There is something to be said about the expression “absence makes the heart grow fonder”.

I think it’s healthy to sometimes have a little get away – and that makes you appreciate those you leave behind, and I think they appreciate you a little bit more when you come back.

This past weekend I had the great opportunity to fly off to Montreal for 2 nights and enjoy some well needed, and well deserved:) girl time. It was a pretty relaxing plane ride, and so nice to see the city at sunset.



I sent this one to Gabe saying”It’s a sunset that we can both appreciate (the gorgeous sun for me and the airplanes for him)

Marina where we keep our boat:)

We actually didn’t stay in Montreal, except of course to make a quick stop at Gigi’s pizza for my favourite slice of pizza and Gigi’s special sub. Mmmmm. I love that place. Brings back lots of teenage memories. My kids love that place too. So I think they were a little bit jealous. Don’t worry, I took a few pictures for them. I also got to have this quick dinner with my girlfriend’s 3 kids. Can’t believe how big they are now! It was nice to catch up a tiny bit with their lives.

My favorite Gigi’s sub

And of course Gigi’s pizza…

My gorgeous Godson and his bro. I can’t believe how they are growing…

Pretty girl:)

We then drove up North to her cottage and spent the remainder of the time there.

I have to say, her cottage, is not quite a “cottage”. It’s a  “luxury” cottage – and I’m seriously not complaining about that! The indoor jacuzzi hot tub is to die for, and we spent the night between that and the fire cozy – ing up with soft blankets and talking until the wee hours of the morning.

The next morning, we walked through the trails for a few hours, again, talking like crazy.

We headed to a spa, where more hot tub time, a massage and some weird Halloween’esque dark room relaxation was had. We also enjoyed a yummy lunch. Food is such an important part of my life. Sigh.

Dinner was to comprise of my Quebec fave – and truly one of the things that draws me back to Quebec – poutine. Unfortunately, the “real” poutine place was closed so we settled for a very mediocre version, with a promise to get the real deal the next day.

We spent the rest of the night in front of the fire again.

We laughed at how years ago our conversations were about “Do you think you’ll have boys or girls”? “What would you call your kids?”, and eventually “Do you think they will ever sleep through the night”, to what felt like the never-ending saga of me saying ” I wonder if I will ever meet anybody” post divorce.

Now 8 children later between us – we discuss “You think you should pay for your kids’ university”, and “How much do you monitor their homework”, to “When do you think he should get a job” and even scarier, “When do you guys want to retire”.

Certainly different phases of life. But all good.

It’s amazing to have gone through so many life experiences together; to have really shared the good, the bad , the ugly, and the beautiul. We are both very blessed woman – especially to have each other.

We finished off our little getaway with another long hike, followed by a real poutine and steamie, and started to plan our next get together – that will include the whole gang.

So delicious…

It’s amazing though how a quick little trip can catch us up and really make you feel invigorated, and then excited to get back into the trenches of everyday life!