Sister's Getaway in Galena

Back the beginning of August, sister love and I took off for a two day road trip/getaway. It seemed like weird timing, since we had literally just returned home that week from being gone for over two months! But in the previous months, as we had hashed and rehashed the schedule, looking for any available little pocket of time, this was the best option coming to us. With the three weddings, a full family schedule, and two very diverse and loaded work schedules ourselves, we knew we were just gonna have to go with what was available, and that was Wednesday-Friday of the week we got home.

We settled on Galena as our location of choice. We had been there once before, several years ago, on a retreat with our singles at church, and we'd had an excellent impression of the town from that visit. It was also an easy choice since we didn't want to spend most of our time driving, and Galena is just over a two hour drive. 

We try to do at least one road trip a year. It is usually to either to visit a friend/s, or attend a wedding. This was probably the first that involved no one else, just chilling + relaxing as sisters. It was perfect!

First evening upon arrival.

We stayed in our room the first night and ordered in pizza from Procentos Pizza. I consider myself somewhat of a pizza connesior, having devoured many different varieties in my twenty-six years, and this pizza was absolutely unbelievable. Fresh tomatoes, fresh mushrooms, spicy chunks of sausage, and a wonderful amount of cheeses and sauce made this pizza unforgettable!

Outfit/style pics, just cause we're girls! =)

We stayed at the Cloran Mansion Bed + Breakfast and it was beautiful. I cannot recommend this place highly enough. It was secluded and quiet and we were left totally to ourselves, which was just what we wanted, and yet when we went down for breakfast in the mornings we had a great time with our host + hostess and the other guests. The grounds were lovely as well. 

Morning coffee + quiet time in the gazebo. 

Headed out on the town! 

Vinny Vanucchi's Italian for dinner. We had been there once before and it was amazing each time!

Incredible food!

We tried some new hairstyles....

Fun twist on a boho side braid...

Love this!

Ordering gelato at a little boutique that actually sold gelato, coffee, and clothing!

Exploring downtown.

Sadly, I totally forgot to take pictures of the gorgeous 5mile walk we did on Thursday morning. It started out by the river, along the railroad tracks, and ended up in the most beautiful wooded lane ever! I felt like we had just stepped into a scene from Anne of Green Gables. It was sunny and warm and amazing. When we got back from that, we laid out in the sun for a few hours. In addition, during our getaway we did nails, tried new hairstyles, laid on our backs on the bed and talked about dreams + goals + the present + the future. We watched movies and quoted right along with them. (any other sister sets out there that can also literally quote ALL THE THINGS from your favorite movies??) We ate delicious food + drank our homemade kombucha that we had brought with us. We met some sketchy people + had some hilarious conversations + made some epic memories in that department, as we always seem to do. (ha!)

All in all, it was such a splendid time, and one that we will have memories of forever. 

I'm so grateful for this girl---my sister. We are the best of friends and I can't imagine life without her. We are opposites in so many ways and yet are just the same in so many others! We can finish each other's sentences and know what the other is thinking, almost all the time. 

It was such a grand time we had together, and I'm blessed by it! Establishing and cultivating strong relationships with those nearest to you is one of the most important things you can do, and one you will never regret. Because of that, and so much else, I am so thankful for this time we had, and the sister relationship we have. 

Happy Thursday!

-Chels

Double Header Northern Weddings Sister Roadtrip

Can't believe I totally forgot to post this! (actually I can believe it...my life these days...can't remember anything!)

It is so very long after the fact that I hesitate even posting...? Buuuut. Our sister road trip posts are my favorites, and I really want this one in the archives. So here it is, all of eight months later!

It was the first weekend of October 2016. Would you believe it---we had invites for two weddings in the north (Minnesota + Wisconsin) and not only were they on a weekend that we were home, but they were also on a weekend that we were home AND available, and the wedding locations were two hours apart from each other, and last but definitely not least, they were on a Friday evening and a Saturday afternoon.

Can't get it anymore perfect than that, my friends!

So off we set, sista love and I, bright and early (think 4am!) on Friday morning, heading to the twin cities of Minnesota. 

The first girl getting married was an old friend of ours, and she brought us in to do the hair/makeup for her bridal party. That was definitely such fun, as always! 

Classy ladies, with hair + makeup done, hanging out before dress changing + pictures. Unfortunately when the photographer in me turns into the hairstylist in me, the hairstylist in me forgets about the photographer in me. (so frustrating!) So I usually get home from these weddings and say, "whaaat?? How am I a photographer and I took NO PICTURES?" To save myself from that embarrassing scenario (because a photographer with no pictures is just weird) I try to grab random shots at random times. You'd think I could've gotten something more...like the real deal? Like the bridesmaids in their dresses or something? Never even entered my mind until days after. 

It was a marathon but we got all of those eight ladies done in the time allotted! I will say that by the time we were finished we were very hungry and very tired. In addition to all that it was absolutely freeeeeeezing cold that weekend. (it had been warmer at home, but the further north we went, the temps kept plummeting!) So we were also underdressed. 

Next came the saga of finding Chipotle. GPS informed us that there were only nine in Minneapolis-the closest being seven minutes away-this definitely should be easy! 

NOT.

You would not believe the hassle we had finding that place. I should've tracked our time (and miles!) but it was a good hour after leaving the apartment that we FINALLY located Chipotle #5. 

Never, no never, has Chipotle tasted SO good. 

After Chipotle it was on to a little hipster coffee joint we found across the street. We were chilled to the bones and I seriously considered taking a nap on that little couch in the shop. (but refrained =)) 

So very much fun to bump into friends at weddings. The world really is so small and I feel like one never knows WHO one will meet from event to event! At wedding #1, I got into a conversation with the ladies in our pew, and discovered that they were cousins to the girl that MY COUSIN was marrying the following day, and that we also had other mutual friends. So fun.

And here we have the charming little air B+B place where we stayed Friday night.

Got to tell y'all about this place. Oh goodness, what a story. I really wanted a fun little place for us to stay at Friday night. Something not too pricey (because we were literally only going to be able to be there to sleep and for a few hours in the am) something cool, something hip, something homey, something kinda funky and out of the box...I had a whole list, and Allison had a few ideas too. =) I was in charge of our lodging details, so I set out to find the best place I could.

After looking through dozens of options, we settled on this one. It looked perfect, and it was right on our way from wedding #1 to wedding #2, in the middle, in St Croix Falls.

The saga of getting there after the wedding was...well, just that-a saga! We left wedding #1 quite late, and headed to St Croix Falls. On the way, a variety of things happened. Amongst other things, roads were out, we lost cell service, and at one point it looked like we possibly would have to spread out under a bridge in a very sketchy part of the country.

We finally rolled into the town around midnight and were able to find our little apartment without any trouble. We had to park behind/underneath; the parking situation was quite something. As we unloaded in this strange town, at midnight, after several hours of quite the adventures, I turned to Allison and said, "some things...we will NOT mention to our mother. She will sleep better if she never knows about some of tonight." =)

Love technology these days---we had a code for our the rental "nest" and never even talked to anybody at all. Just let ourselves in with the pre-given code, and checked out at the agreed time. Dream situation.

The whole place was so eclectic---totally random styles of decor/tiling/colors/etc.

Allison was in charge of our food, as usual. She packed a delicious  little breakfast for us---sausages, her famous fire roasted tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. We also had energy balls, fruit, and chocolate covered something. (can't remember, sorry!)

Grabbed this sister selfie right before we left---it will always be one of my favorites, I think.

The view of the town from our little "perch" apartment. The whole town was set on the side of a hill overlooking a river. Would've loved more time to explore there!

Got to wedding #2 early enough to spend a few minutes with our cousin, the handsome groom! So excited we got to be there for his special day.

Literally THEE coolest wedding favors I have ever seen. Perhaps this is just because I have a real affinity for maple syrup. But the bride's family is maple syrup farmers and so they gave a little container of maple syrup to each guest. So sweet. Literally. =)

Love these cousins of mine! 

Family weddings are such fun, because there are so many favorite people at those. =)

And that's just another one in the sister book of road trip adventures. 

Hope y'all enjoyed following along. =)

-Chels

Sisterhood Adventure || A Roadtrip to Manitoba

Upon the occasion of the birth of a certain charming little gentleman...it was decided that it was once again time to embark upon another Canadian adventure, this time to take another visit to Manitoba, to visit the aforementioned gentleman. (and his parents, naturally!)

(for previous epistles of our road trips to this land, see here and here)

The trip was quite pleasant and was made even more so by delicious coffee and conversation. =)

This was the first road trip we have ever taken in which sister love spent more time behind the wheel than I did. I left on the trip quite exhausted and spent much of our traveling time slumbering soundly.
Our drive up was mostly uneventful. Quite calm and peaceful. Sister was driving when we went through the border and the guard literally barely even glanced at our passports. I couldn't believe it. (if you remember from past experiences-see above links at top of post-I have quite a repertoire of border crossing stories) This was sister's first time driving us through the border and it seemed rather unfair that it would go so smoothly for her. I rejoiced in her success however. =)
The only "moment" that occurred was a very stressful fifteen minutes in which we were driving on E and couldn't find a gas station ANYWHERE. (for those of you who have been through the Pembina border area before, you know what we mean-there's just not much there at all for quite a ways!) For most of that time I was sleeping and had no idea of what was happening. I woke up to us driving through a little town, and I said, "wait, why are we not on the main road?" And sister said, "Well...we've been on E for quite a while now, and so I am desperately searching for gas. So you could pray for that, if you want to."
It's not that we're worried about being stranded somewhere.
But when you are out in the middle of nowhere, and you have NO phone reception whatsoever...then, yeah, it's not really a good time to run out of gas.
Praise the Lord, we finally found a gas station before completely running out!
We made it to Neepawa in record time and arrived in time for dinner.

Such great memories we always make with cousin love and her husband. So good to be back with them again. We had many great conversations and lots of laughter around that little kitchen table!

Of course meeting this little man was just amazing. We had such grand times of snuggles and giggles!

Baby laundry folding, gift unwrapping, and fun things of that nature commenced.
Our visit landed right on cousin dearie's birthday which was so special. Loved being there for it and making some amazing birthday memories with her!

His shoes!! His little tummy! =)

The first morning was spent walking and picking up a few groceries in the little town of Neepawa. 

Back home, a delicious lunch was prepared by these two while I attended to the baby. =)
I gave cousin a Pioneer Woman cookbook as one of her birthday gifts and whilst drooling over the many recipes therein, a certain sandwich recipe was discovered. It was a dreamy combination of apricot preserves, turkey breast, and cheese, all melted between bread into panini sandwiches.

It did not disappoint! Combined with fresh tomato basil cream soup, it was the perfect lunch!

Birthday cheesecake pie, brought over by cousins' mother-in-law on her birthday.

We had lots and lots of chats about life, him and I. =)

A late night of the legendary Bean Game, complete with much laughter and competitive goodwill. =) Well, mostly goodwill. We may have, once or twice, thought about losing our tempers at cousin's husband's way of weaseling in and winning effortlessly. Like how did he do that?!
But overall everyone was mostly kind to each other. =)

If you haven't played this game, you need to check into it. We love it!

One day we ladies and lil man went out on the town. (aka, to the nearby metropolis of Brandon) 

We had a lovely time filled with many adventures. 

First stop was for coffee. Naturally. 

Cousin dearie took the us to try a new certain little hipster joint which was declared a national success. 

The cups were quite small but the coffee was strong and the latte art superb and the taste divine so the smallness was willingly excused. =)

Next stop was Value Village.
Value Village is Canada's epitome of a grand thrift store chain and a most delightful place to find treasures. Sister and I make it our goal to visit a VV at least once every time we go to Canada.

While sister and cousin dear tried on a multitude of items in the dressing rooms, the little man and yours truly had a most wonderful hat-modeling session with the row of hats hanging outside of the dressing rooms. This experience involved him looking at the phone screen with wide and sometimes perturbed eyes and myself trying to take a decent selfie without completely dying laughing at how hilarious he looked in some of the styles. In the midst of this little adventure he lost some of his breakfast but thankfully the hats were spared and things were cleaned up and back to normal in record time.
Record, that is, when you have a shopping cart full of clothes and you are trying to locate the diaper bag and wipes underneath everything while holding a chubby baby and trying not to get aforementioned breakfast over more things than yourself and child. =)

As you can tell by this picture...an adventure was incurred.
After purchases were made, we ladies headed out to the truck. It so happened that due to certain malfunctions, it was necessary to unlock the truck with the key, manually. Cousin dear inserted the key and turned but to no avail. She tried several times but just could not get the door unlocked. Sister and I tried our skills at various key insertion moves and twists and tricks but nothing worked. The door simply would not be unlocked. Someone mentioned asking for help but no one was wanting to that so all three continued trying to their utmost to unlock that stubborn door.
Finally a certain husband was called and the tale of woe poured out.
It seemed that he thought that the key was not being inserted properly which was somewhat offensive to us ladies as we had all been trying our UTMOST and had each inserted the key many many times. Cousins' husband mentioned asking a man for help. I was vehemently apposed to this suggestion (why in the world would a man be able to unlock the truck if three women couldn't? Exactly!) 
but eventually the situation became so desperate that cousin determined to ask for help. She flagged down a gentleman and he came to our assistance. He tried and tried but to no avail as well. He was so sweet though-he had the dearest British accent and was genuinely kind.
At last it was decided that we would have to call in professional assistance. Which we did...and then went back inside of VV to wait. By this time we were all starved, and to tell the truth, we were all feeling somewhat grumpy. Thankfully we were together which meant that we really couldn't be grumpy for long, no matter how frustrated and hungry we may have been.
Within 15 minutes the pros arrived. Well, their company logo arrived, along with a boy who looked more like a teenage bum than someone who would actually be able to successfully unlock our truck. However, he got it unlocked, and we were eternally grateful, and we got in the truck and laughed and laughed. =)

Lunch at a dear little pita place. #pitaloversunite

Now this is cool. I didn't even know signs like this existed. But I am a huge fan. Seriously, what better people to honor than new parents and mothers?
Shopping places everywhere should take note and implement this. I was so impressed.

At the mall, a visit was made to this sweet little tea shop that was bright and cheery and smelled divine!
it was also sister's and my first time to be introduced to Ardenes.
(a Canadian chain similar to, oh, maybe like a mash-up of Rue21 + Forever21 + Maurices?)
We loved it!

Current life motto. I dearly loved this sign on a store we were passing, and I took a picture so I wouldn't forget it. =)

Did I mention that we ate like queens?!

Breakfast of champions with baby of champions.

Snuggles with the sleeping angel boy.

Yet another delectable lunch. (observe little squish in the corner. Doesn't he look so huggable?!)

Afternoon caffeinated beverages. Always with plenty of whipped cream!

The last night of the visit there was a grand little cookout. The sun was shining and the fire kept away the minimal chill. Such a lovely time.

Last hugs and coffees. So very blessed to have this lady in my life. She is the dearest soul.

On the way home, we went a bit off the beaten trail and drove over along the top of Minnesota, to International Falls, to surprise one of our dear friends for her birthday.

The surprise was a COMPLETE success and the big hat, the birthday singing, and the unexpected "whipped cream in the face event" will never be forgotten!
It was a short and sweet stop of just two hours, but we talked non-stop, ate delicious mexican food, and had a grand time celebrating life + friendship!

Love these girls!

A *most* questionable little gas stop of sorts was visited, amongst multiple other fuel stops. One little pump! But it did the job.

 By the way, in case you have not noticed, our fuel stops are gas stations and Caribou coffee. You know, fuel for the car, and fuel for the drivers. =)

We had a rather desperate two hours of desolation driving along the top of Minnesota, in which we were looking and looking for a bathroom facility. (and finally eventually did find one) 
Other than that, most of the trip up to this point had been quite calm. 

We were nearing the twin cities Saturday evening, zooming right along. I had resumed the wheel and was laser-focused on home. The trip had been lovely but after all, we were nearing the happy sights of my happy place and I was excited to be back. So anyways, we were moving along, in the rain, at an, um, fairly rapid state of speed, and I remarked, half to myself and half to sister, "How completely uneventful this trip has been!"

"No weird border guards, no hold-ups at the border, no major things forgotten, nothing lost, no breakdowns, and we only ran into three sketchy guys! I'd say that was a pretty calm trip compared to our past record. It must be because I let you drive most of the time! I should let you drive more! 

Like literally, nothing has gone wrong. This is crazy."

Friends, the words were out of my mouth no more than five seconds before I popped over a ridge and whizzed right by....well, you know, a keeper of the peace. I did what I do literally every time I pass one of those white cars-I began to pray, "Lord, please, no...not tonight! I want to get home..I don't want to be stopped...just please...." 

Yeah. Like two words into that prayer, things spun into action with a little light show of sorts. 

And you can imagine the rest.

Bless his heart...he really was a nice young guy. We went through the whole thing:

Him, "M'am, are you aware of how fast you were driving?" 

Me, "um, yeah, I have an idea....around __?" 

Him, "HMMMM. And may I ask what's your rush?" 

Me, "Well, umm, I just wanna get home!!!"

(or something equally idiotic-why can I never think of something witty to say at this point?)

He let me off with an "official epistle" (cause that just sounds nicer than saying ticket) 

and told me that he was only going to fine me for half of my offense speed. (in other words, the amount I was over the limit; he only charged me for half)
Which was sweet of him but it was still a horrific amount.

When the whole deal was over and I rolled up my window and resumed driving, everything was deathly still. I stole a glance at sister. She looked back at me: "Well, what am I supposed to say? How many times do we have to talk about this and how many times does this still have to happen?"

*monkey hands over eyes emoji*

It was a lovely journey with the sista, overall. We had a marvelous time, many memories made, and another successful road trip for the books!

Sometimes I feel a little strange posting these adventures, because they are somewhat personal, but I want them documented for myself to remember some day, you know?

Right.

Y'all have an amazing weekend!

 -Chels