I was checking off some administrative items on my to-do list last week when my friend called and asked how spontaneous I was.
I was busy but intrigued to do something out of the ordinary.
“What do you have in mind?” I asked, thinking that she may want us to go for a cup of coffee or something.
“How ‘bout going on a one-night Getaway next week with some of our other girlfriends?” She replied.
There are so many things to talk about regarding women these days and especially this month of International Women’s Day.
We can talk about inequality that still exists in life and work; we can talk about the success and admiration of motivated women and so much more. This post is about celebrating female friendship and taking time to rejuvenate the soul.
Read on to get links to a great Getaway as well as tips from my learning and suggestion for building connections.
My friend’s response caught me by surprise! As I was checking my calendar, I felt the excitement of doing something different tingling inside of me. With COVID-19 restrictions and safety measures that my family has been practicing, I started feeling the effects of being home-bound for almost two years. On top of that a girls’ Getaway is something I’ve never done before, and with COVID cases subsiding, it was an opportunity I couldn’t say no to 😊
All of a sudden, I felt vibrant and excited!
Once we chose a day and gave it a go, one of my girlfriends took the lead and suggested two possible hotels that she thought of. We were all very eager to go and thought it didn’t really matter which hotel it would be as long as we were together experiencing a girls’ bonding and having an outlet from our day-to-day life.
A few days later, on International Women’s Day on March 8th, there were the five of us in the car driving to Calistoga in Napa Valley, CA. It was only an hour and a half away from home but felt like flying abroad.
Before we took off, one of my friends’ husbands wondered what we could talk about for a day and a half. It was clear to us all that we could find tons of things to talk about. We were happy and cheerful. Knowing each other for quite some time, we allowed ourselves to share some of our happy moments as well as our challenging moments, knowing we could count on one another as we’re nurturing our relationship.
Here is our Girls’ Getaway Prescription:
* We drove from Livermore, CA and stopped at
Gott’s Roadside
at St. Helena for lunch.
* We arrived at
Dr. Wilkinson’s House of Better
hotel in Calistoga. It was practically empty, and there were three warm spring water pools. With the five of us ages 48-52, we could all get into our bathing suits and not worry about how we looked. If you go you can also book massages and more.
* The weather was warm as we strolled down to
Lovina restaurant and celebrated two of our friends’ upcoming birthdays.
* At night, we had a PJ party in one of our hotel rooms, and a friend opened Tarot Cards for us.
* We woke up at ease in the morning, not needing to care for anyone.
* We then strolled to
Sam’s Social Club
in Indian Springs Calistoga for a great brunch.
* We then drove to
Castillo di Amorosa, a medieval-style Tuscan castle winery for wine tasting tour. Make sure to make a reservation.
* We ate at
R+D Kitchen
in Yountville on our way back home the following evening.
(Keep scrolling under this photo for some learnings and tips)
My Learnings:
1. Women tend to care and do so much, whether at work, at home, and with their families.
Give yourself some time off to simply rest and rejuvenate.
2. We tend to wait for special occasions, but
any day on the calendar could be a good day for some time off.
Take a decision and just do it.
3.
There’s no need to go far. Any place that may be new to us can be exciting, even one that is in our backyard that we haven’t visited yet. So a walk with a friend in her neighborhood could be exciting just as much.
4.
Women’s friendship has mental, emotional as well as physical health benefits.
Studies show that social connection in general, as well as female friendship, increases longevity and happiness.
Another
research from the University of Oxford, England suggests that meeting up with friends twice a week is good for your health.
I’m not saying you should do that twice a week, but you get the idea. Make sure you have at least one or two friends that you can call or meet in person every once in a while.
5.
It takes time and consistency to build relations and gain trust. Some friendships are long-term starting from the school days, college days, volunteer work, any mutual hobby, and more.
If you find that you don’t have like-minded friends where you are, you may want to check a
MeetUp group and find subjects that may be interesting for you. Other options are joining sports groups like hiking, biking, tennis, volleyball and more, in your community. And then there’s this fairly new
Revel free membership club that connects women around the age of 50 online and in-person that could be a nice place to grow friendships.
6.
Getting excited is a choice. When we don’t take things for granted, anything can be exciting. All it takes is to have the intent to open up to experiencing life in the present moment. We can get excited from going outside of our home and simply be mindful of what is around us and be grateful for what already exists in our life.
7.
If you are a man (or a woman) in a relationship with a partner, support them to take some time off with their friends.
They will be thankful for your support and have more energy to compliment you back.
There are so many more learnings and basically, these learnings and ideas can be applied to all humans, not just women.
Feel free to share how you celebrate you.
Here's to life!
With much Love and Gratitude,
Michelle Guelfand
Holistic, Results-oriented Coaching, Lectures & Workshops