Nora has three weeks of recaps ahead of her in July, so I offered to write one about the nearly back-to-back girl trips we shared.
As long-time readers of this blog know, the spring trip to Nemacolin is filled with a weird duality: relaxing days, competitive evenings. Or, as I tenderly put it, Stupid Games. We’ll get to them in a bit.
Sarah and I joined Nora and Kayla in the party(ish) bus out. Why not let someone else do the work while we caught up (and sipped some Veuve)? On the way, BW texted me that we’d left the Switch (and all the games) at the house. I would have been fine shrugging that off as an “Oh, well!” but I realized Nicole didn’t plan to leave until noon. I heroically asked if she’d mind stopping by Nora’s to get the Switch. She said yes.
Darn it all.
After a smooth ride, we arrived by 1:30 pm to a happy welcome from the butlers and the door staff. Rooms were ready and so we all settled in, then took a walk over to the shops to stretch our legs.
Nicole and Kat arrived later in the afternoon, the former with the dread gaming console, the latter with bags of clothes for the annual spa clothing swap. We were so curious to see what Nora no longer needed, that the swap happened on night one, instead of games. A reprieve!
The weather in the first part of the week was lovely, and the sunsets were glorious. We came home to that miserably wet Memorial Day weekend, so every day spent outside was a gift.
On Saturday, Kayla, Nicole, Sarah and I went to High Tea in the “secret” room that opened in The Chateau in 2025. (Nora opted to stay back to take a walk, then dive into John Sandford’s Revenge Prey.) We’d gone there last year on Mother’s Day and it was too good to not go again. The room is a soothing blue and white, with tables placed neatly through the space so every guest had breathing room. We had the center table again and photos were mandatory.
Tea for four, please.
Place setting.
All the treats.
Once we reached the peak fullness on the treats, our hostess boxed up the leftover sweets. A walk sounded like the proper way process all that sugar. A sudden thunderstorm was blowing outside so we wandered from the Chateau through the Grand Lodge and over to the Art Studio. We were already scheduled for a group paint session with Claire Hardy on Sunday, but the team at the studio has added other activities.
As a post-High Tea activity, Nicole, Sarah and I made candles. Later in the week, the three of us plus Nora and Kat tried glass fusion. As always, it’s fun to chat while we debated colors, scents and textures then created to our hearts’ content.
That night, we started the games. First round of Scrabble for Kat, Nicole and Nora, while I bowled with Sarah and Kayla. I won that first round of bowling (!) while Nora took the first round of Scrabble – she opened the game with a seven-letter word! It was such a lovely evening with the sunset streaming through the windows and door open to the patio, and everyone was relaxed so we flowed through the next few rounds of bowling and finished the evening with Nicole as the first winner of a final.
Sunday was oil painting with Claire. Nora had chosen a floral picture that most of us used as the launching point. Kayla and Kat went off in their own directions. Nora now paints with Claire four times a year — 3x in oil, 1x in acrylic – and she has honed her technique in a lovely and relaxed way. (Someone’s got to give Nora the shout out she deserves.) Pizza dinner always follows painting – as did some more games, of course.
The image Nora suggested,
Our interpretations.
The weekend set the flow for the rest of the visit. Treatments, reading, movement, room service, then games. Kayla and Sarah had their usual one-on-one final in Just Dance. I happened to take the Trivia game and the Scrabble final. Kayla, who also took Reverse Charades and the Wild Card categories was named the Biggest Winner.
I won, despite these letters.
The Big Winner.
Final tally.
And just like that, it was time to go home. For four days.
On the fifth day we headed to Tyson’s Corner for Kat’s birthday shopping trip. I joined the group late on the first day due to a doctor’s appointment related to my upcoming hip replacement, but all reports were that everyone found wandered the mall and found items to their liking.
Nora’s personal shopper, Azita, has been with Saks forever. With the closing of all the Saks stores in the DC area, she and her team shifted to Neiman Marcus at Tysons.
Nora and the team.
We had loads of fun in the new location with familiar faces and new friends. And the lunch menu was based on Nora’s books. Absolutely delicious.
We had so much fun that the dates for this December and next spring are already set!
The very clever menu.
Nora and family head back to Nemacolin next week for their summer stay, then it’s off to Italy in early July. My hip replacement was supposed to be today, but was pushed back to July 16 – the middle of the Italy trip. I’ll do everything possible to keep the travelogues flowing!
Due to scheduling shifts and availability, we had our Girl Spa Week at one of the houses on the resort. Advantage, we’re all in one place. Disadvantage, distance from the shops, spa itself, etc. Pros and cons aside, we’re there to have fun!
Happy to be back. Photo by Laura
I needed to pack for the week prior to Derby as the car would be loaded. The Amazing Kat hauled all my stuff from here, to her house, then hauled it all up to Nemacolin. My suitcase, the Fabulous Prizes, the Bag ‘0 Games, the bags of clothes purged from my closet through the year. Champagne. It’s a lot.
Good thing as we stuff my G-Wagon—that’s Laura, Jo, Kayla and me in the driver’s seat along with luggage, snacks, wine and all the things girls need for a week away from home.
A nice, clear day for the drive up, and traffic isn’t too bad. We check in at the welcome center, and the delightful Mason comes to meet us, leads us to our home for the week, and hauls the half ton of stuff inside. Sarah got there right before us, so her stuff’s hauled in, too.
Snacks in the pantry, fruit in a bowl, drinks and whatever in the fridge. Open some champagne because the fun begins now. I don’t have much to unpack until Kat and Griffin arrive, but I check out my room. I’m on the lower level this year, have a wood burning fireplace—woo!—and they’ve set up a DVD for me in the living/game area down there for my workouts.
Pat should be there, and when we check, she’s lost somewhere on the property. We send out our search party and guide her in.* Some hang out time, take dinner orders—by text for Nicole and Kat, who are on their way.
Then the gang’s all here, and we eat, drink and make merry. There’s a pool table downstairs, and Griffin’’s fascinated. Pat and I show him how to play. Not really as we suck at it, but he enjoys, a lot.
We might have hauled out the clothes—Sarah brought tubs of her own (from which I bagged a very cool black jean jacket)—my memory fails me on that order of things. But whenever we did it, lots of fun, and lots of new-to-whomever stuff. We are all girls who like clothes. **
Early-ish to bed as travel days are travel days.
I’m up early, and am checking my email in bed when I hear: Hi!
And Griffin’s standing with a big grin at the foot of my bed. Up and at ‘em. He works out with me for little while, then plays with the pool balls. He claims Number Ten cheats. He instructs me to draw the pool table on a big sheet of paper. I draw a rectangle because I also suck at drawing. Together we draw the balls where he designates, number them, then he makes a maze out of it, and we put both our names on the masterpiece.
I go up to make bacon.
Kat’s made Bingo cards. Bingo begins at 8 a.m. Laura’s already up and out for her daily walk and an early treatment. Kayla’s out for a run. Jo and Sarah are at the dining table, and Jo’s hit Bingo. At about five minutes after 8. She takes this very seriously, though I’m told Sarah nixed her wondering if seeing a fly meant she could cross off See An Animal.
Big no.
Jo bags the first prize of the tournament.
Most of us decide it’s a good day to shop, so we do just that. Always fun to shop with girls.
It’s time for the games to begin. Kat’s made our scoreboard. First round of Scrabble. Laura, Pat, Kayla, Sarah. First round of Bowling. Laura takes Scrabble—big time—and Kayla does the same in Bowling.
We order ice cream.
Thursday cools off and brings some rain. The fireplaces come in handy. Griffin again joins my workout for a bit, then hangs out while I finish. He tries to teach me how to play a game on his IPad. I’m better off watching him play. Jo and Kayla are off for nails. I skip this as I just had mine done at Derby. And the afternoon is for painting. Always fun and challenging and fascinating to me to see everyone’s work. We’re all doing different things this time out, and with, imo, really impressive results.
Paint Day is also Pizza Night. Mason delivers! He’s also made sure we’ve had anything and everything we could want.
More Bowling, more Scrabble, and the first rounds of Just Dance. Kayla takes the Dance, Jo plays a seven-word at Scrabble. We play Monikers to much hilarity.
Another cool morning. Good thing I know how to build a fire. Pat has to leave us today. Nicole has to leave briefly—one son’s big lacrosse tournament, and her older son’s college graduation. She’ll be back Saturday night.
I have my Hot Stone Experience with the magical Autumn. It’s glorious. Kayla has her massage, and says the same. Her tech—new to her—is also Kayla. So she says it’ll be easy to remember and request her when we go as a family in August.
It’s the Bowling finals. Kayla and Laura are top scores. It’s nip and tuck, strikes, spares. Griffin invents a Strike Dance and gives high fives when the pins go down. He dances a lot as these ladies are hot! The scores are breathlessly close, the tension brutal!
In the end, Kayla nips Laura by two points. It may have been one. ***
It’s down to Kayla and Sarah in Just Dance. These are fierce competitors who routinely dominate the game. Who will get the coveted sticker and the fabulous prize? Once again, it’s neck-and-neck. And once again, Kayla nips Sarah by the thinnest margin.
Then because she’s a very good cousin, she does many dances for and with Griffin.
It remains cool on Saturday, and IIRC, a little drippy with it. Fires burning, and Sarah, Jo and I spend pretty much the entire day reading. I can’t remember the last time I spent the entire day in a book. Kat’s taken Griffin off for an adventure, and when they return, he has a Mother’s Day present for me. He’s made me a bottle of felt flowers, with buttons. It’s adorable. And as any mom or nana knows, there’s nothing like a home-made gift. It’ll go on my work station and make me smile every day.
He’s also decided I should have the gift he picked out for me. It’s nice to be known as it’s a three-wick candle in an oval wood bowl and covered with little crystals.
Kat, the Amazing Kat, made me a pillow for my new living room sofa. It’s gorgeous. She not only handmade it, but she SPUN THE WOOL! It’s so beautiful, so me, and will also make me smile every day!
It’s Laura Grills Night. I do my part by marinating the chicken. Veggies are scrubbed and prepped. It’s a beautiful presentation, along with Sarah’s and my request for burn-‘em-up dogs and toasted buns. It’s all seriously yummy. ****
Nicole returns. Her younger son’s team won their tournament, and her oldest had a happy graduation. And though we’d give her some recovery time, she’s ready for the Scrabble finals. *****
The sun comes back! It’s wonderful to go outside. Kayla, Laura, Sarah and Nicole go to tea in The Secret Room. I’m just too lazy for that. Kat and Griffin have another adventure. Jo and I have a Sloth Day. Everyone’s very happy with their choices. ******
She and Laura have unseated the Scrabble Queens, Kat and Jo. This is unprecedented. It’s the Underdog Story of the decade. Which of these upstarts will emerge victorious? They give each other no quarter as the lead shifts back and forth between them, with Jo carefully keeping score. After a long, hard-fought match, when the last tile is played, Laura claims victory.
She also claims she can bitch about games as much as she wants. *******
Jason FaceTimes to say Happy Mother’s Day. He asks if Kat and I got the flowers he sent. We have not. He checks, we check. Mason searches. Connor, the head butler for the estates, searches. And the flowers are discovered on the porch of an empty house. This mystery is solved when we learn they use that house’s address for the one we’re in.
The flowers are rescued, the lovely roses—thank you, Jason—freshened up. So pretty!
We decide on cards for the Wild Card match, and play Hearts for a prize. I don’t play, but keep score as six players makes it easier. It’s fun to watch these great, good friends get cutthroat over a card game. It’s a fairly close match until—and I saw this one coming—Sarah runs them. She was already at zero!
I will say Jo had bad luck, getting the Queen in the widow on the first hand.
I think winning this one might have taken some of the sting out of losing by a hare’s breath in Just Dance.
Last day, and the sun’s shining again. Walks, runs, workouts, books, treatments. And for me, packing. Kat’s going to haul most of my stuff back again, bless her heart. Still, we eat, drink and make merry. And have our Crowning Ceremony. The scoreboard shows Kayla has dominated. While everyone takes home prizes, she is the undisputed queen of Girl Spa.
When Sarah, our queen and Griffin have retired, the rest of us sit around. I comment how everyone always has their phone, and why is that. Discussion. My phone’s been down on the charger all week. And when I’m espousing the benefits of disconnecting, Nicole’s phone signals. It’s Sarah. And when I say Sarah’s just downstairs, why didn’t she just come up? Nicole says: Sarah saw a mouse!
We went through this on a much more intense basis the last time we stayed in this house. I blogged about it at the time. Nicole rushes into the kitchen for a bowl—with which we would capture the mouse as before—and we all go downstairs.
A hunting-Nicole-will-go.
We hunt. It’s a large area, lots of rooms. Kat using the flashlight on her phone to look under Kayla’s bed. After a thorough search, we find no mouse, and conclude it’s gone into the (locked) utility room, and deduce we disturbed it that day because several of us did laundry.
The 2021 capture — four years ago today. Photo by Laura.
Mason arranges for Heart Traps as don’t want to kill the mouse.
I discover the heat’s suddenly not working in my room. It’s 66 degrees. I build a big fire. And build in up in the morning when I wake up to 64 degrees. Brr! It’s raining, and pretty hard on Departure Day.
Sarah leaves early—hugs!—she had work waiting. The rest of us take more time, and Mason—what a guy—loads everything up. Nicole’s next, more hugs. Sarah texts to let us know the rain’s bad and so’s the traffic.
Nora, Mason and JoAnne. Photo by Laura
Oh well.
My group gears up. Hugs for Kat and Griffin (it’s his last Girl Spa), and we head out.
Yes, the rain’s bad, and so’s the traffic. The first 90 minutes of the drive is anything but pleasant. Finally, on the last leg, the skies clear. Ahhhh. And home again to insanely happy dogs, BW who hauls luggage to various cars.
Many hugs after a really wonderful week. Can’t wait to do it all again.
Nora
Note from Laura: Did you think I wouldn’t stick my nose in on this???
* I call Pat on her phone, Kayla was sitting next to me. Pat’s dealing with a lovely illustrated map from the hotel that doesn’t quite list all the roads from the welcome center to the house. I try to send her a google link to direct her. She tells me she’s going to park and let us find her. Now, I’d sipped some champagne so Kayla offers to drive. Pat’s five minutes away from the house, but it felt like years after all the circles she made. She has champagne.
**We do the clothing exchange on the first night.
***It was one point in the semi-final, two in the final. And someone’s Nana was calling it for me since I had a couple strikes in the final frame. The shock in Nana’s voice that I might win was apparent until the final score showed up and Kayla won.
****In 2021, I missed cooking for big groups since we were all still living separate lives. The gang said it was one of their favorite meals of the trip and loved the idea of doing it again. Made me so happy to grill veg, chicken and hot dogs — something for everyone. And Nicole made it back in time for dinner!
*****Not quite, we wait until the next evening.
******Actually, Nora and JoAnne go with Kat and Griffin to the first arts & crafts and make candles. THEN they head back to the house and hang on the deck in the lovely Mother’s Day sunshine.
Nora’s candle and a closeup of Griffin’s button flowers. Photo by Laura
*******You bet I will!And a PS: give Nicole a follow on Instagram. She’s so very entertaining.
Nora’s deep into the second In Death book for 2026, so I thought I’d share some updates. She’ll be back here soon enough with The Garden updates, a Kentucky Derby recap and, of course, a full Girls Spa Week post. Promise.
A late winter break
The first week in March saw the 3rd annual Do-Puzzles-Do-NOT-Play-Games Week at Nemacolin come to pass. In a fairly new tradition, Nora treated her business manager (and lifelong friend) JoAnne and me to a week of relaxation, treatments and business discussions at one of her favorite destinations – Nemacolin.
We all met at Nora’s house for the ride out. BW mentioned it was the first time Nora was leaving the house since their last visit to Nemacolin in January. I’ve been walking every day this winter so I had a good laugh at that one.
When we arrived after a very smooth drive west, the team at Nemacolin greeted Nora with the news that our first night would actually mark the 1001st night she’s stayed at the resort since 2003. (See? Told you it was a favorite!)
This was what greeted us when we walked into the Presidential Suite. Later in the week, Maggie Hardy, the owner of Nemacolin, and her son, PJ Magerko, sent a lovely gift and note to thank Nora for her loyalty to the resort.
It was the first time JoAnne and I visited the reimagined Chateau (last year we stayed at the Grand Lodge). We were both looking forward to seeing what was new and different. Lighter colors, wood floors, a bit more space added up to a stunning set of rooms.
There’s now a tv above the fireplace (the better to view games, I suppose). Nora and JoAnne used it for their daily workouts. And we all settled in to watch the Oscars on a cold Sunday night. The butlers supplied us with popcorn and a reconfiguration of the furniture so we could all see the screen. A fun night.
At one point during the week, Nora said all she really needs during her stays at Nemacolin are some treatments and a chance to paint. The delightful, talented Claire Hardy and her current co-Artist in Residence, Julia Lamothe, came up to the suite to lead us through an oil painting class.
While we waited for our mani-pedi session, I saw this piece of art in the salon. JoAnne liked it too and we sent a text to Claire that we wanted to try it. Nora went in a more colorful direction and I sent off another text to Claire with a photo of a vivid floral she’d brought along.
We dived in to explore colors and technique. Julia was a fun addition to Claire, bringing along some textured palette knives and suggestions on how to use them. Nora was pretty fine using a variety of paintbrushes.
Her final product was absolutely stunning!
JoAnne and I were pleased with our results as well.
The overall theme to the week was the puzzle. Remember, the first year we did that insane cupcake one? This year was a gorgeous, glowing mermaid surrounded by elements of the deep. And when I say deep, I mean black/purple/crimson colors. It was hard. Nora focused a great deal of her energy on the mermaid while JoAnne and I worked the perimeter.
OK, full disclosure, I popped in and out. Most of my evening time was spent reading The Seven Rings with a notebook in hand so I could create the final Clover’s Clever Playlist. (You’ll find Part 1 and Part 2 on Spotify.) The book was wonderful and Clover communicates through 100 plus songs!
But I digress.
Despite seven days of work, we didn’t finish the puzzle. Here she is in all her final-day confusion.
Nora packed her up in the puzzle bag and planned to let Kat have a go at it. Haven’t heard if that’s happened yet. But I’ll find out.
Departure day we woke to snow — that fortunately didn’t impeded our travel home. We’ve set the dates for the 2026 stay and that countdown has begun.
Video time
For me, there was work amid the fun. Early in the week, I posted the cover reveal for The Seven Rings. You can find all the ordering options at this link: Pre-order The Seven Rings. As always, you can order a signed copy from Turn the Page Bookstore.
And late in the week, I unveiled a new series of videos: In Death in Depth. When we were at Greenbrier last summer, Nora and I sat down for a video interview about the In Death series to celebrate Bonded in Death (the 60th full-length title).
We covered a lot of subjects from how the series evolved to specific characters. We’ll release a new video every Friday for the foreseeable future. Bookmark that page to check for new episodes.
After the really lovely holidays, we—BW and I, Jason, Kat, Griffin and our friends Bill and Nicole—spent a week at Nemocolin. We book one of the houses for the January trip, and it’s nice to hang out together, have lots of room in the snowy outdoors for Griffin.
BW and I top off the gas tank before getting on the interstate, and with me at the wheel, we we’re on our way. Maybe 40 minutes later, I think, and say: This road’s really bumpy!
BW agrees.
Then I realize—as he does—it’s not the road. It’s the car. Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot!
I keep expecting it to stop. I don’t know why, just do. It doesn’t. It feels like a wheel’s out of alignment. Maybe.
Off the highway, pull into a parking lot. BW thinks maybe a chunk of snow—we’d gotten plenty—got stuck behind a wheel. But no dice.
Drive on, speculating. Maybe bad gas—water in the gas. Maybe the transmission—especially when the engine light comes on. Carburetor?
I start counting down the miles until we’re off 68. I’ll add the wind gets fierce and it starts spitting snow.
Off 68–yay—and into another parking lot as BW wants to drive from there, get the feel of how it’s handling.
We plan to get there we’re going, then find out where we can have the car looked over.
He thinks again, the gas.
Because we’re checking into a house, we go to the brand, spanking new Welcome Center. Out of the car in the wind, blowing snow, and into the warm, pretty new space.
And when we get back into the car, it’s fine. Engine light’s off, it drives smooth as butter.
So the gas was likely the culprit, and turning it off probably rebooted everything. Whatever. Huge relief!
I’m happy to say the week went beautifully from there.
Snow cover. Photo by BW.
It gets cold—seriously cold—and snows a few times. It’s so pretty when you’re inside!
Kat and Griffin go out to build a snowman, and about half way through the build, Griffin tackles it.
Conquering the snowman.
I have a little space there I can work, so spend some time with my current work-in-progress. I have a nice workout space, too, so start my day there. Griffin gets interested, and after watching awhile, joins in.
He also brings out his impressive collection of Pikmin stuffed figures, giving me bios of each one as I workout. He lines them up so they can watch, does some more exercises with me.
Shortly, he tells me he needs a water break.
Since we have a kitchen I make Griffin bacon every other day—the extent of my cooking for a week!
Kat, Nicole and I do not one, but two puzzles! Both a challenge, but we were up for it! And we do an oil painting session with the wonderful Claire Hardy, which made us all happy.
Finished art by Nora, Kate and Nicole under the tutelage of Claire.
Finished puzzle…
and the other finished puzzle.
We hold our winter foundation meeting, play with the boy, hang out, have treatments, teach Bill and Nicole how to play Hearts—and have a lot of laughs.
The week serves as a huge recharge for me—fun, relaxing and productive—and a lovely way to spend real time with family and friends.
Departure day starts snowy, which is worrisome. But at load-up time, it stops. Jason, bless him, does most of the heavy lifting, then we’re off.
The car behaves perfectly on the drive home, thank God, and the weather holds off until we turn in our lane. Lucky. Happy, happy dogs to greet us.
And it’s back to reality. Frigid reality as the temps drop hard. One day last week it was minus three when I woke. Holy crap! More snow, highs in the teens. Those are the days that have me deliriously thankful I work at home.
The view from Nora’s office.
My January purge is essentially done. Very satisfying. Spent a lot of time in the kitchen yesterday—Rosemary garlic roasted pork loin, roasted potatoes and carrots, at BW request. And fresh sour dough bread to go with it. My guy really loves that first slice of fresh, homemade bread.
Pretty much done with everything today. BW will settle in with football, and since I don’t enjoy football, I’ll do some counter-programming or snug into the library with a book.
Finished bread.
Back to more reality and work tomorrow, then bang, it’ll be February.
Since I’m already done with winter, I appreciate February’s only 28 days.
Stay warm, or if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, stay cool. We’re half way through the season.
We had a smaller group this year as our great friend JoAnne’s on medical leave, and her daughter, Jeanette—a nurse—stayed back with her. We missed them!
And some of us had to dribble in. Sarah had a work thing, so came up a day late, as did Pat. Laura had a family issue come up, so arrived two days after the start.
The rest of us didn’t let that stop us!
A pretty easy drive up for Kayla and me. We’re staying in the new Grand Lodge as the Chateau isn’t quite done. Fun to show that space off.
Kayla helps me arrange the Fabulous Prizes before getting a bite to eat. They brought us an easel for the score board—with giant post-in notes. Score board and prizes in place. I pour my first libation and unpack.
All settled in.
When Kayla’s room’s ready, she does the same.
Nicole arrives! Then Kat and Griffin. Griffin does love him a nice hotel. He shows off his new Mario sunglasses. Pretty cool! Then enjoys showing me what toys he brought with him, and exploring.
Just a boy and his Mario glasses. Photo by Nora.
Room service dinner all around, and a first round of Bowling.
Hang out time followed by bed time.
Kat and Griffin have the second bedroom in the big suite, and in the morning we start what becomes our routine.
I’m up first, start my workout. Griffin wanders out, says hi. I invite him to join me, but he opts to watch. Breakfast arrives, and he calls out: I got it! I got it! And runs to answer the door. He says: Hi.
He will do this all week whenever there’s someone at the door.
He settles in with his breakfast, I finish my workout. Kat gets up, joins Griffin for breakfast while I clean up.
Kat makes use of the giant post-in notes and creates the day’s agenda, including the weather. More cool!
Kayla arrives. It’s shopping time! And off we go.
Meanwhile, Nicole has also wandered out, made a wrong turn and somehow ended up in what’s still a workman area. She did find her way out again.
I believe Kayla and I had massages that afternoon—time blurs. I recall Kat and Griffin had an adventure at the Wildlife Center, but that all might’ve been the next day as I no longer have Kat’s clever daily agenda.
Pat and Sarah arrive. Yay! Some catching up, some hanging out, more libations, dinner, Bowling, and a first round of Scrabble. I think!
Bedtime comes around.
And morning routine follows.
Everyone usually does their own thing during the day, then we meet up later.
Laura arrives. * After she takes a breath, settles, the evening fun begins. Dinner! Just Dance, Scrabble, Fabulous Prizes! Griffin likes watching the dancing, and he does do his own little dance when no one’s watching.
Bed!
An addition to morning routine. I spy Laura heading out for a morning walk while I work out. After his breakfast, Griffin wants to draw on the big post-its. I just turn around an old agenda, stick it up. He creates much art. A wild race track where he requests I draw a car. I believe he could draw one better than his non-artistic nana, but I comply. Over the rest of the week, he draws mazes, what turns out to be large rubber duckie and more.
Griffin adding to the daily schedule. Photo by Kat.
Pat, Kat and Griffin go to the petting zoo early as the ladies have plans.
Today, we’ll create art. Griffin has his favorite baby sitter as the rest of us head out to paint—and sip.
This is always so much fun. I really like trying to paint the image we’ve chosen, and to see how everyone else interprets it. I think we all did great. Kat, who’s actually an artist, added a lamb to her landscape. She had sheep on her mind as they’re sheering, and she learned they don’t keep the fleece.
Kat also spins, and then crochets and knits from yarn she makes.
So later, they brought her a big bag of fleece. I don’t think she’d have been happier if they’d given her a big bag of diamonds!
In no time she’s spun some into yarn and crochet some to show the staff.
Laura note: we pause here for a gallery representing the beloved #randomkatness of the family trips. Here she takes us through her process with the fleece. All fleece-related errors are mine.
BTW, Nora is definitely underplaying Kat’s joy with this gift.
Kohler, the newly shorn sheep, as a lambUnwashed fleeceWashed fleeceFractal spun outer coatFractal spun under coatKnitted coats (top is outer/bottom is under)
We have salad and pizza for dinner, picked up for us by the excellent butler, Mathew, who recommended the pizzeria. And yum—good call, Mathew!
While we wait for the pizza, we have the Big Bags O’Clothes giveaway. I do not organize this. My method would be to dump everything on the floor and let the ladies jump in. But Kat begins to separate by type. I am more than delighted to se those big bags go!
More games, eliminations for some, advancement for others. Prizes galore!
Bed time, morning routine—and we say goodbye to Pat who has to get home. Then Kayla and I are off for mani-pedis. My feet are wonderfully pampered while I enjoy Sandford’s Toxic Prey. ** Bliss all around.
Kat arranged a jewelry making session for all interested. I made three pairs of earrings, Kat and Kayla created bracelets while Nicole made a necklace that suited her to a T. Griffin took on the challenge of finding and stringing beads for a necklace for his mom.
Libations, more food none of us have to prepare, games and prizes!
The next day, our best weather day, though we really lucked out there most of the week—we book a cabana at the big pool for the day. Kat’s off for a treatment, and Griffin goes with Nana and Kayla. Sarah and Nicole join, then Laura after her treatment, then Kat.
We hang, we read, we have lunch, Kat and Griffin have a swim. I have a margarita. Just right.
Then we head back to take a tour of part of the Chateau. The family, and Nicole and her family will be back there in a few weeks, and I’m delighted with the changes in our usual suite. It’s so bright and airy!
Can’t wait to settle in there next month for a week.
Back for dinner, and final rounds! The tension is palpable!
Laura will bitch***, but her Scrabble game has much improved, and she made the semi-finals. So’s Kayla who also hates Scrabble. It’s Kat, Nicole, and the two reluctant semi-finalists. With the reluctant players eliminated in the end.
I should say I was eliminated my first round. But it’s really hard to get major points when, for three or four turns running you have seven freaking vowels! Since I recuse myself from actually winning a prize, I take it like a woman.
Okay, not really. Though maybe some in the Scrabble face-off.
Nicole and Kat are the finalists there, Sarah and Kayla final in Just Dance, and I think it’s Kat and Kayla in Bowling, but could be wrong.
Kat takes Scrabble, by I believe it was three points. Kayla nips Sarah in Just Dance by a hair or two. I can’t for the life of me remember who won Bowling.
Anyway.
We’ve played a few rounds of Moniker—a fun game the game-hating Laura**** gave me. It’s ridiculous fun. I think Kat took that one.
The next day, Kayla up, Kat and Griffin are at breakfast. I go into shower.
When I come out, no one’s there. They’ve vanished.
I am confused. And a little weirded out. I text Kayla. Nothing, and she’s never without her phone.
I text Kat.
They’re down at the newly improved rope’s course, a plan I completely missed hearing about the night before.
I head down.
I missed Kayla on the adult course, which she says is harder than the one they had before. Then Griffin tackles the kid’s course.
Kat caught Kayla on the ropes course.
God, so cute in his harness and helmet! He says it got harder as he went, but stuck it out.
Griffin conquers the Kids Course Photo by Kat
Then Kayla wants to do the Quick Jump. You go up and up and up stairs to a dizzying (to me) high platform. You’re harnessed and well, you jump.
Fast! Whew, not for me. Ever!!
Griffin watches then says: Where’s my harness? He wants to do it, and meets—barely—the weight requirement. Kayla will go with him.
I have to work at holding in the nerves. He’s such a little guy, and it’s really up there.
But up the steps he goes, then I see him and Kayla on that platform. She’s going to sit and jump as she did the first time. He sits, then decides, no, he wants to stand and just jump.
Okay, on three, she says. She pushes off on three. He quickly sits, is within a breath of pushing off. Then stands. It’s too high for him, he tells the staff guy who’s up there with him. Maybe next year.
I think my legs stopped shaking when he was all the way down the steps.
After that, I can take some breaths with the treat of oil painting. I’ve discovered oil’s more forgiving than acrylics—though I have fun with both since my personal expectations are not high. For reasons!
Everyone has fun, everyone creates something of their own.
But now it’s back to the Lodge, for dinner, then the crowning of the Queen of the Spa.
Turns out Kat and Kayla tied—a first! So Kayla wears the crown, Kat holds the scepter. And each chooses the Fabulous Prize of their choice.
Photo by Laura
Well earned, ladies!
In the morning, after the routine, it’s pack up, hugs goodbye, and head out.
A fun, happy, lovely week—and we’re already booked for next year.
Nothing beats real time with girlfriends.
Nora
*I timed it. Nora waited just under 7 minutes to tell me I had to play catch up for many games. ** Did you know that in Toxic Prey, Letty Davenport reads J.D. Robb’s Celebrity in Death? A delightful surprise for Nora who’s a Sandford fan of the first order. I loved this quote from the book: “While not as prestigious as the [Quarterly] Journal [of Economics], the Robb novel was distinctly more intelligent and certainly better written…” Toxic Prey, John Sandford *** My spelling is fine, my strategy sucks. Sexy was the first word I played in the first game and remained my highest score. Because silly me didn’t play a Q when I should have. **** Game-hating? Maybe it should be scarred eldest of seven who always had to play younger siblings to give her mom a break. Besides, it’s more the Stupid Scoreboard I dislike.
In what’s become a new winter tradition, Nora, JoAnne (her business manager) and I spent last week at Nemacolin. This is not to be confused with Girls Spa Week which happens in May with a larger group and The Stupid Scoreboard. This was a week to relax and brainstorm for the year ahead.
Last year, we extended the stay by one night because of a miserable storm that blew through the western part of Maryland. THIS year, we had three days of sunny, nearly 70 degree weather. Which is alarming and confusing. I mean, I did get out for lovely walks, but early March and late spring weather in the Laurel Highland of PA? I infinitely prefer cooler temps during my March walks.
On the positive side of the chart, for the first time since 2019 — due to the factors from Covid to bad leg joints — I hiked all over the property. Nora and JoAnne kept their workouts indoors with lovely views.
The view from the suite.
We stayed in the newly refurbished — or “reimagined” — Grand Lodge. It’s right next door to The Chateau (the usual accommodation) which is going through it’s own transformation right now. Girl Spa Week wll also be in The Grand Lodge, but Nora hopes to stay in her regular accommodations at The Chateau for her visits in June and November.
Meditation Chapel in the setting sun.
Our days fell into relaxing patterns. We all got in a workout first thing — Nora ran JoAnne through the paces from cardio to strength to yoga. I opted for walks, some Peloton rides and weights over at the gym.
Morning walk under glorious skies.
Nora put in a couple hours work on the May 2025 release every day. By the end of the week she was pleased with the progress of her latest draft. I dealt with social media and emails. JoAnne was fully on break and enjoyed her mornings.
Sunset over the Laurel Highlands.
The afternoons were for treatments or reading or starting the puzzle of the week. Friends, I’ve learned something about myself: puzzles are not my vacation jam. I don’t have the same feeling of trepidation as I do for games, but my ability to spend hours at a time on a puzzle is pretty low.
Fortunately, I’m an excellent pitch hitter so I was able to step in when Nora and JoAnne needed a break. BTW, this puzzle did not reach the levels of agony that the cupcakes from 2022 did, but converting an oil painting to a puzzle made for some interesting spots of light and texture.
Finished puzzle.
Speaking of oils, light and texture, in January, Nora tried her hand at oil painting and she suggested we give it a try during our annual afternoon paint class (wine included).
Nora’s January creation.
Clare Hardy — one of our favorite people and artists — came to the suite to teach us how to recreate a painting of tulips Nora discovered online.
I love watercolors so my first strokes were watercolor-y, flattening the paint onto the canvas. Nora and Jo got fully into the spirit of loading paint on their brushes and leaving color and texture in their wake. Then Claire broke out the palette knife and I got on board the texture train. Nora tried her hand at the palette knife as well, enjoying the process thoroughly.
Two hours later we had finished products that reflected each artist. By my count we’ve painted together at least 10 times and this was the one that made JoAnne the happiest. We left the paintings with Claire to dry and will pick them up in May.
Nora’s painting
JoAnne’s painting
Laura’s painting
Artistes.
On Thursday afternoon, Nora and I sat down for a Facebook live. This link should take you to our conversation: Nora & Laura Live
Morning fog bisecting the hills.
And then, it was time to go home. We’ll be back in 60 days with the bigger group. Gives me enough time to get ready to face The Stupid Scoreboard.
Our annual spa week just keeps getting better. And this year, the fabulous weather only added a great big plus.
It’s such a gift to have real time to hang out with pals, to catch up, relax, laugh, enjoy each other’s company and as much quiet time as you like. How much nicer can it be when you do all that when the sun’s shining and spring’s just blooming everywhere?
We took full advantage.
The car’s stuffed–though Kat took bunches, and Sarah came by and took more. We are loaded, and ready to go right on time.
We were greeted with a Derbt hat in the lobby.
Laura and I do have a tiny bit of work to do, and get that done shortly after our arrival. A quick video for Pen America to remind people book banning just sucks.
Then? Let the games begin!
We include our special guest Griffin in the mix who challenged many of our ladies to chases and races through the suite all week long. Who needs to work out when you’re getting your cardio running around with a four-year-old?
Jo and I do! Every morning our day starts off with a workout in the suite, and sometime during our sweat session, we hear his cheerful voice as he leads his mom in. The boy wakes up happy and ready for breakfast.
Mom needs coffee!
After that, who knows? It may be time for those chases and races, or for a walk outside. Maybe a treatment, a little shopping or a swim. Read a book, take a nap, have a cookie. The key word? Enjoy. *
Cocktail time. Room service mayhem.
Then? The games really begin.
Stupid Scoreboard
The scoreboard the Clever Kat made awaits. Some gather around the table for Scrabble, others grab controllers for bowling, then the first round of Just Dance. The Fabulous Prizes also await.
If memory serves, Kat takes the Scrabble game, and Sarah crushes her competitors in Just Dance and bowling. We round off the gaming portion of the day with a silly card game–Old Wive’s Tales.
Hilarity ensues.
We have our single day of rain, but that doesn’t dampen anyone spirits. Workout, hang out, races and chases. **
Nicole brought up her makeup kits–she’s a Seint artist. (I became a convert last year at girl spa.)
Makeovers!
Kat hauled up my bags of purged clothes so it’s time to Shop Nora’s Closet.
It’s entertaining to watch clothes winging around the room.
More games. Some of us can’t stay the entire week, but when we’re all there, we’re nine. So it takes awhile, playing four at a time, to complete a round. So more Scrabble ***, more Dance, and we shoehorn in some Bowling.
Another gorgeous day dawns, and Jo and I get it going. After breakfast, Kat slips out. My day’s clear so she booked a treatment and I’m on Griffin duty.
He caught sight of her making her dash, and tried to catch her. Had a sad at the door of the suite. Not a fit–thankfully–just a sad. I asked if he wanted a hug. He said: Okay. And after sharing a hug and some soothing, all’s well again.
Especially when I suggest a walk down to the toy store.
Nemocolin’s expanding it’s Lodge area, so lots of construction. There’s a long, enclosed (temporary) walkway to the spa and the shops. This includes many steps up, and steps down. So this becomes an adventure.
It’s a good thing Nana keeps in shape, as Griffin deems running’s necessary on some stretches.
He selects a toy in about two seconds. No wavering, no hesitation. It’s some sort of colorful marble run. Build the run out of plastic pieces, put the marbles in the top of whatever run you’ve constructed and watch them go.
It says 8 and up, but I’ve seen him with this kind of deal before. And he’s clutching the box like it’s Christmas morning.
More Adventures On The Walkway.
Back in the suite, I offer to open the toy.
No, Mommy opens, and he sets the box very deliberately in the center of the parlor.
Okay then.
When she comes back, she does, and the toy’s a hit.
Kayla had to miss the first couple of days, but arrives. Now I have my girl and my boy! But she’s got some catching up to do.
But first! It’s Paint Time.
Jo, Laura and I picked the painting we’d do back in March on our visit. **** It’s a big, gorgeous poppy. It’s fun to create, play around with our own visions. I like to get up and walk around the tables a couple times during the session, see those visions.
Group art.
It’s always amazing how completely different everyone’s vision is. And we’re getting better at this! They’re all so pretty, so individual. I put this session is the Artistic Success column.
It’s pizza night, and yum. And after pizza, it’s time for Kayla to catch up.
Which she does by topping the high school on Just Dance, AND then destroying the high score on Bowling by hitting NINE strikes in a row. Scrabble isn’t her game–or mine (I have no Scrabble strategy) so the first round there is complete.
Just another night of games.
The Magnificent Butlers send in an amazing gift. A cake fashioned into a gorgeous book, and one of my favorites. Jane Eyre. What a thoughtful and creative thing for them to do!
Plus delicious. A lovely way to celebrate the end of another happy day.
After the morning’s workout, Kayla and I have mani/pedis. I go for bright green–palm trees–on my toes with a bright blue–the sea–on the accent toe. I feel very summery, and relax with Dark Angel, John Sanford’s latest.
We’re down to 7 competitors. Kayla falls in Bowling, but triumphs in Just Dance. We have the four for the next round in Scrabble–Kat, Jo, Laura, Nicole.
Reverse Charades is always good for that ensuing hilarity. It never fails.
It’s hardly a wonder I slept like a rock every night.
Kayla has a massage. I have a facial–and more time for my book while I relax and wait for my appointment.
And the games are coming down to the sticking point. Kat and Jo will face off the next night in Scrabble finals. Kayla is victorious in Just Dance. Jo wins Bowling.
We play Exploding Kittens. This is a not-so-quiet riot. I can’t remember who won, but we had fun.
Kat has a solo paint session and slips out. Griffin does not have a sad this time. I watch him build a run for the marbles. Obviously, he inherited his parents’ mechanical abilities.
Kayla and I take him outside, down in a big garden area for many races, hide and seek and just sunshine.
Laura also has a paint session, and I run into her. Her painting–a crescent moon over blue mountains is gorgeous.
Our final meal together–more cake, lots of champagne. The Scrabble finals.
Jo doesn’t have a chance after Kat manages to play three 7-letter words. In a row. Nobody beats that.
Another round of Exploding Kittens.
It turns out Kat and Kayla tied in the overall, so this year we have co-Spa Queens. Well, done, girls!
One last workout with Jo, and time to pack up.
Somehow, even though we shouldn’t be taking back as much as we brought we us, we’re loaded. Enough Kat takes the bag of leftover prizes and games with her.
See you next year Stupid Scoreboard
More goodbye hugs, and I have a little bit of a sad myself.
But it was a fabulous week, and we’re already booked to do it again next year.
Here’s to girlfriends. They’re the best.
As we left, the lobby was transforming into the summer look
Nora
The Cranky Publicist take on things:
*For me, enjoy meant learning some new things. On the first day, Nicole and I made pasta which the chef paired with a red sauce. It was delish! (And we didn’t color coordinate, it just happened.)
Early dinner.
**I went to the other hotel a couple times for lunch.
Derby Hat in the Falling Rock lobby.
*** for some reason, the Scrabble gods feel I should always play Elaine. She was the first to go in our round, but opted to skip her play in favor of drawing seven new tiles. And then she played those seven tiles in her next turn.
Don’t feel badly.Damn.
****Back in March, when we asked to do that magnificent poppy with the group, Amanda and Sam of the amazing Nemacolin art team, told us that the artist would be in residence in May. Kathy Mazur was an absolute delight to meet and in turn was absolutely delighted to see all our takes on her art. Give her site a look, the art is lovely.
Back row: Elaine, Nora, Kayla, JoAnne, Pat and me/Front row: Sarah, Nicole, Jeannette, Kat and Kathy Mazur
Finally, this was an art week for me. Before the group paint class, I took an en plein air class with Sam. It’s one of my favorite views and I had so much capturing it with paint, instead of the camera.
And I still took photos of whatever caught my eye.
After the holidays, after the decorations come down and are stored away, after the baking and cooking and clearing up after are all done, we go to the spa for a well-earned week of relaxing.
Traditionally our pals Bill and Nicole join us, and for the last several years, Jason and Kat, and Griffin add to the fun.
This is the first post-holiday week I haven’t felt it necessary to take work along. WOO!! I’m in a solid place with the WIP to take that week all the way off. No work, no book signing, no cooking!!! It’s like Christmas all over again.
Our little guy loves hotels. He always has, and I have a feeling he always will. BW and I arrive first, unpack, settle in. And here come Griffin and his parents. He has a mile-wide grin. It’s clear he remembers being here before, and it’s a place he likes a lot. We brought one of his smaller race tracks, and his LARGE collection of cars. And beloved Monster Trucks.
And the fun begins.
Our boy has been socially shy since the pandemic, but apparently school’s taken care of that. He’s happy to see everyone. The last time Nicole saw him he wasn’t at all interested in interacting. Not so now!
We play, incessantly, The Floor Is Lava. We eat, we drink, we play and we relax. The next day means a foundation meeting, but that’s the only serious business of the week.
In the morning, there’s bacon for breakfast, and after my workout, the boy wants me to join him in his breakfast and his hilarity over videos on his iPad. Currently Combo Panda is a fave. And there is hilarity.
Then the babysitter arrives. He was fine with her during the summer meeting, but didn’t do much talking or interacting with her. Again, notso this time, and she’s so happy she can also share hilarity and cars and tracks.
The meeting’s a long one, but productive and satisfying. And I have a facial booked for after.
I have a seat in the almost empty relaxation room with a glass of wine, and open my book. I had TTP send meSarah Addison Allen’s newest: Other Birds. I truly adore her work. It’s magical.
So’s the facial, and I think I slept through half of it!
Griffin’s happy to see me, and that’s also satisfying. But after dinner, he latches onto Nicole. She’s very petite, our Nicole, and he decides she, like him, should fall or jump off the sofa onto the pile of pillows we’re put on the floor so Danger Guy doesn’t end up with a concussion. She wisely chooses to slide off.
Griffin’s new pal Nicole.
Over and over again.His newest thing is saying: Oh gosh or Oh my goodness. A lot. Echoes of his pre-K teacher. It’s pretty damn adorable to hear a four year old say oh, my goodness, like a good pre-K teacher or a 50s housewife.
He climbs on Nicole’s back—and again this sort of physical interaction in pretty new for him post-Covid. Now she must slide off with him onboard. Many times.
Hilarity rises.
I’m giving tons of credit to his ever-patient parents and his exceptional teacher for the amazing progress the boy’s made in a few months. He is such a happy boy, and so much more verbal and sociable.
His parents always give him a countdown to bedtime. When they inform him ten minutes until. He wags a finger. No, no, no—in this sweet little voice. No bedtime!! Nana finds this amusing, though when Jason asks what I’d have done if he’d wagged a finger at me that way at four, I was forced to admit, he’d have needed a splint.
But nana’s are allowed their amusement (and revenge).
And still, when it’s time (every time) he goes off without complaint.
The next day, after workout, bacon for breakfast and more hilarious videos, I take over so Jason, then Kat can have much-deserved massages. The floor, of course, is lava. I must now substitute for Nicole and do many slides onto the pillows, get more pillows as Danger Guy is on a roll. I must slide off with my four-year-old passenger. And I think: Hey, I’ve got twenty years on Nicole! But we just keep sliding because: The Floor Is Lava.
It snows. It’s very pretty from inside our cozy space.
We’ve started a jigsaw puzzle—colorful candy. Kat and Nicole and I have made some progress. Now I make some more.
Later, Griffin doesn’t just want to sit beside me to laugh at videos. He sits on my lap. It’s been far too long since he wanted to. It’s starting to feel like that isolation with Covid, the weeks and weeks apart didn’t happen.
And it feels wonderful.
I have a massage the next day, and after workout (good thing I work out daily considering the sliding, the rolling, the running), breakfast and more Combo panda, I take my book and do the long walk around to poke in the shops a little before I settle down with my lovely book.
Hot stones, warm table, exceptional masseuse. Who could ask for more?
More progress on the puzzle. Check!
Thursday is painting day for Griffin, and I tag along. Usually he’s all about the paint, but not so much this time. Until he realizes he can paint his much adored monster trucks, then dump them in a tub of water to wash them off. Then paint them again because: Oh my goodness! They’re so dirty!
And throughout, there are cookies I didn’t bake, food I didn’t cook and hanging out with good friends, beloved family and a boy who just makes you smile.
Griffin latches onto Bill at dinner. As they’re sitting next to each other, Griffin must share his joy in whatever’s on his little screen, often taking Bill’s hand and pulling him closer.
Intense conversation with Bill.
Friday is nails for me, and my big decision of the week. What colors on the toes. I have my book, a glorious pedicure. I pick a deep brown tone for winter with a lighter bronze shade for my signature accent toe. And finish my wonderful book and get a French manicure.
I loved every page and my very pretty nails.
On the way to the salon I stopped at the toy store. I thought maybe I could find a stuffed panda as my boy is now so into Combo. No luck. The clerk and I hunt for a bit, but no panda. No big deal, I tell her.
But when I get back from the salon, there’s a bag, and a note for Griffin telling him to enjoy. And inside a stuffed panda in a Nemacolin shirt. It’s adorable! And it’s beyond sweet and considerate.
A boy and his Panda.
Griffin immediately dubs it—you guessed it—Combo Panda. For the rest of our stay he’s got it with him.
Now I have my second spa book, and when I’m not playing The Floor Is Lava (a lot), I start King’s Fairy Tale. More magic! A much different kind than Sarah’s, but just as riveting to me.
If you’re into magical realism and relationships, don’t miss SAA’s Other Birds—and if you’ve never read her, you’re missing a lot. Start with Garden Spells.
If you’re into magic, adventure, coming of age, dogs, monsters, good kicking evil’s ass, don’t miss SK’s fairy Tale. I gobbled it.
Saturday, it’s COLD. Kat and Jason are going to take Griffin to the carnival thing they have here. Indoors. Ball pits, giant Jenga, slides. BW opts in. I opt out because just getting there will be seriously cold. Take pictures, I plead as they leave and I settle down by the fire with my book.
Fun with blocks.
Indoor playground.
Slo-mo fun.
And they did. The boy had the best time ever.
The post-holiday week was pretty damned perfect for me. Friends, family, a little boy who laughed and laughed and laughed. Two most excellent books to take me away. Treatments to relax me. Morning workouts and bacon.
…and a finished puzzle.
An excellent way to start the new year.
Now it’s back to work, and I’m more than ready for it. It felt so good to sit at my desk again and dive back into the story. And if I have four tubs of books to sign tonight—and I do—I’ve had a week off to recharge the batteries.
Another Girl Spa Week in the bag! We missed Laura, who ditched us to attend her son’s wedding. Of all the nerve! And Pat who’s in the process of moving.
But the rest of us had a very fine time.
Every time I walk into the lobby after the drive, I feel my stress level plummet. Just ahhhh.
We’re back in The Chateau after a two-year absence. The first year, canceled due to Covid, the second year in a house on property, due to Covid again.
We’re all happy to be back in our traditional space. Settle in, pop a bottle. Slainte one and all. Relax, eat, enjoy watching Griffin explore the space.
The boy likes a good hotel.
Nicole and JoAnne just dancing.
And let the games begin! Just Dance comes first, and while Kayla and Sarah are neck-in-neck, Kayla wins it with top score. Bowling’s up next, and I crushed it! Hello, five strikes in a row. But I disqualify myself from Fabulous Prizes.
Games continue, but not the tourney, as Griffin wants to race. At home he likes to chase me around the house until we round back to the start/finish line. Then, he looks at me with puppy eyes and says: Ready? I must repeat it. Then Set, then GO!!! Usually at the finish there’s: Hooray! We did it. We win a trophy, and high fives. But he sometimes skips that and goes straight back to Ready?
Different track in the suite, but same game. Around and around we go. I bank a LOT of steps before bedtime. And slept like a rock.
Work out in the morning, then clean up for some shopping. They’ve painted big angels wings on one of the walls in the shop area, and Kayla poses. We have fun, Griffin especially in the toy store.
Then Kayla and I have massages. More ahhhhh!
Lovely, lovely. Let’s cap that off with a glass (or two) of champagne and a cookie.
Dinner order’s in, Jo and Jeanette arrive. They have to catch up with dancing and bowling. More Fabulous Prizes! And more races. It helps that Kayla joins in there.
And it’s great, seriously great, just to hang out with girls.
Another morning, another work out. Jo’s got a neck/shoulder deal going on, so I take it easy on her. We do a lot of stretching.
Elaine, Jo, Kat and I squeeze in Scrabble. I have words, but no strategy for Scrabble and they have my share and more. But they needed the fourth and Jeanette (who also kills in Scrabble) had a treatment.
I am the lamb to the slaughter.
Kat defeats all comers.
Kat’s win — I think, no one labeled these. ~Laura
I have champagne to sustain me.Meanwhile Nicole’s doing makeovers. She’s a Seint rep, and all her profits go to Distinguished Young Women–a scholarship program for high school seniors.
Nicole in action
Kat creating more art
Laura sends us pictures of the wedding. Oh, so beautiful! And our girl is dancing! Happy!
More bowling, more dancing–Kayla’s killing it. Jo wins her bowling heat, if I remember right. And Kayla and Sarah will face off in the Just Dance finals when we get to it.
We do some Wild Cards for those who have no stickers on the board. Everyone wins a trophy!
Morning workout, and a little more cardio of Jo as she’s down to sore. Lots more stretching.
Sunday is Paint Day. Griffin gets a sitter. He isn’t thrilled, but I distract him with a race so Kat can sneak out. Then I make my escape. And he has his Monster Trucks to sustain him, and takes a nap halfway under the couch.
I should add, Griffin is now seriously attached to the little lawnmower Grandda and I gave him on his first birthday. He often takes it to be with him. And this is essential to his race games. In the mornings, I can hear him coming from across the hall into the suite as the lawnmower clacks its way.
But now it’s paint time! We’ve chosen the painting–a pretty simple sun on the meadow sort of deal. I sit as far away from Kat and her genuine artistic talent as possible. I’m between Jo and Kayla, and we begin with the sky.
Kayla and Nora
Kat
JoAnne
Sarah, Elaine and Jeannette
A glance over and I see Sarah’s going for a night sky.
My sun looks like a six-year-old painted it–all it needs are the rays poking out. So I paint over it. No sun on my meadow! Kayla’s sun looks like it should, and even better. Jo paints over hers.
I try clouds, and I think I regressed to a four-year-old. Paint over them.
Sarah’s night sky has become a dramatic storm with a freaking tsunami instead of a meadow, and a rocky outcropping in the corner with a figure standing on it. It’s fabulously fierce.
I work on my grass. I’m fairly pleased with my grass and my sunless sky. I refuse to be unpleased when I walk around, see Elaine’s, Jeanette’s, Nicole’s. Even Kat’s.
We can add flowers, so I do. No, I tell our helpful instructor, don’t show me how to paint tulips as they will probably look like the work of a two-year-old. But I have fun mixing colors, dabbing, dotting, swirling. Jeanette does awesome daisies. Kat’s is, well, gorgeous. And no one’s looks like the template. They’re all just wonderful and individual. And every one of us leaves happy.
[Laura’s note: Since I wasn’t present in person, here are all the paintings for your perusal.]
Good job, girls!
Griffin continues his nap when we get back. It’s Scrabble for Nicole, Jeanette, Sarah and Kayla. Kayla inherited her Scrabble skills from her Nana, poor thing. Jeanette dominates.
It’s pizza and ice cream night! Who could ask for more?
First Round of Cards Against Humanity. It’s always ridiculous fun. I do well here as I know my individual judges and I get really good cards.
Elaine has to leave us Monday, early, so we say our goodbyes before bedtime.
Morning workout, then Jo, Jeanette, Kayla and I head off for mani-pedis. Or just the pedi for Jeanette today. I love knowing the hardest decision I have to make today is what colors on my toes. My feet are incredibly happy by the end of it.
Kayla and I make our way back as Jo has a massage after nails.
Dinner. I have to give kudos to the chefs. We have among us, two vegetarians, a shell-fish, beef and pork allergy, and a gluten allergy. It’s a lot to deal with, and they really come through.
I think we did some final rounds, more wild cards. I know Sarah and Kayla went head-to-head for Just Dance. Well fought, but Kayla nipped her for the final round win. Jo and Kayla are the finalists in Bowling. This time Kayla goes down.
Did I miss this? Um, no.
Workout morning, and Jo’s better so I don’t take it so easy on her.
More makeovers. It’s really fun to see the transformations. I make a palette–girl toys–and add their brush cleaner as it’s so much better than anything I’ve used. Ever.
Kat, Kayla, Griffin and I take advantage of a pretty day, go outside for a walk. That becomes many, many races. Then Hide-And-Seek.
This is particular fun as you can hide behind a skinny pole, and Griffin loves it. Or you can sit on a bench, cover your face with your hands. He’s on board. This is in a really spacious and pretty courtyard area we have to ourselves.
We race, and when Griffin needs a break, he pushes his lawnmower into the grass and pretends to be stuck. So Kayla and I use this ruse, pretend to be stuck. Catch our breath.
Dinner, more Cards Against Humanity. Kayla sneaks up on me this time. I blame my cards. Since she won Just Dance–every round– Cards twice, and finaled in Bowling, it’s no stretch to see who’ll get the crown on our last night.
Final Scrabble–Jeanette and Kat. The tension is palpable! The board is tight, neither combatant giving way. Though Jeanette came close, Kat remains undefeated.
Last day workout, hang out, enjoy. I take Griffin duty so Kat can finally have a much-deserved massage. Kayla assists. He really likes the kid dances on Just Dance, so is well entertained.
Last dinner, last races, last ahhhs before Kayla is crowned Queen of the Girl Spa. Youth kicked Experience’s ass this year.
The winnah!
One last morning workout. Everyone finishes packing. It’s a lot!! Even though I don’t have the three bags of clothes purged from my closet–they went Night Two. Or all those Fabulous Prizes.
Hugs all around. So glad to have had this time together. Then Kayla and I drive home where the dogs–and BW–are happy to see us. And my gardens have exploded in the week away. Big and beautiful and full.
I took some pictures yesterday. Laura can decide whether to add them to this–which would be a lot–or just do another blog of garden pictures. Or save them. I’ll let her surprise me.
That was our week, and it hit every note. We missed you, Laura, and you Pat, but we’re already booked for next year!
Treasure the women in your life. They’re the flowers that bloom all year long.
Nora
A preview of a garden gallery on Wednesday.
A note from Laura:
While I’d argue using the word “ditch” to describe missing Spa Girl week, I was definitely absent. Instead of a scoreboard, my focus was on flowers
Rehearsal dinner settings
water views
View from reception
and family
Me with daughter Clare & her partner Nate.
Proud parents of the groom
The happy couple.
There was a lot of other dancing, but the video isn’t in from the photographers yet.
Laura’s done a roundup of our Spa Girls Week, but I’ll fill in a few details before I continue the adventures of our last night.
First, the house was all Laura said, and so perfect for our needs this year—though we SORELY missed our butlers. The weather struck me as more March than May the first few days, but the indoor space provided all we could ask for. (And a little more than we wanted!)
Kayla had her first spa girls experience, and that was a bonus for all.
The best was just seeing each other face-to-face again after a very long year-plus. HUGS!!! Lots of laughs, lots of catching up, and of course, the annual tournament.
Griffin’s also had a long year-plus unable to socialize, but he got used to a house full of women pretty quickly.
I had bags and more bags of clothes purged from my closet—no chance to see each other since 2019, so a lot of bags.
How Kat managed to load luggage for five women, one toddler, two cases of champagne, two enormous bags of games and prizes, snack food and more as we’d be in a house instead of the hotel, a case of toys, etc into two vehicles remains one of the greatest achievements known to womankind.
Ample room to watch the contest unfold
So the tournament began. Fierce competition, as always, and Elaine, our oft-reigning queen seemed a bit off her game. Youth nipped experience in Just Dance time after time with Kayla taking the lead and holding it. Laura and Nicole proved Bowling For Giggles experts. Nothing made the boy laugh harder than watching the ball roll down the alley, strike or gutter ball.
And, again Nicole and Laura proved dark horses in Scrabble. Kat unmercifully crushed all comers in her first round, but a steady feed of vowels in her second defeated even her mad skills. In the semis, Nicole looked poised to send Elaine, our other Scrabble Queen, packing, but at the very end, Elaine slipped past her by one point.
One soul-shattering point.
As Laura reported, she faced off with Elaine in the Scrabble finals. Though she went down in defeat, I feel her complaints about the score board now ring hollow. The Cranky Publicist bagged an array of Fabulous prizes this year.
I will say it’s interesting for a nana to play Cards Against Humanity with her granddaughter. Interesting, yet hysterical.
And Reverse Charades is, always, just brilliant. Fave of this year: Sarah bending over, pointing at her butt. And Kat guessing—pretty instantly—Full Moon. It was a moment.
Sarah also shared bacon with Griffin at breakfast each morning. So when we gathered at the dining room table one evening, Griffin reached over took the end of bacon peeking out of Sarah’s bacon cheeseburger, and slowly, carefully, pulled it out.
Plotting his next move to corner ALL the bacon.
He enjoyed the bacon almost as much as we enjoyed THAT moment.
So you have the girls, and you have the games. Now we’ll discuss the (unwanted) guests.
The first morning while Jo and I are doing our workout in the communal living area, Sarah comes out. She’s laughing, but her eyes are very large. As they have just seen the dead mouse in her bathtub.
This, we agree, is A Problem.
We also agree we’re not going to deal with A Problem ourselves. We call for disposal.
A Problem is solved. Maybe not as quickly as a group of women on a spa vacation might like, but it is solved.
Until, a couple days later, the unfortunate mouse’s sibling—alive and well—makes an appearance in the kitchen.
Ten women, a toddler, and a mouse is A Problem.
All of us but Laura are country girls. And all of us have seen a mouse in our lifetimes. But we do not want its company. We call for a solution to A Problem.
I have to say the solution didn’t arrive as quickly as any of us liked, and wasn’t solved in a way I’d have chosen. Setting snap traps under the stove isn’t ideal in a house with ten women and a toddler.
The problem solver promised to return to check said traps. But he did not follow through until more calls for solutions. However, the second mouse joined its sibling in the Great Mouse Hereafter.
We had a amazingly fun time at our group paint session. Everyone’s painting was fun and pretty. Kat’s isn’t yet finished as Griffin woke from his nap. But I can already see it’ll be amazing.
All the color! (From l: JoAnne, Kayla, Kat, Pat, Nora, Elaine, Laura, Mary, Sarah, Nicole)
Nicole taught Elaine how to make other art with dried flowers. Gorgeous!
For our last night we were a smaller group as Pat, Elaine and Mary had to leave. Hated saying goodbye, but so grateful we had our time together.
Laura and Kayla had shared the loft bedroom, but that evening, Kayla informed Laura she’d moved her things, and herself down to Mary’s room due to the Big Spoder on the skylight.
I didn’t see said spider, but am assured by those who did, it was BIG. And what’s left of it after Nicole smashed it as it was too high and too BIG to catch and release—remained on the skylight.
Laura also moved down to Mary’s room.
For our last evening, we decide (poor Laura!) to play Hearts.
We’ve enjoyed our dinner. Kat’s on the lower level putting Griffin to bed. We’re enjoying our champagne. While chatting with Nicole, JoAnne knocks over his glass. Broken glass on the carpet. A (new) Problem.
Jo claims there must be a vacuum, but we pay no attention and call Housekeeping. We watch the sunset, and have the array of tiki torches lit. Lovely!!
Housekeeping arrives with a broom and dust pan. No, we said vacuum cleaner because carpet. Come back with a vacuum cleaner please.
Meanwhile Jo finds we DO have a vacuum cleaner in some random closet. We’re stunned, but clean up the glass in case Housekeeping doesn’t return. And in case they do, we leave the chairs pulled out, in innocence.
Nicole discovers we’re out of tequila, and she wants some. Since the intrepid butlers said we could call for any reason, she tries them to ask how we might acquire a bottle of Patron. She leaves a message.
Housekeeping does return, and as Kayla supervises the clean-up, she spots A Problem. Apparently the mice have yet another sibling and this one dashes across the kitchen floor.
Nicole and Sarah begin devising a cunning plan to capture this one as the mouse problem solvers have proved neither efficient nor timely. And the housekeeping guy looks stunned speechless when we suggest he deal with it.
We let him off the hook as Nicole and Sarah are determined they will capture the mouse, removed it and take it out to the woods and release.
Jo turns off the kitchen lights as she thinks this will bring our quarry out of hiding. I think, the lights haven’t stopped him yet, but we try that while Sarah and Nicole finalize The Plan.
There’s also discussion about how the poor mouse will starve after we go as no one will drop crumbs on the floor.
I am long past caring about the mouse’s welfare. But that’s just me.
Brendon the Butler calls back. As Nicole’s asking him the best way to acquire the Patron, Jo—obviously forgetting about the mouse—strolls into the kitchen.
The mouse makes its dash at her feet.
The scream should’ve broken another glass. And her leap was Olympic level.
The scream brings on a chorus of screams, curses, shouts, hysteria, all of which Brendon hears. The screams of six women would alarm even an intrepid Butler who’d just asked Nicole if a half bottle of Patron would do.
Nicole responds: It’s the mouse. Gotta go! And hangs up on him.
And so the hunt begins.
Nicole snaps out orders: Shut the door, move that towel, guard that door.
The rest of us shout:
It’s under the chair. It ran over there! Now it’s under that chair! Under the fridge!
Laura is The Flusher, following Nicole’s or Sarah’s orders to Herd It This Way! Which she does by stomping. There’s chaos, confusion, more screaming as the mouse skitters under one of the small refrigerators.
Sarah is battlefield calm as rear guard, bowl at the ready as Nicole hunts with her bowl and Laura drives.
It’s making for the hallway to the bedroom! Cut it off! No escape!
Laura prepares to pick up the fridge, Sarah and Nicole pursue doggedly with two stainless steel mixing bowls.
I think, I admit it, this will never work.
Laura stomps, they pursue, the mouse streaks across the floor desperate for cover. Nicole tosses the bowl! A miss.
Another toss—missed it by THAT much!
Sarah follows up, tossing hers. It wobbles, wobbles, wobbles over the surely exhausted and traumatized mouse. Then settles.
The mouse is Under The Dome.
Cheers, screams of triumph, wild laughter.
For those who follow me on Instagram, there’s a mouse was the correct caption.
Nicole and Sarah celebrate with a double high five. Unfortunately, Nicole missed with one hand and smacked Sarah in the eye. Sarah deemed it worth it.
Then the thought: Now what?
Nicole asks for tape. We must tape the bowl to the floor in case Griffin comes up in the morning and picks up the bowl.
I say: It’ll be gone in the morning, and mean it.
I helpfully offer the bottle of Dawn dish detergent (A big one!) to weigh the bowl down. This offer is rejected.
We must remove the mouse from our house. We’ll slide something under the bowl, trap it, carry it out of the house and release it into the woods. We are not murderers!!
A paper plate? But we discover the plates have lips, so won’t do.
The cutting board? The question: What do we do with the board after, is met with: Toss it out.
Fortunately cooler heads prevail, plus the board’s too thick for the job.
Nicole takes the big glass turntable out of the microwave. I think, but….
Laura actually asks: But how will we clean it after?
It’s suggested (Sarah!) we put it back after and turn the microwave on to kill the germs.
Again, cooler heads—and it also won’t work.
Sarah says: Someone’s coming down the drive, and they’re coming in hot!
Brendon arrives—and as we’re a serious distance from the Chateau, he must’ve flown. He says: I heard you screaming. I heard all of you screaming! Every one of you! And he brought Patron!
He volunteers to help dispose of the mouse (impressed by the capture). Maybe we have a box. A box will not do. He agrees the paper plate is also a bust.
While we’re discussing solutions, Jorge—who has been our stand-up guy throughout—arrives. He also came in hot.
The poor guy looks so upset that we’ve had yet another A Problem. He has something rolled under his arm which makes Nicole ask: You brought a tube?
No, he and the guy with him have a piece of FLAT cardboard (rolled up)—exactly what’s needed.
The mouse, cardboard, bowl and all are removed. We see Jorge stop the car at the woods, and so the mouse lives to scamper in the woods—until he meets an owl or hawk. But that’s not A Problem for me.
Tequila shots, relief, ridiculous laughter.
Then Kat, who’s been trying to settle Griffin for the night comes up, with a narrow look in her eye. When the Asian Goddess give you The Eye, you feel it shiver in your bones.
Ringing phones, screaming, stomping, more screaming. But when she hears the story, we are forgiven. She also said that it was a relatively short amount of time. Felt like hours, but there you go.
Kat who rarely has more than a sip of wine, makes herself a tequila shot.
Then we played Hearts.
Nora
Thus ends the 2021 Spa Girl Recap — Wait! It’s not official until we have a photo of the winner of the tournament. This year, the crown went to Nicole!
Nicole with her crown, scepter and small dinosaur.
And in another step toward life without restrictions, Nora and family will travel back to Paw’s Up in early June — so stay tuned for the return of travelogues!
