Last week I had the pleasure of spending a luxurious, relaxing, fun-filled week at the beach with some girlfriends.
We call it GFC…
Girl Friend Camp…
And this year, we got to take it to the beach – Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.
We set out with a fully-packed car… smiles….. and plenty of road trip snacks! (after all – a 12-hour drive requires snacks!)
It was fun taking turns driving, playing silly road trip games, and singing to 70s tunes we haven’t listened to in years – everything from Led Zeplin, Queen, and The Eagles to Bobby Sherman, The Village People, Cher, and Barry Manilow!
Once there, this is how we spent most of our afternoons…
our feet in the warm sand in the bright sunshine with the cool ocean breeze – books and Kindles in tow, deep (and not so deep) conversations, frozen drinks, and lots and lots of sunscreen.
When we weren’t sitting at the beach, we were walking the beach – Fitbits on our wrists.
It was a two-mile walk to the pier and back, so we did that at least once a day….
because peanut M&Ms, pretzels, and cocktails were awaiting us back at the condo – and none came back home with us!
We collected sea shells some days – discussing why some of us pick up perfectly shaped ones… and others (ok – just me) like the imperfect ones…
I say they have more character.
Bubby loves cooking breakfast, and I just love cooking…..
I made my famous guacamole one late afternoon. Bubby said she did not like guacamole, but she would try it…
She is now a guacamole LOVER! 🙂 We even shared it with our neighbors.
I also made my Copy Cat Chick Fil A Chicken one evening for my chicas. It was a hit!
We ate out too. I had a fabulous local fish called Cobia at The Ocean Isle Fish Company. Our awesome waiter, Morgan, recommended it, and he did not steer me wrong. It was served with a tropical mango salsa, rice pilaf and steamed broccoli. YUM!
Of course we had a few margaritas too.
We played games.
I always lost…
I’m lucky in love – not in games… but I still love to play.
And there were always cocktails involved.
We even got tattoos…
Ok… so they are a bit temporary… written with Sharpie markers. #GFCOIB15
(Are we 50 or 15?) 🙂
And we wore our GFC Jammies from last year…
and toasted and missed our GFC buddies that couldn’t join us this year – Buzzed, Loaded, and Toasted.
We even allowed for some alone and down time, where we each enjoyed doing what we love doing best alone.
I brought my traveling water color paint kit and did some plein air painting.
Some of the neighbors called me “the artist…” How funny and cool is that?!?! 🙂
We couldn’t have asked for a better week…
weather…. food… drinks… conversations (that cannot be shared here)… laughs…
an amazing celebration of friendship.
Everyone needs to do this if you can – celebrate, reflect, discover, embrace, enjoy….
It was so great to go…
but it was also great to come home.
You know… there really is no place like home.
A handsome hubby picked me up…
A delicious dinner awaited…
A glass of wine, a warm shower, and a king-sized bed.
My message to you is as always…
Cherish the moments…
at life in between.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
And a good time was had by all! Lois
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Indeedy Lois! 🙂
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…oh my, how FUN!!! …what a great bunch of friends. wow.
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As a cancer survivor I love that “cherish the moments” 😉
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My friend, Bubby, is also – she helps me remember that! 🙂 Happy for you, Nicole, being a survivor!
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Thank you! I give God the glory…. He so wonderfully has extended my days 🙂
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Beautifully written, as always!
Sent from my iPhone
>
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Fun, fun, fun! This is so wonderful. Jodi, you have a beautiful life. 🙂
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Thanks PJ! Just cherishing the moments. They aren’t all good – life is real – but I try to focus on the positive 🙂
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Yes, I understand. Life does have knocks and bumps but hopefully you don’t have too many of those. ❤
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Glad you had such a fun time with friends. 🙂 I tried your chicken recipe…yummy…
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YAY! Glad you enjoyed!
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Hmm, not sure if that last message took or not, I got a weird notice from WP lol. Great photos of a wonderful time at a beautiful place! Yay for imperfect shells! Have a great week ahead, Jodi! 💜💛💜
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just got this one twice 🙂 YAY for imperfect shells, people, lives – eh?! Makes it real and interesting. ❤
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No doubt. 💛 haha, and imperfect artwork! :)))
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Hmm, not sure if that last message took or not, I got a weird notice from WP lol. Great photos of a wonderful time at a beautiful place! Yay for imperfect shells! Have a great week ahead, Jodi! 💜💛💜
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This looks like everyone had a great time, and why not? :O)
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Oh Jodi it sounds like you all had a wonderful week together…time spent with GFF is the greatest…laughing about old memories and creating new ones…Good for you and the girls!
Now that you’re back home, have an awesome week,
Char
❤
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Thanks sweet Charlotte! Have a great week too!
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Well Jodi, I guess I did the recipe correctly. The wife loved the Cinnamon Creme Crumb Cake, in fact it went over real well with our youngest daughter too, who was visiting us yesterday as we were going to see the Broadway tour of Peter Pan. Only one little teeny-weeny problem; my wife wanted to know if the recipe came with one for the mess I made? Needless to say, the boys and I (They volunteered to help me) had to quickly clean up MY mess before we left. :@)
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LOL! SO glad you made it and everyone enjoyed! Thanks for letting me know! Hope Peter Pan was good, and glad you had some helpers to clean up! 🙂
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Your welcome, Jodi. And yes, Peter Pan was a fabulous experience. The actor’s playing Smee, and Hook were the same from the A & E Television Production with Cathy Rigby. Brilliantly funny, and they brought the house down. We had orchestra seats (our youngest boy is a musician and is learning how stage orchestras work, as he will soon intern in this capacity) and it was great to watch them perform the music for the show.
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Wonderful story! My girlfriends from HS try to do a weekend away every year. I think we need to expand to a week! Two days is not nearly long enough!
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Go for it Nancy! 🙂
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Adventures with girlfriends are the best! Sounds like a fantastic holiday!
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They sure are! 🙂
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You ladies sound like a hoot to hang out with. Glad you had so much fun and shared it with us.
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A hoot is one word for us, Carol! And…. we listened to lots of Carole King music too! 🙂 Are you a fan?
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That wonderful Jodi!! Looks like you all really enjoyed yourselves…it’s great to have a core group of friends that you can spend a relaxing vacation with! And it’s also so good to be home when it’s over 🙂
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so so true! 🙂
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Thanks Jodi for sharing your “Good Times” with your Girlfriends! You made me smile and laugh! Love your T-shirts! So happy you got to get away and have FUN! This IS what life is about! 😊😊😊
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sure is! hope you are enjoying your week at the lake too!
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The weather has turned cool and rainy for the last 3 days – much needed because it is so dry here – but I’m ready for some SUNshine tomorrow. 🌞🌞🌞
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LOL! What wonderful memories you’ll have and with these lovely images to share the story with us and others in the future. Love your boozy nick-names. Mine has always been Fuzzy. 🙂
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Love your boozy name Fuzzy! 🙂
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Hi Jodi, this is so wonderful, girls time out. And you got the perfect place: beach and sunny. You should write all the adventures down, so in few years you can read and laugh about them.
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we are so fortunate and have so many amazing memories! 🙂
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Love the name of your group and your jammies Jodi!! You should paint some glasses for next year!! or ask me too 😉
Jenna
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We did make wine glasses last year with our boozy names, Jenna! 🙂 Great minds!!
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What a fun celebration of friendship, Jodi! When I saw the tatoos, I thought “ouch!” So glad they were temporary! It’s great that everyone brought their favorite activities for ‘alone time,’ too. Bringing your watercolors was a fabulous idea! Now you’ve got me thinking… My friends and I have BIG birthdays coming up. We should plan a getaway of our own! It has been too long… Great post, Jodi! ♡
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LOL! Not a one of us has a “real” tatoo! I hope you do get to plan a “BIG” birthday getaway, Dawn. What’s the BIG number? 🙂
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🙂 It’s a whole new decade! ♡
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You are most blessed Jodi to have friends like that! So glad it was all that and more!
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I really am AGMA – nothing like good friends 🙂
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Looks like you had a blast, Jodi. Glad it was such fun with great friends. Until next year….:)
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Wish my adult friends were able to get together like that. I’m in the Myrtle Beach area and there’s nothing like a beach trip.
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