Girls Night Out How To

our "How To" Lesson of the Week:  How to have the perfect girls night out

1.  Leave all children at home (unless they are extra miniature, still attached to mom, and will sleep the whole time).
2.  Eat out somewhere yummy.

3. After you have eaten too much dinner, go somewhere else for dessert.

(and no, I'm not going through Chemo, I am just pudgy and have no idea why I thought the head thing looked cute)

4. Get a cheap hotel room where you can laugh as loud as you want, talk and talk and talk, eat more treats, sneak away to the hot tub, and then stay up to the wee hours of the morning.

5.  Repeat again the next month . . .

1.  Leave husband and children as early in the day as possible (if you happen to have lunch with a friend and go shopping before girls night out, that's okay too).

2.  Eat Out (Why do we always choose Mexican?)

3.  Dessert (by me this time)

4.  Go to the hotel to eat, drink and be merry.  (Be sure to head home by 3am so husband won't notice when he leaves for work at 5)

 

** If followed correctly, you will feel happy, refreshed, renewed and very loved.

 

I love my girlfriends!  Thanks for listening, talking, sharing, making me laugh, and helping me be me. 

Read much?

Back in 2008, I posted this about the two book clubs I am a part of - what we were reading, how much I love it, etc.  And now I am looking at all my posts from 2009 and I can't believe that I didn't post ONE thing about book club or reading - both of which are a major part of my life.  Sounds a little weird, I know, but most of my close friends are a part of one or the other of my book clubs and having a set night every month ensures that with our crazy, busy lives we will see each other at least once a month.  I love my book club girlfriends!  Yes, we talk about books, but we also catch up on each other's lives, vent our frustrations about work and kids and husbands, and share lots of laughs.  (check out one of my friends' posts on "The Rules of Book Club", its a perfect description, plus you can see a picture of my cute snowman)

So it is sort of interesting that in the afore mentioned post, we were about to read The Lightning Thief,  which since it is now going to be released as a movie, Corbin and I are just starting to read it together.  I DID attempt to break away from my normal genre and read it with the group before, but I just couldn't finish it.  Hopefully reading it with Corbin will make it more interesting and give me incentive to finish. :)

Also mentioned in the first post was my Goodreads link.  If you want to check out the books I've read and what I rated them, you can check it out there.  I don't think I can list them all here.  The only thing I will mention is - loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (highly recommend it) and Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas Sparks (even though I'm not usually a fan) learned a ton from Eats, Shoots and Leaves and did not really like A Woman in Jerusalem (sorry, Megan).  If you do go to my Goodreads list, I would love to hear what you think about any of the books on my "to-read" list - like "you should definitely read this" or "don't waste your time". It's always good to hear what real people think about books, not just the NY Times critics.

Girls Day Out

Lexi and I got to escape the boys one morning for a little girly time. We went to the mall to get smoothies, do a little shopping and get our nails done. Lexi got a manicure complete with a little flower on each hand, and I got a pedi (too bad its been snowing ever since!). Sometimes I wish I had a girl to take out with me, so thanks Lexi! I had alot of fun.

Fondue-licious!

Yes, that is chocolate. This was the other part of my extended birthday celebrating . . . The Melting Pot with the girls! It is sooo yummy. Russ doesn't love this restaurant like I do, so the last few times I have just gone with my girlfriends and it is so fun! If you have never been, you HAVE to go. I totally recommend it! This is the dessert part, we also had cheese fondue and regular with steak, chicken, shrimp, etc.

For those of you who are Melting Pot Connoisseurs, here's what we had (and for those who aren't, just close your eyes and imagine it . . . )

Wisconsin Trio Cheese Fondue
Fontina, Butterkäse and Buttermilk Bleu cheeses with white wine, scallions and a hint of sherry. Each cheese fondue includes fresh breads, vegetables and apples for dipping.

SpinachMushroom Salad
Fresh spinach, baby Portobello mushrooms, red onion, chopped bacon and Roma tomatoes with a warm Burgundy Shallot Vinaigrette.

Signature Selection
Filet mignon, shrimp, teriyaki-marinated sirloin, boneless breast of chicken and fish fillet. Cooking Style: Coq au Vin - Flavors of fresh herbs, mushrooms, garlic, spices and burgundy wine.

And then the good stuff DESSERT -Yin & Yang Half dark chocolate and half white chocolate, artfully swirled for a perfect balance of flavors. Served with strawberries, bananas, pound cake, graham cracker covered marshmallows, Oreo covered marshmallows, cheesecake, rice krispie squares, and brownie bites.


Thanks Sharee, Miranda and Jen for such a fun birthday dinner!

PS if anyone ever wants to go and you don't have anyone to go with, I will totally go with you - you don't have to wait for your husband to take you.