A perfect weekend looks like...

A two night retreat at Sundance with...yep...just the girls. Every year we anticipate and plan for months to have a couple nights away from kids, husbands, and work just so we can lounge around a cabin in the woods and talk endlessly about kids, husbands, and work. It's just perfect. There is no schedule. There are no rules. We stay up too late. We sleep in as much as we can. We eat whatever we want. We shop the outlets. Then we spend the rest of the time validating each others purchases, laughing at Dr. Phil impersonations, placing orders for headbands, swapping book reviews, discovering the best of the worst on YouTube, and just talking and being there for one another. But shhh, don't tell any of that to our husbands, because I think it might completely ruin their expectations of what goes on at a girls retreat. Congrats, I came away with a whopping 4 pictures from the whole entire weekend. But I think it's 4 more than anyone else took, so I win. Thanks TPF! You are the best snuggle buddy.

In full disclosure, I'm diseased too

This article caught my eye today. It's worth reading. And re-reading.

Happy Week's End

have much to catch up on including a recent craft-like project for a dear friend's nursery. It's been many moons since I've gotten crafty. Seems my desk job likes to suck nearly all creativity out of me. This morning my room was quite chilly when I got out of bed, which sent me straight back under the covers for another 15 minutes before I could muster up enough brave to close the windows. I'm just too excited for the weekend to begin. And it might have something to do with getting my carpets cleaned. I hope your weekend is equally exciting ;-).

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it's the little things

Isn't it funny how a tiny box of bean-shaped corn syrup flavored like popcorn and margaritas can transform a fairly stressful mid-week work morning from SERENITYNOW to Jelly Bean Day! BRING.IT.ON.

Logan to Jackson {or bust}

BD rode LOTOJA again this year. He might be nuts. But there is no mistaking his passion for all things biking. I must not have been a complete delinquent last year as his official "support crew" and therefore was hired for a repeat performance. I was thrilled each time he came through a feed zone in good spirits while we swapped water bottles, wrappers, and a salty kiss. At least he's having fun, I thought, despite the self-induced pain. The whole Duncan clan came to Jackson to see him cross the finish line. It seemed the perfect excuse to have everyone together for the weekend and we loved every second spent with them.

We are all laughing/smiling in this picture because the passerby who kindly took this shot hollered "say... GO COUG'S!" Maybe you had to be there, or be a Duncan, to really understand that humor.

We stayed the night in Jackson at a cozy lodge near downtown and after a yummy dinner and a splurge at Haagen Dazs we called it an early night. Someone was tired and it wasn't Ellie or Cody. I'm in love with those quirky mountain lodges, where the hot and cold is always switched backwards on the shower and it takes 10 minutes to solve the puzzle. The next day we sauntered around the open-air art fair and Taste of the Tetons. I scored some turquoise earrings that I may never take out of my ears. We made quick work of 3 large pizzas at Mountain High Pizza Pie before hitting the road for home.

A big thanks to Grandpa D for making it all happen. Jackson was so beautiful and the weather was just perfect, I'm still dreaming about it. It was fun having the babes there as well. High fives to their parents who braved the first road trip with them in tow. Ellie gave me a big hug right before we left that basically melted me right on the spot and Cody was a good sport to allow his auntie no less than one million kisses on those cheeks of his. I'm preemptively making up for that day when he's not going to allow me do that anymore. BD and I opted to take the long way home in search of a huckleberry milkshake at the Ashton drug store. We stopped several times to snap shots of the beautiful Teton valley in which we were passing through. Absolutely gorgeous. Naturally my thoughts wandered to my grandparents as we passed their resting place and my heart warmed.

The rolling fields of gold seemed endless. One after another. We were dismayed to find that the drug store in Ashton had been renovated into a pizzeria and was inevitably closed on Sunday. Through the window I could see that the old-fashioned soda fountain was intact and the locals we accosted on the street vouched that the food was decent, so not all is lost; we'll be back. The milkshakes were the best thing that drug store had going for it anyway. Our search for huckleberry milkshakes was successful down the road at some Frosty Top car hop or something of the sort. And yes, at the last second BD sneaked in an order of onion rings and I could not for the life of me find any good reason to object.  

 I love road trippin.'