2nd Annual Women's Retreat

Need a good recipe?  I've got one for you.  It's a recipe for an allsome weekend.   {Yes, spell check, that's how I'm spelling awesome.  If you were there, spell check, then you would get it.}

Hot tub + dancing + a cute Fern + good food = a great weekend.

This weekend it became tradition.  It's our second year to do it.  Some friends and I rented a cabin, got a meal rotation down, brought a set of speakers, and had nothing on our agenda for what most people call a girls weekend.  We like to class it up and call it The Women's Retreat.  

Because Fern is still just a babe, she was allowed to come.  She was an absolute angel.  At first I was apprehensive about bringing a baby to a weekend of relaxation, but things went well. She was loved by all, everyone got a turn holding her, and I got some one-on-one time.  There is a lot that I could say here, but I won't.  I'll keep it brief: Being alone with her for 48 hours, I fell a lot more in love with her.
We bonded, like Big Time.

What I would like to say something about is girl time and time away.  It was incredible.  We only drove an hour and a half.  We were there for less than two days.  The decorations were cheesy at best.  It slept 8 even though it slept 10.  None of that mattered, because we made the best of it.  We didn't go for the decorations or the sleep.

We went to be together and to have a break.
The ladies were generous and weren't bothered by the fact that I didn't clean one dish, which was better than a professional massage.  {Thank you, ladies.}
The ladies weren't the gossiping type...they were the tell funny stories about themselves type, the type that I prefer.
They were confident women, but not proud.

They were active women. 

It was great.

I know that I'm not the first person to feel refreshed after time away.  I know I'm not the first person to love me some girl time.  I know I'm not the first person to feel the magic of combining friends, a break, and lots of laughter.  However, I'm feeling high and refreshed and I feel like it's my duty to remind us that time away is great.  Whether I'm go for a run, meet a friend for coffee, spend a weekend away, or simply go fill up the tank in the mini by myself-I benefit from the break.  I think we all do.  I hope we all take that time in whatever form it looks like.