Serenity Now.

Sorry, I should say Serenity Now Then.  Serenity Then.

In the days since I returned from my Girls' Weekend at Ste. Anne's Spa I've been faced with what I like to think of as an onslaught of unpleasant.  No tragedies, just a lot of ick.  Looming deadlines, writer's block, a teething baby.  Bernie the Wondercat having a health scare, Bernie the Wondercat being on steroids and antibiotics (and therefore, me pacing the floor and suffering crying jags).  My period, a sore throat (ongoing) and just in the last hour or so I've been dealing with extremely itchy skin.  Like, I want to tear my skin off, itchy skin.  See? Ick!

So, now that I've just crapped all over my corner of the internet with my first world problems, let me tell you about the two straight days of pampering I just had!

I know, right?  I hate me sometimes too.

Cut to:  A Sunday morning in June.  Five thirtysomething moms leave their men folk, children and electronic devices* behind and head for the hills.

*Excluding Blackberrys. Obviously.

The car ride is uneventful.  No traffic, homemade sandwiches and a road trip coffee discovery for the ages: McDonald's coffee is both cheaper and waaaaaaaay more drinkable than the dread Tim Hortons.  I'm positively thrilled that I am now armed with this information.  This is EPIC.

When we arrive at Ste. Anne's it's everything we had imagined.  Rolling hills, well appointed gardens, beautiful buildings and people in white terrycloth bathrobes.  The notion that we were about to be one of the bathrobe people was very exciting indeed.

Here I am, taking in the landscape and Lake Ontario in the distance.  Le sigh.

We are ready to transform into bathrobe people!

Doesn't Yvonne look relaxed in her robe?
Don't ask her about the guy who was at the spa with his mom, though.
That would be a waste of a perfectly good hot stone facial.

The transformation is...complete!  Yes Annette and I are in wagons.
No, we can't pass up a silly photo opp. 

Chelsea is reading the newspaper!  The whole thing!

Rachel slept in!  Well, sort of.  Close enough! 

Frankly, that would have been enough for me.  A bathrobe and a chaise lounge.  That's all I needed.  But it wasn't all I got.  No sir.  I got the Caribbean Therapy.  Want to know more?  Yeah, you do.  Just reading this description makes me instantly more relaxed.

Your Caribbean Therapy treatment begins with a soothing foot soak using Aveda’s Caribbean Body Cleanser, complete with a sea salt scrub. While your feet are soaking, your therapist will perform a sensory journey with essential oils in order to customize the aromas of the treatment specifically to you. After choosing your preferred aroma, the therapist will leave the room while you undress. Once you are comfortably on the table, your therapist will re-enter the room and begin the body exfoliation portion of the treatment. Your therapist will add a few drops of your chosen aroma onto a pair of exfoliating gloves and exfoliate your entire body. This helps to slough off any dry, flaky skin to allow the the Caribbean Therapy products to penetrate better. Next, your therapist will apply the seaweed body mask, add wrap you in warm linens. Your therapist will then perform a face and scalp massage to help relieve any stress and release any tension. Following the wrap, you will shower off the remaining seaweed and once again relax back onto the massage table. The treatment ends with your therapist applying Aveda's Caribbean Body Cream to your entire body, to leave your skin soft, smooth and moisturized. The Caribbean Therapy treatment is 75 minutes long and is a great choice for anyone looking to pamper themselves.

Yep. I'm pretty sure just reading that has healing properties.

We stayed about 1km off site in the Innkeepers Cottage.  A spacious, quaint farmhouse that we had all to ourselves.  When we wanted to head back and forth between the spa and the Innkeepers all we had to do was call the front desk and they'd send someone over in a minivan for us.  The service, I should add, struck that perfect balance between pampering and cloying.  It never felt like too much.  Nobody was pretentious, but nobody ever denied a single one of our requests either.  Get a load of our house!

Monday morning coffee on our front porch = happy place.

Our days were filled with wonderful meals (including afternoon tea), a little bit of wine (you bring your own and there's no corkage fee), lazy hours poolside and sessions in the grotto hot tub and the steam room. There were long walks, yoga classes and overstuffed armchairs and biscotti.  Beautiful gardens, sunshine, cool breezes and most importantly time spent with great friends.

This is the view from the table where we had our afternoon tea.  Scones, clotted cream, compote, oh my!

At first glance I thought this guy was a cow.  Don't judge.
They talk a lot on their menu about the free range beef raised on site...

We've all know each other for well over twenty years.  That kind of history and connection can't be underestimated.  I'm so grateful to have these vibrant, wise, fun-loving women in my life.  I'm so glad that we found this peaceful, beautiful place to celebrate each other, our achievements and our friendships.  I'm so glad we still know how to relax and just be goofy and have fun together.  

We're simple girls, with simple needs and probably would have had just as much fun spending the night at the Super 8 up the road with a bottle of cheap wine and some Cheatos, for real.  

But, yeah, I'm glad we did this instead.