Whew! Just got back from out first vacation in a very long time.

My husband and I booked last week off to take a few days off, and boy, was it overdue! In fact, right before we left for our little recovery period, we had put in some long, crazy, and LATE hours at the kitchen, producing mixes for a large order. That was a LOT of hauling! More on that in a coming entry!

We had stayed in The Outing Lodge in Stillwater before (The “Albert Einstein” room.. couldn’t resist!), and were definitely looking forward to this. The lodge property itself is huge, with beautiful garden spaces and a lot of interesting views. Unfortunately, it was raining, cold, and miserable as we arrived, so we ran inside without too much opportunity to admire the view this time.

Inside, the lodge is gorgeous! Large open spaces, a lot of wood work, and an AMAZING library upstairs… just beautiful.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that our room reservation had been upgraded, and we were now staying in the “Eva Peron” room. It is a beautiful suite, featuring a King sized bed, fireplace at the foot of it… LARGE bathroom with a jacuzzi, and a porch – all decorated in a quaint old-fashioned style, themed around the late First Lady of Argentina.

We spent the majority of our vacation sleeping (passed out from sheer exhaustion?), but managed to drag ourselves out of bed to enjoy the Outing Lodge breakfasts every morning – what a treat! I’ve stayed at a lot of B & Bs at hotels in my life, and the breakfast at Outing Lodge just blows everything else away! Fresh fruits, pastries fresh out of the oven, and more.

At the breakfasts, we were usually joined by the owner, Carlota – always a treat to chat with. She is SUCH a sweetheart, and always has something interesting to turn us on to. This time, that included the movie “Babette’s Feast”, and Yerba Mate – an Argentinian tea. (Carlota being Argentinian herself). The movie was cool, but the Yerba Mate didn’t do anything for me.. very, very bitter. Hubby LOVED it though, so I’ll probably buy him some (ThinkGeek carries a set, here, if you’re interested!)

The trip ended far too soon… but by that time, the bad weather had lifted. We took a bit of time to stroll through Stillwater and take some photos of the bright autumn colors.

It was all very relaxing.. then I got back to the office to a HUGE pile of emails, snail mail, and voicemails..as well as a huge to-do list to attend to. Sigh! Looking forward to our next trip to The Outing Lodge!

FYI: The Outing Lodge is a GREAT reception venue! Beautiful, has a great owner, and the food is amazing. What else could anyone ask for? Their website is http://www.outinglodge.com. While you’re there, be sure to check out the information on their culinary dinners. These are special events that they host every once in awhile, and always a great way to have a unique date night!

NB: This is not a paid ad – we were not compensated in any way for this post! Just have to rave about a great thing!

One part of running a wedding related business is something that I (usually) find fun, and that my husband hates – the industry events. I dragged him to another one last night, and he actually enjoyed it.

This was the magazine launch/rebranding of Mpls St Paul Wedding Magazine. We’ve been to a few such events in the past.. a bit of networking, some mediocre food, then looooong and boring presentations and sales pitches. Yawn. I’m a big believer in networking, and with our move to the cities next month, it’s something we really need to do more of. So, I arm twisted him into going. (more…)