She Does: How To Elevate Your Girls Weekend
A girls’ weekend, while a fun thing to look forward to, can be time consuming and difficult to organize. What I've learned is that it is less important where you go and more important that everyone enjoys themselves and gets whatever they are looking for out of the time together – connection, relaxation, support, etc. A lot of time is spent just catching up and talking, so stressing about the location and associated activities can deter from the important parts. While we’d escape to a cabin up north for just about every girls’ weekend if it was feasible, it’s important to compromise based on everyone’s location. Instead of trying to organize multiple different flights and find adjoining hotel rooms to book, consider meeting in a centralized location and renting a cabin. Making it simple and easy adds to a stress-free girls weekend. And, with a little creativity, there are plenty of other ways to make the weekend affordable, memorable, and just a little more special:
Goodie Bag
Who says goodie bags are only for children's birthday parties? We LOVE implementing that idea into girl’s weekend! To split the cost and ensure everyone is included, we suggest that each person bring a contribution to the goodie bag. One person will likely have to coordinate and bring the physical bag, but there will still be an element of fun and surprise when everyone combines their items together. The gifts don’t have to be extravagant. We prefer small items that you can actually use with each other throughout the weekend. Think nail polish, face masks, tea, and fuzzy socks. This is also a great way to incorporate some spa activities into your weekend without actually having to go to a spa. Hello cute souvenir AND affordability! And, because we’re always looking for local and/or sustainable swaps, we recommend ditching the plastic or paper and using a recyclable bag, eco-friendly beauty supplies and anything that can be sourced locally from each attendees home city.
Do-It-Yourself Wine Tasting
We're ALL about games and activities over here, and we think any get together is just a little more special if there’s at least one of these on the itinerary. If you’re personally into games, make sure you check out our Winter Cabin Game Guide if you haven't already. But if you’re less about competition and more about just having something fun to do, we think a DIY wine (or beer, or tea, or kombucha) tasting is perfect! Especially if your girls weekend is local or at a cabin where you may be staying mostly on-site. This doesn’t have to be complicated. Have everyone bring a contribution, and someone bring brown lunch bags or other coverings (sustainable, if possible!), and you now have a wine tasting! With a quick Pinterest search, you’ll find dozens of tasting/rating cards that you can use to make it more official. It’s an affordable option and you can do this is your comfy pants. Win-win in our book!
Get Outside
Yeah, yeah, we know. This is our answer to everything. But, really, it truly is the answer to everything. For us, and we suspect, many of you, we plan girl's weekends when we're in search of something - time away, connection to people who know us the best, the need to reaffirm our relationships- and nature is often part of that connection. It seems simple, but we have yet to meet a person for whom nature doesn't speak to their soul in some way. You don't have to drive an hour away to go find the perfect hiking trail (although we are never opposed to that). You could just take a walk in the morning with your coffee. Or if you're on/near a lake, move your happy hour to the dock. There are so many opportunities depending on where you have your girls weekend and we encourage you to make the great outdoors part of it.
Over the years, girls' weekends have become non-negotiable parts of our existence. As we grow older, we can often feel alone in our growth, and re-connection to some amazing ladies is a great way to remind us that we're truly never alone and that there's a community who's got our back no matter what. So, don't sweat the details. Girls' weekend are about time together and that's the most important.
Your In Adventure,
Mara
