How I do it: Girls Trip

Last October I took a girls trip with 3 other girls. We had an amazing time and the process of planning and making decisions was so easy and pleasure.
During and after getting back I have had a lot of questions, comments and stories on girls trips. A lot wanted to know how it went or how we all got to do everything wanted  to do while we were there. Since this girls trip went off without a hitch and easy breezy planning I thought I would share how it went and we did it.

1. First things First:
VERY Important- when getting a girls trip together make sure everyone gets along really well. You don't want to have to worry if someone is going to get into a tizzy or get their feelings hurt or have someone who is uncomfortable with another person on the trip.
Myself, SIL Christi who is my husbands brothers wife, AnnaBrooke who I will refer to as AB is the husbands first cousin, and Tiffany is the married to my husbands first cousin. Her husband and my husband were born on the same day just hours apart. Their moms are sisters and both went into labor the same day CRAZY I know. We all get along really well and like most of the same things and can just hang out and have a good time.

this photo was taken 3 years ago on my 30th birthday 



2. Location
Pick a place everyone all wants to go. For me I knew that my husband never wanted to go to New York and I knew that if I didn't go on a girls trip it probably wouldn't ever happen. Also look at what's going to be going on in that location the dates you are thinking of going. They have a big marathon in NYC end of September so we knew we didn't want to be caught up in all of that or busier and crowded.



3. Dates:
 After having a location your next step is to get with everyone and see when the best time for them to go is.
Myself and SIL knew that either September or October were good months for us being that our husbands would be in the field harvesting 12-15 hour days. They way our husbands work we hate to be gone when they are home or their down time because its rare. The other 2 girls were fine with those months and talking back and forth looking at dates and what's going on in everyone's family schedules we came to the dates October 1-5. We went around work schedules, kids, husbands and that makes it easier and in the long room your trip more relaxing because you know everything is in order not back home. Now if we had been gone on one of the busiest weeks in our schedules we would have been stressed the whole time and the trip wouldn't be as much fun. So make sure the dates you choose are the best for everyone going or your trip will not be as fun as you were expecting. Who wants to be on a fun trip with one girl stressed, tiffed, or anxious because things are all kinds of crazy back home.
Also discuss the day you leave and come back: for instance can everyone all leave in the morning or do we need to wait until afternoon and the same when coming back into town.

4. Budget:
Discuss on budget for the trip. Everyone wants the cheaper the better but make sure you know what you can't do and voice that. I have a family of 5 so I knew I knew that staying at the Plaza and fly first class wasn't going to work. I played around on Expedia and a few more online booking agencies with flights and hotels to get an idea of how much it would cost and once I got an realistic idea of how much it would be. That helped us because with a round about price we could all decided if that was something that would fit our budget or we needed to look at other dates or another location.

5. Planning:
What worked best for us was to meet for lunch because all of our kids would be in school and on the days any of is had to work we could always meet during lunch. We would have lunch and then break out our planners, notebook, iPads, phones and any information we had. Make a Pinterst board and invite everyone to pin on that board. That way while pinning places, things, restaurants, tips you all are involved and can see what is going on and if you really like something you can research more and find more tips that you didn't know.



Our first meeting:
we discussed what area we would want out hotel to be in. We all wanted to stay on Times Square so the next step was to go through different booking places and see what was going to be our best deal. We joked and said that would be our homework. A few days later I came across a really good deal and texted and emailed all the information to everyone so they could check out the hotel and make sure the flight times were going to be ok. After everyone agreeing it was a go I booked the trip through Expedia. I have always had really good luck with them and they have always been cheaper than my travel agent. You can email everyone the link and they can get online book the trip through their card. Or you can all meet and book everything while you are all together whatever is the easiest.
We said we would do some research and come to the meeting with 3 things that was on the top of our list. We also brought any information, tips, or anything helpful for planning the trip. We also discussed each of our top 3 things on the list. There were a few things that more than one of us wanted to do so that makes it less things. We wrote it all down and decided that the next lunch date we would pick restaurants. We also went to Social Media or anyone who has been there before for tips, recommendation, dos and don'ts or anything they would suggest. One of the girls in out group had already been there but it was a while ago so she kind of knew some things.
Next Meeting:
I found this map on Pinterest and printed off 4 of these for us to have at the meetings.

 

6. Itinerary:

We knew we didn't want to set be on a minute to minute schedule. We wanted to go at our own pace but didn't want to get there and be like ok what are we doing today and not have a game plan. We didn't want to waste any time going back and forth from location to location. 

From this map we marked all the things that were on our list to do and restaurants to see what all areas we would be in. This is how we made our rough draft itinerary. We listed the areas and then under them wrote what all was in that area to give us an idea of time we would be spending in that area. On the areas we didn't have a lot we would see what was close and grab and choose that area also.
We took a notebook jotted down the days we were going to be there and underneath them we wrote the things we wanted to do.
Day 1: Fly to NYC
Day 2: Kelly & Michael
Day 3: 9\11
Day 3: Soho, China Town, & Little Italy
Day 4: Our Last Day Brooklyn Bridge, Boss Lady


That's how it went down with ease. I cant wait to get started on another one.