If you’ve been following this blog, then you’re aware of my love for adventuring with my family, and that I often plan multi-generational, multi-family, trips.  I also love trips with friends, but these tend to be far and few between since coordinating time off can be a challenge with friends who are working professionals or moms with little kids, or both!

For my 40th birthday, I wanted to celebrate with both my family (our Grand Canyon Trip will hit the blog next), and a few of my closest friends.  In order to make this happen, I had to plan well in advance, and asked my friends to save the date nearly nine months prior! I reserved a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, Palm Springs AirBnB that I’ve been eyeing for a while as our home base for the trip (details at the end of this post) . I chose Palm Springs because the weather is wonderful in October, with average highs in the 80s!

Here is a breakdown of our girls weekend in Palm Springs.  I hope it helps inspire some of you to plan your own friend’s trip!

Friday: 

Most of our group lives in Los Angeles, or Orange County.  Although there is an airport in Palm Springs, I figured LAX would be the most convenient and cost-effective airport to fly into for my out-of-state friends.  Knowing the traffic driving out to Palm Springs could get very heavy on a Friday afternoon (ie 4 hours instead of 2), I only had one request for those flying into LAX – please arrive before Friday noon! I booked a hotel near the airport for those who flew in Thursday night.

We headed out from LA to Palm Springs a little before noon, and made it to Palm Springs about 2 hours later. When we got to our AirBnB, we set out some some snacks and wine that we brought, settled in, and relaxed.  

For dinner, we kept things casual and headed over to the Reef for some comfort food, burgers and cocktails. The Tiki Bar atmosphere was so fun, and we enjoyed our dinner and drinks.

Saturday: 

Since I love the outdoors, I planned a group hike during our girl’s weekend.  We went to Indian Canyons Saturday morning, and hiked the Andreas Canyon loop trail through the world’s second largest oasis of native California fan palms. It was a short and easy hike, and everyone really enjoyed the beautiful views!  There were more hikes that we could have done, but by the time we finished up, it was quite hot.  We decided to return to our AirBnB, and enjoy the pool. 

We ordered take out for lunch, and spent the afternoon relaxing at the house and lounging in the pool.  Although we took plenty of selfies throughout the weekend, I hired a photographer, Amanda Tipton for an official friend photoshoot.   It was 100% worth it – Amanda made us all feel at ease, and took beautiful photos that we will cherish forever!

We then drove out to the Palm Springs windmills for some golden hour pictures. I had asked all my friends to bring a white dress for these photos.

After our photos, we went to the Del Rey at the Villa Royale for dinner. We had a private dining table, and enjoyed the tapas style dinner.   We were done with dinner and back to our house by 9pm, ready for pajamas and Netflix.  It was a perfect day!

Sunday:

On our last morning, we assembled a bagel board and mimosas for breakfast.  Our fun-filled, glamorous, and restorative girls weekend came to an end, and we all agreed that we should try to make this an annual tradition.

Helpful Information and Tips: 

• LAX airport hotel- Residence Inn Los Angeles LAX Century Boulevard :  All suite, comfortable, hotel 1/2 a mile from LAX.
• Palm Springs AirBnb:  The Modern Territory: link to Instagram, AirBnB listing.  If you are new to AirBnB, you may use my referral link for $30 off your first booking.
•  Tiki Bar: The Reef Palm Springs.  411 E Palm Canyon Rd, Palm Springs, CA. 

  Tel: (760) 656-3839.

• Indian Canyons: Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. This group of canyons has several trails for hiking & horseback riding, plus picnic areas and a gift shop. 38500 South Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA.
• Del Rey Restaurant at the Villa Royale : Tapas style restaurant. 1620 S Indian Trail
  Palm Springs, CA  760-327-2314
• Custom Desert Red Velvet cake: Over the Rainbow Desserts 1775 E Palm Canyon Dr #150, Palm Springs, CA (760) 322-2253
• Photographer:  Amanda Tipton Photos
• Tip: Fall is busy season for Palm Springs. I considered a few places for my birthday dinner, but when I called one week prior, several of them were already booked up and unable to accommodate my party of 7.  It all worked out and we enjoyed the places we went, but my recommendation would be to book earlier if you have a big group!

This is not a sponsored post.  I did all the research to plan this weekend, and the opinions expressed in this post are my own.