Big Bear Weekend Getaway

Over the past weekend, Tom and I went to Big Bear, CA to celebrate my 26th birthday. I had never been! I wanted to go somewhere new for my birthday, within driving distance, and somewhere I could bring my dog. A lot of my friends and coworkers suggested going somewhere warmer, but given that I hadn’t seen real snow in roughly eight years, I decided I wanted to escape to a winter wonderland. I decided on Big Bear, and I am so glad I did! I didn’t remember how much I missed the snow until I was actually in it.

Driving into Big Bear, we saw so many breathtaking views! We were getting in right around sunset, so we ended up stopping on the side of the road about four times just to snap some pictures. I’m glad we did! The landscape was so stunning and the time of day just made it even more beautiful.

OUTFIT DETAILS

SWEATER: Madewell // JEANS: Madewell // SCARF: Nordstrom // SHOES: Steve Madden // EARRINGS: Anthropologie

We arrived at our Cabin around 6pm and decided to have a lazy night in. We ordered Domino’s for dinner, watched a few episodes of “You“, and then watched “Spectacular Now”. Oliver enjoyed chilling with us in the family room while we lazed about. At one point in the night, I was running back to the family room from the kitchen and stepped on a piece of glass that was hiding in the rug. It hurt! Tom helped bandage me up and everything turned out fine, but it was a bit of a damper on the trip since it happened on night one. Tom and I will be posting a review to the cabin on airbnb soon.

We started off our official Day one with cupcakes and birthday pictures, cause why not, right? I actually brought these helium balloons and a helium tank with me, but I was halfway through blowing up the “2” when I realized my helium tank was empty! We had to drive to a Von’s and have them blow it up. Then we discovered that cold air quickly deflates helium balloons, so we rushed to take these pictures before they went totally flat, haha! The things we do for Instagram, huh?

OUTFIT DETAILS

PAJAMA SHIRT: Madewell // PAJAMA BOTTOMS: Madewell

We went and got breakfast at Teddy Bear Restaurant. We took our time getting there in the morning, so unfortunately, we had an hour long wait. We took advantage of the time and used it to walk around the little town and explore shops (which was on our to-do list anyway). Once we finally got in, Tom got steak and eggs and I got a hot chocolate and a couple of breakfast burritos.

After breakfast and shopping, we drove around to find a spot to play in the snow and take pictures. We ended up finding a wide open space in Sugarloaf, CA, which was only about a seven minute drive from our cabin! Tom served as a really great photographer. 😉 As usual, my outfit details are linked below. I found a similar (not exact) coat – it’s even similar right down to the hood, but please note, I unzipped my hood from the jacket before this trip.

OUTFIT DETAILS

SWEATER: Madewell // JEANS: Madewell // SHOES: Steve Madden // EARRINGS: Anthropologie // BEANIE: Topshop // COAT: Similar // PURSE: Similar

Oliver loved the snow! I was so excited to see him doing zoomies all over the place and getting excited when Tom and I threw snow in the air. Oliver had never seen snow in his life before, so I wasn’t really sure how he would react (he generally doesn’t like the cold). I was so pleased that he was having just as much fun as us! We even strapped a GoPro to his back and let him go to town. I plan on cutting together a video of this trip a bit later, so if it turns out well, I’ll link it back to this blog post. 🙂 In case you were curious, I got Oliver’s adorable jacket from Petco.

Tom and I had a lot of fun in the snow, throwing it around, and even throwing a couple of snowballs at each other. Cross that off the bucket list! We were especially thrilled that it was actually snowing on our trip and we got to watch the beautiful snowflakes fall from the sky.

Of course, we couldn’t leave without getting a few couple photos first! Afterall, we were on the trip together and wanted to document it as such. We found a tree stump and I positioned my camera on top of it, Tom got in place, I set a self timer, and then we took a few photos that way. The last of these three photos is my favorite photo from the trip, and probably one of my favorite photos of all time! I feel like it captures our relationship so perfectly.

After we played in the snow for a while, we dropped Oliver back at the cabin and headed over to Big Bear Snowplay. It was SO FUN. Tom and I kind of laughed about it, because on our third date, we went “tubing” in LA. There was supposed to be fake snow and hills to tube down. Well, it was kind of shady and disappointing, because the fake snow was just soap and the tubing was down some slippery carpets on regular hills, haha! ALSO the ice skating was ON PLASTIC. PLASTIC!!! It was such an odd date (and my idea… my bad). Anyway, this tubing experience made up for it a million times over! Tom didn’t let me snap any pictures of him… he’s stubborn.

After tubing, Tom and I grabbed dinner at a local Mexican restaurant (I am totally blanking on the name, unfortunately). Tom got a plate of nachos and I got chicken fajitas. My fajitas felt like they were meant to serve two or three people though! There was so. much. food. It was good though! After dinner, we went bowling and Tom kicked my butt at both games. We then went back to the Cabin and watched “Before We Go” which was an interesting, but kind of sad story. After that, we called it a night.

On our last day, we woke up and got breakfast at Grizzly Manor Cafe and the pancakes were huge! The bacon was some of the best bacon I’ve ever had. Not a bad start to our last day!

After breakfast, we had to go back to our cabin and pack up since we had to be out by 11am, but not before having a hot chocolate and sitting back, enjoying what time we had left in the cabin.

For our last hurrah, we went back to our snowy spot and snapped a few more pictures, let Oliver run around (more than the day before), and played in the snow even more. I’m glad we went back, because the day prior, the snow was more packed together, but on this day, it was more powdery, which is what I wanted to see all along. This was really just the perfect ending to the perfect trip.

OUTFIT DETAILS

BEANIE: Topshop // SWEATER: Francesca’s Collections // JEANS: Madewell // SHOES: Steve Madden // SCARF: Similar // COAT: Similar // PURSE: Similar // EARRINGS: Hahn Jewelry

On our way out of town, there was a big accident in Big Bear City, so the GPS took us the scenic route and I’m so glad it did! On the way into town, there wasn’t too much snow until you actually arrived, whereas on the way out, we saw mountains covered in snow for the whole first hour to hour and a half of the drive! Just like on the drive in, we stopped multiple times to take in the views and get a couple of pictures.

Overall, it was such a fun trip and I would go again in a heartbeat. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a good winter vacation in California! Have you ever been to Big Bear? Where is your favorite winter location to visit in the country? Let me know in the comments below!