Weekend Getaway to Newport Beach with Peach

Ladies, I recently had a wonderful weekend getaway with my husband to Newport Beach California to help surprise a dear friend of ours for her 60th birthday.

This is a sponsored post with Peach. All opinions and fashion style are purely my own.

I am a big supporter of the smaller brands trying to reach out to a larger audience.  Peach is a woman’s owned company based in Boston that is trying to find a voice in the large athletic wear industry. They reached out to me in the spring to be their ambassador and I didn’t hesitate to sign on.

Since this was a 3-day trip I packed really light and only brought my carry-on loaded with 3 outfits from Peach. Newport Beach, California is upscale and laid back at the same time so I knew I was only going to wear dresses when I was out and about alone sightseeing.

My husband had already made plans to play golf on Saturday with our friends so I was left to explore on my own.

I wore this comfortable Esenada Maxi dress for my flight out to California and back to Atlanta. I saw so many chic women at the airport wearing maxi dresses. They are perfect for traveling because they are roomy and comfortable to wear on long flights but still looking fabulous off the plane.

Since the weather was in the low 70’s during our time in Newport Beach I packed this denim jacket to go with my dresses from Peach. ( I have to learn taking mirror selfies!) I wore it every day when I was in Newport Beach!

Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa

We prefer to stay at Marriott or Marriott Bonvoy properties when we travel. This hotel is within walking distance to the upscale shopping center Fashion Island. But we came for the Pacific Ocean view, golf, and seafood.

Very casual California vibe at this Marriott property. We happened to be staying during a large yoga therapy and research convention and the entire hotel was full of yoginis, CBD oil vendors, and yoga therapists. I actually went shopping for some boho chic outfits at one of the vendors for this convention. I love buying boho chic clothes from the west coast!

Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa

Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa Guest Bedroom

The view of the Newport Beach Country Club from our room.

We stayed during June Gloom and the skies were overcast every day until the afternoon. I was very surprised to see people in the pool when it was in the low 70’s when we were there. The pool is heated but the air is not!

I am wearing the Santo tank and the Summer Swell Capri for working out while in Newport Beach. Since there was a huge Yoga convention at the hotel walking around in activewear was the OOTD. Do you see a fashion failure in the photo above? I wore the shirt backward! LOL!

The correct way to wear the tank! DUH!!

Where We Ate in Newport Beach

We flew into John Wayne Airport which serves Orange County and was so easy to get in and out of. When we landed on Friday it was morning in Newport Beach so we checked in and headed to our room then off for a quick lunch at the Rusty Pelican. There are so many wonderful seafood restaurants in Newport Beach and we selected the restaurant by the reviews on Open Table. Every time we travel or eat out I book as much as I can on Open Table. I even leave good reviews of the restaurant but never review a restaurant if the food was bad or we had terrible service. I leave that up to people who enjoy leaving bad reviews.

Rusty Pelican

We love dining on the waterfront and sitting outside on a beautiful day. We enjoyed our lunch at the Rusty Pelican and the view. I had the coconut shrimp and the beet and arugula salad for lunch.

Cucina Enoteca

This restaurant was my favorite restaurant find on Open Table and it is in within walking distance of the Marriott Hotel located in Fashion Island.

You enter through their wine store (which had my husband at hello) and we selected to sit at the community tables near the bar on the righthand side as you enter which kept us away from the locals celebrating and young families.

The communal tables which are so fun to meet strangers to talk to or you can be stuck sitting next to the locals who prefer not to talk to you. West coast and East coast people are exactly the same and prefer no to visit. It’s a Northern, Midwest, and Southern gift for small talk. (Except for people from New Jersey, they’re a breed on their own.)

I highly recommend what we ate here:

The Tuscan Kale Salad, The Fried Squash Bottoms, The Fritto Misto, and the DELICIOUS Date, Ricotta, and Bacon Pizza!! To Die For!! The decor was just as good as the food and I loved it! I felt like I was in a Housewives of Orange County show watching all the women here. So much going on with attitudes and positioning that I should have filmed it. But I was there for the food and not the people watching!

What to do in Newport Beach in a Day

Since Saturday was basically the only day I could actually explore Newport Beach I had to make good use of my time before the birthday party boat launched at 5:30. I selected 2 destinations that fulfilled my fashion and interior design passions.

Fashion Island

Yes, you can shop till you drop at Fashion Island. This premier outdoor shopping mall for Newport Beach has Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdales, and Neiman Marcus as anchor stores. You can get fabulous July sales at all four! It’s really a beautiful looking mall that you can sit and watch people in the courtyards.

Balboa Island

I took the ferry to Balboa Island and highly recommend visiting this man-made community near Newport Beach!  The Ferry captain was very entertaining.  This community reminded so much of Cape May New Jersey ( or any east coast coastal town) and I love the cute homes and boutique shops there. It’s a great way to spend a few hours in Newport Beach and the vicinity.

I wore this darling Isla dress on Saturday when I was on my own exploring Balboa Island. However, I wore my white denim jacket with the dress because it was chilly and not a sleeveless kind of day. I thought about asking strangers to take my photo when I was out and about but thought against it. I was alone and that in itself was strange. I tried to take selfies in the windows but they didn’t turn out well.

Someone needs to invent an iPhone 10 selfie stick.

On Saturday we boarded a private yacht for the big 60 birthday party for our dear friend. So many wonderful people we haven’t seen in 20 years were also there. What a great idea to celebrate a milestone birthday! We cruised the Newport Beach coastline in Newport Bay. We drank and dined for 4 hours on board this party yacht while enjoying music from our friend’s brother and her son on guitar. A great time was had by all!

Sunset shot from our boat.

Thanks for stopping by today and hearing about Newport Beach! Have you been there?

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I enjoy being a Peach Brand Ambassador!