Thursday Thirteen - 171 - 13 Reasons It's So Much Fun to Have a Girls' Overnight

Two weekends ago I got together with my high school choir friends. In case you're wondering, that means we've been friends for thirty - that's right, thirty - years. Want to see what we got up to?









Photo by Maureen K



1 - All of us grew up here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. All of us moved away. Then two of us moved back home. Whenever the other two are back to visit family and friends, we try to get together for a Girls' Overnight.

This year we had a staycation urban getaway, right here in downtown Halifax.














2 - We stayed at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel, and got a super sweet deal on a King Suite. It was the first time I'd ever stayed in anything so luxurious.










Photo by Dawn D

L to R: Shelley, Maureen, moi

3 - I should have realized something was up when I knocked about three times and no one heard me. Then I realized there was a doorbell - so I pressed it, and there was Dawn.

She let me into a gorgeous room with a king-sized bed, a chair, flat-screen TV, desk, a bathroom off to the side. Very nice, I thought. Wow, this is going to be a fabulous Girls' Overnight.











Photo by Maureen K

L to R: Shelley, Dawn

4 - Dawn nodded to the right. I turned my head.

There was a connecting door, and a vast room opened up beyond. I moved through the door, somewhat disoriented by the unexpected palatial digs.

And squealed, "Maureen!"

She'd been in Nova Scotia several weeks ago for a family celebration, and was not expected for this weekend together. But Shelley had gotten on the phone and coaxed her to grab a flight - and there we all were.










Photo by Maureen K

L to R: Dawn, Shelley, moi

5 - First thing on the agenda - Shelley's signature Lemon Drop Martinis.















Photo by Maureen K


6 - Shelley had to improvise with the wine glasses provided at the in-suite bar, but she's nothing if not an intrepid martini maker.

Serious chillaxin' then got underway.










Photo by Maureen K

L to R: Yours truly, Shelley, Dawn

7 - Altogether too much happiness, don't you think?










Photo by Maureen K

L to R: Dawn, Shelley

8 - We strolled along Upper Water Street to our dinner reservation at Ristorante aMano down at Bishop's Landing. And the talking stopped for no man.









Photo by a very helpful server

L to R: Krista, Shelley, moi, Maureen, Dawn

9 - We met up with Shelley's close friend Krista at the restaurant, and so commenced several hours of talk-talk-talk, laugh-laugh-laugh, sip, sip, chew, chew, talk-talk-talk, laugh-laugh-laugh.










Photo by Maureen K

L to R: Me, Dawn

10 - Dawn and I shared a bottle of prosecco. I first tasted this Italian version of dry champagne at our inaugural Girls' Overnight in Wolfville several years ago. One sip of this ambrosia and I was hooked for life.














Photo by Maureen K



L to R: Dawn, Krista

11 - When we got back to the suite, we found a tray of specialty cheeses and duck prosciutto, with a bottle of cabernet and a note from the chef.

The surprises just kept coming!

I never did mention what the 'king' part of the king suite meant. We ended up with the bedroom I described, with its own bathroom; a closet so big you could have slept in it; a seating area with a sectional sofa, fireplace and a second flat screen TV (neither of which were ever turned on); a second seating area with four armchairs (which we kept gravitating towards); a long marble bathroom; a dining table that seated eight; a rollaway cot for me tucked over by the harbourside windows; a bar and a kitchenette.














As we sat there marvelling at how the other half lives, we agreed that we could have easily fit forty people in there for a party, and there still would have been room to move around.














L to R: Dawn, Shelley

12 - Maureen had a wedding to go to the next day, so she couldn't stay for the overnight part. In the morning, we ordered room service and crowded in close at one end of the vast Citizen Kane table.














L to R: Dawn, me

13 - I just read over at Diana Frey's blog that the friendships formed between women are amongst the healthiest things we can do for ourselves. (For guys, the healthiest thing is to form longterm bonds with women - no joke.)

Here's a snippet from her post:

"Spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.

There's a tendency to think that when we are 'exercising' we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged - not true.

In fact, the head of psychiatry at Stanford said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking. So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health.

Let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it's very good for our health."














L to R: Me, Shelley

Apprentice Writer says Holy cats. I want to run away from home and move to Halifax. Darn sense of maternal responsibility!

Adelle Laudan says I go to a ladies PJ party every year. There are about a dozen of us and we laugh until our sides hurt.

Lovesmukiwa says What I would give for a getaway with my closest friends. I think I'll start a bucket list!