weekend in (stock) photos

I'd been searching for a retreat to go on for my birthday weekend since February. I went from a deluxe weekend away in Phoenix to a retreat 90 miles west of Minneapolis to booking a hotel for Saturday night and cashing in on my spa gift card that was originally a Christmas present (my lucky husband got a lot of miles out of that gift).

Let me recap my weekend in (stock) photos.

I arrived here at 10 am, meaning breakfast for the kiddos and I was out the door.

I asked to take a picture of the two very friendly men sitting with me while I waited for my massage. They agreed to 'look peaceful'.

After my massage, I asked if they wouldn't mind taking a picture of me naked in the whirlpool for the sake of my blog. They yet again, happily agreed.

After the massage, whirlpool and stream shower extravaganza. I headed to the happiest place in the world...

(I nearly died trying to get this photo from the fifth floor of the Macy's ramp. I'm totally joking about it being the happiest place on earth too, anyone that lives in the area knows MOA is definitely not heaven.)


After spending to my personally allocated $100 only heart's content. I checked into this fabulous hotel. I was greeted with an insane look by the staff as she yet again read over my address. Yes, that's right, I live less than 10 miles from here, I know. (I wanted to say, do you have kids? If so, you'd completely understand.)




I climbed into my king size bed and well, napped (and watched nearly 7 hours of HGTV, which we don't have cable so it was heaven).


And in the morning, I didn't eat in the breakfast area, oh no. I brought my continental breakfast with waffle maker stuff back to my room and had breakfast in bed.

I could end my post with something beautiful and romantic like that I couldn't wait to get home and see my children, that I couldn't sleep a wink at night without my husband by my side, but the truth is I loved every minute of being in the middle of the king sized bed, munching on my waffle that I didn't have to cut into kid-sized pieces and watching television that didn't include Super Why and his buddies looking for clues.


Happy Birthday to me (tomorrow)

Picked by Random.org, the winner of my giveaway is Mamasphere, ironic since she is giving away 3 gift cards to Target; one for $100, another for $50 and yet another for $25 to help her rename her blog. I love Mamapshere, so give her some bloggy love. (Obviously, her 'economy' is better than mine).