Columnist Kelley Scarsbrook is on a mission to fulfill 40 goals before her 40th birthday in 2012. Here's the story of her latest adventure:

If I go back in to the recesses of my mind, I can vaguely remember what it felt like to have a Girl's Night Out. And by night out, I mean, an entire night out.

Let's just say that children were not on my radar at the time.

I have five mom friends from my children's school, whom I've been doing monthly get-togethers with for the past four years. However, it's never more than two or three hours to fit in a month's worth of catching up.

That's why it became a 40 Under 40 goal to have an entire night out with my five closest friends at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond.

As we met up in the lobby of the River Rock, I could sense my friends were as excited as I was to kick up our heels for one glorious night.

In our spectacular two-bedroom suite, we sat outside on the deck, catching up on what has been going on in each other's lives.

What I noticed most as the six of us sat talking was how much we were laughing (some of us giggling) and truly feeling relaxed. No one had to look at their watch and no one had to make a phone call. Each of us was basking in the freedom of not having any children around to entertain or noses to wipe.

Three hours of talking seemed to pass in the blink of an eye and before we knew it, it was time to head down for dinner.

As we got dressed (some of us trying on one another's clothes) we talked about where we were going to eat. We settled on LuLu's Lounge, which had live entertainment and pub fare.

When we entered the lounge, the band (Faith & Desire) was on stage playing various songs from the '60s and '70s. It was perfect. Soon many of us were up dancing with one another.

After several songs, we retreated back to our table to eat. That's when my friend Hasina West leaned over to me and whispered in my ear "I hear you are good at blackjack."

As I slowly nodded, she beamed and said "You're teaching me tonight."

And with that - I was whisked away to the blackjack tables to teach her the basics.

After walking by several tables, we found one with a vacancy. I ushered her into the chair and instructed her to put her cash down and advise the dealer that she was in.

She nervously put her money down and was handed some chips. After some quick instructions, she was off and running.

And wouldn't you know it - she won.

After only 20 minutes of playing, she had tripled her money. Beginners luck; you gotta love it.

Later upstairs, we continued our laughing and giggling into the wee hours of the morning - until we reluctantly headed to our designated beds.

In the morning, we had a scrumptious buffet breakfast, took pictures and recounted our fantastic night out together. We knew our time was coming to an end and tried to make the most of the few last hours together.

The night showed me how important friendship is with other women and how much more we need it as adults - especially moms.

For one fantastic night I reconnected with my inner child and was able to see how much fun being an adult truly is, when you've got amazing friends like I do.

Kelley Scarsbrook lives in Surrey and writes bi-weekly of her adventures. Visit Kelley's Top 40 Under 40 blog at kelleyscarsbrook.blogspot.com.