No cooking, no cleaning, no chores, no worries….that’s what our girlfriends enjoyed at our Party For the Girls weekend at the Irish Cottage Boutique Hotel in Galena, Illinois. Along with Siobhainn O’Connor Van Santen from The O’Connor Show Irish radio program, we descended on this historic resort town for a fabulous late-winter getaway and girl, did we have a great time! Read on for our report, complete with pictures!

The Valley of Glendalough

Friday

After a scenic 3-hour drive to Galena, we arrived at our hotel. When you enter the Irish Cottage, you are instantly transported to a more relaxing place! The hotel overlooks “The Valley of Glendalough” —a hilly countryside reminiscent of Ireland. The hotel’s common areas feature a cozy library fully stocked with books, and an attached pub that is “the beating heart of the hotel”—complete with Irish dancers and live entertainment. It’s always bustling!

Your charming hostesses, Siobhainn, Dawn and Tina

Saturday

On Saturday, many of the girls had appointments for massages, mani-pedis and more booked at the Wild Clover Day Spa. Others took the opportunity for an early morning hike or jog. Some others visited the local alpaca farm (yes, really!) and took in the sights. Then, we all managed to converge on downtown Galena for some serious shopping, lunch, wine-tasting and more in the afternoon. Galena’s downtown comprises several blocks of high-quality boutiques, restaurants, galleries and shops. Jewelry, clothing, shoes…let’s just say that the Party Girls did their part in helping the local economy! Galena’s small-town hospitality and friendliness really wowed us all weekend long. We were definitely charmed by how the local shopkeepers and police rallied to help one of our girlfriends find her lost purse (disaster averted!). Meanwhile, those participating in the scavenger hunt pestered shopkeepers for seashells, birthday candles, pink shoes and more hard-to-find items. While some girlfriends escaped back to the hotel to read and relax, many of us stayed in town to get our makeup done at A Clover on Main and get accessorized at Simply Elegant Boutique. Feeling totally pampered, we scurried back to the hotel to get ready for another night out.

Irish Eyes Smile Down at You in the Lobby

Saturday night featured a planned meal at One Eleven Main, featuring local cuisine. Executive Chef Ryan Boughton prepared a 5 course meal just for us, paired with sangrias and mojitos to help us get in the mood for summer entertaining. From the sweet potato and leek vichyssoisse to the sweet chili maple glazed salmon to the dessert—a vanilla bean biscuit with pineapple rum mascarpone sorbet, topped with canded ginger and Door County cherry compote, the meal and the drinks left us saying wow! In addition, the bartender kindly showed us all how to make our own delicious mojitos (so easy to do!).

Then, local historian Steve Repp stopped by to speak to us about the “history and mystery” of Galena. We quickly learned that were dining in one of Galena’s most interesting buildings—if you’re interested in ghosts, that is. One Eleven Main is renowned for “paranormal activity,” and soon the staff gathered around to tell their own ghost stories. It was fascinating, though we had a few skeptics in the group. On the way out, we gamely trooped up to the “haunted” third floor, where a paranormal study group was setting up their data-gathering equipment for the night—a regular occurence at the restaurant. Luckily, we didn’t encounter any ghosts while in the restaurant—at least, not that we know of!

Ghost in the Group?

We ended Saturday with a nightcap in the pub, enjoying the company of hotel owners Jack and Basil.

Sunday

On Sunday we gathered for a delicious hot breakfast in the pub and awarded prizes to the scavenger hunt winners as well as our raffle drawing for a beautiful Irish music basket courtesy of the O’ Connor Show. We said our farewells to new friends and old and piled into our cars to head back to reality. We left convinced of just how worthwhile it really is to make time for “girl time”—to take a vacation just for yourself, but in the company of friends. And, no surprise, there’s already talk of “next year!” Be sure to subscribe to GirlfriendCelebrations emails if you want to stay informed about all our events, posts, giveaways and more.

Special Thanks

Look what was in the goodie bag!

Sometimes you just need to get away from it all and enjoy some GIRL TIME—especially in the middle of winter—and that’s why we’re so excited to tell you about this very special girlfriend getaway weekend, February 26-28, 2010 at the charming Irish Cottage Boutique Hotel in Galena, Illinois. We’re proud to be hosting this event along with Siobhainn O’Connor VanSanten from the O’Connor Show Irish Radio Program. The time to book your room is NOW – so read on for ALL the girlfriendly details!

Girlfriends, you deserve a mid-winter getaway that offers EVERYTHING a girl needs to feel rejuvenated – cozy surroundings, gourmet food, fancy drinks, spa treatments, shopping, pampering, relaxation, and of course, girlfriends! Bring your mom, your sister, your daughter, your best friends.

The Hotel

We’ve arranged a great room rate: Just $109/night (two-night minimum, double occupancy) includes a hot boutique breakfast each morning and free wi-fi. THIS OFFER IS NOT AVAILABLE ON LINE. You must call the Irish Cottage at 866-284-7474 and ask for the “Party for the Girls” rate.

Please note: $109 room rate is for a double queen room and is based on double occupancy. Two-night minimum. Additional persons may share your room for $15 per person per night. A one-night stay will be available at the rate of $139. Tax is additional. Travel to Galena is at your own expense.

Here’s what else is included, courtesy of GirlfriendCelebrations and The O’Connor Show:

• Opening Reception/Mixer (cash bar) with Welcome Gift (Swag Bag) to the First 100 Guests
• Girlfriend Photos
• Raffles/Giveaways
• Games and Surprises Throughout the Weekend

A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to host an eyeslipsface (E.L.F.) Make Up At Home party with 20 of our gal pals. Here’s what we discovered: Girlfriends LOVE to play with makeup, no matter what their age! Why not try having a makeup-themed party for your next girls night?

Zee works her magic

For our Makeup At Home Party, E.L.F provided ALL the makeup from their regular, studio and minerals lines, as well as goodie bags for our guests. Our girlfriends literally squealed with delight upon seeing all the makeup there was to explore!

Lynfred Winery provided delicious wine: Their VinDeCity  Red and VinDeCity White blends, which were quite a hit! We also whipped up some Pink Perfection cocktails. Makeup artist Zee Gustafson came in to apply makeup for our guests. Each woman signed up for a 10- to 15-minute consultation with Zee.  During that time she focused on eye looks and helped women select colors that were complementary to their skin tones.

What a spread!

I'll make it pretty!

To see all the before-and-after photos of our girlfriends, check out our Facebook photo album. You can also check out our Whhrl story here.

To cap off the evening, we held drawings for some fabulous door prizes, including a GirlfriendCelebrations t-shirt. Each woman left with a goodie bag and a few choice E.L.F. makeup items.

Smiling faces

What do you think? Would you want to try a makeup party with your gal pals? Have you already had one? Spill it in the comments!

Hey girlfriends, you know, we love a good excuse to get together with our girlfriends, online or in real life.  And YES, sometimes this does involve shopping—especially for good deals! So, we were thrilled to be asked to co-host a “twitter party” on the evening of Friday, November 20, from 7 – 9 pm EST. Click here to read the official invitation, RSVP, and find out how to enter the first giveaway now simply by retweeting!

We’re so excited to be taking part in this one-of-a-kind twitter event! Using the hashtag #BFParty, we’ll be hanging out on twitter and enjoying:

• Exclusive access to online discounts
• Previews of Black Friday sales
• DoorBuster Sales from your Favorite Retailers
• Giveaways from American Express, Eli’s Cheesecake, Whole Foods and more!

The Girlfriends-in-Chief will be tweeting up a storm during this party and we can’t wait. We’ll also be unveiling our new Girlfriendly Goods shop…and you’ll have a chance to win one of our NEW Girlfriends Make Life Better™ t-shirts!

Click here to read the official invitation, RSVP, and find out how to enter the first giveaway now simply by retweeting!

If you’re on twitter, this event is sure to put you in the holiday spirit. Can’t wait to see you there!

Girlfriend-in-Chief Dawn here. My task for today (Day 3) in The Gratitude Challenge is to write a blog post about something I’m grateful for today in my life. Well, I’m finding this incredibly easy today. For the past few days I have been visiting the beach with my family. It’s fairly easy to be in a grateful state of mind when you’re away from housework, schedules, and real life. It generally takes me three or four days into vacation to truly relax (just in time to go back home). I personally never seem to schedule enough down time into my busy life, but I always feel better when I do. Vacations are great for remembering what is really important, and what isn’t. As we watched the waves crashing into the shore, my husband reminded us that no matter what happens — who wins the big game, who gets the client, what the test score is — the waves will keep crashing into this shore.

So today, I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to slow down, get away, and recharge in a beautiful setting with people I love. I’m grateful for clean beaches, bountiful produce, chilled white wine, Frisbee, and the right people to share them with. I’m also grateful for the awareness that it’s much easier to feel gratitude when you’re not stressed out. I realize that the challenge will come later, when I’m back in my routine full-throttle, trying to remember to “take note and give thanks” throughout my day. I hope you will remind me how to do that, girlfriends, when this challenge gets harder. For now though, this is the easy one, and I’m grateful for that too.

Girlfriend-in-Chief Tina here. Since I’ve had more than enough time to contemplate the Gratitude Challenge

Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.

So after much contemplation and heartfelt justification, I’ve decided the one thing I am thankful for today is taking part in this challenge. Before you naysayers balk, let me explain!

For the past few days, I’ve been on vacation. Not a Caribbean dream or girly-girl scene, but an out in the middle of nowhere campy kind of place.

Complete with mosquitos as big as my head and chipmunks who scurry over naked toes,  I have always been quick to point out that vacation spot is really not my cup of tea! But with 21 days of being thankful ahead, I felt more than a little guilt for having such negative thoughts. So in the Gratitude Challenge way, I turned my negative into a positive. It made me realize a few things I love about our yearly campy adventure. I’m grateful that my city boys get to experience the country. I’m happy that my palette is filled with gorgeous black and white photos ops of my family. Last but not least I’m thankful that I always score a cute pair of new shoes to protect my toes against stray chipmunks.

I thought this challenge would be a piece-o-cake. Sounds simple enough be grateful for what you have. But during our campy adventure in the middle of nowhere, my “little b” got sick with Hand-Foot-Mouth disease, my “B” ran into a tree and got a concussion, a friend was sent to the hospital for a neck injury. Yes I am thankful for my nursing skills but seriously? I found myself wanting to phone a friend after the stress of it all.  My lifeline to sanity…my girlfriends. I am thankful that I have them to listen when my glass is half full.

After thinking about the trip and what I am most thankful for today, I can say wholeheartedly I am thankful to be included and to take part in this challenge. It is nice to look at things cast in a different light. I can honestly say you helped to make my trip a little rosier in many ways.

Ok girlfriends, why not share in the journey?  What are you thankful for today?

Turn your attention to something, and it grows. The Girlfriends-in-Chief can certainly attest to this little truth. Over the past year, we’ve turned our attention (more than ever before) to GirlfriendCelebrations on and offline. And GIRL, have we grown! Opportunities online and offline have grown for us by leaps and bounds. Our girlfriend circle has grown by a bunch. We feel incredibly grateful for the opportunities—and the fun—that have come our way lately. So, when we were asked to join The Gratitude Challenge with 11 other bloggers, we were both honored and thrilled.

Photo via flickr

You see, the theme behind The Gratitude Challenge, “Take Note and Give Thanks,” is really in harmony with what we are trying to do here every day. We truly believe that Girlfriends Make Life Better™, and we recognize that you have to pay attention to your girlfriendships to help them grow. Not only do you have to take note of what your female friends add to your life, you need to act on it (by scheduling fun and meaningful times together) to strengthen your friendships and improve your lives. At least that’s our theory. We’ve also written about ways girlfriends can explore gratitude together.

So anyway, both of us have signed a pledge to take part in The Gratitude Challenge for the next 21 days. As part of our pledge, we’ve promised to ” take note of life’s little blessings and give thanks for the relationships, experiences and opportunities that make [our] life unique.” As part of this challenge, you’ll be seeing posts from both of us on the concept of gratitude. This could get personal! Are you with us? We’d love to hear from you, girlfriends, on what you’re grateful for—and we hope you start with your girlfriends. Remember, what you put your attention on grows. Let’s all grow something good together.

We came, we saw, we shopped: GirlfriendCelebrations recently partnered with Liz Claiborne New York and Carson Pirie Scott for a Personal Style Event for some of our fashion-forward girlfriends! This early morning event was a great way to squeeze in a little girlfriend time before the Saturday rush. Here’s how it turned out:

The invitation-only event was scheduled before store opening, so our girlfriends had to get up early. But, they were greeted at the door with festive pink punch in champagne glasses, and had the chance to explore the new Liz fashions and chat over coffee and a light breakfast. (Besides, the colors of the Liz Claiborne New York summer line will wake anyone up!) We heard from many girlfriends how excited they were to be out of the house and doing something girl-friendly on a Saturday morning! Gift bags were waiting on each chair along an informal runway. In the bag: A silk Liz Claiborne New York logo scarf, “Miz Claiborne LizRahi” t-shirt, LCNY mouse pad, chocolate, bottled water, Carson’s coupons, a pen, and a program for the fashion show. Carson’s associates modeled the summer fashions, with Liz Claiborne’s Joanie Ackerman as the enthusiastic emcee offering styling tips. The “real” models did a fabulous job, and our girlfriends must have liked what they saw, because the shopping quickly ensued. This black crochet dress, in particular, flew off the racks. So many of our girlfriends bought that dress, we are going to have to make a schedule of who gets to wear it where and when! In addition, our girlfriends received beautiful gifts with purchases of a certain amount, as well as “keeper” garment bags to take their clothes home. Bonus!

Carson’s also raffled off some beautiful LCNY bags, an Estee Lauder gift set, and a Carson’s gift card. Congratulations to the lucky winners!! Thank you to the team at Carson’s Yorktown and Liz Claiborne New York for making our girlfriends feel welcome. They clearly share our philosophy that Girlfriends Make Life Better!™ This email from our girlfriend Jill, after the event, says it all:

“I just wanted to say thanks for a great Saturday morning at the 7/18 fashion event. It was so nice to get some fashion ideas that were both fun and realistic! A small step for a decidedly non-fashionista…but it made me remember how much fun it is to shop with girlfriends.  I actually feel inspired to go through my closet, and try a little harder…”

Fun, food, fashion, inspiration, girlfriends (and shopping) – what a great way to start your Saturday. Thanks to all who joined us!

Girlfriends love to spa—and when they can spa for charity, they feel even better! We recently had the pleasure of hosting, along with Chicagonista.com, a Girls Night Out for Charity at Juvenesse Spa in Chicago. It was a fantastic evening for girlfriends to network in the tranquil environs of Juvenesse, a hidden gem in the River North neighborhood. All proceeds from the event benefited Peace Journey, a charity started by spa owner Jeannette Kravitz. Girlfriends attending the event enjoyed complimentary champagne, a fabulous spread of hors d’oeuvres, and two mini spa services, ranging among chair massage, eye zone therapy, and makeup application.

In addition to receiving a $25 gift card for a future visit to Juvenesse, spa samples, and discounts from Juvenesse, girlfriends also received a bag full of swag thanks to our fabulous sponsors! In the bag:

The Wildwater Walking Club, a new novel by Claire Cook from Hyperion Books and Voice. This novel, about a woman who has to figure out what she wants out of her life after some bumps in the road, follows three women as they begin to find a new path. Great summer reading! Our guests each received a hardcover edition. For more about the book, click here.

The Art of the Apology by Lauren Bloom. This book by a business ethics expert teaches how to apologize effectively to practically anyone. Since a sincere apology is an essential friendship skill, we were happy to have this book in our swag bag!

Conversation Confetti from Chicago-based always a girls girl.  This package of 20+ cards with talk-about-it questions and scenarios gets your guests mingling! Get a conversation confetti FREE when you purchase a conversation tin from always a girl’s girl using the code “Girlfriend Celebrations”!

PakNaks These decorative accessories transform plain backpacks, bags and other stuff into personalized, ever-changing, colorful works of art. Over 40 adorable peel-and-stick designs are available. We can totally see using these to brighten up a summer tote bag. And there’s no ironing, sewing or pinning! www.paknak.com PakNaks has a special offer for GirlfriendCelebrations readers: Receive 20% OFF your order with the code “PAK20″!

Discount card from Tunix - the site for chic, American-made tunics perfect for beach, resort, or lunch with the girlfriends!

“Piggy” wine charm and recipe book from the National Pork Board 

GirlfriendCelebrations bookmark

M&Ms also supported this great event. Have you tried M&Ms Premiums? We tried the Raspberry Almond flavor and they are quite the delicious little splurge. 

A great big thank you to all of our sponsors, to Juvenesse and M.J. Tam of Chicagonista for organizing this event. We were proud to be part of it. Special thanks to all the women who came out (braving the weather —a major storm came up just as the event was ending) and filled the spa with their enthusiasm. We truly enjoyed meeting you!  For more pictures of the beautiful girlfriends who attended, see the Juvenesse Spa blog.

Girlfriends, you’re invited to a Ladies Night Charity Event on May 13, 2009 at Juvenesse Spa in Chicago. Champagne, nibbles, two mini spa services and more surprises are included in your $15 ticket. Network with new friends, and enjoy with  your gal pals! Plus, all proceeds from this event go to Peace Journey, a 501c3 organization that guides global friendships among children of the world through technology and education. Thanks to Chicagonista.com for organizing this great event—we can’t wait to see you there! Hurry, space is limited. Click on the postcard for registration info.