Four #Gifted Nova Scotia Bloggers…

In a little turquoise house on the water’s edge…I laughed until I completely blew a gasket! 

Literally…in fact, it still hurts if I cough, sneeze, or roll over in bed the wrong way!

Myself, Suzi Fevens from Confessions of a Fitness Instructor, Laura Snow from My Life in the Sun and Lori Byrne from Farm Fresh Style, all headed to Cape Breton for the reFRESH “writing retreat”…where we literally, DID NOT WRITE AT ALL!

What we did do was bond our friendships a little closer than the ones we share online.

We stepped away from our computers and enjoyed one another’s company over cheese trays and lobster.

We drove forty minutes up the Cabot Trail and stopped at every single look-off on the way down.

We painted rocks, stencilled boards, took photos, confided in one another about what’s going on in our lives, dug deep into what’s happening with our blogs, and LAUGHED until…well…until the gasket was blown!

We reFRESHed our souls in a way that we’re unable to do online. While we support each other regularly in this digital space…behind the keys of a computer throwing out happy face emojis and virtual hugs…truth be told, smiley faces and heartfelt hugs are MUCH easier to give in person.

Lori at Farm Fresh Style invited us for the weekend and by the end of it…after serving our meals, bringing us tea, coffee and wine, killing a spider and checking out any strange sounds we may have heard…we took to calling her “Mama” as we felt completely taken care of.

While this was her dream to host a retreat…Lori didn’t miss a an opportunity to spoil us…bringing in sponsors for the event that made our girl’s weekend feel a bit more like “Blogger Christmas”! Honestly, we had a bag full of goodies quite a bit like opening a holiday stocking…filled with treats from various companies interested in making sure our weekend was a grand success. (Visit my IG Highlights or check out the #reFRESHretreatCB hashtag on Instagram and Facebook if you’d like to see more.)

A HUGE THANKS to Paula Camus, owner of our FABULOUS AirBnB, La Belle Brise, who treated us to her beautiful cottage as she knew good things would come from four content creators hanging out for the weekend…posting photo after photo and story after story in her amazing dream house.

Check out the blog posts with cottage tours from both Laura and Lori and if you’re heading to Cape Breton anytime soon or looking for a fun place to get away with plenty of things to do in the area…follow La Belle Brise on Facebook or book with them on AirBnB.

Not only is Paula’s cottage spectacular and the beds super comfy…but she gave us a tour of her stained glass studio and showed us how she works her craft and I have to admit…I was completely enamoured as Paula brings magic to everything she touches. 

Most especially…the sweet Turquoise house that was once a fisherman’s shack…beautifully restored and filled with treasures everywhere you look! (Shop for Paula’s stained glass on Etsy at La Brise Stained Glass and follow her Facebook page for updates).

Our weekend away was everything we needed and SO MUCH MORE. Lori is an incredibly colourful person…she’s an interior designer, owns a farm, and loves to create…plus, she has her blog and works full time! This year, Lori’s word of the year was COLOUR and she’s been focusing on a different colour and sharing a story each month. Our weekend retreat celebrated being FULL OF COLOUR and we absolutely loved the special cuffs that Lori made for each of us.

And…to reinforce her weekend theme, I gifted everyone with a Be Colourfull framed print.

AND, if you’d like a print of your own…sign up for my Newsletter to receive a digital copy as a thank you for subscribing, then have it printed at a local print shop, frame and VOILA! (FYI, I found these frames at IKEA for $9.99 each.)

Though we really didn’t write…the four of us didn’t stop talking, laughing and learning from one another the entire weekend long. We were treated like queens and absolutely spoiled! I can’t recommend enough how important it is to GRAB YOUR GIRLFRIENDS and escape for a weekend…how you’ll come back refreshed, restored and feeling completely re-energized.

Thank you Paula…for allowing us to spend the weekend at your beautiful cottage…and Lori, for making it all possible!

Now…scroll back up, and make sure to click on the links I shared and also, make sure to follow my friends!

Disclosure: This accommodation was provided to me free of charge, however, all opinions in this post are my own.