February 19, 2006

Pajama Party

So last night, I found a new way to beat the February blues: a pajama party with the Shadow Women. (That is the pseudonym I gave this group of friends when I first mentioned them on this blog. The pseudonym we use in real life, a nickname given to us by one of our husbands, is the Wild Women. I am not sure which pseudonym fits better.)

Long Beautiful Hair said that as she was packing up her duffle bag, sleeping bag, and pillow to carry out to the car, her teenage son said to her, incredulously, "You are going to a pajama party? Aren't you a little old for that?"

I don't think I will ever be too old for a pajama party. The seven of us gathered by the fire, talking and laughing, our conversations ranging all over the place. We talked about kids, about jobs, about sex. I told them about Bitch PhD's bra post, and even took my shirt off to model the Wacoal bra I was wearing. We analyzed Signing Woman's marriage. We laughed at Makes Bread’s latest trials with her husband, a man we all know and love, who does have his blind spots. Quilt Artist, who is always sewing something while we sit and talk, pulled her latest quilt out of her quilt bag for us to admire.

Eventually, when people started looking sleepy, all comfy by the fire, Long Beautiful Hair and I cranked up the music, and made everyone get up and dance. Our friends have come to expect this behavior from us; they know that resistance is futile. They complained about the music, complained that they were too tired, and then they got up and danced anyhow. We played the sound track from Footloose and Dirty Dancing, and then switched over to CDs from local bands.

After all the dancing, we had another round of eating: vegetable soup, veggie chili, chips and salsa, cookies and cake. Long Beautiful Hair, saying that it was a pajama party tradition, put this weird gunk that she called a face mask all over her skin. After it dried – and this was the creepy part – she began peeling it off. It was like a scene in Scooby Doo; I expected to see some evil villain emerge as she peeled her face off. I am not sure what the effects of the face mask were, since her complexion is gorgeous to begin with, but watching her shed a layer of skin like a snake was certainly eerie.

We stayed up way too late, of course, in the tradition of pajama parties everywhere, and at breakfast, everyone was sleepy. We sat in the winter sunshine that poured in through the east windows, eating muffins and cereal and fruit, drinking hot tea and coffee, talking and listening to music. A hike in the woods, through several inches of new snow and cold crisp air, revived us all. After a relaxed lunch of leftovers by the fire, everyone headed home, ready to return to their everyday lives.

19 comments:

chichimama said...

How fun!!! What a great idea. Glad you beat the blues for at least a night.

bitchphd said...

I am deeply honored to have been present, if by pseudonym only.

Tiruncula said...

What fun! Just reading about it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about my equivalent group of girlfriends, even though they're too far scattered to have a pj party any time soon.

Mona Buonanotte said...

I vote you come to the midwest for pajama party fun! I'll make cheesecake and get you high on triple chocolate brownies....

jo(e) said...

Bitch, my friends and family hear about you all the time. (You are a wonderful role model for my daughter ... and I mean that seriously.) This particular group of women absolutely loved your pseudonym.

Mona, I think maybe we need to get together a blogging pajama party. I think it would be so much fun. I bet you are as cool in person as you are on your blog.

Liz Miller said...

Oooh! Can I come too? I'll model my Wacoal!


BTW, I talked up the Wacoal (and good fitting bras in general) to a couple of very nice women who I'd never met before (we were at a baby shower).

I pointed them to Bitch's site.

Anonymous said...

What, no (wacoal) bras in the freezer? What kind of slumber party doesn't involve the bra in the freezer trick?

Anonymous said...

You are one swell party thrower! I am going to copy you again.

jo(e) said...

PPB: What happens when you put a bra in the freezer?

I don't know that trick.

moxiemomma said...

sounds divine! the best we can manage here is girls' night out, which is a small group of us going over to my parents' empty summer house to eat good food, drink better wine, and yuck it up for a few much needed child-free hours. we all still have preschoolers and toddlers at home, so we can't do an overnight just yet, but when we can i will absolutely look to you as my pajama party role model!

listie said...

What fun!

zelda1 said...

My sisters and I use to do the slumber party at my younger sister's cabin in the woods by the white river. It was great. We'd go there around noon on Friday and stay until late Monday night. Sometimes the entire week. It was great, but by the end of the week, I was ready to get home. My friends and I have girl's night out, but we rarely involve overnights, simply because most of us go to bed so early and wake so early that, well, we might not make the entire night thing. But it's something I might suggest. It sounded like you had a wonderful time.

Anonymous said...

This sounds like so much fun. I love that you carve out time for yourself in your very busy full-time-job-plus-have-husband-and-children schedule. It seems like so many women feel obligated to sacrifice all their "me" time for their partners and kids. I'm glad to see you giving yourself some fun time of this kind. Not that time with husband and kids is not fun, just it's different.

And February is so almost over. You have nearly conquered another one. Way to go!

SuperB

Yankee, Transferred said...

Sounds like a great time! I'm all for the blogger pajama party!

Sue said...

This sounds like such a great time!

I too would like to know what happens to a bra in the freezer....please inform.

Anonymous said...

what a lovely day! i should organize the same for my friends someday soon.

Leslee said...

that sounds like a lot of fun!

Tree of Knowledge said...

That sounds lovely.

halloweenlover said...

Sounds wonderful. I need to talk my girlfriends into a pajama party!