Two weekends ago I hopped on a regional airplane and made the 2 hour trip from DAY to MSP.

I was meeting up with five of my friends from when Levi and I lived in South Dakota. It’s been almost three years since we left our apartment in Aberdeen and made the 19 hour drive to Ohio and before we hit the road these friends and their significant others saw us off with a farewell dinner and housed us for our last night in S.D.

When chatter popped up about planning the trip last fall I immediately started entertaining all of the reasons why I shouldn’t go.

• Garrett will have just turned one and I shouldn’t leave him.
• I’ll be busy with work.
• I’ll want to have a down weekend at home since summer weekends fill up so quickly with commitments.
• I should save the money.

I wanted to see these dear friends who made South Dakota feel like home for us but I also did not want to “miss” what was happening at home.

Thanks to these ladies’ constant group messages and persistent planning discussions I booked my plane tickets. Levi assured me he, Garrett, and Gunner would be fine on their “man weekend” and to go have a good time.

It was so good.

When I got there we sat in one of our hotel rooms and talked for two hours while drinking champagne.

We ate at crazy restaurants–a Chinese Latin Fusion joint topped the list–don’t knock it till you try it because where else can you get amazing queso and kung pao chicken under one roof? We ordered over-the-top drinks, danced to piano music, ate late night pizza, shopped, attempted (and failed) at breaking out of one of those puzzling Escape Rooms, and talked and laughed and talked some more.

In the last three years there has been so much new. New houses, new jobs, new babies, and it was such a gift to come together with these women who are wives, mothers, and professionals and to share what all of that has looked like for each of us.

It was a gift to not have to grocery shop for a weekend, or make meals, or clean the kitchen after making said meals, or make sure that other human beings stay alive. It was a gift to get two uninterrupted nights of sleep and set a schedule based on our desires and not those of tiny humans or work deadlines.

It is so easy to put time for ourselves second to our families and careers.

Bottom line: It is ok to take some time for yourself.

It is not selfish to take a ladies weekend to recharge and reset. Do it now. Grab your gals and GO. Everyone and everything at home will continue to run. It’s good for the soul but it’s also good for perspective. Being away, even for a little bit, makes you cherish the daily routines of life even more.