Now I know you will agree with me that the ULTIMATE mommy Break is when you can get on a plane and get away for a trip with your girlfriends!  No work, no kids, no mommy chores, no responsibilities whatsoever. You can do what you want, when you want, how you want and no one cares. The icing on the cake -- when you can create memories with some of your closest girlfriends!

For Mommy Break #7, I had the pleasure to escape for a long weekend to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was perfect! Far enough to feel away from home but not have to deal with going through customs. 

The trip started with my early arrival on Thursday afternoon before the rest of my girls arrived. I decided to get started right away and head over the the La Concha resort. Upon my arrival to the hotel, I found a beautiful spot Oceanside to enjoy a tropical cocktail and to finish The Shack (awesome book by the way).  When everyone else arrived we headed straight to lunch for some authentic Puerto Rican food!  The dish of choice was Trifongo which is a whole bunch of sweet and green mashed plaintain goodness stuffed with your meat of choice. Deliciousness!  

Friday was our beach day! We had breakfast and headed to the beach for 6 hours. Enjoying great cocktails, good reads, and the warm carribean sea.  To exhale and inhale that warm tropical air left you with no excuse to worry about anything but feel blessed to be where you are in that moment.  We concluded Saturday with a walk around Old San Juan, cocktails, Puerto Rican music and dinner at Marmalade.  

SIDEBAR:  Have you ever had a meal so good that it just made you happy.  It was. nothing but joy in my heart when we were eating that meal.  It was 4 courses that started with popcorn shrimp (with real popcorn), lobster risotto, and ended with sea bass and a Carmel bread pudding to finish. By far one of the best meals I have had in a long time. 

Back to the Trip: We enjoyed a 4 course dinner at Marmalade and I must say it was one of the best meals I have ever enjoyed!  Foodies -- add it to your list. 

Saturday was more sand and sun and we ended the day with the bioluminescent kayak tour!  Amazing!  It was a 2 hour kayak ride through a mangrove channel and and into a bay where you were surrounded by plankton Algae that glows in the dark when your oar or hand would hit the water. Amazing!  Granted kayaking for about 4 miles in the pitch black with no true sense of where you are going can make it a little more adventurous but it was overshadowed by the natural beauty of Gods creation. To look up in the sky (while still paddling and steering so you don't run into one of the mangroves) and see a sky full of stars is absolutely breath taking!

The trip ended with breakfast and bottomless mimosas!  As I enjoy my last moments of being free of mommy duty while we fly over the turquoise carribean waters I feel overwhelmingly thankful for a couple of things:

1.  Friendships that endure the test of time. You don't have to talk everyday. You can live in different cities with completely different lives but when you do see each other, you can pick up where you left off. The intimacy and easiest of the frienship never changes. I don't take for granted those types of friendships. I am blessed.
2. Being able to travel!  Now don't get me wrong, we planned and saved for this trip months in advance but to have the means to do that is a blessing. 
3. Last but not least -- a supportive husband who can pick where I left off with the kids and truly allow me to turn off and enjoy the moment. I wouldn't be able to have the experience without him. He never misses a beat while I am gone and for that I am grateful!

So that about sums it up! Sun, sand, sleep, sips, and sister-friends are the ingredients to the perfect recipe for a rejuvenated and recharged mommy! Back to reality! But first one last glass of wine during my layover. 

Mommy Break Tip: Plan a girls trip!  It doesn't have to be out of town. It could be a staycation at a hotel with dinner and a movie!

Mommy Break Lesson Learned:  Trips that have a Balance of relaxation and adventure can satisfy everyone's pallet on the trip

Mommy Chore Tip: no matter how painful it might be, do as much laundry as you can before taking a trip to have a smoother "re-entry" home. I thought I did this but my home signaled that maybe I didn't do enough.