At the last Firegirl Retreat we held in Chamonix, France, we had 14 women, two houses and four staff, for six glorious days in the Alps. That was 2023.
Walking down memory lane today, I discovered a video from that week that I'd never seen. It's our Hospitality Queens Deann and Jeni on the deck opening a bottle of Champagne.
Actually, it was Jeni opening the bottle while Deann filmed and I think it was meant to be dramatic. They're whispering because I was teaching in the living room. The video was originally four minutes long, I've edited it to 45 seconds. You're welcome. Here are the highlights.
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The Good Old Days
There's a line from The Office where Andy says "I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've left them."
That trip to Chamonix was a beautiful monster. Fourteen women was our biggest international retreat yet. We had a pile of logistics and even bigger adventures, and while we had many hands on deck, the work was relentless.
But now, all I see are good old days.
Taos was the same.
Our very first Friend Camp last month in Taos, New Mexico, was also a ton of work. The event runs parallel with the Firegirl Retreats, but the model is different, and I accidentally understaffed it.
As such, I had a migraine most of the weekend, which was a bummer, and swore to myself I was never doing it again.
But with a few weeks in the rearview
I realize Taos is also good old days, and now I'm deciding where to locate Friend Camp #2. (Hint: Glamping in the Colorado Rockies in August? Click here to get on the interest list.)
Nonetheless, this is how a wild women's retreat looks on us, the morning after — in Sallanches, France.
The String of Pearls
I used to think a good life was something I'd someday arrive at, after all the hard work and struggles were done. Like it was a destination full of well-earned ease and pleasure. Not now, someday.
Now I know better.
A good life is more like a string of pearls. It's a lifelong exercise in building good days — one at a time; stringing them together on an ever-growing strand. If a good life is just a string of good days, you can build that, one pearl at a time.
Even if a day is full of suffering, it still adds richness and depth to the strand. No one pearl matters that much, it's the sum of them that makes the necklace.
Having others around you, in joy or struggle, makes each pearl a little prettier, and your necklace more precious.
The rest of this post is strictly joyful pearls.
After Chamonix 2023
Jeni, Deann and I spent a couple of nights in Annecy.
Known as the Venice of the Alps, with its Roman architecture, freshwater canals and turquoise lake, it had been on my list for a while.
We ate at least six times a day there.
We strolled along the water and sighed watching locals waltz to a string quartet in the park. I mean look at them.
My God I love French culture.
Anyway, we started off cute like this...
But did so much of this...
We wound up like this...
Then Jeni had to fly home
But Deann and I didn't. So we did a lot of high-quality pearl stringing in Provence. BTW - On a hot day in Roussillon, Aperols at noon are legal.
There's no point to this note really
Except to say, take your shots when you can because there's no someday where everything gets easy.
Build your good old days now — one pearl at a time. Even if they're hard, they're adding interest to your necklace, which we may only appreciate in hindsight.
We'll do a Friend Camp France soon.
I promise. If you want to find out when, hop on this list. If you have some ideas for where, reply to this email and share.
Have a beautiful week.
xo
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