Tomorrow morning I will be picked up by a van full of Wild Women for our annual child-free Chick Trip weekend. Believe me, I’m ready to spend some time with people who don’t summon me at two in the morning with an ear-piercing, heart-thumping “MommmmeeeeeEEEEEEE!” to share the urgent news flash that the Jimmy Timmy Power Hour is on Nickelodeon at eight o’clock the next night. In other words, it’s time for a little R&R, and a chance to remember who we are on our own and what is special about our friendships.
This year we decided to keep it low key. We’re hiding away in an Idaho cabin (many thanks to the generous friends who own said cabin) and only venturing out to enjoy a local restaurant and perhaps to restock the refrigerator. I foresee a lot of talking, popcorn popping, movie watching, game-playing, and relaxing. That reminds me—I need to dig through my closet and unearth my fuzzy slippers.
I still have packing to do tonight, so on that note, and in the hopes that any moms out there will be moved to plan their own sanity-affirming Chick Trips, here are:
Thirteen Things to Pack for an All Girls Getaway:
1. Cheesecake. There will be other food there, including Kim’s famous artichoke dip, but cheesecake is truly the nutritional cornerstone around which all other calorie intake will be built.
2. Diet Coke. To offset the cheesecake, of course.
3. MadLibs. No one can come up with adjectives, nouns, and verbs like a bunch of mommies taking their vocabularies out for a spin after weeks of uninterrupted monosyllabic Barney-talk.
4. Music. There will be arguments, of course, over whether the likes of TobyMac and Pillar constitute real music or not, but I’m sure we’ll settle all disputes equitably and with good grace thanks to my benevolent dictatorship as keeper of the iPod. (Okay, okay—I’ve got some Rebecca St. James and Norah Jones on tap, too. I do have a softer side, you know.)
5. Chick Flicks. The sappier the better. Remember the chick flick trifecta: Meg Ryan, Reese Witherspoon, and Sandra Bullock. Leading men are negotiable. Super deep voice or Scottish accent preferred.
6. Karaoke Machine. Trust me. Loads of fun, and when you’re a verse and a half into “I Will Survive” and suddenly forget the words, you find out who your real friends are.
7. The Friends trivia game. Obviously, the teams will be Kathy vs. Everyone Else, but I give us 3:1 odds.
8. Pajamas. If I have my way, I will be spending most of the weekend in them.
9. Pedicure Kit. Nothing says self-indulgence like shiny pink toenails.
10. The Complete Book of Questions.
11. A Bathing Suit. In case an opportunity to join the Polar Bear Club presents itself.
12. A Notebook. For jotting down all the fabulous blog ideas that will occur to me during those no-holds-barred late night conversations over–what else?—cheesecake and Diet Coke.
13. A camera. No, wait. Scratch that. It might be wise to avoid creating photographic evidence.
—
*In my absence, my husband will be helping me keep up with the demands of NaBloPoMo by posting a handful of brief entries that I have pre-written. Also on deck: a guest blogger! (If I can pull her away from rereading Barbie and the Swan Princess, that is.) This blog will return to its regularly scheduled programming on Monday. Have a great weekend!
Notes on a Napkin 