Fun fact, I started this whole Yachting life with my best friend.
We met in University, both you driven Event Planners unsure of what post graduate life looked it. All we knew for certain was that we wanted to travel as much as possible, while pursuing our career goals.
Jeanine is now a luxury Wedding Planner based in Vancouver, while I’m still working on yachts globally. With our hectic schedules, we try to set aside one weekend every year to have some girlie time. After a trip to Mexico last year, we decided to stay close to the yacht this year and meet in Victoria, BC.
The dates worked perfectly with Jeanine’s birthday making it an extra special weekend.
On the Friday, I checked into our Airbnb rental for the weekend. I put the champagne on ice right away (prioroties!) and put the sparklers in her gorgeous Murchies birthday cake. If you haven’t been to Murchies yet I highly recommend it! (Their chai raspberry & vanilla latte is AH-mazing). The girls arrived shortly after and we sipped on champagne while getting ready for a night of dancing. There are so many unique boutique bars in Victoria, so we tried to do a mini bar hop starting at The Mint. After a night of dancing, singing to 90’s pop & nibbling on pizza, it was time to call it a night.
I’m a strong believer in sleeping in, it’s a rare luxury onboard so I took full advantage of a weekend away! After a lazy morning, we headed to Mo:Lé for breakfast & a ceasar (or two). This quant brunch bitro is the first place I take visitors, the food is always delicious and the variety is great for even the pickiest eaters. With the sun shining, we walked around downtown shopping, sipping on lattes & catching up on our recent travels. Wanting a quieter evening, we bought some appies and headed home for an at home spa night. Cake, champagne, face masks & a rooftop hot tub made for a quintessential girls night
I made sure I reserved high tea at The Empress Hotel weeks prior for the Sunday morning. I’ve done this once before and couldn’t wait to do it again. They recently reopened the Lobby Lounge in TheEmpress, it has such a classy yet modern feel. With a dress code of no jeans, it was the perfect excuse to put on a beautiful necklace and some heels. The savoury portion of the high tea is quite light however the dessert portion more than makes up for it – I had to take some dessert home I was so full. Feeling rather elegant after tea, we decided to drive out to Hatley Castle. On the ground of Royal Roads University, the castle is one of the most sought after wedding venues on Vancouver Island & we couldn’t get enough of the architecture. The historic building is surrounded by a dense forest and the lawn
goes all the way down to the ocean. Im going to pack a picnic in the summer and spend an afternoon here!
Back downtown, we had a lazy sunday lunch at The
Bard & Banker. Sitting by the fire, we spent hours chatting about life, love & our future travel plans.
My heart was so full after a weekend of friendship, laughter & girlie time.
Where is your go to destination for a girls weekend? I would love to hear all about it in the comments below!
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