Bachelorette Weekend in Vermont

When I left my apartment last weekend, I had quite a few different occasions to pack my bags for.  The first was the week in New Hampshire with my family, and then was immediately followed by a weekend in Vermont to celebrate the upcoming wedding of one of my friends-who-is-like-family, E!

When E asked me to first be a bridesmaid, I was totally honored and blessed to be a part of not only her special day at the wedding, but all of the fun that goes on leading up to the wedding.  And what made it even more special for me was that the rest of the bridal party was made up of her two sisters and the other 3 girls who are like soul mates to me -- KO, Meaggie, and Teenie.  We divided up the pre-wedding duties, with the sisters throwing the shower and our group putting on the bachelorette party.

On Friday morning I did a 3-mile run at Waukewan, packed up my things, and then drove to Vermont where I was the first to arrive at the home that we had rented off of AirBnB.  After having such a positive experience with AirBnB for the home I rented while in Paris, I had encouraged us to use the service again and it was just as wonderful!  We had a beautiful secluded home to ourselves with an incredible view, amenities, and it just felt like a wonderful getaway retreat.  The woman who lives here year round is so lucky!!

Shortly after I arrived, some of the other girls started to arrive.  There were a few different carloads including the rest of my planning crew, E's sisters, and six of her college friends who had all flown in from different parts of the country to celebrate with us!

We had a great Friday evening just laying low, enjoying the beautiful evening, and utilizing the grill.

Oh, and course, some silliness was included too. 

I started Saturday morning early, along with a few other girls, to get a run in.  I had 7 miles scheduled on my training plan so I did 3.5 miles out and back from the house we rented.  We were staying atop a hill and it was a nice run out as it was mostly rolling downhill but made for a tough run back up fighting the incline.  Luckily, KO joined me for the 7 miles and although the talk was less frequent on the way back up, it made the time go by quickly.  AND, we made a few animal friends along the route.  It was such a pretty run through Vermont!

The rest of the day/evening included exploring some of the Vermont wineries and breweries, doing some more grilling, a few musical performances, lots of silliness, a number of drinks, candy, cake, and lots of hugs and love between the group.

I had met many of E's college friends over the years, one of whom, I actually had the opportunity to get to know really well after her, E, and I spent a summer living in New York City together while we all had different college internships.  That summer E's job actually had her working really long hours so I spent more time with her college friend than I did with her!  It was great to see her again, get to know the other girls better, E's sisters who I have known since I was tiny but haven't spent much time with as adults, and always, any time I spent with my best friends is a wonderful time.

It was an incredibly loving, fun, and special weekend that I will forever cherish.  I haven't been to a ton of bachelorette parties... in fact, I think this was just my second, with the first being my sister's five years ago.  However, it made me feel like "this is why you have a bachelorette party."  We were able to celebrate Erin's last month of "singledom" but also all are so very excited for her and her fiance to start their lives together.  They are perfect together and make each other so happy.  It's been an incredible experience to watch their relationship grow over the years and as I mentioned, I am so honored and excited to be a part of the wedding and to have them in my life.  I loved planning all of the details of the weekend and trying to make it special for my friend.  I loved doing it with my fellow bridesmaids and best friends, and sharing all of the memories with E's college friends (who I can say I would all call friends as well!) and sisters.  In fact, one of E's college friends lives in Atlanta and a few others have lived there in the past so I am very excited to have even more connections to the city that will be my new home!

As July comes to a close, the countdown is on to E's wedding in August 23rd (the day before my birthday!) and I cannot wait to spend more time with these ladies and with E's fiance, whom I adore.

I drove 4.5 hours in the car today with KO bringing her to NYC and starting the next leg of this multi-purposed trip I have been on.  I'm sweaty away in KO's brother's apartment in Brooklyn as I write now and am about to head to bed to get some much needed sleep before the week picks up!  Hope you had a great weekend!