This past weekend while many were out braving the Black Friday crowds running frantically from store to store to find that great deal that they can’t pass up I was spending a relaxing weekend at Crystal Mountain Resort in northern Michigan.

Now this shindig was a huge family event. We had a total of 12 people that all went up together! And …. we were all in one house too. Thankfully the house was huge, 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, finished basement with foosball, ping pong, fireplace, and a large walkout deck. Of course there were all the other regular rooms like kitchen, dining & living rooms. It was a beautiful place and enough room for all of us to not be running into one another all the time.

I was really hoping that the slopes would be open because my daughter wanted to try snowboarding and I wanted to try downhill skiing (tumbling) again. I should mention that I haven’t skied in at least 15 years and I wasn’t all that great at it to begin with. Also… I hate the cold weather. But as most of you know Mother Nature is fickle and there was no snow and it wasn’t even cold enough for them to run the snow machines. With the snow that’s been falling all day today my guess is that this upcoming weekend the slopes will be open.

So instead of trying to kill myself we spent some quality time at the spa. Yes, I finally had some “me time”!! It was incredible and the only thing that could have made it better was if I was able to spend all day at the spa getting the massage, sitting in the outdoor hot tub, enjoying a facial, and sipping local organic tea in the meditation room (I did do that part)! The time that I was able to spend there was really nice! And I found the most awesome color of purple nail polish!

It was a great family shindig! We played card games, watched movies, and just hung out. Oh, I also found out that the husband greatly dislikes losing and my sister in law is awesome at Spoons! I’m glad that we went up north instead of braving the crazy shopping crowds! It was much more relaxing.

What did you do.. shop or relax?