As I sat around the kitchen table at my friend Raye's house this past Saturday night with my girlfriends Cathy and Stephanie, all of us elbow deep in wedding magazines and white wine, it struck me that we were having a "Staycation". Sure, it was only one night. But we were making the most of our time together and stepping away from our lives for a much needed breather.

Two of us had even left our kids with our husbands (a big deal!). We gossiped, caught up and planned future girl's getaways (one in four years to Nepal and one in a few months to wine country in Niagara Falls).

 

Ever the fantastic hostess, Raye served hor d'oeuvres and fine wine for happy hour. Raye lives in an area of Toronto known as "The Beach". When you live in the suburbs, visiting The Beach really is a getaway. My husband and I have even been lucky enough to house sit for Raye (a real treat!). As you can imagine, she has no shortage of folks offering to watch her place when she is out of town!

After we polished off all of the appetizers and wine we headed out for dinner. We were hoping to go to The Green Eggplant, but they had a line out the door so we ended up eating at some random Thai restaurant. I'm not sure about the other ladies, but Thai food is not one of my husband's favourite foods so it really was the perfect meal for a girl's staycation! We took our time, with no need to rush home. That in itself felt like a small miracle.

We walked back to Raye's house to get into our pajamas and continue on with our gossip and wine - and the best part of the evening - 4 pints of gelato from Ed's Real Scoop. If you are ever in Toronto, you MUST go there for gelato (my favorite flavor is raspberry).

Of course, we chatted late into the night - stretching our girl's night out as long as possible. Imagine what we will do with TWO nights. Niagara Falls watch out!

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