Girlie Weekend: The Highlights

I could go on and on (and on and on) about what a fun, fabulous, and relaxing time we had in Philadelphia.

I will spare you the “on and on”, but suffice to say: It was excellent.

Here are the highlights:

1. My sister found her wedding dress.

This was a big reason for the trip: access to shopping, especially boutiques. Where she lives in North Carolina is not very big-city, bright-lights. As a matter of fact, she originally suggested we all meet in NYC, but that was way out of our collective budgets. We converged in Philadelphia instead.

After wandering into and out of several stores, we walked into MaxStudio. Dr. Sis tried on several dresses, and settled on the perfect one. It really is lovely.

2. I found my best woman dress, also at MaxStudio. Completely and totally second in importance to Dr. Sis’ dress, but still nice to have checked off the wedding to-do list. I don’t have a lot of opportunity for leisurely shopping, so it was nice to be able to capitalize on the time spent doing it girlie weekend.

3. Juju Organics Spa and Salon: OMG. Let me repeat that, so you understand how much I mean it: OMG.

If you are going to or live in (or near) Philadelphia: GO TO THIS SPA. The salon is separate, just a couple of doors down from the spa, and it’s where my Mom and Jess (Dr. Sis’ MOH) had their pedicures (and in my mom’s case, manicure). I can’t speak to the experience there, although Dr. Sis and I headed there after our services and were offered wine, so that’s good, right?

The ambience at the spa is immediately relaxing and lovely. It is very quiet. Dr. Sis had a 90-minute deep tissue massage that had her floating on air afterward. I had a facial with microdermabrasion, and I wanted to marry my aesthetician and bring her home with me. It was heavenly. I had never had microdermabrasion, and I intend to find a spa in Pittsburgh that does it chemical-free because after my facial my skin felt and looked wonderful. My hour-long service also included scalp and hand massage. Honest to God, it was one of the most lovely things I have ever had happen to my body.

4. On Saturday night, I had possibly the greatest meal of my life at Tinto Wine Bar. Mucho thanks to Joe (my college buddy and former South Side roommate, owner and operator of Alfa in Philadelphia) who got us reservations for an early dinner. Every last tapas that came out of the kitchen, including our shared dessert, was better than the last; the service was wonderful; and we had a lovely bottle of white wine (the grape was Albarino, but I completely forget the label). We ate and drank and laughed for two hours. It was delightful in just about every way.

5. Getting to see Joe when we finally made our way to Alfa after dinner, and having Miss @MamaPhan (who blogs over here  drive all the way to Philly to join us for a drink. It was great to meet her after this time of knowing her online, and she gave my sister the low-down on real estate procedures. (Dr. Sis and her fiance are buying a property  in NC.) And I haven’t seen Joe since he drove Dan and I across the Verranzano-Narrows Bridge for our flight to Italy for our honeymoon.

Like I said, I could go on and on. The company was stellar, we actually accomplished wedding-related stuff, and I got to discover a city I had never visited in depth before. Yeah, yeah, I missed the kids (eventually) and my husband (actually almost immediately upon checking into our hotel room), but sometimes, you just gotta get away.

For those of you who are curious, and who watched me provide #megabusupdates on Twitter, that post is coming up soon! Stay tuned, as they say.