Ladies Weekend in Cincinnati​!

Just before the world declared a pandemic, some friends and I blissfully escaped to Cincinnati for a ladies weekend. We had no idea what was about to unfold in the world, and I cannot believe the timing of all that went down.

Natalie, Christine, Jess and I had this trip on the calendar for MONTHS, and thanks to some careful planning we were able to have fun, relax, spend so much good time in conversation, eat good food and just enjoy the company of one another without small children hanging on our every word.

Shout out to the husbands who held down the fort for our combined 11 children at home!

We wanted to get away on an overnight trip, but also knew that we didn’t want to waste time flying or driving very far away. I love where we live in Ohio because we get the small town feel but with a quick drive, we can be in Cincinnati or Columbus. After some thought and consideration, we picked Cincinnati and began planning our trip months in advance! I think at one point we each had 11 different Airbnb/VRBO tabs open talking through the pros and cons of each one. We needed a house that would sleep four with our own beds. We needed a house that had a kitchen so we could cook some of our own meals. We needed a house that had a comfy living room so we could sit around and talk. We would finally find a house that met all our criteria and then discover that it was backed up to a bar or that the couch didn’t actually exist or that it had funky stairs and only one bedroom. Christine finally found a home that met all of our criteria, and we booked it back in 2019! The dates were set on the calendar and we were READY FOR LADIES WEEKEND!

We left on Thursday shortly after noon and arrived in Cincy around 2pm. Since we couldn’t check into our hotel yet, we decided to spend the afternoon walking around the city and down by the river.

It was a beautiful sunny day and finally warm enough to be outside in a light jacket. This is the first time since 2016 that I have been away from my kids for an overnight and the only other times I’ve been away from my kids was when I was in my friend Tam’s wedding and bridal shower. So this was LONG OVERDUE and I cannot tell you how much the sunshine and the walking and the conversation slowly filled up my tank.

Christine was our social chair and not only did she have a schedule on a spreadsheet, but she also called ahead and made reservations at different restaurants for the entire weekend. After walking around for hours, we stopped in at Maize for dinner on Thursday night. Although we mostly had no idea what the menu was saying, our waiter was excellent and we all ended up thoroughly enjoying our dinner.

On our walk back to the car, we saw a rolled ice cream shop and decided that we just had to grab some. It was such a cool experience and really good ice cream, although I will say that making it takes a long time and it’s not cheap!

We checked into our home around 9pm and got settled in. We stayed up chatting for awhile and played a little Table Topics before crashing for bed.

The next morning was dubbed the “chill day”. It was dreary, cold and we even saw some snowflakes fall from the sky. We slept in, slowly got showered and dressed in comfy clothes, cooked some breakfast and basically just lounged around. It was GLORIOUS. We had planned to leave for “brunch” but by the time we left the house it was already lunch. We still felt in the mood for breakfast food, so we headed to Taste of Belgium right on the river.

After Taste of Belgium, we headed out to get pedicures!! It was slightly hilarious trying to find a place for four people. Christine picked a place, but when we pulled up we weren’t even sure that they had pedicures! So we hemmed and hawed and decided to try a different place. The different place had terrible reviews so we headed back to the first place to discover that they DID have pedicures. We got our toes done and headed back to the house to continue our day of chill.

We all crashed on the couch (relaxing can make one feel so exhausted!) and watched a movie together before making dinner at the house.

After dinner, we walked three feet back to the couch and sat and talked for HOURS. It was 1am before we even climbed into our beds and even later before I fell asleep! We laughed and talked and cried and like I said….it filled my tank. I can’t remember the last time I voluntarily stayed up until 1am…and enjoyed it!

The next morning was Saturday and it was our last day. We had to check out of the house by 11 am, so we all showered and dressed and had a huge breakfast that consisted of all the leftovers in our fridge. We weren’t going to head back to Dayton until after dinner, so we had the entire rest of the day to kill! We headed to Findlay Market and spent about an hour walking around. Once we had finished there, we grabbed items for picnic lunches and headed down to the river again. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we were so thankful for that warm sunshine!

After lunch, we walked around in Over the Rhine district and went into almost every shop there! We had an early dinner at a Ramen place and then got back into the car to drive home to our families.

I have some THOUGHTS on trips with girlfriends or just trips away from kids in general. I think that they are absolutely wonderful and even somewhat necessary, but I absolutely HATE when people say that we need to make them a priority. Yes, this is true. However, some of us do not have the same access to resources that others have and for some, it is not possible to remove the other priorities of life in order to “get away”. I think of missionary Moms in other countries who don’t get to “get away”. I think of those who have no family members or supportive communities to watch their children. I think of those who are struggling to pay rent and groceries who have no way to make a weekend away a priority. I think of those who have spent the last few years either pregnant or breastfeeding, of those who have special needs children, of those who are in an abusive relationship. Sometimes it’s far more complicated than just “making it a priority”. And so I am not here to preach the need for Moms to get away from their kids. Sometimes it is simply not in the cards. Sometimes it will be in the cards in a few years. Sometimes it is very, very complicated. If you are drained and seeing the message that “getting away” will solve your problems, this isn’t true. The Lord can and will give strength right where you are at. No, getting away will not solve any problems…they will still be there when you come back. Remember that trips away are not a replacement for the ultimate fulfillment of life in Christ.

(I loved this IG post from my friend Natalie on this topic)

Now, all that being said…I am so incredibly thankful for this GIFT of time away with my friends. It wasn’t perfect. There were tears. There were late nights. And when we got back, there was life again (and a worldwide pandemic). I don’t feel any more rested this morning than I did the week before we left for this trip. If it is possible for you to take the trip….do it. If it is within your financial and physical means, I highly recommend making it happen. It does take some planning and communicating and a willing party to take care of the kids, but that was worth the time away. But let me just remind you once more: a trip away will not give you ultimate life fulfillment.

And to Jess, Natalie and Christine: Thank you for that weekend. I will remember and treasure it forever and the time that we got to spend together right before we were all told to social distance. What a life!

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