I’m so lucky to have a friend who thoroughly enjoys hiking, coffee, Gilmore Girls, wine and chocolate covered almonds from Sprout’s as much as I do. And who was able to fly to my hometown for a 4-day girl’s weekend just before I move to Idaho!

Kerri, my cross country teammate and bff from college, lives in Arizona. After graduation we moved to separate states and haven’t seen each other in real life in almost a year. We crammed in as much as we could for our reunion weekend so this might turn into quite a lengthy post!

Thursday morning began as usual with a run and a coffee before heading to the airport to pick up Miss Kerri. Feel like such a grown up having a friend in from out-of-town ;)

We talked non-stop the rest of the afternoon as we made ourselves a smoothie bowl for lunch, hit the gym for an arms and abs workout, stocked up on weekend snacks at Sprout’s (and yes, just like back at school, we innocently helped ourselves to “samples” of yogurt-covered almonds!), and decided to take a scenic tour de riverside on foot….aka walk around town during golden hour while yet another realtor looked at our house.

After about an hour of walking (with a dozen stops for pictures of trees, of course) we worked up an appetite. The day included a morning run, an arms strength session at the gym and an hour walk so I happily indulged in pizza and wine while introducing Kerri to the life-changing entertainment of Gilmore Girls.

On Friday morning, we slept in and fueled up with oatmeal covered in nanas, coconut, almonds, blueberries and cashew milk. And LOTS of strong coffee. We packed a backpack and headed out for the day, beginning with a little hike up Mt. Rubidoux. It’s the closest thing to “hiking” we have in Riverside and gives great views of the city if we are having good weather.

Our 72-hour non-stop conversation continued up and down the hill, and we added on a couple more miles by walking around the park at the base of the hill. By then, our stomachs were growling and we wanted to find a cute local coffee shop in Riverside to hang out in rather than another chain. I’ve been to Molino’s before but it’s definitely my favorite for both coffee and atmosphere.

And thennnnn we had a little “typical Kerri” moment that had us laughing until our stomach’s hurt.

Kerri is slightly clumsy. I definitely am too, so it’s okay for me to call her that ;) I said “Smile, I’m taking a picture with our coffees.” As we both smile and look at the camera on my phone, Kerri feels hot coffee spill onto her leg. She just keeps smiling and looking at the camera. I look down and it’s not just a few drops – she had literally sloshed out a good portion of her coffee while her cup with tipped, onto her lap and the floor. And we caught it in our picture. We just had to laugh! Embarrassing but oh so typical.

I’m sure she had a nice espresso-y aroma after that. Once we cleaned up and stopped laughing, we ventured downtown to peak in some vintage shops and grab a granola bar that would tide us over until our adorably colorful lunches at home:

We were heading to the gym after lunch for “Leg Day” together, and I am still sore 3 days later from the overhead squats, deadlifts, bulgarian split squats, weighted step-ups, hip hikes and lunges. Working out with a friend makes the male-dominated weight room so much less intimidating though and some people might not include gym-time in their vacation weekend but we always enjoy it.

A couple hours later we looked like completely different ladies….we finally got out of stretchy pants and gym shirts for an official Girl’s Night Out. We wanted a healthy-ish dinner so that we could splurge on cocktails. Mission accomplished!

The weather on Saturday was not on our side and decided to throw a freak temper tantrum storm on the morning we planned to lay on the beach. But we improvised and had a pretty dang great time. A lot of Saturday went unphotographed as we crammed in as much as possible: gloomy day brunch at Panera, indoor glow-in-the-dark mini golf, a picnic lunch at Andulka park, 4.5 mile run along my favorite path next to my house, a homemade sweet potato hash dinner, and a movie night at home with a coffee almond crunch ice cream bar.

Kerri’s flight back home left pretty early on Sunday morning but we woke up at 7am to get in one last walk and coffee stop in for this visit before we had to say goodbye. We walked a mile to Starbucks and already started planning for our next girl’s weekend – my turn to visit her in Flagstaff.

The first year out of college is pretty strange to begin with – trading homework and studying for other adult obligations like commuting and grocery shopping. Trading in leggings and sweatshirts for office-appropriate attire. Trading midnight frozen yogurt with friends for once-a-year weekend visits. This weekend combined all of my favorite things (coffee, running, wine, Gilmore Girls, cooking, hiking, dressing up) with one of my favorite people! A perfect final weekend in Riverside, and now I’m gearing up for my big move.

If you made it to the end of this the post, Happy Monday! :)