Sleepover, Revisited

When you were younger, was there anything better than a sleepover with your best friend? Having heart to hearts until 3 AM about dreams and boys and school and life, watching movies, plotting and planning the rest of your lives until sleepy starlight brought slumber. In middle school and high school, my best friend and I were always on the go the next morning, off to cross country practice, showchoir competitions and dance team performances. (To be fair, I’m still on the go. All the time.) And as we got older, it got harder and more complicated to coordinate schedules and sleepovers were the first casualty of really growing up.



Once you have your own space, your own life, it’s easy to forget about the simple joy of something silly like a sleepover in lieu of men and martinis and crazy jobs, etc. Hanging out with your friends turns into a quick coffee date after Zumba or dinner every 3rd Friday. It’s really hard to have quality time when you barely have time to finish a sentence, much less a load of laundry.

Well, while the blizzardette raged on Friday, two of my best friends and I snuggled up for the long haul. We had an actual sleepover and it was awesome. One friend had been in London for months, so it was wonderful to hear her epic tales of adventure across the pond. We talked and talked and talked, sipped peppermint mocha hot chocolate and discussed how glad we were to be watching the snow instead of in it. We watched The Princess and the Frog and classic SNL. We looked at shoes online and planned dream weddings that are still just far off fairy tales for now. We talked about dreams and boys and school and life and it really wasn’t all that different from the sleepovers I had when I was 17.



Most importantly, we were able to really discuss the different places we are all in right now, gain new insight and find new perspectives about all of it. Me, settling in and settling down; my friends, just graduated and about to graduate respectively, working so hard to pursue dreams and figure out what the next step is. It was an awesome night of talking talking talking and listening. What is it about the combination of people you love and Disney movies that make you want to open your heart? Maybe it’s the many many many years of sleepovers that have conditioned me into feeling that way, but I have to say, it was the best way to stay out of the snow (The turkey chili the boyfriend made us also helped!) and take a pause for a serious, high-quality catch up date. We fought sleep and watched snow pile up outside the window as long as possible, finally collapsing to the sofabed with tummies hurting from laughter and ready for dreams.

Perhaps you don't have to have a sleepover to have this kind of catching up, but it doesn't hurt. Besides, there are so many fun possibilities when planning a grown-up sleepover... (I'm such a planner...) Regardless of whether you are pajama distance or worlds apart, the new year seems like a great time to reconnect and rekindle friendships that might have fallen to the wayside, don't you think?

Kisses,
AJS