Take the girls weekend. Or the boys weekend. Or the family/friends weekend. Whatever the weekend, whatever commitment of time, it doesn’t really matter. Just make it happen. And make it a priority. I’m going to speak to all the ladies on this one; the relationships you have with the other women in your life are so important. They are vital. So, take the weekend.
The girls in my immediate family have been taking a “girls weekend” for many years for much of adult life. We’ve missed a few years here and there (mostly when I was living in Arizona) and we’ve changed around the time of year and the attendance list based on whoever was able to come. But the theme has remained the same: food, shopping, and lots of laughs.
My more organized family members usually come into the weekend with a list: Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, American bargains that you just can’t get in Canada, usually some kind of fabric, etc. And we always do Target. Sometimes multiple times in a weekend. It must be the combination of the deals/cute stuff and the delicious holiday drinks.
*Side note: my current favourite holiday drink from Starbucks is the Chestnut Praline Latte. Wowzas. So good.
Style and “what to wear” was top of my mind this weekend, especially after committing to writing more about my own style/fashion. So I went with casual but cute and lots of LAYERS! That’s just the only way to do a shopping trip in Canada in November. You have to be prepared to be comfortable at both extremes – hot and cold. So I paired cozy flannel and comfy sweaters with comfortable jeans and shoes! Add some cute accessories (always) and my favourite leather jacket and BAM! You’ve got yourself a couple of cute transition-season outfits!
The littlest “girls weekenders” were by far the best entertainment of the weekend. This year it was my 5 year old niece, Ruby and her 2 year old sister, Ivy who tagged along. They were champs. Ruby helped me shop for clothes and was sure to point out every sparkly or fluffy thing in every store. She was also very quick to help me with my “outfit of the day” Instagram posts although I’m quite sure I heard her say, “why does Aunt Liz take so many pictures of herself?”. And by the way, we did not purchase these fluffy, loud jackets from Target. Wonder why?!
*Style sidenote: my Toms are one of my favourite comfortable footwear options. Photographed here are my Toms (beige) which were hand-painted in Haiti and my sister’s Toms (white) which were hand-markered in Canada (by herself).
And Ivy was just a hands-in-her-pockets kind of gal; going with the flow and loving the joyride of girl’s weekend.
We tried to limit our errands and shopping excursions to during the day, so the nighttime was left for fashion shows (showing off the things we bought that day), unicorn face masks (surprisingly refreshing), bedtime routines (for the littles), and catching up with each other. Because we all live in different cities, we often miss the day-to-day stuff like that. We soaked up every minute of it. And we LAUGHED. There are a few inside jokes that I thought about sharing but then thought, I’d better not. Let’s just say, my awesome niece picked a very hilarious name for her new unicorn backpack that had us laughing for a good 20 minutes. (Can you guess what it was?!)
The weather was cold but our hearts were warm. Wow, so cheesy (or maybe corney 🙂 ) but so true. Warm is actually kind of a perfect way to describe the feeling of being with family. Safe, comforted, home.
I recognize that not everyone has this kind of family dynamic. Some people’s memories of family include heartache or difficult relationships or abuse. But I guess what I’m trying to say is that the relationships in our lives (family or not) are fleeting. You may think you have all the time in the world but you don’t. And the investment of time in our relationships matters. It is an investment in our current and future wellbeing as well as an investment in those around us. Nothing can replace quality time. It is how memories are made and relationships are strengthened. It is the amazing birthplace of inside jokes, lasting memories, and inappropriate stories you can tell your children when they’re older. My humble recommendation: don’t take it for granted.