Alright, I know what I need the questions running around my brain are "How can I justify a night away when there is so much to do? Is there a way to kill two birds with one stone?"

Grab your credit cards mama I have found the solution. What if I told you that you could stay in a beautiful, warm and inviting hotel with a health club, fantastic restaurants and bars and that this hotel is attached to a huge shopping mall. If you are anything like me your bags would be packed and your girlfriends would be called before the end of this paragraph. It sounds like heaven but it’s actually found right in Providence RI.

The whole trip was so easy, after booking our room at The Westin Providence Hotel we gathered our credit cards a cup of coffee and hopped in the car for the 1.5 hour drive. Parking is made easy with the valet parking provided by the hotel. A quick check in and then up to the room to unload our bags and take a breather. The rooms are very warm and inviting with big comfy beds, marble baths and really great thick robes. We cannot, however, dawdle we have work to do.

Bringing our lists we crossed the enclosed skywalk to the Providence Place Mall. At this point we either go off on our own or pair up with someone who has similar shopping goals because we are serious and there is no time to waste. With such stores as Old Navy, Banana Republic, GAP, Ann Taylor and William Sonoma you should be able to cross a few people off your list.

Ok, we are tired and need to refuel. We decided at the beginning of our mission to meet at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. After a great lunch, a comparison of bargain finds and some turtle cheesecake we must push ourselves from the table and continue on. A couple more hours of shopping should make us all feel like we accomplished something.

Now that we are exhausted it’s time to hit the fitness center. The Westin Providence has The Capital Club Fitness Center with aerobics classes, machines, nautilus and professional massages so there really is something for everyone. We were all too tired to workout so a massage worked perfectly. With everyone feeling mushy from the massage we returned to the room for some down time, drinks (including water, very important after a massage) and gossip of course.

Time To Get Pretty – we couldn’t waste our new clothes (yes we did buy a little something for ourselves) on sitting in the room so we hit one of the many surrounding hot spots. We opted for dinner at one of the restaurants that was suggested to us by the staff at the hotel and it was really fun and trendy and I’m sure the place to be seen. I’m sure we fit right in with our Old Navy outfits but after a couple bottles from their great wine selection we were oblivious. Also, not to be missed the cigar/martini bar in the hotel lobby called "The Library filled with old books, overstuffed leather chairs and good cocktails it was the perfect place to end our journey.

Let’s review our accomplishments:
Quality time with good friends
Good food and drinks
A great massage
Lot’s of shopping
A good night sleep with no children