I love how Redbook magazine created their entire July theme for fostering friendships with your girlfriends and about hosting a girlfriend party at home. They also sponsored 1,000 Happy Hour parties this past weekend, and their readers got to host a party for their friends. Tune in on Tuesday on Twitter when Redbook is gathering women across the country to chat about girlfriends and parties!

What about you – how do you live life to the fullest with your girlfriends and what are some of your favorite things to do with your girlfriends?

I asked the same question from 25 of my girlfriends and here is what they said! I love all of the ideas, but one of my favorite quote comes from my girlfriend Naomi Shapiro of Superdumb Supervillain “Your best girlfriends make anything fun, from laundromats to bingo to spa trips.” It is so true!! It’s a good reminder that you can have fun with your girlfriend doing just about anything, you just have to do it, and like Vera Sweeney of Lady and the Blog says: “The best moments I’ve had with my girlfriends are when we have nothing planned and just have a relaxing afternoon. We remove the “mom” title, the “wife” title, the “worker” title – and just become who we were before everything took over.”

Find Your Girlfriend Tweet Tribe

Oh boy can I relate to Michelle Kay of Domestic Executive Online, she says: “My online girlfriends rock my world 24/7!! My day is filled with inspiring quotes, family life tips, suggestions for great products and just plain good conversation. Recently, @DabneyPorte and @MamaBritt started #SMGirlfriends stream on Twitter and that has allowed me to meet so many fabulous people and make amazing connections! I heart my social media girlfriends!!” Bring your friends and join us on the #REDBOOKhh Twitter party on Tuesday 6/21 to talk more how important friendships are and to experience how cool it is to find girlfriend tribes on Twitter.

Long Distance is NOT an Excuse Not to Have Fun with Girlfriends – Have a Skype Party!

Creative Lifestyle Blogger Rebecca E. Parsons of Cre8Tive Compass Magazine gets creative when it comes to spending time with her girlfriends who are all around the world: “We all live across the globe now and it is harder for us to get together in person. So we now have a Skype chat fest. Once a month we get dressed up, fix a beverage du jour (hostess sends the recipe), fire up Skype and chat, laugh and reconnect. We take turns being hostess. Nothing like sharing the love with my BFFs!”

Girls Only Weekend Trip

“We have girls weekend over the 4th of July at a family cottage. We spend 2-3 days grilling and eating a potluck style buffet, swimming and sitting for hours by the campfire. Everyone pitches in a little bit to keep it affordable for all. This will be our third annual girls weekend and it’s the highlight of the year for us”, says Sarah Jehnzen of Sarah’d Deals. Erin Lane from the tales from a marketing mama agrees: “A Girls Weekend is essential. Last year we went to a mountain house complete with wine, dessert and a HOT TUB.”

Also Stacie Haight Connerty, The Divine Miss Mommy prefers traveling with her friends: “We have a girls trip at least once a year. We all meet somewhere just to re-connect, blow off some steam and have fun together. And if we can’t get out of town we stay at a local hotel for a few nights.” Lifestyle blogger Lisa Frame of A Daily Pinch says: “My girlfriends and I take a trip to the beach. We cook our meals, spend time in the sun, check out local attractions, drink wine and just cherish our time away, knowing it won’t happen for another year.” Lala Sams of The Deal Fanatic takes a road trip: “My best girlfriend and I left the family and took a Desert road trip. The best part was talking so much we didn’t even realize the 4 hour trip went so fast.”

Say YES More Often When Your Girlfriends Ask You Out!

Kelly Whalen of The Centsible Life encourages you to say yes more often: “I’ve learned to say yes more often. I get bogged down in how long my to do list is, and then I won’t do anything with friends! So now I say yes. Yoga class? Yes. Night out for a local event? Yes. Drinks at a local dive? Yes!” And when it comes to WHAT to do, book and travel blogger Andrea Peskind Katz of Great Thoughts certainly knows where to say yes: “Lunch or wine with girlfriends is my favorite. Occasional dinners out. On birthdays, we do a spa day followed by sushi!”

Form a Book Club, Mom Club or a Knitting Club

Sometimes friendships evolve around the same interest; with people that you might not even think you had much anything else in common. Jen at Big Binder has a great example of it: “I have been in a book club for almost seven years. At the time it formed, we were all new moms and spent our days in the trenches together. Most of our ‘real’ friends worked while we stayed home with our babies. Over time, these newly formed friendships evolved into deep, real connections with a diverse variety of women that we probably never would have otherwise become friends with. Book club has evolved (or devolved!) into more of a social/wine group. There is still a book, somewhere, but it has become ‘suggested reading’. Our kids are all in different schools now and we have moved on to another stage of life, but the early years of playgroups and long, long, difficult days has left us with friendships that we maintain by gathering together every six weeks to maybe, or maybe not, discuss a book.”

Foster the Lifelong Friendships

Professional mom & food blogger Cat Davis of 3 Kids and Us says “My best friend (of 25 years) and I grew up together and went through life changes together. We grew apart, back together and now make time for each other with playdates for our kids. It gives us a chance to reconnect as friends and mothers. It gives us a chance to learn from each other and our different lifestyles and have a few moments of non-mommy conversation.” Chele Chestnut from Bona Fide Life says she lives life to the fullest with her girlfriends by “Encouraging them, Hugs, unconditional love and Coffee! It comes back ten fold.”

Bring Wine & Chocolate!

Tonya Staab of Create-Celebrate-Explore makes sure there is time for girlfriends, and has the best tip of them all – let there be wine and chocolate! She says: “Through thick or thin girlfriends are always there for you and it’s important to find ways to celebrate those friendships. We have craft weekends, a knitting group, a monthly girls night out, we attend classes and events together and meet for a coffee regularly. And there is always wine and chocolate on hand in case a friend needs a little cheering up or a shoulder to lean on.”
Toni Patton of Daily Dose of Toni says: “My girlfriends and I love to have in home cooking parties, or rather the eating part of the party. It’s a great fun way to re-connect as well as get new recipes and share some of your favorites. Pair it with movie and dessert and you have a meal and movie night in with the girls.”

Shopping & Laughing

Audrey McClelland of Mom Generations just gets it: “When I’m with my girlfriends, there’s just ONE thing I want to do — LAUGH! I want to belly laugh and smile and just be a girl!! There’s nothing I love more than heading to a dinner with my girlfriends or just finding an hour to sit on the phone and chat away! It’s so important to me to always stay checked in and aware of what’s going on in my girlfriends’ lives. Also, there’s always a shopping trip that I love to do!!”

“Getting out, going shopping and just being silly while doing it. Finding hats and jewelry that makes the other laugh and lunch afterward tops it off” recommends parenting blogger Nanette of A Mom Blog. Courtney of Detroit Mommies says: “I love to shop with friends, go out to a long dinner, lunch or breakfast with friends.”

Make it work!

Julie Meyers Pron of Just Precious advices: “When all else fails, gathering for wine or a margarita on the back porch and letting the kids run makes for a great time for everyone.”
Tina of Life Without Pink says: “Since life is crazy with the kids, we try and get together one night a week {with kids} and have a big dinner. We each bring a dish, let the kids play and us girls can actually {on most occasions} sit down and chat. I really look forward to this and it is so refreshing to have some girl time.” If dinner isn’t an option… try breakfast like Amy Hodges of A Million Boxes: “Realizing that with our busy lives it was getting harder and harder to even talk on the phone, one of my close friends and I made a weekly date for breakfast.”

Photos: All the pictures are photos my girlfriends have tagged me on Facebook – with them of course :)

I hope you enjoyed my review of the Lodge at Woodloch, a destination spa in Pennsylvania. I highly recommend it for a weekend getaway, and wanted to share a few special rates they have going on. Remember that one night stay includes three meals, and all the classes and activities. You will have to pay extra for alcoholic drinks and spa treatments (unless you get a package with spa treatments). Make sure to use these amazing offers – $299 a night is a steal!

- Mid-week Magic You can stay mid-week in the Veranda Deluxe accommodations through July 9, 2009 with rates starting from $299 (normally $475) per person, double occupancy or $399 (normally $585) per person, single occupancy.

- Weekend Renewal Weekend rates now start at $380 per person, double occupancy and $480 per person, single occupancy.

- Credit Bonus On top of these exceptional mid-week and weekend rates, now through June 30, 2009, The Lodge is offering a booking bonus of $50 per person per night for mid-week stays, to be used for spa treatments, alcoholic beverages, boutique purchases, personal training sessions and more.

- Free for the Holiday Stay three or more consecutive nights on select holidays in 2009 and the holiday night is complimentary, think Independence Day (Jul 4), Labor Day (Sep 7), Columbus Day (Oct 12), Halloween (Oct 31), Thanksgiving (Nov 26), and Christmas (Dec 25). Complimentary night does not include spa treatment allowance.

Book now.

The Dashing Diva girls’ night out was just a little warm up for enjoying spas, the Girlfriends Spa Getaway was my recent trip to The Lodge at Woodloch luxury destination spa in Pennsylvania. The Lodge at Woodloch is in the perfect driving distance of NYC (or Philadelphia) and I had a Girlfriend Getaway there with some of my blogging friends: Amy of Long Island Parent Source, Kim, the Traveling Mom and Amy, the Selfish Mom. A special thanks to Maria Bailey for telling us about the spa.

Read the review after the pictures.

Destination Spa

The Lodge at Woodloch is a destination spa. Destination spas are a bit different than resort spas – in resort spas you can enjoy spa treatments, and take classes and pay as you go and according to your wishes, but at destination spa your meals, the use of spa and fitness center and taking the classes are all included in the price. You can also get packages that include the spa treatments in the price, or you can take additional treatments that are not included. I like the destination spa approach better, because you are more likely to try new things like drumming or kayaking when it is included in your price.

Best For Girlfriend Getaway

The Lodge at Woodloch destination spa is a perfect for a girlfriend getaway, a mother-daughter bonding trip or a relaxing getaway with your spouse. Half of the visitors there are couples, but since you can not enjoy the sauna or steam room with your husband, part of the experience can not be shared together, thus the Woodloch is the best for girlfriend getaways in my opinion. Children under 18 are not allowed, this is an adult only retreat.

Easy Drive & Easy to Find

The Lodge at Woodloch destination spa was easy to find (with a help of a GPS navigator, but there were also signs on the side of the roads), even thought it is in the middle of “nowhere” in the beautiful Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania. The drive alone is relaxing once you get out of the city and it takes a little over 2 hours from New York City. I recommend driving yourself, and not depending on public transportation. The best of course, if you can drive with your girlfriends and start having fun already on the way there!

Luxury Starts with Hello

Once you arrive to your destination, the spa hotel is behind a security gate and the security guard lets you drive in the front of the beautiful resort building, where a friendly valet is waiting and welcoming you. You can just step out and check in to the luxury spa resort and start enjoying your vacation immediately. Three large crystal drums welcome you in the foyer like a sculpture – the crystal drums are called “Chakra bowls” and once you tap the side of one, the melodies and vibrations fill the air. According to the Eastern philosophies the combination of the sound and vibration balances your body’s energies. The stunning 34 foot cathedral ceiling in the foyer and the architecture of the building is giving me an instant rejuvenation.

The Rooms & Surroundings

The rooms are generously sized and the whole resort building is build around nature and you can not escape the feeling of nature. There view is amazing – you have the lake on the other side and the beautiful water sculpture on the other side of the building, and the forest surrounding it all. There are enough trails to run or go for a power walk, and the lake is perfect for kayaking or fishing. There is a relaxing cool room off the steam room and sauna to enjoy the scenery while staying cool even on the hottest days of the summer. The architecture of the building is a perfect marriage of a luxury resort and a mountain side or waterfront lodge with natural elements like black river rocks on the shower floors and natural wood casings, mixed with high ceilings, large windows and marble flooring. Little details like luxurious soaps (I absolutely loved the rosemary shampoo), flowers and a pitcher of tea and a tray of gourmet cookies make the experience even better.

Spa Treatments, Pool & Ultimate Relaxation

The first 30 minutes of my stay I’m carrying my iPhone and trying to get a signal – no such luck. Amy (from Long Island) brought the Verizon network with her and had no problem connecting while, but even Amy couldn’t change the Woodloch spa rule- no cell phones allowed in public areas. At first the rule seems cruel for social media addicts like moi, but after an hour I am really liking this rule, the missing AT&T network feels like a blessing and I feel happy to leave the phone in my room and truly start relaxing. We are taken for a tour around the spa and once I see the pool, the waterfalls, the jacuzzis (indoor and outdoor), the sauna and the steam room I am feeling relaxed just from the thought of dipping into the pool or enjoying the eucalyptus steam room.

Every guest receives a water bottle and a canvas bag when checking in, and a white bath robe waits me in my room. I swear not to get out in public wearing the robe like the other guests, whom I saw even eating lunch wearing their robes. Little did I know that once you truly let go and start relaxing, walking around in your bath robe is no biggie.

I had one spa treatment, the awakening the senses facial , a mixture of aromatherapy, chromatherapy (color therapy), healing sound, choreographed two disc stone massage and a deep facial. The 75-minute-long treatment left me looking red as a cooked lobster, and my skin singing everything but hallelujah, and I probably wouldn’t do it again, but my skin is over sensitive, and I was assured that most guests like it.

Programs & Activities

There are so many different programs and activities for you to choose from! Plenty of relaxation programs from different type of yogas and Pilates to high tempo activities from different type of dance classes to kayaking and trail biking. I recommend trying something new you normally wouldn’t try, like we did. We wanted to try Drums Alive, and I imagined it being peaceful drumming with musical instruments, but little did I know – it was a high tempo aerobic experience with fitness balls and drum sticks, and it was so much fun – and a great workout! We also learned some cooking tips and recipes at a cooking class with the spa chef, and spent an evening class with a medium to learn how to connect better with our intuition.

Over all I think one day trip was too short, next time I will stay for two nights! But even one day at The Lodge at Woodloch felt so relaxing and I felt like a whole another woman when driving back home. Make sure to see the little video (on the top) of The Lodge at Woodloch for more pictures and Skimbaco Home for interior pictures of the Lodge.

I had an opportunity for two fun spa events recently and they were totally different but equally fun. Both were with some of my best blogging friends, and what could be better than spending some girl time just among your best friends, right?

Thanks to Pledge Multi Surface Cleaner I was able to host a pampering spa night at a NYC day spa Dashing Diva. All the fabulous bloggers got their dashing nails done while our laptops got the same pampering with Pledge Multi Surface Cleaner (yes, it works for electronics!).

I rarely go to spas, and I usually do my own nails, so it was nice to have this little bit of luxury. But what really made the night was the company, the girl talk, the biz talk, the giggling and the brainstorming with fellow bloggers. Thank you friends for making it a memorable night!

The Dashing Divas – me luves you all.

Esti of Prime Time Parenting – one of a kind mensch, whom I could listen to talk for hours.
Isabel, the One and Only Alpha Mom – thanks for always making me smile with your colorful personality, can’t wait to hang out more with you!
Renee of the Cutie Booty Cakes surprised me by coming to the party and by being in the city – and that’s why I love her – she is always thinking others. Thank you for such a great surprise!
Wendy of Babies Gotta Have It – the vlogging goddess of NYC, thanks for being such a friend and making me feel like home in NY ever since we moved here.
Kim, the Mom in the City – who knows everything about the city and I absolutely admire what kind of mother she is.
Amy the Selfish Mom – my Dr Pepper-loving Brooklyn friend & traveling buddy that I’d go to moon with.
Carol, the NY City Mama, who always makes me laugh and who has the most adorable kids. Thanks for being such a great friend and keeping me in the loop with everything cool in the city.

Now… what do you do for fun with your girlfriends? If it’s a good one, I might send you a bottle of Pledge Multi Surface Cleaner, which is like a spa day for your living room.