When we held the 2nd annual Unglued Winter Retreat, we promised a crafty oasis in the dead of winter to revive your soul. And MY GOODNESS are we glad that we did. On March 7th, we hosted the hygge out of 120 sweatpants-wearing retreaters ready to CTFO and craft so hard. Check out these recap photos from M.Schleif Photography:
Our retreats are a one-day-only kind of party, so we offered a few add-on activities for any retreaters who wanted to max out their cozy winter weekend. Friday night, our crew gathered with some kick ass retreaters at Drekker Brewhalla and got the crafting started early.
Bright and early with the sun exploding through the windows, some of our retreaters opted to stretch and flex it out with Courtney Shoemaker for Viking Yoga. Which is basically yoga, but with beer. For breakfast. Why? Because it’s awesome, and so are we.
After we rolled up our yoga mats or rolled off our mattresses, retreaters headed to the Scandinavian crafty oasis in the middle of downtown Fargo that is the Sons of Norway. We got our butts in some sweet ass sweatpants, grabbed our mimosa, and gathered in an epic mystical forest better known as the Troll Bar with wood-carved trolls and our emcees Annie Wood & Max Kringen.
These awesome weirdos welcomed us to the Retreat in their plush bathrobes and giant AF (shout out to Sue’s fave word from last Winter Retreat) coffee mugs. Annie led the room in a Hula Hygge (hoo-gah) cheer, and Max taught us how to use all those draaank tickets. We brought back the Winter Retreat hula dance and showed off our already sweaty armpits to our new best friends because what’s cozier than that?
The Sons of Norway’s kitchen is getting its own winter revival, but the Scandinavian grandmothers still managed to serve up a massive waffle and sausage breakfast that warmed us up from the inside out and all the way back in again.
Retreaters have the chance to take three workshops with local makers, artists, and all-around cool people throughout their day. We brought back crowd favorites from last year like Sauna 101, Rosemaling, punch needle, leatherworks, and mixology with Proof Distillers. New this time around included Scandinavian wooden floor mat with Dakota Timber Company, coffee cupping with Dex of Thunder Coffee, needle-felted vikings, abstract painting, and so.much.more.
Some workshops teach traditional art forms like paper quilling, others get us flexing our creative muscles in all new ways, and a few even added some flavor that us midwesterners are sometimes lacking (hello spring rolls!!)
Our winter retreat crew served up lunch from our friends at BernBaum’s. They made our mouths water with a delicious fattoush salad, matzo ball soup, and the best bagels on the planet. SCHMEAR SMASH.
Endless opportunities for crafting, snacking, and chilling out is our game. Crafty station with macrame, watercolor, coloring books, cross stitch. Board game station thanks to Game Giant. Hygge Station with blankets, books, and a toasty lil’ fireplace. Unlimited Swedish fish.
As any Scandinavian grandmother knows, it is absolutely necessary that you break up your afternoon with some serious dessert. During the afternoon Hygge Happy Hour, retreaters tasted, crafted, and moved their way through a passport of awesomeness.
Wild Terra cider. Proof Artisan Distillery spirits. Hot teas from Kanji Naturals. Swedish waffles from Stabo Scandinavian Imports. All. The. Sons of Norway. Pie. Floral luau DIY’s, Cheersing s’mores at the bonfire with Nature of the North. Restorative yoga with Naturally Randi Kay. Luau dancing with Hayley Thompson. And because its fun to win fun prizes for doing fun things, retreaters choose their own adventure and earned adorable felt Hygge pennants and spoons wood burned with the Unglued spool.
After all that good action and our final workshop of the day, we filled our bellies with a buffet of Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes before we got on our grass skirts and coconut bras.
When we decided to make karaoke a thing at last year’s winter retreat, we pretty much wanted more hang time for everyone and their new BFFs. But this year, the people freaking BROUGHT IT. There were some major ballers in this crew who could friggin’ sing. It went down a magical rabbit hole DEEP into the Disney vault and we were not complaining! The crowd was HYPED. Seriously this was some real legit karaoke this year.
It’s the Unglued way to end any crafty self-care day with a good ol’ fashioned Homewrecker dance party. And let me tell you, this year’s brought down the house. Literally. We shook some lightbulbs loose in the club (Troll Bar) that night.
We all went to our own midnight snuggle sesh in our own cozy beds dreaming of palm trees and sweet ass waffles and that’s exactly what we needed.
If you’re thinking ‘WHAT that was a seriously epic jam-packed day of awesomeness and you must have to sleep forever after that’, well you’d be right for some who kept the snooze going deep into Sunday. But some of our retreaters added on a yoga sesh with Naturally Randi Kay to keep the relaxation vibes going strong. Plus coffee and Sandy’s donuts.
ALL this hygge is totally possible thanks to some awesome people who make Fargo most baller city in the world. You should check out our retreat sponsors: Drekker Brewing Company, Proof Artisan Distillers, Game Giant, Stabo Scandinavian Imports, and Wild Terra.
And we’ll see ya this summer for Camp! The fall for Fall Retreat! And next year for Winter Retreat!
Stay safe and if there’s one thing Winter Retreat taught us it’s to BE SWEATPANTS. Watch for our first-ever limited edition winter retreat-inspired product being released Thurs, April 2. Oooooooooo.
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