Go away!

Seriously! Everyone should get away for a little bit. Everyone. And really, there should be no excuse not to do so. If your finances are tight you needn't spend much money. You can plan trips for several nights or even just one night. 

Our Nantucket trip spanned four wonderful - blissful, fun-filled and yet wonderfully relaxing days. With so much on my plate at home with work and children I really needed this time to step away and think of none of it. We went for long walks along some of the island's magnificent beaches. We walked in town and meandered in shops, boutiques and galleries. We ate at some fabulous restaurants and a couple of nights we stayed in lounging in our flannel pajamas and dined on Palmetto cheese and crackers. We talked and laughed, We shared stories and laughter stayed up into the wee hours of the morning. My friends, my "sisters" as we have become over the past few years...

We met as bloggers. Crazy, isn't it? Gabi and I met first with our kids at the beach in Newport. We became fast friends from that point on and got together again with the kids. Katherine and I live just a town apart and one day when after blogging about some shopping she'd done I reached out to her and asked her if she was indeed my neighbor. We met at Starbucks a couple of weeks later and laughed the entire time. Katherine does that to you. Next there was Bevvy. We didn't actually meet her until we were getting ready to board the ferry. Bevvy is the soulful one, the voice of reason, with lessons and stories to share. Though we all have a creative side, Gabi is truly the artistic one.

We'd been chatting on Twitter one night and decided that we all needed to get together. Soon our conversation was taken off of the internet and we were figuring out logistics, details and dates. What had started off as a crazy and impulsive idea was being realized and in September 2009 we got together and it felt as though we'd already been lifelong friends. A special thing happened on that trip. Four people had become incredibly close, like "sisters." We knew our innermost secrets, wishes, desires, dreams, fears... we knew everything. A special bond was made then - a bond that will keep us together forever, I hope.

Last year the girls got together without me. They met on Pawley's Island, SC but I couldn't go due to life's little challenges. I was missed and I missed them terribly. I was determined to make it this year... I was determined to get back to the Island. I had all the details worked out and everything was smooth sailing - until...

Until I realized that after all the switching of weekends this summer the Nantucket weekend no longer fell on my weekend. I worked hard to line up sitters. Finally I found one. And suddenly she was unavailable. And I was grief-stricken. Positively grief-stricken. I needed to get away. I needed a vacation. I needed a break. I needed to get to Nantucket. I needed to see my girls...

And then, without even asking my ex husband offered to take the kids... not one day, not two days but all four days. I was not just grateful but completely touched. I know he didn't have to do that. I never asked him to help me out. He did this on his own. He said he knew how much this trip meant to me and that I should be able to go. At that moment he changed in my eyes. At that moment I saw something in him I hadn't seen in a very long time. It was wonderful really.

And so I was off and on my way. I was finally going to be able to get away... I was finally going to see my sisters! What a wonderful feeling it was! And, just like always we talked and laughed and told stories and shared our dreams and our passions and secrets... and it seemed our bond has grown and tightened... while we're planning for our next trip next fall, we text constantly and continue to support and cheer one another on.

We all need our girlfriends. And we all need to get away. When was the last time you took some time to yourself? To relax and laugh and recharge? When was the last time you did something with your girlfriends and felt like a teenager? When was the last time you hadn't a care or a worry in the world?

Now, I'd tell you all we did, but what happens on Nantucket, stays on Nantucket!

all photos property of Jessica Gordon Ryan and The Entertaining House

Photos above were all taken in and around Litchfield County
To view Nantucket photos, please go to my other blog, The Entertaining House

Last weekend I grabbed a friend and took a daytime drive upstate. The northwestern part of my state is simply magnificent this time of year. The foliage was bright and beautiful and intense. We drove around through the various towns, ate some lunch, meandered into antique shops and art galleries. We headed back home shortly before the sun was due to set. Even that in itself was refreshing and wonderful.

I love to see and do new things, so I'm determined to do something new or different at least one weekend a month. Life's to short to sit around or let our daily routines consume us. Life is meant to be lived and not viewed from the sidelines. I have a growing list of things I want to do and places I want to see without my children (they'd be bored to tears) and things to do and places to see with my children!


Go do it.
Call a girlfriend. Call a few.
And go away!

XXOO

Jessica