granny is a chain smoker.

so what does a crappy hotel that looked really nice online, a celebrity siting, some inappropriate talk, shopping thrown together with a little driving miss daisy play equal?  you are so right...a girls trip!

after being roommates for forever, and forever i mean...like forever! life happened and two of us are married now, two of us are homeowners, one has a preteen, all of us have a dog...and throw in a little work and the day to day, we don't see each other like we used to---so a few months ago we made it a priority to plan a weekend getaway.

and i can already hear the text coming in complaining that i put bad pictures of them on here, but i didn't have much to work with girls. (and they are bad of me too!)  we were so busy talking that we forgot to take pictures.  

we stayed at the wynfrey hotel, which was attached to the galleria mall in birmingham.  cool, huh?  it's kinda like a cruise ship without the water.  

yeah, no. 

oprah would have been ashamed of the hotel and that they spelled her last name wrong.  i mean, it was bad.  

think mauve in the best possible way combined with granny just decorated her living room.  

and that granny is a chain smoker.  

we didn't want to stay with granny, but alas...granny was already paid for and all granny would offer us was free breakfast.  and hey, girls gotta eat.

dear granny.  the beds were really comfy, sheets were really soft and clean.  

thanks granny, i think.

shopping we had to send a few of these back home to get approval from the eleven year old before purchase.  i was sold on this cool jacket, but the reply was "ewwwww" but she liked my shirt and bessie's pants.  apparently we don't know fashion for eleven year olds.  

it was such a great, refreshing weekend.  and let me tell you something, in my life, there are many things that i am so so thankful for...but sitting high at the top of that list are these two.  we started barely knowing each other and now we know each others ends and outs.  we have been each others biggest cheerleaders in the highs and long arms extended for hugs, and open ears to listen in the lows.  and there have been lots of life lived in our friendship and plenty of both highs and lows.

and at night when i thank jesus one last night before i go to sleep for another day, at the top of that list are bessie and lori.  i am a better human because they are my friend.  

next trip...HUNTSVILLE!  that place has an H & M.  

AND a westin hotel, more importantly...