortless. Just a thought as I am writing this out).

 

And seriously, I would love to live there except for the following reasons:

•  I know for a fact that I could not afford to live at the St. Regis for more than a half a day.
•  I have an overwhelming fear of earthquakes that could break California right off into the ocean.
•  I could run into Vicki or even worse, Alexis, from The Real Housewives of Orange County (Tamara, I would be OK with seeing you since you dropped that dead weight names Simon).
•  I would miss my friends and family.
•  Finding a new pediatrician seems like an awful lot of work.

So I’ll leave you with the pictures of The Mythical Land of California (minus the spa pictures (obviously) and my adventures in eating sushi because I had to concentrate all my efforts on not focusing on the squishiness of raw fish in my mouth. And taking of picture AND doing that was much too much).

 

On the way to the pool.

The actual hotel.
Or my pretend home, as
I like to think of it.

The hotel from a distance.
Too many rooms to clean,
if I actually lived there, right?

Lemmon trees right on the property!
Seriously?!

 

 

The beginning of the 7 mile
hike up the beach and bluff.

 

 

About 5 miles into our walk. 
See what I mean about the scenery
being more inspiring than the mall?

Harrington and I on Laguna Beach.

Laguna Beach.
*sigh*

 

 

Feel Good Friday – California Dreaming

Check out The Girl Next Door Grows Up!

As you know, I have been in a funk. I talk about it here and here. And to add to all of that, I Marie was well enough to leave the house, which sounded like a good idea. Except that it was 14 degrees outside and Thomas thinks coats are a form of torture. He expressed himself to everyone in Macy’s and the parking lot his strong dislike of coats. *shudder*

But this is no time to dwell on this because it’s FEEL GOOD FRIDAY! Yea!

Guess what? In March, I get to go here. That’s right the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana, California! How exciting!! How is this happening, you ask? For the same reason I got to go to Vancouver in the fall: riding Harrington’s coat tails.


*Here's where I would post some pictures, but Blogger and The Babes are not allowing that right now.*
As you know, I had issues with feeling guilty for enjoying the benefits of his work. I didn’t actually *earn* it since it was his gig. But after this week of hardly leaving the house, I’m feeling like I deserve a few days in a spa with an ocean side view. It’s totally worth the awkward feeling I have when conversing with strangers that I have little in common with.

And if the St. Regis sounds familiar, you would be right. It has been the site of several of Real Housewives of Orange County episodes, like this one with Tamara and Gretchen.  How cool is that?!

So that is my happy thought on Friday: another spa-venture in sunny and warm California.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Spa-venture

I am back from my Girls’ Weekend, and let me just begin by saying, this: a plain, old massage or pedi at a regular salon/spa will never, ever compare to my spa-venture. I am forever spoiled.  My friend, Ann, and I had been planning this for a year and a half. Sometimes when I plan and plan and build it up, there’s a tendency for the experience not to live up to my extremely high expectations. So not the case, thank goodness!

We went to Boyne Mountain in northern Michigan. We stayed at The Mountain Grand Lodge and went to Solace Spa. Not knowing what to expect, we were pleasantly surprised when we walked into our room.

Rustic Mountain meets Shabby Chic

View from Our Room

Friday night, we kept a low profile so we would be ready for our 10am Gentle Yoga(ish) class (really just stretching without all the poses and connecting with breath). We checked into the locker room and got our locker. And by “locker”, I mean a charming closet with a robe and towel. And by “locker room”, I mean a luxurious space with tons of products to use.

I felt that if I was truly going to embrace this spa-venture, I should try The European Spa Bathing Ritual. For those novices like me, first you get as “nude as comfortable,” and for me that was my tankini (as opposed to other women who were walking around nude as nude). (And if I looked like that, I may have done it, too). It’s like circuit training for the elimination of toxins from the pores. There are three stations: a whirlpool, a steam sauna with eucalyptus, and a cedar sauna. (The steam sauna was my favorite; who knew humidity could be so relaxing if I didn’t have to chase The Babes at the playground). After each station, a quick, cool shower is suggested. I repeated the process before I took a real shower with lovely lavender- scented products.

Then I got dressed in my ultra cozy robe and sipped on pear-infused water in this private, dimly lit waiting room with chaise couches where silence was strongly suggested. (And let me tell you, it was so quiet in there that the person next to me eating a strawberry sounded likes he was riffling through a bag of chips). My masseuse came to get me for the Silky Smooth Treatment. My whole body was exfoliated, rinsed, sprayed, and moisturized with these wonderful rosemary-scented products. She worked some serious magic because I was beginning to feel a strange sensation: relaxation.

Afterwards, I was offered more pear-infused water and strawberries before I was whisked away upstairs (still in my comfy robe) to the salon for my manicure. During this time, she offered me a glass of champagne. So here I am, sitting in this incredibly plush robe with silky smooth skin, looking out at this beautiful scenery through floor to ceiling windows, sipping on champagne, getting my nails done thinking I had died and gone to spa heaven. And the manicurist could not have been nicer.

I didn’t know something like this even existed. I mean I’ve read about them in fairy tales found in US Weekly, but I didn’t know they were available to us mere mortals. I have lived a sheltered life when it comes to spa treatments. I got a massage done at the gym once, and I had to walk out right into the busy hallway. Total mood killer.

I didn’t realize how the European bathing ritual and distance away from the general public really boosted the overall spa experience. The Relaxation Room was like a little cocoon. The serenity gained on this trip has completely inspired me to incorporate bits and pieces of this experience into my regular life (until I can scheme a way back there). I am not going to consider pampering a luxury; it made me feel too sane and peaceful. And everyone wants to be around a sane and peaceful person as opposed to a stressed-out maniac.

So I’ll start doing yoga again since I hadn’t realized that I had been holding my breath for the past two years. I am going to use their lavender lotion and use eucalyptus oil in my shower every once in awhile. (Now I just have to work on finding that robe. . .) I am also going to attempt to recreate the feeling from the relaxation room. (Suggestions)? And also, Champagne should not be just for special occasions. Because champagne makes everything special. Even Thursday nights while watching Jersey Shore.

In other lessons learned that weekend, ridiculous and desperate drunk guys don’t get any cuter with age . . .or with kids. More on that next time. . .

Sounds  juicy, right?

Anyway, enough about me and my spa-venture. How are you doing, Friends?

NOTE: No one from Solace Spa or Boyne Mountain compensated me for this trip.  This is all me.