Girls’ Nights > Date Nights
- Dec 22, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 23, 2025
There’s a certain magic to a girls’ night that is so fun and exciting. Dressing up, doing your hair and makeup, and laughing with your girls. It's nothing like a real date night, where you might be nervous if it's a first date, self-concious and choose to eat a salad to play it safe, and maybe have only a singular glass of wine because you don't want to be "too much."
Girls nights are freeing and good for the soul, and you are never too much for your friends.
Recently, my friend Grace and I spent our Friday night at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Santa Ana, seeing The American Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker. We dressed up, grabbed a drink, sat in velvet seats, and watched something beautiful unfold on stage. It felt festive, grown, and quietly meaningful. Not rushed. Not loud. Just intentional. No stress and overthinking. it was easy.
That night reminded me that girls’ nights don’t have to be casual or thrown together. They can be elegant, playful, slow, and thoughtfully planned — the same way we romanticize other parts of our lives, just like a date.
The best "dates" I've ever been on, are from girl nights.
So here’s a list of Orange County girls’ night ideas that feel elevated, memorable, and genuinely fun.
🎭 Segerstrom Nights: Ballet, Symphony, or a Show
There is something timeless about planning a night around a performance. Segerstrom Center for the Arts offers ballets, orchestras, Broadway tours, and special productions throughout the year, and it instantly sets the tone for a more elevated evening.
Make it a full experience. Arrive early, order a drink at the bar inside the theater, and let yourselves slow down. After the show, head to a nearby dinner spot like Vaca, Water Grill, or Mastro’s Costa Mesa. The area around Segerstrom makes it easy to turn one event into a full night without feeling chaotic.
🎥 Dinner and a Movie, But Make It Bougie
There’s something comforting about a dinner-and-movie night, but doing it at Fashion Island elevates the entire experience. Start with dinner somewhere you actually want to linger OR, choose to have dinner while watching your movie at The LOT, where you are given a full menu of delicious food of a wide range, from burgers, pizza, salads, fries, alcohol, and desserts (the milkshakes there are so good). It doesn't stop there becuase of course you can also order a classic popcorn and candy...
But best part is, you can order it at your seat with a press of a button and get it served to you directly, so you never have to get up.
If you want a dinner that feels like it belongs in an interior design magazine, the Restoration Hardware Rooftop Restaurant in Newport Beach is it. Chandeliers, neutral tones, indoor-outdoor seating. It’s genuinely pure art.
This is the spot for long conversations, slow dinners, and pretending you’re in a Nancy Meyers movie. Dress up and cute. Take lots of photos and film lots of Tik Toks. Order a ceasar salad, fries, and white wine with your friends and I promise ,it will be so worth it.
🧖♀️ Korean Spa Reset
Some girls’ nights don’t need heels or cocktails. A Korean spa day in Irvine called I Spa, is one of the best bonding experiences. Saunas, steam rooms, massages, snacks, and lounging together create space to relax and reconnect in a way that feels restorative rather than performative.
It’s quiet, grounding, and deeply comforting.
Karaoke nights are for letting go. Booking a private room means no audience, no judgment, and no expectations. You sing badly, you sing loudly, and you laugh the entire time. Plush Karaoke Lounge is my go to anytime I need to have a cute little drink and sing as horribly as I can with my friends.
Club 616 is a hidden gem for a night that feels sultry, intimate, and cool without trying too hard. It’s a jazz lounge with live music, dim lighting, and cocktails that make you want to sip slowly.
Perfect if you’re craving something a little different from the typical bar scene. It gives classy and grown.
(Club 616 has a range of events constantly going on... Check it out!
🌊 Lido Marina Village Dinner + Walk
Lido Marina Village is made for a girls’ night. Walk along the water, browse the tons of shops they have (beauty, wellness, clothing, wine and beer bar, and choose your dinner based on the mood... My suggestions:
Malibu Farm for clean, organic, coastal food
Nobu if you want sushi and a special-occasion feel
Zinque if you're craving French food
(Check out the rest of their Shop and Dine!)
🍸 Cocktails With the Girls
Cowboys & Poodles, a speakeasy in Costa Mesa, is one of those places you go when you want cute drinks. It’s cozy, a little whimsical, and perfect for photos.
If you’re leaning into cozy, moody energy, Cozy Pine in Irvine is exactly that energy. It has that fall/winter vibes. So there's warm lighting, intimate seating, and a calm atmosphere. This is the kind of place you go when you want to catch up and feel warm and cozy.
🧺 Beach + Picnic
This is the most nostalgic and grounding experience to share with your girls. You can romanticize life in the simplest way. All you need to bring is a blanket, a tote bag full of snacks, maybe a bottle of wine or sparkling water, and time to actually talk.
If you’re doing this in Orange County, location matters. Some beaches are better for walking, some are better for laying out, and some are just undeniably prettier.
Crystal Cove State Beach is perfect if you want something scenic and quiet. The cliffs, the sand, the ocean, it feels very cinematic and calm, like you’re nowhere near the city.
Little Corona del Mar is ideal if you want turquoise water, a cozy cove feel, and something that photographs beautifully without trying too hard.
Laguna Beach (Thousand Steps or Victoria Beach) is for the girls who want dramatic views and that “we’re on a coastal getaway” energy. Just be prepared for stairs and bring comfy shoes.
Final Thoughts
Girls’ nights don’t need to be loud or last until 2 a.m. They don’t need to be spontaneous or extravagant. Sometimes, they’re at their best when they’re planned with care.
Getting dressed, making reservations, choosing places that feel beautiful...These are small ways of honoring the relationships that carry us.
Normalize romanticize girls’ nights!
xoxo, B.💋✨
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