Diary Of A Girls Getaway Birthday Bash: Entry #1 - Cartagena, Colombia

DIARY OF A BIRTHDAY TWIN GIRLS GETAWAY - ENTRY #1

When we were little lads and lassies birthdays meant goodie bags, milkshakes and flowers in our hair. As we've grown up our goodie bags become suitcases, milkshakes morph into cocktails on a plane ride to somewhere cool and we STILL and will ALWAYS wear flowers in our hair. So there.

Case in point are these two birthday twins. What is a 'birthday twin' you ask? Well, when two talented ladies come together over creativity and find out they also share the same birthday, coincidence seems like the wrong word and fate fits nicely. For these two, it turns into a birthday-twin-girls-getaway to South America. This #babesinsouthamerica birthday bash is going to be a fun one to follow because these ladies are true talents and adventurers. Their names also both happen to start with the letter ‘M’. (We think it stands for 'magical.') Michaela is one heck of a talented travel writer and Marianna is a crazy good photographer. Birthday buddies for life. 

This is Diary Entry #1 of #5, starting with sunny skies and skinny palms in Cartagena, Colombia.

 

Words By Michaela | Photos By Marianna

Have you ever found yourself in an in-between moment, one where you didn’t exactly know what your next step was, but uncertainty aside, you knew what you were doing was right?  Feeling these emotions and finding ourselves both in need of extended travel, photographer Marianna Jamadi and I embarked on a two-month journey at the beginning of March. After both leaving full-time roles at our respective companies, we found ourselves moving away from one phase of life, and jumping into another, one that felt unknown, but endlessly right.  The trip started as a one-stop adventure, as Marianna planned to visit Cartagena, Colombia to document dance group Periferia for her VSCO Artist Grant. But it quickly grew into more, as we planned a series of editorial assignments, taking our travel plans to Ecuador and Peru as well. With a little creativity and a lot of planning, we booked our travel through the end of April. Both sharing the same birthday on March 2nd, we decided to make our entire trip about celebrations, and we’ll be showing you how to celebrate anywhere, with anything, in any country. 

 

 

So how does one celebrate a birthday in Cartagena, Colombia? Being in this colorful city was a treat in itself, and we took every opportunity to make even the simplest moments special. From eating ceviche and sipping fresh juice on Malagana Café and Bar’s rooftop in Getsemaní to dancing into the early hours of the morning at a local’s backyard party, Cartagena is the city to celebrate and enjoy life’s most precious moments. We shared fresh ceviche and sipped mojitos at La Cevichería, famous for being one of Anthony Bourdain’s favorite restaurants in the city. We also picked up local jewelry and crafts at St. DOM in Old Town, where our favorite Colombian jewelry company Wish sells handmade pieces inclusive of intricate charms and stones.   

 

 

To ring in our birthday, we went to the flower market in Old Town to search for the perfect bright blossoms to make our birthday crowns, Cartagena style. With a pop of color and well-disguised masking tape, we made our crowns, perfect for frolicking down the city’s cobblestoned streets. 

 

 

Color, culture, rooftop cocktails, shopping, delish food, dancing under the light of a Cartagena moon and flower crowns all make for one heck of a blissful birthday bash. We can't wait for the next diary entry from these beautiful birthday babes. 

 

Words By Michaela Trimble | Photos By Marianna Jamadi