Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/235251
Special Advertising Section but also quaint independently owned boutiques in downtown Appleton and Neenah, both of which are pedestrian-friendly. Downtown Appleton is home to stores like Hey Daisy (women's apparel) and The Vintage Garden (antique décor and artistically repurposed furniture). Vintique, in downtown Neenah, curates vintage clothing and contemporary retro-flair apparel. Lucy's Closet is for pampered pets and their owners, selling apparel, toys and treats for four-legged family members. Post-shopping, take an early evening wine-bar break at Red & White (in Appleton, with 30 bythe-glass pours) and Uncorked Wine & Bistro "Getting away—whether for the day or an entire weekend—with your girlfriends is the perfect reset for life's crazy, frenetic pace." GIRLFRIEND GETAWAYS HAVE FUN, GET PAMPERED BY KRISTINE HANSEN Good friends, no matter how many miles they live apart, just know how to lift one another's spirits. Getting away—whether for the day or an entire weekend—with your girlfriends is the perfect reset for life's crazy, frenetic pace. What's the perfect plan? Chill itineraries packed with shopping, spa treatments, wining and dining, and plenty of fun on the town. FOX CITIES: BIG-TICKET AMENITIES, SMALL-TOWN CHARM Head to the Fox Cities area, which includes Appleton and Neenah. "We're known as Wisconsin's shopping place," says Mary Hirvela, marketing and communications manager of Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau, referring not just to Fox River Mall (Wisconsin's second-largest shopping center, with 180 stores including designer outposts like Coach and Pottery Barn, and other don't-miss shops such as Scheels All Sports, which is well-stocked with women's outdoor apparel) 58 brava magazine | JanUarY 2014 (in Neenah, pairing shareable small plates with wine)—then linger at either for dinner. Then catch the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra or a traveling Broadway or musical at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. Or, just relax and indulge at the full-service Spa BenMarNico's inside the CopperLeaf Hotel, because what's more fun than bonding with girlfriends after a seaweed wrap or pretty pedicure? LAKE GENEVA: WORLDLY CLASS Southern Wisconsin's Lake Geneva promotes lots of posh, easily accessible activities for girlfriends on a getaway. Three freshly remodeled resort spas promise to pamper and keep you cozy for the weekend: Grand Geneva, Lake Lawn and The Abbey. Grace Eckland, director of marketing and public relations for Lake Geneva Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, who has shopped for unique gifts in cities around the world, is especially proud of downtown Lake Geneva's shopping scene, which stretches five blocks east and west along Main Street and two blocks north and south. You'll find some worldliness along the way: Fleming's specializes in Irish goods, from hand-knit wool sweaters to Guinness hockey jerseys, and the owner of Cornerstone Shop & Gallery flies to the Netherlands and Paris to source purses and clothing. Decked out with classic and antique wooden boats reborn as décor, the recently opened Pier 290, formerly a marine shop, in nearby Williams Bay, allows you to rest your feet over drinks and dinner. During winter an ice bar helps wile away a cold evening. Think about returning in summer, when a sandy beach and several crackling fire pits are great spots to catch up with friends over dinner.