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. Read the rest of this entry »
Another girlfriend year is coming to a close, so we wanted to look back and remember some of our favorite post of 2009. We’ve had some great ones this year! In fact, narrowing the list down to 10 favorites was tough, but we selected 5 party ideas and 5 articles that we thought represented the best of GirlfriendCelebrations this year. Read on and see if you agree, and let us know in the comments. You can also VOTE for your favorite GirlfriendCelebrations party idea of 2009 in our twtpoll in the left-hand column. If you missed any of these great posts, you may want to consider subscribing to our e-newsletter. That way you’ll never miss a minute of the celebration!
Party Ideas
1. Patio Crawl Tina says: “I like this because it’s hip to host at any age. It can be held virtually anywhere from a large subdivision to a small apartment complex. If you wanted to include the opposite sex, it wouldn’t too hard to modify. What a great way to celebrate the fall season! And last but not least…I secretly really, really, really want to host one of these ~ sounds like so much fun.”
2. Welcome-to-Town Cookie Party Tina says: “I love that you can host this for girls of all ages. It’s a unique twist on the old favorite cookie exchange. It’s a fun way to get the “chore” of seeing all your close friends and extended family without traveling from house to house during the time-crunched holiday season.” 3. Karaoke Girls Night Dawn says: “Classic GirlfriendCelebrations: Fun, easy, cheap, and unique. This is a great Japan-themed girls night to warm up a winter night by bringing out your inner diva.” Read the rest of this entry »
(PLEASE NOTE- Interview was rescheduled due to technical difficulties.We’ll now be appearing Monday, 12/14 at 2:00 pm EST) Hey, girlfriends, we’ll be appearing live Monday, December 14 at 2:00 pm eastern with Debba Haupert of Girlfriendology on BlogTalkRadio! We’ll be talking about celebrating the holidays with your girlfriends, and you can even call in with questions. We’d love to hear from you! Listen live on the web at www.blogtalkradio.com/girlfriendology or, you can download the podcast and listen at your leisure. (We will post the link to the podcast when it’s available). Have a great weekend!
The other day we received a lovely email from Ed Han of Tiny Prints, thanking us for participating in The Gratitude Challenge. Tiny Prints has put together an inspiring video about the challenge, which you can watch below. Even better, they’ve now made the Gratitude Challenge available to everyone! You can download the Gratitude Challenge pledge, download the Gratitude Challenge calendar with all the tasks and prompts for the 21-day challenge, and add a Gratitude Challenge widget to your own blog. We really hope you will check it out and consider taking the challenge yourself. It only takes 21 days to form a grateful habit that could change your life! If you’d like to revisit our gratitude journey, you can check out all our Gratitude Challenge posts here.
Watch the video and read an excerpt from Ed’s letter below.
“We started this project as a internal movement focused on helping our colleagues to achieve one simple goal—to counter everyday stress and negativity with daily affirmations of gratitude. As The Gratitude Challenge grew to include bloggers outside of our company, however, we learned just how much gratitude can change a person’s life.
From tornadoes to car accidents, fires and family drama, The Gratitude Challenge saw our bloggers through meaningful, life-changing events. We learned so much from this experience that we made a short video about how gratitude can revitalize your perspective.” [watch it above]
“We hope this experience has meant as much to you as it has to us, and we hope that you and your readers will to continue to follow our progress as we invite the world to join the movement at gratitudechallenge.com.
It’s Day 21 of our Gratitude Challenge. Today’s instruction reads: Publicly reflect on the 21 days of the gratitude challenge and what this process has meant to you.
So today is the end of the road for my journey in experimental gratitude. I have to say I’m a little sad, in a way; it was nice to have the daily reminders to think about my not-so-perfect world in a cheerier way. It kept me on my toes, always finding something good out of something mundane or not so great.
The challenge made me appreciate the small things in a different light. For that, I am grateful. I’ve always thought I was a positive person and agreed to do the challenge because I thought it would be easy-peasy pie. However, a few days into it, I realized my true colors. I truly wasn’t the rosy person I’d claimed to be and it was really hard trying to find something good in certain situations. Some days, it was really a lot of work for my mind.
They say it takes 21 days to make a habit. My hope is that gratitude is a way of life for me now. I know I’ve been in a better frame of mind and have been looking at things in a more positive light. In fact, I think if more people rode the gratitude wagon we would have less need for antidepressants and therapists. I know that gratitude has spilled into my relationship with my husband. I no longer gasp at all the things he doesn’t do for me (bring me flowers?) and I focus on what he adds to my life (a loving, caring guy with no romance skills). I truly think we would need less divorce lawyers if couples were made to do gratitude counseling.
I’ve even realized how important it is for my children to be thankful for the small things in life too! So we’ve started a gratitude journal to talk about at dinner time. We share 3 things we are grateful for that day. It’s sometimes hard for them to think about something other than the yummy dessert to be thankful for. But just like me, I’m hoping it gets easier over time. Read the rest of this entry »
Well, Day 18 of The Gratitude Challenge threw us for a loop. It asked us to create a video blog detailing “all the little things that make you so lovable.” While we’re grateful for the opportunity to reflect on our own wonderfulness, we found this assignment pretty tough. What do we really love about ourselves, after all? Won’t it seem like we’re bragging? And we have to tell the world what makes us so great, on camera? How many of you would find this a bit difficult? Self-love tends to be a sticky wicket for a lot of women. This was a bit of a full-circle moment for us, because our gal pal Christine Arylo is a self-love expert and we’ve both been reading her book. (And we’re going to have MUCH MORE on this topic for you in the very near future, so stay tuned!) So anyway, our solution to this tricky assignment was GIRLFRIEND LOGIC – sometimes it takes a girlfriend to help you see things clearly. Watch the video to see how it turned out! It’s a bit long, so if you make to the end, thanks! Read the rest of this entry »
Girlfriend-in-Chief Dawn here. When I looked at my Gratitude Challenge card for today, it asked me to think of one specific thing I am grateful for and blog about it. I have to admit my first thought was “coffee”! (Okay, it was early in the morning, and I never start a day without a steaming cup of java). As I was pondering the wonders of coffee, I noticed the coffee mug I had chosen this morning. It was a gift from Girlfriend-in-Chief Tina. Honestly, I can’t remember the occasion on which it was given, but I do remember it was filled with chocolate when I received it. The mug got me to thinking about something I AM truly grateful for…big surprise….friendship. More specifically, I am grateful that I have the kind of friend who gives me little mementos of our relationship. I am not a big tchotchke person, but I keep things that have meaning to me. As I look around my house, I see quite a few reminders of my nine-year friendship with Tina. Last Christmas, she had a plate made for me (by an Etsy artisan) to celebrate our achievements on the website. Thoughtful, right? I was so surprised and delighted (and of course, guilt-ridden that I had not been nearly as thoughtful). That she took the time from her busy life to slow down, think about me, and make that gesture meant the world to me. I am not nearly so good at slowing down to consider the girlfriends who are important to me and letting them know. (Maybe, just maybe, writing this post counts for a little!)
Girlfriend-In-Chief Tina here. Today is Day 10 of our Gratitude Challenge. My task is to pick one of my five
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senses to be grateful for.
I am thankful for my ability to see the world through open eyes.
I was fortunate enough to have been born with wonderful eyesight. Yes, with the blink of an eye, I’ve had mine for total of 14,860 days now. Yet, it took The Gratitude Challenge to open my eyes to being thankful for such a simple gift. Being able to see the many colors of the rainbow is something I’ve taken for granted all these years. Sad but true.
Here is a small glimpse of beauty I saw over the summer through the eye of my camera. I realize now I’m not only fortunate to be able to see such wonderful visions but I’m also lucky to be able to capture such heartwarming memories one click at a time.
At the right is the shore of Lake St. Germain. Yes it is a picture of rocks, sand and water. But through my eyes it is much more than that. This is the spot where my boys playfully giggle as the dig their entire bodies into the sand, skip rocks with the greatest of ease and build sand cities to get lost in. I know these times with my children will come to an end as they grow older, so this picture of a place that holds so many memories is dear to my heart.
Events, Girlfriend Getaways, Our Story
