#BajaBabes Part One ~ Todos Santos Mexico

Hi Friends! So as you are aware, I recently took the most amazing trip to Mexico with girlfriends Shauna from Chic Over 50 and Sheree from She She Show and I had just been waiting for a few more pictures from various photographers that we shot with in order for me to properly share this experience with you.  Those pics landed in my inbox over the weekend and I realized there was just SO much content,  I must break this 5 day trip into 3 separate blog posts and I will release them over the next couple of weeks … starting with today’s post:  Part One ~ Todos Santos.

Firstly you should know that the three of us have become such great friends and we really travel well together (not to mention we have very similar/yet different fashion sense), that we’ve become this fabulously experienced,  traveling trio. So when the opportunity for us to venture off to Mexico together, we were beyond thrilled and decided to refer to ourselves as the Baja Babes. 

So let me please tell you how the Baja Babes first two days rolled out.  I flew to Salt Lake City to meet up with Shauna and then the two of us flew directly to SJD Los Cabos Mexico International Airport.  Our driver, Uncle Chuck (who I’ll talk about later), snapped this pic of us.  You can tell we were totally ready to have a FAB time. 

We then took a scenic 1 hour drive through the mountainous desert, completely bypassing Cabo (…which I liked as we were not on a touristy trip.  This customized trip was created to really show us the beauty of Mexico away from all the tourists.) going North up the Pacific coast. We then arrived at the hidden, modern and stylish, boutique hotel, The Hotelito, …

 where we met the owner Jenny ~ and her goat, El Chapo. 

Jenny is British and has a background in modeling and interior design.  Before Shauna and I checked in, we were greeted by SheShe, who had flown in earlier AND with a margarita and limonada which are always included with all guests. (side note: on the flight over, I sat next to a young girl who BIG TIME had the flu.  Shauna, BTW, sat behind me next to two perfectly healthy individuals.  So I decided that it would be best for me to consume TWO margaritas as … you know …  tequila kills everything …and it did.   ARRIBA! )

We then each selected one of the 4 free-standing suites we each wanted to sleep in (you can also rent Hacienda de Chilicote, which is a private home on site), changed our clothes and then scoped out the colorful and contemporary grounds.  #YayJenny

Now ~ please meet Nina Ornstein, Founder & Producer of The Paradise Story.   Nina creates curated travel  and media itineraries and created this very special trip for us.  My last post, Part 3, will cover just exactly why you, your girlfriends, and your family will want to work with an expert like, Nina. She’s super fun, highly experienced and if we were to ever have a 4th musketeer … it would be Nina.

Anyhoo, after we settled in, we went into town and had dinner at one of Nina’s favorite restaurants, El Zaguan, where we dined on fresh ceviche, mole, carpaccio, pollo con salsa poblano and enjoyed local Baja wines from Valle de Guadalupe. 

The next day we wanted to capture the early morning light and shot by the saltwater pool in our Lime Ricki swimsuits.  EVERYONE wears these suits.  You know that, right?!

And rocked our The Colombian Marketplace cover-ups. *** use code #alwayschic for 20% off your order of $70 or more!

We then quickly changed and headed out to Playa las Palmas …

which used to be a sugar mill, back in the day, and Todos Santos itself was once considered Baja’s sugarcane capital. 

Playa las Palmas is an amazing palm forest with roaming wild horses …

.. and a fabulous beach. 

After playing with a drone and frolicking on the beach, we grabbed our GiGi New York totes they gifted us (along with other travel accessories) …

and headed back to Hotelito for a special brunch that was waiting for us of Huevos ala Mexicanos with fresh mango, passion fruit & papaya.  We then had a little down time to laze around in hammocks and just relax. 

Later that afternoon we cleaned up and met some of the great staff that works there, like Javier and Wendy.  Can I just tell you how much I loved Wendy? She shared with us how she loves anything Chanel and hopes to one day open a small fashion boutique. Wendy is a fellow fashionista. 

Javier is lovely and he helps take care of the animals at the on-site Animal rescue that Jenny has established at Hotelito. 

There were adorable and super loving rescue goats, pigs and donkeys for us to meet …

and we all fell in love with this sweet little baby, orphaned donkey named Doris. 

We shot a few quick looks wearing LASCANA clothing & Sharif handbags and then off we went for our evening excursion …

which may or may not have involved a HUGE wave that knocked me over.  *** more on this excursion on my last post.  We ended our evening indulging in the best chiles rellenos at Miguel’s in the center of town.

Full day number 2 started off with breakfast made by Maricela with Jenny in the new Chapo room with, 

El Chapo.  He’s SOOO sweet … kind of like a big, snuggly dog.

And we then went to the historic center of Todos Santos.  Todos Santos, which means All Saints, has quite a calendar of events and has fabulous things happening all year long. We really enjoyed the Mayan calendar mural …

and the colorful city streets. 

Back to Hotelito to get our beauty on with MBK Skincare who is giving all of YOU 40% off ANYTHING on their site with code morelove from now thru Dec 31, 2018.

Before we changed for our last night in Todos Santos.  The three of us had to capture this pink wall before we left so we quickly did so wearing coordinated outfits and ModusRio clutches.

Now ~ the last night in Todos Santos was SO FAB and part of what I think is important about traveling to a foreign country is making sure you immerse yourself in the local culture and to do what the locals do.  And THAT is exactly what we did!!  *** sharing all the deets of that night on a future post, but we SURE DID giggle about all the silly fun we had the next morning. 

After having a light breakfast wearing our Soma sleepwear …

.

we packed and got ready for the road trip that would be taking us to our next Mexico destination.  STAY TUNED, because this trip was just getting started!! 

*** Thank you to Nina Ornstein and Hotelito for sponsoring this portion of our trip.  I’m excited to share that Hotelito is offering YOU dear readers 10% off your stay (subject to availability) if booked now thru Dec 31, 2018 for Jan 5, 2019 stays forward.  * non-refundable booking.  Reserve your stay HERE. 

Photo credit to: Nina, Shaina Culpepper & Irene Drago.