In honor of Women’s History Month – hello all you fierce ladies – I wanted to brag on and honor some of the chosen females in my life. Having female friendships is something I do not take lightly. I know for some, female friendships can be hard or non-existent. I consider myself extremely blessed to be surrounded by an amazing group of women. These friendships were carefully curated (which took time and lots of work) during various chapters of my life. The bonds that we have created over the years are like none other. What makes it even extra special is that these separate circles from my childhood, college days, family, and professional life all came together last September to celebrate my upcoming nuptials. Having all of these amazing women together in ONE house was INCREDIBLE. So life-giving, energetic and a major highlight of last year for me. Everyone was equally surprised at how natural being together was. Conversation flowed easily and everyone got along – it wasn’t lost on us that this usually doesn’t happen when you get 12 women together. No hurt feelings, no cattiness, no extremes. It was pure bliss and the energy filled everyone up. I can only say that it was the reward to years of tending and nurturing relationships. To curating GOOD, authentic, soul-filling relationships. It’s true what they say – you are the sum of the five (or twelve!) people you spend the most time with.

Here’s the re-cap of one of the most amazing weekends of my life. You might call it a Bachelorette Party, but MY friends threw me a Purrmaid Party (combining my love of cats and mermaids – naturally 😉 )

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Our long weekend took place in sunny New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The quickest/easiest route for me to get there was flying from Grand Rapids to Daytona Beach.

Thursday: Pre-Party for me + my childhood friend, Amanda

The flight from Grand Rapids to Daytona Beach had a layover in Atlanta where I met up with Amanda so we could be together for the second leg of the flight. I knew the weekend was going to fly by, so it was important to me to get there a day early to get the travel out of the way and be fully present and ready when everyone started to roll in on Friday. We booked a stay at The Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort which funny enough we had come to Spring Break weekend when we were seniors in high school. We had planned on having a relaxing night-in with room service, face masks, and painting our nails – however, due to delayed flights we were lucky to have checked in before midnight before collapsing on our respective beds and getting a much-needed good nights sleep. Just rolling with the punches…

Friday: Beach + Welcome Party

We woke up and made a pit-stop at the hotel cafe for coffee and fresh fruit before taking a long morning walk on the beach to map out our plans for the day. We had reserved an AirBnB in New Smyrna Beach for the remainder of the weekend, but we had all afternoon to kill before heading that way. We opted for lunch at the Ocean Deck followed by pool + sun time back at the hotel.

When it was time, we took a lyft to New Smyrna Beach to shower off and get ready for the fun night ahead. Everyone would be rolling in and we were planning on a cocktail hour at our rental before heading to dinner. The AirBnB was ah-mazing and perfect for such a large group (check out the listing here). While I was showering and getting ready (with explicit instructions not to leave my room) my friends decorated the house and prepped for cocktail hour.

Dinner was at Norwoods, which is a must-stop if you’re ever in the NSB area. We literally had dinner outside in a tree house. Food was amazing, drinks were delicious, and the company was out of this world!

Saturday: Beach Day + Cassadaga

Early morning yoga was on the itinerary, but in full transparency, I didn’t make it. Sleep sounded so much better 😉 We grabbed brunch downtown at Jason’s Corner and then headed back to the rental to suit up and grab our beach bags for an afternoon in the sun. The weather was gorgeous and it was so relaxing to sit in our big semi-circle and talk while sipping on champagne (and seltzers!).

We ordered pizza for a casual/un-rushed evening and ate in-between showering/getting ready for the night ahead. Our evening entailed heading about 30-minutes west to a little town called Cassadaga. It’s a spiritual community located in Volusia County that is known for its many psychics, mediums, and paranormal activity. We took part in their “Encounter the Spirt” night tour, watching an informative video about the community and then proceeding on a walking tour to capture photos (and hopefully spirits too!) This has always been a bucket-list item for me. Growing up in central Florida and frequenting the Daytona Beach area, I had heard stories about this little town and was always curious. I am SO GLAD we had this on our itinerary and I’m super thankful to my friends for getting into it (even if it was just for me) as well.

Sunday: Everyone departs for home!

What an incredible weekend with an incredible group of women. Like I anticipated, the weekend flew by. I am so grateful for the intentional time we all got to spend together. There’s nothing like quality girl time. It was exactly what my soul needed! Heart full. xx