feliceI had no idea how much I missed girlfriend time these past few years. This friggin pandemic has put a halt to one of my favorite ways to recharge…one on one girlfriend getaways.
Well, this past week I got a mega dose of girlfriend time and it was awesome. I’m not complaining but I was out of practice and needed a nap after a 3 day visit with my dear friend Randi who squeezed in a quick trip to my place before meeting up with her husband.
“I cannot believe we pulled this off!” I said to Randi. “Your timing is amazing, we can do whatever we want … we’ve got the whole house to ourselves.”
My husband just happened to be on a 3 day business trip back east so we were on our own. And from the first moment… the activities unfolded organically. Randi is a professional photographer and I met her when she photographed our wedding on Martha’s Vineyard 14 years ago. In the midst of Hurricane Hannah which almost blew our wedding tent down. We connected and became fast friends way back when, but, this was our first sleep over.
She arrived late at night in a snow storm from the airport. We agreed to save our catch up for the next day. She was on east coast time so I wasn’t surprised to get a text at 6:30 am.
“Are you up? I like to do 20 minutes of Yoga in the morning, want to join?”
“Me too…” And so, I grabbed my mat and our morning was launched and the activities began.
Yoga
Randi: Have you tried the new website “Down Dog.” I customize this into the levels you want. We can do an advanced glute stretch class…you can even select the voice, the tone and gender.
Me: I want a New Zealand woman.
Randi: We can pick the music. Spiritual beats with a New Zealand twist. And, let’s only do a one minute shivasana because we have other stuff to do.
Me: Game on!
Breakfast
I take pride in being the master of the poached egg and avocado toast breakfasts, but this visit, I stepped aside to try Randi’s favorite, which I am now adopting. Randi turned me onto her power breakfast which was an uptick from my usual 7 minute poached egg routine. She grabbed some salad greens and dripped the yoke over the greens and added smashed avocado and salt. Yum.
Dinner
If positive energy can part the seas of the impossible, Randi and I were having our way. It was February school vacation week in Park City and no reservations were to be had on Resy or Open Table so we threw caution to the wind and set out to find a seat at the bar on Main Street. We walked into my favorite local restaurant, Handle, and miraculously, there was a table set apart from the crowds. And like old times, we shared an entree and app and some fantastic breads and vino and had the most amazing meal. After two years of take out and home cooking — this meal was nirvana. The Buccatini with mushrooms and truffle marscaponi and kale salad were nothing like I’ve ever tasted.
Photography
Day Two
I woke to a buzzing outside my window and there was a drone suspended in midair. What? It was 7 am and the pink light of sunrise was flooding the mountain range. Randi was capturing it from her control center on her Iphone in our living room. I jumped out of bed and watched how she manipulated the drone to photograph the neighborhood. Another learning moment. So fun and creative and we hadn’t even had our coffee.
Skis any which way. Cross Country, Telemark and Downhill
What’s in that ski bag Randi?
Randi had brought 3 ski options and over the 3 day visit we used them all. Snow had finally fallen after 6 weeks without, so her timing was impeccable.
“I can’t find my jacket.” Randi had looked everywhere but her ski jacket was no where to be found. “Can I wear your Stio jacket? I love it.” And, in no time, she was dressing out of my closet. Off we went to the slopes skiing through trees and hiking far off the chair. It was insane and we were well matched out on the trails. After a full day we were wiped out and decided to change it up the next day with a morning of cross country. It turned out that would not be the “chill” outing we anticipated.
It was 8 degrees at 9 am but no worries. We layered up and headed out to the trails and after 30 minutes of climbing, we started peeling layers.
“How long do you want to ski for? I have a trail in mind.”
We agreed on a 90 minute loop and after over an hour of sweating and climbing we had gone far afield. Confession: my internal GPS has never been activated…I wasn’t sure of our route.
“We need to turn around… We have gone too far out and we could be out here for another hour and I don’t want us to get hypothermia,” And after an attempt to find the map on our phone we gave up and headed back exhausted.
And that is just a glimpse of an amazing visit with my girlfriend Randi. The next day after she left, I slept in late and lingered thinking how amazing our visit was. I learned so much from my friend. I am praying we all get to have more time with those we love as the months move forward because we have certainly waited long enough to begin to embrace again what we have missed for so long.