Okay, when we mention this business; this Girlfriend Getaway business, our guy friends' eyes light up, and they become almost giddy: "OHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHH! So you guys are going to be coordinating, like slumber parties? With girls in SHORTIE-PAJAMAS?! HAVING PILLOW FIGHTS!!!!!"

Please wait a minute, while I finish my eye-rolling.

There, thanks.

I know it is just the utterly predictable Y chromosome driving the fantasies, and THEIR ideas involve a few ahem additional elements and scenarios. But the basics? Kind of sound like a lot of fun.

When I envision it, I think "Hey, I totally have those awesome pink shortie-pajamas. And I LOVE slumber parties - when was the last time I had one of those?" (ed. note: a one-night stand does not constitute a slumber party. No judging)

And the pillow fights? Those sound like a great way to relieve the stress of the workweek, to be quite honest. Yoga-schmoga. And if one of your friends has been a little haughty and full or herself lately, you can use the heavy pillow on her. You know, the one pulled from the leather couch.

In the guys' vision of the slumber party, the night would inevitably conclude with the sprinkler system activating, subsequently drenching the shortie-pajamas, and causing the girlfriends to spontaneously, for no apparent reason, make out with each other.

In my vision, the pillow fighting results in everyone losing at least 5 pounds, necessitating the consumation of 4 wooden-spoonfulls of freshly-mixed cookie dough. To replace the electrolytes...or something like that.

The Golightly Girls adore the W Hotel, and guess who is offering a Catwalk Package? 

That was a rhetorical question, which we're sure you answered correctly.  We know you're smart.

The W Hotel had a rhetorical of it's own, when it asked "Where will you be Fashion Week?" 

I'm sure they meant for us to shout, in unison "AT THE W IN NYC!", which would be fantastic...

Next year.  Next year. 

Now, if YOU are not up to your dangly earrings in work/family/handwashing delicates/other stuff, and are able to fly off on a whim (we LOVE whims!): 

"Please contact Maya Stanic at the W Hotels of New York, 1.212.726.9534, Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM Eastern Standard Time. If you call outside these hours, please leave a message and your telephone call will be promptly returned the next business day."

Aren't they sweet?

If you DO go, please report back!  And please also drool over the Carolina Herrera collection on our behalf. 

 

The Raisins will not be invited on our future Girlfriend Getaways, but we're sending Zandra an invitation right now.

After a weekend in Austin, TX, I have yet another reason to indulge my girl-crush on Sandra Bullock.  She makes fantastic relationship choices (Ryan Gosling, and now, happy marriage to Jesse James), entertaining movies (Love Potion #9, Two Weeks Notice), giant donations to charity ($1 million to Red Cross/Hurricane Katrina), and now, she also makes environmentally-safe candles.

Bullock owns Bess Bistro in downtown Austin, and a recent addition to the restaurant is the teensy-tiny case of organic candles, behind the host desk, which are designed to complement the smells of food.

This is one of those ideas I hear about, and then say "oh for crying out loud - how did I not think of that?"  Because when you're cooking, and also want to have the ambience of candles...oh, who are we kidding, I don't cook.  But I do have food delivered, and the food smells typically do not really mesh with many of the candles I have strewn throughout the home.

Miss Sandy,

 

as I'm sure she'd let me call her, after we went shoe shopping together, is also known for being conscientious, and she actually put money into researching a way to create an eco-friendly candle - rather than just use the standard methods that often produce carginogens.

Carcinogens = bad

Candle scents = good

It's some challenging math, I know.

If you're in the Austin area, pick up a Bessence Candle at 500 W. Sixth St. 

And tell Miss Sandy that Saturday afternoon shoe shopping works best for me.

If you're not in the Austin area, but would like to be, stay tuned to HolidayGolightly.com...we're adding the trips soon! 

For those of you who are happily coupled, and plan to indulge in romantical (it's a word) activities this Thursday, please go about your business.  If you are single (swingin' or otherwise), we've got a Valentine's Day idea for you.

 

 

Instead of dreading the holiday, and bemoaning the fact that you're single, get your other single girlfriends together for a night of celebrating Singletondom, with a holiday that is heavily chocolate-focused.

You don't have to straighten your hair.  You don't have to shave your legs.  You don't have to wear makeup.  You don't have to pack condoms or K-Y in your purse. 

Put on your favorite elastic-waistband pants and slippers, pick up a bottle of wine, and head over to the friend's, whose house is the cleanest, or has the biggest TV.

This is the perfect opportunity to play "Who has the most painful first-date story", and don't forget to give out prizes for the winner.

The E! channel is also broadcasting a special entitled "20 Acts of Love Gone Wrong".  Perfect!  Check your local listings. 

Girls, print this out, tack it to the wall and get out your darts.  You should be finished with that photo of your ex, as Valentine's Day has passed.  You'll need a new target.

Although this is a Friendly Target, as well as your new "To Do" list.

Pick a city - ANY city, email your girlfriends, then prepare to pack your bags.

Coming in March...The List, in no particular order.  Except alphabetical.

Austin, TX

Boulder, CO

Chicago, IL

Las Vegas, NV 

Martha's Vineyard, MA

Oahu, HI

Park City, UT 

Portland, OR

San Francisco, CA 

Scottsdale, AZ

Seattle, WA

Vail, CO

Vancouver BC, CANADA

And more to come...later...

Honestly, have you really been to every one on this list already, and you need more?

We here, at Holiday Golightly, spent President's Day honoring our past leaders.  Some people may honor by sharing stories, memorable moments in history, moments of silence, blah blah. 

We honor by schussing down wide runs of bright, powdery snow, singing "GOD BLESS SUNDANCE" at the top of our lungs.  It's a familiar tune, just with different words.  We'll teach you sometime.

Are you still skeptical as to how this is related to President's Day?

We stayed at the Sundance Resort, which was founded by Robert Redford, who played Bob Woodward in "All the President's Men". 

See? 

PRESIDENT-RELATED

We'd like you to share in the Sundance love, so check out their...

Spring Skiing Package

Shed a few layers and come enjoy the greatest snow on earth under blue sunny skies. This special promotional package includes: 

Photo - abcnews.com

Oftentimes, when having a Girlfriend Getaway in a far-off land, you and your girlfriends will have different flights into and out of the destination.  And sometimes, one of your girlfriends may have a wee bit more trouble in getting back home...and sometimes, her story is just so bad that you can't stop laughing at the fact that her experience went like this:

"My first 3 flights at London City were cancelled. They kept putting me on another flight and another.  There was ONE ticketing agent for KLM working (poor thing.)  

One guy freaked out and yelled at her and had two policemen with machine guns show up.  Oops. My *ss-kissing of the agent (which I was doing shamelessly) paid off because she put me on the direct BA flight (which she was not supposed to do).  But that flight was at HEATHROW.

(To revisit: London City is on the furthest SE side of London; Heathrow the furthest SW)

So I had to take 2 trains and 2 subways to Heathrow, which took two hours.

I got there, waited in a HUGE line only to be told that the jack*ss (I mean, nice lady) at London City didn’t ticket it correctly.  I had to go wait in another line at KLM to get ticketed correctly, then back to BA.  

I was just going to make it under the wire—cutting it really close.  Sweating, panicking. Got through security and to the gate (yay!) at which time they announced the flight was delayed. Then delayed again. Then delayed again--4 hours ultimately.  

Then they lost my bag."

And you're sitting there thinking "umm...well, my flight was delayed a half hour, and I had to wait to get my Diet Coke..." 

 

 

Wellllllll...with our sadly devalued U.S. dollar, maybe not right now...

The Golightly Girls have just returned from the U.K. and we are not looking forward to our credit card statement this month.

Starbucks tall latte?  3 pounds.  Which wouldn't sound outrageous, if 3 pounds weren't the same as $6.

 

 

 

Everything is twice as expensive there, and yes the $20 mojitos we had at the Soho Hotel were delicious, thanks.

And mojitos?  Kind of green.

Green?

St. Patrick's Day.

Go ahead and pinch yourselves. 

(Ed. note: if you're stamping your feet, impatiently, and hollering "Where are the Girlfriend Getaways?!  You promised!", please take this time to practice your zen meditation.  We have to unpack first.)

Happy Thursday!  We, here at Holiday Golightly, are almost-almost-almost ready with our new and improved website, which will offer several NEW (you're getting that it will be "new" right?) features.  One of which will be a category called "On Our Radar" which will be any and all Girlfriend Getaway trips that we stumble across, in which we think you might be interested.

These will not, necessarily, be trips we book for you, but rather trips that are offered in destinations that we will most likely be adding to our arsenal at some future date.

With that being said, here is a first look at what is On Our Radar right now:

 

Florida
Fort Myers Beach, from $1,965
The Women's Spa-Sail Escape Week package includes six nights' accommodations—for the price of five—at the 225-room Pink Shell Beach Resort and Spa. It's located at the tip of Estero Island, a seven-mile-long barrier island commonly known as Fort Myers Beach. The highlight of the package is an Offshore Sailing School's sailing or power-cruising course of your choice: "learn to sail" for beginners, the intermediate "performance sailing," or "bareboat cruising preparation." Each course consists of a total of 14 hours of on-the-water instruction sessions Monday through Thursday on a sailboat or powerboat, six hours of seminars, a solo practice sail or power cruise (without an instructor aboard) on Friday, and a gala graduation dinner with certification awards on Friday night. A course-appropriate textbook and a copy of Doris Colgate's "Sailing: A Woman's Guide" are included. Other perks include a certificate for up to three spa packages of your choice to be used at the hotel's Aquagene Spa, an icebreaker party upon your arrival on Sunday, a dinner gathering on Wednesday, and a souvenir T-shirt. Rates start from $1,965 per person.

 

 When: Aug. 3-9, 2008.

Details: Taxes are included. The resort fee is an additional $10 per night. Based on double occupancy; single supplement is $365.

Contact: 800/221-4326, offshore-sailing.com.