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Arts & Entertainment

Great Escape: Girls Night Out!

Nothing recharges your batteries quite like enjoying a perfect GNO with your favorite friends!

If you are a time-crunched mom, career woman, volunteer, community leader, family caregiver, or various combinations thereof, you can probably use a Girls' Night out. Here are six ideas-from laid back to slightly active-to get you started.

1. Wine tasting can be lots of fun-especially with a group of friends! You can start your Girls' Night Out early on a Saturday afternoon at The Olde Wine Store, or just across the bridge, in Seattle, at Esquin. Sample various wines and learn about their regions of origin.

2. Perhaps your group of friends would prefer sampling chocolate treats. Check out Oh! Chocolate, in downtown Mercer Island, or take a chocolate making class at their store in Madison Park. Just minutes away, in Seattle, you and your  gal pals can take a tour of a chocolate factory and indulge in Theo Chocolate delights-think Willie Wonka for grownups! 

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3. Bowling at Lucky Strike, in Lincoln Center, will provide you with ample opportunities to release tension, giggle and just enjoy each other's company. With a full bar, extensive menu and great music in the background, "going bowling" will seem more like going to a nightclub or a party.  

4. Channel your inner artist at Pioneer Square's monthly Art Walk. Local galleries feature new art exhibits on the first Thursday of each month. Open from noon to 8pm, the free event is a unique opportunity to get out an explore Seattle with your friends.

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5. Group pedicures, anyone? Call your friends and gather at one of Mercer Island's finest nail salons such as: Pro Mercer Nails; La Belle Spa; Queen Nails or Cindy's Nails; to enjoy a pampering treatment and a chat session with your BFFs.  

6. If your group is feeling like a mental and physical escape, why not enjoy a movie night together? Head on over to Factoria Cinemas or Lincoln Center Cinemas and enjoy a new release. Or for easy and frugal fun, pick someone's home, head to the nearest redbox machine-located at Alberton's and QFC- pop some popcorn and relax.

So whatever idea strikes your fancy, get out and go have some fun with your friends. You deserve it!  

What's your favorite idea for a Girls' Night Out? Tell us in the comments.

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