Girls' Weekend Squared

I truly do know how lucky I am to have so many good friends in my life. Friends I know I can count on to pick me back up, but especially I am glad because it also means I'm surrounded by super fun people who know how to have a good time. Now I realize this could be filed under "poor little girl has too many social obligations to attend to" but Amanda and I were super duper lucky to be invited to be part of to separate (but equally tempting) girls weekends away. Being the type to want to do it all, we accepted both invitations and got packed up for two adventures!

First night we attended Dr. Stacy Lay Clark's Booberbowl Game! In honor of the upcoming Super Bowl, Stacy invited a whole passel of ladies to come to her compound and spend the weekend hiking, laughing, eating, sharing stories and visiting. Amanda and I only knew Stacy there, but we quickly became fast friends with the girls. Stacy even was thoughtful enough to provide us all with a fun crafty activity to do together - personalizing our very own koozies.

lori and kim are industrious

stacy hard at work

kim's masterpiece

i put the finishing touches onto one of the girl's koozies - rhinestones and beads!

Even Amanda got into the project! Amanda hates all things pink, and isn't quite what you'd refer to as "crafty."

amanda and her first glue gun experience

all not going according to plan

And eventually:

voila! perfect for all your beverage cooling needs.

Amanda is very pleased with her handiwork:

as she should be

Only one man was invited, and it was NOT Dr. Clark's better half, the other Dr. Clark.

it was THIS guy. stay thirsty, my friends.... ps they made tiaras at the last boobs retreat weekend, and kim's work of art is upon my head (seriously it was super cool - a crown made from wire and pop tops. very arty.)

Fun night meeting new friends!

griffin, kim and amanda share a snuggle in the cold

good morning!

Yea! Adventure #1 a resounding success! Thank you Dr. Clark for extending the invitation!

we're number one! can't be number two! we're going to beat the WHOOPIE outta you!

Next, we went from this:

where we bunked friday night

To this:

booyah.

Emily Womac, I am convinced, knows everyone from the Pope, to the artist currently and formerly and currently known as Prince, to Captain Kangaroo. Apparently she also knows the owners of Blackberry Farm and got a cottage for the weekend. She was kind enough to extend an invitation to us for a fun evening too!

I attempted to log my miles at BBF, but... everyone was having such a good time visiting that I bailed after I was about half way done and became an active participant in Girls Weekend #2.

golf carts were involved. that's cove cottage behind us where we stayed.

We went to the barn to see a pregnant sheep and I thought it was going to be like a zoo. No. It was not.

LOOKIT I'M HOLDING A BABY LAMB!!!!

amanda has a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb! amanda has a little lamb whose fleece was black as coal!

here we have me taking a photo of myself in the mirror of the shabby chic bathroom inside the gardener's shed.

there was a wine glass in the cupboard labeled PJ! i wanted to take it home with me but emily wouldn't let me humph.

adventure number two off to a great start!

pre-fancy supper bonfire activity

Next, time to get ready for fancy supper! I swear it was like living on the floor of Massey Hall back in the day:

hive of activity. much makeup, hair products, swapping of dresses, etc. was involved.

And obviously nothing has changed since back in the day:

i get a rat's nest in my hair immediately (my hair still smelled like bonfire so i needed to put it up)

Next, FANCY SUPPER TIME. It was seriously off the hook. We had our own private room and each time a course was served the door would open and a flurry of servers would congregate around the table and serve everyone simultaneously. It was hands down the fanciest dinner I have ever eaten. At one point Amanda asked for salt and was given this:

four kinds of salt served on a silver tray in crystal bowls with itty bitty mother of pearl spoons

Among our party was cutie pie new friend Kathryn whose husband was the head chef. In addition to the three courses that came with our meal, we got sent out an additional four, plus dessert. We got hooked UP.

First course was fennel mousse with onion jam, second was oysters, third was butternut squash soup, fourth was grits with hollandaise sauce, fifth was guinea and dumplings (my fave; hands down - guinea in beef broth with gnocchi dumplings SHUT YO MOUTH!) sixth was duck, seventh was rice pudding... then dessert on top of all that. I was about to POP.

fennel mousse with onion jam

oysters

guinea and dumplings (i must confess i left the egg yolk - i hate runny eggs)

duck

rice pudding

Another new cutie pie new friend was Alex. She completely impressed me with a) her charm and wit, and b) her ability to put away copious amounts of food. Each time a dish was served I'd notice she'd stop talking and wolf whatever was in front of her down the hatch. Twice I caught her literally licking the plate.

president and ceo of the clean plate club

emily and amanda sharing a snuggle

The next morning, Amanda and I go explore the farm. We happen upon some llamas.

amanda gets her llama on

And we happen upon one of those swings that are featured prominently on old-timey Valentines Day cards.

me getting my swing on

amanda getting her swing on

We reluctantly packed our bags and headed back home to the dumb ole real world SIIIIGH... Tommy's upstairs making supper for me right now and it is NOT guinea and gnocchi dumplings dadgumit. It's chicken tangine which is vastly more affordable but vastly less sexy, I will admit. (Thanks for supper, Babe! Scrunches!) Thank you, Emily for the invitation! I am the envy of my family and friends.

adventures one and two a resounding success!

One item of interest to wrap up with: my very own Dipsey Doodle was the guest speaker on WUOT's February radio show, Dialogue! Here is their promo for him:

On this afternoon's Dialogue, WUOT's monthly call-in program, Chrissy Keuper will talk to one of the best known names in Knoxville… award-winning author, news columnist, and humorist Sam Venable. We’ll revisit Sam’s history as a writer, he’ll tell us some of his very favorite stories, and of course, we’ll take your calls at 865-974-5050. Join us for the discussion.

That's MY DIPSEY DOODLE! I went to see him in action. I got to sit in the control room with engineer Greg Hill - I was relieved to know Chrissy was getting in a good number of phone calls to keep the conversation going (I asked).

engaging in engaging dialogue on dialogue

dipsey and chrissy post-show

Wonderful weekend with two great groups of incredible ladies. Thank you so much for including me! Over and out, peeps. Off to eat my non-guinea and gnocchi chicken tangine.