Birthdays and Babymoons

Since our birthdays are just two days apart, Nate and I have made a tradition of gathering our friends together and heading to Laughlin for a weekend of fun and kayaking.  It's my favorite weekend of the year!  As September approaches and bouts of fatigue start to set in again, we reluctantly canceled our trip this year, but we still want to treat ourselves to a birthday/babymoon getaway so we can relax and enjoy our last vacation sans baby.

Relax: to release or bring relief from the effects of tension, anxiety, etc.  We do a lot of couch-sitting when we're home, but it's hard to relax, in the full sense of the term, when you're home and there is a laundry list of things that could be getting done. 

I love to go places we've never been before, and Nate likes to spend the least amount of time in the car possible.  With these two conditions in mind, I scoured the internet for SoCal's "best hidden secrets."  Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of "secrets" that we haven't already seen.  There is one place, though, where neither of us has been, despite the fact I lived in San Diego for almost 10 years:  A little town about an hour outside of the city called Julian.

Julian is a historic town known for its apple pies and nestled in the Cuyamaca mountains.  With little to do -- yet enough to keep you busy for an afternoon -- it will make the perfect weekend getaway.  Even better, we were able to snag a "free" timeshare with our ThankYou rewards (thank you, Citibank!).

To sweeten things up a little bit, I have been hoarding gift cards to my favorite day spa, Glen Ivy.  On our way to Julian, I'll be surprising Nate with a day of relaxing amongst a plethora of pools and hot springs, a couples massage, and (my favorite) a visit to the Grotto underground moisturizing experience.  I'm excited to finally share my favorite guilty pleasure with Nate!

4 weeks to go...let the countdown begin!