Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Last week was my first official Mom's Retreat Weekend. I nearly missed it, but God must have known how much I needed it, because He miraculously made it happen.

Jill, Iris, Misty, Leslie, and I have had this trip to Atlanta planned for months. We were going to celebrate all of us turning 35 this year (except for Leslie, she's the young one of the bunch). We have all been friends since college and aside from the unspeakable Spring Break trips to PCB or a cruise when we were all still single and childless, we've never just "gotten away" and decided it was time.

But the morning we were to leave, Trace threw up an hour before they were supposed to pick me up. I called and told them I wasn't going... I was so sad.

But, then the great snow of 2010 began, closing the schools early, canceling Jill's sub, so she got stuck at school doing dismissal (ohhh, the job never ends!) The roads quickly became covered and traffic in our little Southern town came to a halt.

It turned out to be such a blessing. We were scheduled to leave at 11 and by 3 they still hadn't left Chattanooga. By then Trace had had a nap and had not thrown up anymore. My sweet husband assured me he could handle it and encouraged me to go on. So they drove all the way back across town in the blinding snow to pick me up and off we went!

We got 2 streets away from my house when I got the good news...
It's official... we are ALL mommies!! My dear friend, Iris, is 11 weeks pregnant and doing great. I waited to publish this post until she went back to the doctor and gave the OK to make it public. What a great way to start off the weekend! (Much better than vomit and a snowstorm)

We had planned to get to Atlanta early and shop Friday afternoon but the snow derailed that. (Our husbands all breathed a quiet sigh of relief!) We had dinner at Maggiano's Friday night and couldn't get reservations until 9:15.

Seriously, who eats that late?? We all tried to stay awake until dessert, boy you can tell we're getting old!

We knew we had a "pillow situation" when Iris and I laughed about having to sleep with a LEAST 3 pillows each and well... that left none for the other 3 girls! So, we called room service and asked for as many as they would give us. (And it still wasn't enough!) Are we high maintenance females or what? She's preggers, I have no excuse.
You can take the girl out of the office, but...
Saturday morning we all slept late... ahhhh! Love those hotel black out shades! Then got up and headed to the spa.

Misty spent HOURS coordinating this spa day for us. After researching spas in Atlanta, we decided to drive about 30 minutes away to a spa in McDonough that offered the "Georgia on my Mind" package at about half the price of the others. Let's just say we wanted to live the Real Housewives of Atlanta lifestyle for the weekend without having to donate our plasma to pay for it... some of us did that in college, I think.

Talk about a room full of giddy girls... we walked in to this beautiful Victorian house and were given robes, hot tea and heated neck wraps... heaven. The day started out perfectly...
Not a hint of hairspray or makeup in sight... a little scary at our age. ha!
Sadly, the spa day did not end as happily as it started. What began as a relaxing foot soak in rose petals, and lavender, became a 3 hour wait for some of us. We were all scheduled for a mani/pedi, massage and facial. After learning that they were understaffed and not really equipped to accommodate our little group of 5, we realized what was supposed to be a 3 1/2 hour day at the spa was actually scheduled for 7 hours.

After we had been there for 4 hours, Misty and Leslie had only had a 1 hour massage. The rest of their time had been spent waiting on the couch. One can only sip hot tea and eat cheese, crackers, and dainty mints for so long.

So... we decided to leave and go on with our weekend and dinner plans. (Ironically, we had planned on shopping after the spa and before dinner and we missed that too.) We were beginning to wonder if it was a conspiracy :)

That night we had dinner at Seasons 52 which was wonderful! Everything on the menu is 475 calories or less and very healthy. I'm usually the queen of the fried foods but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm pretty sure we eclipsed the 475 calorie mark after adding wine, salad, and dessert to our meal... though our intentions were good. We were celebrating Jill's 35th birthday, the cougar of the group!

Sunday morning we had a wonderful breakfast (thank you Embassy Suites) and headed home. We did manage to stop in Calhoun at the outlets for about an hour before real life beckoned us back.

My big Atlanta shopping spree consisted of a $6 fleece jacket for myself and a bag of $2.99 Monster Sale shirts and windpants for Trace at The Children's Place Outlet... not quite the "hurt" I'd planned on putting on Atlanta's economy! ha!

We got back home to snowy roads, dirty snowmen and our families. As we dropped each person off one by one we promised to do it again next year and the years after...

I came home to this...

and the biggest hug from Trace I've ever had. Between his Daddy, the snow, a sled, 4 grandparents, The Wizard of Oz, and a little Pedialyte... I don't think he even knew I was gone.

Girlfriends are so important and I cherish them so much! Thank you guys for "kidnapping" me. I can't wait to do it again next year... love you!