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.

We cooked in…

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