It's Back! (And So Am I)

I couldn't find it anywhere on Friday morning.  I had spent several days looking for it and just wasn't able to locate it.  If anything, it seemed to distance itself further and further from my mommy-self.

My sanity.

I lost it.

I have found it.

And it only took a weekend with 10 dear mommy-friends, a day of doing nothing on the beach, strolling around in Santa Barbara, delicious food, lots of laughter

and a couple several okay, maybe a few x several drinks,

{My mommy-friends}

to locate it again.  The most important thing: I found it and the search was awesome!!

The tradition we started last year, was continued this year with our Moms' Weekend Out, which we spent with 11 mommies in Santa Barbara.  It was just what the doctor had ordered (or should have ordered a long time ago).

My best friend and I were the first ones to arrive Friday around 11:30am.  Just in time to start our weekend out with a nice lunch.  I think we spent about 2 hours eating, chatting and relaxing.  And guess what?  It felt foreign to us.  The lack of toddlers, babies, or the thought of "I have to be home in half an hour, I should be heading back" was just delightful.  The lunch experience by itself was so relaxing!  This was headed in the right direction - to be a very successful and relaxing weekend.

The B&B in which we stayed, offered complimentary wine and cheese from 5-7pm, which obviously was most welcome for us partay-ing mommies.  The evenings were spent going out for dinner, which varied from delicate and delicious dining on Friday eve

to letting out the carnivore in me on Saturday.

We spent the rest of both evenings in the partay-room (our room) in the B&B playing games,laughing, chatting and kicking back.

Saturday was mostly spent on the beach - it was a beautiful day, though the wind was deceiving and left me a bit redder than I would have liked :-0

We ended our Moms Weekend Out with strolling around Santa Barbara, doing a little bit of shopping on State Street and having lunch before throwing ourselves in the peak of weekend traffic heading back to Los Angeles.  Oh well, we were too relaxed to be bothered by the bumper-to-bumper driving experience.  I wonder how long I will be that relaxed - I doubt it'll last as long as I would like it to last.

The weekend was such a success that we've already started thinking about the next one.  Maybe it would be a good idea to do this twice a year?  I mean, I seriously don't see anything wrong with having a refreshed, rejuvenated, sanity-rediscovered, mom who is ready to face the daily challenges adventures (and joys) that her children throw her way with a smile on her face and calm in her heart.  (Ask me in about a week if the calm is still there...on second thought, maybe twice a year is not even enough...though I doubt that once a month would fly with the hubbies...)

And on that note: the hubby survived the weekend as well.  And so did the kids.  I am pretty sure that the hubby didn't get as much sleep as he would have liked, but it sounds like they had a lot of fun with with play dates, a trip to the zoo and swimming fun at the godparents.

Now, to find out more about the warm welcome I received from Ryder upon my return home, come back tomorrow.  That's a story in and by itself.