Blue skies, clear water and a weekend where you walk away with your cheeks hurting from laughing too much. That’s a winner reunion folks.
Each and every year for the past 20 years (yikes!), 15 or so of my best friends from college have spent one weekend out and about in nature (or on a cruise, or at a spa) with just us, getting back to what’s important with the people that we know the best.
It’s funny. We’ve all changed, morphed and certainly improved with each year (just like the wine we like to drink) but man, once you get us back into a room, or on a beach, or in a cornhole tournament, it’s like we haven’t spent much time away from one another at all.
There are five things that are essential in making our reunions a success and making this yearly event one of this week’s Friday Faves.
1. Never invite spouses or kids. Ever.
2. Always rent one house, not a hotel, so that we are all together under one roof. Except for that one time we went on the Mexican Riviera cruise and nearly starved because the food was so terrible, which resulted in our individual bar tabs costing more than the tickets for the cruise. I do not recommend.
When we’re all in one house it makes for spontaneous conversations, easy to join into a game of Heads Up or a wickedly competitive game of Hearts (who has the b*tch?), and to consult in exorcisms of past and present demons when needed. Because after all these years, we all still know what the other should and shouldn’t do and aren’t afraid to say so.
Hey, it’s taken a lot of years (and enduring pain, and heartache and happiness) to EARN the privilege and status of BFF…like, seriously FOREVER.
3. Good food, good drinks (jello shot anyone?) and be sure to spread the chore duties. We always assign one or two people to be responsible for the food shopping. The rest of us are put into teams of four with each team cooking and cleaning up after one breakfast, and one dinner. Or if you’re like me, I just cook extra so I can get out of cleaning. We all have our talents.
4. Have one organized event on the schedule. Float trips, a golf tournament, or a hike to the top of Delicate Arch. One year we even evacuated an entire camp that was in the line of a forest fire. That was a surprise event. Regardless, everyone participates.
5. Leave the pettiness, jealousy and any bad feelings you’ve ever felt, or been harboring, behind. We’ve all made mistakes, and we’ve all hopefully grown up. It’s a new day. We’re not getting any younger. So let’s spend these days loving instead of hating.
Jenae and I made the spicy Chex mix above for the gals. I think I might have to share it on the blog. What do you think?
If you’re thinking about creating a getaway reunion with friends or family, DO IT! There’s not much better than reconnecting, and talking about our kids (we have the first of them getting married this fall! YIKES!) and all of the lame stars in all of the tabloids, which leads me to one of our hot topics of manly conversation…
I cannot WAIT to see this movie. Bradley Cooper and cooking. Sizzle all around.
Because who isn’t a little intimidated when making these beauties? No more! Step by step guide to making French macarons.
The secret to keeping avocados from turning brown? Here’s the truth.
This fresh cocktail will easily coax you into Friday, then Saturday and smoothly into Sunday.
Fried Peach Pies. Seriously, come to mama.
Do you know your GMO? A quick tutorial that sees both sides of the bush.
So while I was in the car for our 4-hour drive to West Yellowstone, cold sores were a topic of discussion. Why? Because it was a 4-hour drive! I don’t use anything prescription because double-doses of this kicks them every time. I proved it yet again, because yesterday I felt the sting coming on so I took 2000 mg and just like magic, POOF! It’s gone. (This is just my personal opinion, because you know, I’m not a doctor but I could play one on TV.)
If I was re-doing a house (again, for the 5th time), I would totally be using the tile in pic #2. For the bathroom, the kitchen…everywhere. They’re gorgeous!
These aprons are so cute. Love the shortie.
Maybe it’s because of the mandatory real! coffee breaks 2 X a day. 9 reasons Europeans have nailed the work/life balance.
At some point over the past year I downloaded this app, that Smudge discovered on my plethora of iPhone apps and then spent the better part of the day making real life makeovers. She made me into the drag-queen-meets-Christina-Aguilera (hey, I’m kinda hot? not?) but you can actually use it for more subtle tries with new hairstyles and makeup. It’s fun either way.
Some great tips on taking Instagram photos, composition and editing.
Are you on Snapchat? I thought it was just for naughty flasher photos the kids these days take, but I was wrong. It’s actually really fun because it’s stripped down, real life. Like Instagram used to be. I’m on Snapchat as FoodieCrush. I had no idea what I was doing until Smudge and my 14 year old niece gave me a lesson. Since you don’t have them at your side, here’s the adult’s guide to Snapchat. Mocked no more.
Did you know you can “tell” Siri to set your morning alarm for you? “Siri, set my alarm for 5:30. Thank you.” Siri replies, “I live to serve.” My tween had to teach me that, too.
I’m a fan of creating new habits. My latest is getting up at 5:30 am (thank you Siri), then fumbling for my glasses, then heading to my computer to work until 8, and then take my poochers for an hour long power walk because she’s a wild child. While I’ve been taking her for walks every morning for months, the early morning work time has helped because I’m not distracted, I’m more focused and I’m not working into the evening.
Want to start your own new habit? Here’s how to stack your habits to make them count.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a type geek like me or not, because if you’re designing or own anything seen on the web, Google’s new font is destined to become the standard.
This might be the coolest calendar I’ve ever seen.
Everyone needs a LBD like this one, to dress up or dress down.
Knock, knock…where’d you go motivation? Summer got you by the tail? I better take in these tips on how to get shit done. #3 is my favorite. See-ya!
Okay, you have to look at this to believe it. It’s like the Jetsons is coming true!
“Bloggers are on a hamster wheel which is going faster and faster and faster.” Thinking of quitting blogging? This is where Dooce is going next.
Blog Biz Links
How to tag people on Twitter in Twitter.
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Recipes I Pinned this Week
It’s always the simple recipes that get me. This time of year, it’s so easy to just toss some pasta in a bowl with a few seasonal eats and go. Here are a few freshies I pinned this week.
Spaghettini with Roasted Tomatoes, Fresh Basil, and Toasted Garlic Breadcrumbs
Toasty garlic crumbs give this super simple pasta a crunchy kick.
Garlic Butter Cauliflower Pasta with Pangrattato
Pangrattato you say? In layman’s terms, its simply toasted bread crumbs!
Goat Cheese and Sweet Corn Pasta
Soft cheeses like goat cheese are the sneaky way to make a cheater creamy sauce.
What’s on your radar this weekend? Have a happy one, and cook something good.
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Kate
Hi Heidi!
Spicy chex mix recipe, please and thank you! I make a snack mix with the standard homemade chex mix recipe that is addictive, but the only “from scratch” parts of the mix is popcorn (made in a Dutch oven, how does the Dutch oven make it SO good?) and the chex mix. All the other ingredients are just open and pour things like salty and sweet snack foods (Fritos), Carmel corn and mayyyybe a little chocolate (hello, raisinettes). If you’d share your recipe, I’d love it.
And thank you for sharing about your girls weekend. I love that you’ve committed to a yearly visit and make it happen. My college sorority sisters are the most extraordinary women I know, but we cannot seem to pull off annual get togethers. I wish we could. I wish we had been more militant (for lack of a better word) about committing to it but we let mutual understanding of the complexities of life get in the way. Ironically the exact reason why we should have made it happen, every year, no excuses, ever.
I think of the tough times my friends and I have all faced through the years and how much seeing one another during those time may have benefitted the person(s) especially struggling that year(s).
Of course we love when we can get together, but as I get older I wish we had done it more, and not to negate the efforts we’ve put in for the get togethers we have had, but because of how much I love and enjoy them and for how much they truly inspire me. So thank you for sharing about your tradition with your dear friends, it makes me…..happy. Yep happy – that’s it, that’s the word.
heidi
Hi Kate, thanks so much for such a thoughtful comment. Yes, we’ve also seen a lot, and as we get older, we’ll be facing a whole lot more. But at least we’ll be doing it together. You should think about gathering your friends, even if it hasn’t happened before. There’s no time like today to make things happen. Good luck!
Nagi@RecipeTinEats
PS Loved reading about your girls’ escape. My friends and I do something similar every year too. I’m surprised that rule #1 was not “stock up on copious amounts of champers and wine!” ;)
Nagi@RecipeTinEats
Hey Heidi! Thanks for the shout out re: cauliflower pasta :) Love reading your Friday faves. Bradley Cooper & cooking? Counting down the days. Don’t know how it took Hollywood so long to put those two together. :) Have a great weekend!
Traci | Vanilla And Bean
LOL – Your rules! Never bring the spouse! And I couldn’t agree more about renting a house! VRBO and AirBnB make it sooo easy! And what a beautiful home you found! Your trip looks like it was a blast. There’re so many great links to comb through here, but I hurried through and got to your pins.. and OMG – I want to make all three of these recipes! So in season and so delicious. I think I’ll start with Nagi’s tonight – just got my CSA had have cauli on hand!! Hooray! Thank you for this Heidi!
Bella B
Thanks for pulling all this inspiration together! The corn and goat cheese pasta was one that I pinned, too. I must try it soon.
xoxoBella | http://xoxobella.com
Cady | Wild Heart of Life
Chex mix, chex mix! Yes, I vote yes!
The peach hand pies = dead.
I love the Google font article! So interesting.
This is so cool that you guys do this. I hope I keep in touch with my college friends after I graduate just as well. :) Happy Friday!
Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog
Now I want to go on a reunion trip with my bff! Trips and get togethers are always so much fun. And yes, yes we would all love that recipe for the spicy chex mix! Love the how to get s$!t done link – yes, #3 is a killer for me too, I have to literally leave my phone in another room sometimes. Also, I totally need to up my habit stacking ways, loved that list!! Have a great weekend – now i’m off to check out the other links!
Caitlyn @ Candid Cerebrations
I love your rules for the girls’ weekend. I’m having one soon in Montreal. Just 4 of us and we rented a house. We’re running the Montreal Rock n Roll half together. It should be fun. I definitely like the idea of leaving the men behind (no kids in my friends group to worry about yet). One more thing to add to that is. No non-stop texting/calling the beau (or kids). It’s just a few days, youl’l see them when you get back. A few here and there is fine. But seriously, all day everyday is not. I may be speaking with one specific friend in mind. *ahem
heidi
Totally agree about the calling the fam. Back in the day when I didn’t have a babe, but most of our friends did, I didn’t get why they had to call everyday to check in. But after having a child, I think once or twice for the weekend check-in is plenty sufficient. Funny, as we’ve gotten older, nobody really feels the need to call and check in. We’re all just so happy to have a girls weekend escape. Have a great time in Montreal!
Donna
I look forward to your posts, recipes etc. Good job.