Women create friendship opportunities. We suggest get togethers, shopping excursions, road trips, and coffee dates. We remember birthdays and anniversaries and make sure to stay connected. We call each other on the phone for no reason and meet for coffee, lunch, gossip and/or tears.

Being a woman and a mother is not about sacrifice its about investing in others as well as yourself. Striking the perfect balance between these two involves a little or a lot of fun. And who better to share fun times with than our girlfriends...let's face it ladies, girlfriends need girlfriends. The below suggestions are designed to provide ideas to create unique memories for you and your best gal pals. In planning how to celebrate, put your heads together, and don’t forget your camera!

Plan a girls' night out:

Does this really need an explanation? In a nutshell, girls' night out is a tradition reinvented by generation upon generation of ladies looking to let their hair down, escape from their ordinary lives and get together for drinks and appetizers to gossip about everything: relationships, fashion tips, boyfriends/husbands, or even the unfortunate couple at the table next to them. This excursion can also be girls night in, i.e. staying at one girlfriend's house sipping wine, watching movies, snacking on junkfood. What more could a group of girlfriends need?

Start a monthly club:

No this is not an opportunity to discuss your period! Having a monthly club is the result of organizing a dedicated group of women to meet monthly for girl talk and gossip. Whether is be high school friends, college friends, mothers in the hood, meet with them once a month at someone's home, at a bar or restaurant for

Go on a weekend getaway:

So it may take some advance planning and babysitting arrangements. It will be worth it Mama! Does someone own a summer home that you know? Can you find an affordable hotel? Pack some food, drinks, even games and get started on your roadtrip escape. Or be spontaneous... destination unknown. Pick up your best friend and head north, south, east, west. Who cares...getting their will be more than half the fun!

Be newbies:

Try something new to you and your friends. A camping and kayaking trip, a guided hike, a cooking class, wine tasting, even sushi. Sharing a new experience with close friends is just one more way of breaking out of you comfort zone and building incredible memories. You may even pick up a new hobby in the process.

Pick a reason to celebrate:

Is someone coming to town, did a relationship just end, does one of the girls need a pick-me-up? Are you dying to try out the new karaoke joint and show off your new leather boots or did you just find out it's Brad Pitt's birthday (December 18)? Celebrate it! Be cute and send Girls Night Out Invitations or call around last minute and see who's up for a night out. Since we were little girls we loved to play dress up so make the night extra special and tell the girls to wear their funkiest or their flirtiest.

Sandra is mother of 3 and co-founder of http://www.million-dollar-mama.com a website devoted to helping mothers rediscover their favorite hobbies like travel, fitness and girls night out.

sandy@million-dollar-mama.com