Ladies Weekend

Last weekend I had the pleasure of being invited to a ladies weekend at Grandview Lodge in Nisswa, MN. It's only about 2 1/2 hours north of "The Cities," and yet felt like a step into another world. I can't remember another time I have been away for a whole weekend since Lucy was born.

What a beautiful place. It was like walking around in a snow globe. The main lodge is a historic building, and I was charmed from the moment I walked in. The guest cabins are amazing, and we got quite a deal through a special winter weekend package.

Oh, and did I mention there is a spa on the premises? Glacial Waters Spa is an Aveda spa, and I spent almost the whole day Saturday there. I had my first facial and after a few minutes of, "OK, I'm paying a lady to rub stuff on my face..." it was actually very relaxing - I even fell asleep for a little bit! My skin felt amazing afterward, too. It's too bad I can't afford all the products in that 8-step process to beautiful glowing skin! After the facial I was able to sit in the Relaxation Room and finish a book, and then headed into my 60-minute deep tissue massage. Just writing that now makes my back ache for another one! It's a crazy feeling getting up from the massage table...I call it a "massage hangover." Your hair is all messed up, you've got marks on your face from laying face down on the table, and you're groggy from being so relaxed. I was able to take a shower and relax for a bit more before heading back to the cabin to rejoin my group.

Another thing I was able to do on this weekend retreat was go out. Not that I never go out, but in this case I didn't have to drive myself anywhere, and I didn't have to worry about having to wake up at 6AM and put on my mommy hat. We drank beer out of pitchers at a townie bar and danced to a bunch of new music we didn't know, and cleared the floor of anyone but us when we requested tunes from the early '90s. We felt a little old at times but we also felt mighty awesome. It could've been the 3.2 beer but I'm sure it was more about some ladies cutting loose!

All in all this weekend reminded me that I'm a much better mom, wife, co-worker when I give myself a break. Even in packing for the weekend I realized I haven't bought myself any new clothes in a long time, and I don't have any good clothes that aren't for work or aren't for knocking around the house chasing around a toddler and doing laundry. And that reminded me that I work and I'm a mom, but there's also a little bit of me in between the two. That woman needs some time too.

I'll be heading back next year. :)