With What You Have | 85

Of sleepovers and flowers

Words about contentment inspired this series that celebrates ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness.

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I’d stood in my quiet kitchen the evening before, the window open to the sounds of the creek, the birds, the breeze, and while the sun grew heavy and the clouds grew pink in the western sky, I made popsicles for dessert (I halved the honey and doubled the limes). Tomorrow’s dessert. Tomorrow I would do something I’d never done before: have a friend stay overnight who lives nearby - not out of town, but just around the figurative corner. Simply for the fun of it. For sharing food, conversation, and a space of time to rest and breathe. Girl time.

When the idea came to me a few weeks prior, I’d blinked and wondered why I’d never thought of this before. It seems I’d become so used to only extending overnight invitations to those who lived away, that I’d not even considered extending them to my locals friends, as well. But why not? Sleepovers with friends as kids was one of the best parts of childhood, wasn’t it?

The fun idea scooped me up and away we ran.

I line dried the sheets and made the guest bed, I planned a menu, shopped the markets, and tucked tasty food and drinks into the larder and fridge. I cleaned the mirrors, mopped the floors, and stocked the toilet paper. I made dessert. Then, I walked into the gardens with snips in hand and gathered blooms and greens: hydrangea, oregano, tomato vine, and ivy. These, I arranged in a thrifted ceramic vase and placed it on the end table near the sofa. The house smelled like summer. Hot pink echinacea went into a bud vase along with the tiniest of white Annabelles, for her nightstand, the last touch before she arrived.

And when I stepped out onto the porch to greet her with a hug, and a welcome inside, there, in one hand was her basketful of overnight things, and in the other, a bucket full of incredible, magenta colored Amaranthus from her garden. Of course she’d brought flowers! We’d barely closed the door before we were cutting it, adding it to the vase of hydrangeas on the end table, and squealing (me) with delight.

I love this. I love taking an idea, moving one step to the side, then two steps more, and seeing it differently. How can I, in this season of my life, where I am, with what I have, nurture and tend my friendships with other women? Maybe it’s a car pool once a month. A lunch date, or a dinner out. Perhaps a dinner in. Maybe it’s hosting a group of girlfriends for the evening (and having them all dress up). Or, maybe, just maybe, because I have an empty nest and a husband who flies, it’s having a girlfriend who lives nearby over to spend the night.*

Do what you can with what you have.

*See a reel she made of our weekend here!