I fell down the planner lovers rabbit hole about 4 years ago, and whilst I love all the pretty planner things, it can be quite a lonely hobby as not a single friend or family member shares this passion. Thankfully a group of awesome women started organising planner days so that we could get together regularly to share our love of planning.
We had talked about having a planner getaway and Maddie from Little Tabby Co. decided to make this a reality. She sourced an Airbnb up in Mount Tamborine with room for 10 ladies and the tickets sold out in a flash.
Now I love a girls weekend away and if there are planners involved, I am in! ‘Cedarleesa’ is a beautiful property nestled in a valley, surrounded by greenery.
A giant shed has been turned into a comfy and cosy home away from home with two outdoor living areas, beds for 10, two full bathrooms with one featuring a spa and a fully equipped kitchen. We were all suitably impressed and ready for a night of fun.
There are chickens clucking around in the grass nearby, the resident dogs just walk right in and make themselves feel at home whilst accepting the never ending pats that were offered.
Meeting the ‘locals’ included feeding these two beauties with a bale of hay that the owners dropped off for us. For a few of the ladies this was the first time they had got up close and personal with a horse, let alone fed one.
What would a planner girls retreat be without swag? AND we got tons of it, thanks to the generous donations from lots of Aussie planner shops and goodies that Maddie arranged. Do you see that Simply Guilded gorgeousness in that pile?
Maddie went above and beyond in organising activities to keep us occupied during our stay. We all brought a ‘Secret Santa’ gift and had great fun playing the ‘Naughty Santa’ version which allowed us to steal other peoples pressies that caught our eye.
No planner girls retreat is complete without some crafty fun. We were split into pairs and were given a blank Erin Condren spread and a pile of sticker left overs and we had to use just that and washi tape to create the best spread we possibly could.
For dinner we had fabulous wood fired pizza’s and garlic bread that the owners made for us and all we had to do was put them through oven. Whilst dinner was cooking the owners son built us a bonfire so we could toast marshmallows.
Super toasted on the outside and super soft inside…yum!
After a few wines and a shot of Tequila, we played Pin The Sticker On The Planner Spread, with the goal being to try and get the sticker into the box as straight as possible whilst blind folded.
I almost won that game, but Maddie was the last one to place the sticker down and it was so close to perfect, she nailed it!
The night was cooling down rapidly so we were all cosy inside going through tons of papers that had been printed out with the intention of making dividers with all the die cuts and other pretties that had been brought along, but not a single one was made, we too busy chatting and snacking on the huge amount of yumminess that everyone contributed to.
Breakfast was toasted egg sandwiches made from fresh eggs that had been collected the day before by the owner and dropped off into the kitchen…..got to love the country way of eating.
When you get 10 ladies together that don’t really know each other, it can swing one of two ways. It can be filled with awkward silence and feelings of uncomfortableness or it can be a time filled with laughter, chatter and sharing the one thing we are all so passionate about and for all of us it was definitely the latter.
None of us wanted to go home, it was just so much fun in such a lovely setting.
Thanks to the huge success of this very first retreat, another is being planned for 2019 and also a weekend Food and Wine cruise in the latter half of next year. Keep your eyes glued to the Plan B Facebook page for details as they become available, as you don’t want to miss out again!
What would be the most important thing for you to have at a planners retreat?
