Slightly Off-Balance

I had a fabulous girls weekend.  Friday night was book club a passion party and Saturday I left for San Francisco for some quality time with my cousin (who is more like a sister).  I had a wonderful weekend full of laughs, yummy food and female bonding, but certainly learned a few lessons:

1. When soup boils over, do not grab a wet paper towel to pull the grate off the burner, in order to clean it immediately.  Fight the OCD impulses, wait until the stove has cooled down and never use a wet towel – paper or otherwise.
2. When hosting a passion party, not only do you need to have the kids out of the house, but they need to remain out of the house until you do a full cleaning.  Check under the sofa to make sure there are no passion party product catalogs that your kids can find.
3. When departing for the city – listen to the advice you give your kids – go potty before you leave.  While you may not be conspicuous running through Union Square doing the pee pee (or worse) dance, it can be uncomfortable and the thought of not making it to the hotel bathroom frightening.
4. When driving to any big city, choose your car wisely.  The biggest SUV on the road is not the best choice.  If you have no other vehicle option, make sure you know the height restrictions of the parking garage AND the height of your car.  Accuracy is important here, otherwise one might learn what those metal tube height signs sound like when they scrape the top of your car.  Luggage racks can act as the sacrifical lamb life saver in this situation.
5. Valet parking (with the additional oversize vehicle fee) at the hotel is expensive, but slightly less than the deductible on your car insurance.  Suck it up when the valet mentions your car is not the best choice for the city.
6. Eating your way through San Francisco may sound like a good great idea, but should be left to the professionals.  Over eating can lead to food coma which can cause falling asleep during the previews of a movie and one should be careful about sleeping in the Metreon.  Three such food comas in 24 hours probably isn’t healthy and may result in a sleepless night, despite the Heavenly Bed.
7. Check your cell phone alarm clock and ensure it is off.  Waking up at 6:00 am on a girls weekend after a night of food coma fall-out can be hazardous.
8. If you plan to shop in the city, tell your husband in advance to avoid shell shock.  If you don’t plan to shop in the city, you’re just fooling yourself.  Shopping in the city is as unavoidable as encountering crazy, ranting women with black eyes and missing teeth.
9. When a man is sitting in the park with a sign that says “Free Advice”, you should stop and listen.  It can’t be worse than the advice we give our friends.
10. There is nothing better for your soul than a weekend of girl time (and nothing worse for your waist line).