Skip to main content

Pajama party on the Cape~


I love getting away overnight. As my husband explained to David when I told him I was going to spend a night at a friend's cottage on the Cape, women never give up the pajama parties of their youth.

Why would we? There is something to be said for staying up late talking and eating, eating and talking.

The get-together started mid afternoon, talking, snacking, and sipping wine on the couch in the cottage. Later, out to dinner we talked through Martinis, soup, and salad. Upon returning to the cottage, we talked and ate strawberries in cream and chocolate chip cookies. Then lights out and more talk before sleep.

Talk is key. The only thing different from the school day pajama parties of days gone by and the adult sleepover is that adults talk about husbands instead of boys. And eventually we do stop talking and go to sleep.

There is, of course, the inevitable shopping portion of the day. I know I'm not the only woman who gets little to no pleasure from shopping, but I am a decided minority, and the only one among my friends.

While they shop, I'm happy to spend an hour or two in a bookstore, or in this case, walking off our huge breakfast.

I hadn't walked far when I ducked out of the wind into Nantucket Natural Oils. I love essential oils, and prefer them to perfume. This was my kind of shopping: sitting at a bar in front of a variety of bottles . . .

Photo from Nantucket Natural Oils webstite.

I ordered up sniffs of this and smells of that. Now and then the shop owner gave me a cup of coffee beans to breath deeply over to clear my olfactory nerves, freeing them to smell again. I was planning to buy, and was at the point of exchanging wrist sniffs with a friend who had wandered in. How does this smell on me? Wrinkled nose, sniff of coffee beans, the question is taken as seriously as, how do these sun glasses look, or this dress?Eventually I settled on a quarter ounce bottle of Nantucket Rain, a mix of three oils.

We drove back to the cottage and spent the rest of the day talking and finishing up the guacomole and chicken wings, me basking in the pleasant fragrance rising from my wrists. Good stuff , Nantucket Rain. I'm wearing it now, a scented reminder of a great pajama party.
~~~~~
Last year's trip to the Cape: Like an Early Spring.~
~~~~~
Happiness is perfume, you can't pour it on somebody else without getting a few drops on yourself.

Comments

Linda said…
Did someone say guacamole??

This sounds like so much fun and you're right, you're never too old for a pajama party!
Ross Eldridge said…
Hi there, Ruth,

I love the first photograph of the rooftop above the grass. Makes me think of an Andrew Wyeth landscape.

I didn't realise that grown women had pyjama parties (there's a whole new fantasy ...) And I wonder if grown men ever do. As a boy I certainly went to "sleep overs" and as I got older they were nights of "crashing" at some mate's place (usually after some heavy partying). At this point in my life, it would be nice to have a sort of sleep over, without any heavy drinking. Conversation, a meal, snacks, perhaps a DVD, and no need to rush off home. But would my friends' wives permit such a thing?

Back to fantasies then ...

From sunny and unseasonably warm Narnia ...

Cheers!

Ross
Pauline said…
The simplest of things - talk and food and staying up late with friends - happiness is woven of such things. That top photo is stunning.
Barry said…
I hope you stopped by Nantucket Bookworks, Ruth. I've been thinking about them after someone there ordered a book from Camroc Press the old fashioned way not long ago. Called us up and got the standard dealer discount.

Then, a day or two later, a Nantucket doctor ordered the same book. What's going on up there, I wonder?

You've made it sound as lovely as I imagine it is. And your picture captures that feeling nicely.
Tere said…
You description made me feel like I was a part of your party. I loved it.
Michelle said…
What perfect timing. I am getting together with some gal pals this weekend to eat and talk, talk and eat, and did I meantion EAT!
Voyager said…
I am so envious. My female freinds are flung out to all corners of the earth.
V.
Janice Thomson said…
Ah...a good old-fashioned pajama party - how neat is that! Sounds like you had a wonderful getaway.
I, too, prefer the natural essential oils to perfume.
Hi Ruth

I enjoyed this. I particularly liked the first photograph, and Ross is right; it's very reminiscent of the paintings of Andrew Wyeth.

I never did sleep overs when I was growing up... maybe because my family moved so often, and I had no close friends. Or it might be that I was just a stay at home kind of kid. I remember being asked a time or two and saying no. It must have been that,

It sounds lovely to me now, though. I envy your trip and your long-time friends. That is the difference between living in one place your whole life and moving about the planet frequently. I suppose both are enviable.

So, what does this Nantuket Rain smell like? You say it's a mixture of three oils. Curious minds want to know which three?
Bob Sanchez said…
I have fond memories of Cape Cod, of walking the beaches, of hanging out in the little shops while my wife does a little shopping, of lazy summer afternoons fully occupied by doing nothing much.

Thanks for bringing me back, Ruth.
Wanda said…
What a wonderful photo to go with a heartwarming story. I love PJ parties..

My mom passed away in 1991, and since then my sister and I do something every year similar to your party. We call it our "Sister Weekend" and we've gone to several delightful places, shopped, and ate....but you are right, its the talking and sharing that make it so special.

Thanks for taking me along... I love it.

Love and Hugs
Wanda
Alice Folkart said…
I can hear the laughter and chatter from the house although I can see only the very tiptop of a gable peeking over a sea-grass sand dune. I want to climb that dune and find the house and ask if I can come up on the porch and join you all. You're having so much fun.

Alice

Popular posts from this blog

One Winter Day in February!

It’s just a week that I have here, doing "farm duty" for friends while they are in Maui avoiding the February weather. Yay them! And yay me too! This is a week of respite...less than half an hour from home and hubby—and cats. I can enjoy the best of both worlds. My “chores” for the week: ·       Gather the chicken eggs (my favorite part!!) ·       Feed the chickens and ducks and give them fresh water (It bothers me that they have to stay in their coop while family is away. Makes sense, but I feel bad. Otherwise, this would be a favorite). ·       Feed three feral cats (my other favorite thing!) ·       Feed four alpacas and give them water (this is becoming a favorite...) Once done, that leaves plenty of time to...           To WHAT, exactly? What DO you do with the free time you’ve always dreamed of having...besides wasting it wondering what you’ll do with all that free time? On day 1, I a

For Alice~ She's home!!!!!!!

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Sometimes it's all about knowing that loved ones and friends stand behind you, knowing that support is there on the down days, the worry days, the days when you feel off-center, out of sync, bedraggled emotionally, and in pain, but knowing all the while that you're not alone. You're not alone... Alice is an online friend--she lives in Hawaii-- who belongs to the writer's workshop that I do. We've only "met" online, but those who have online friendships know that they can be just as strong as those in-person relationships. Alice was hit by a car while walking, and is in the rehab phase of things. She's working to regain mobility after a broken pelvis, a broken arm, and a broken nose. It's scary to realize how, in the blink of an eye, life can lurch and our plans for a time are displaced by survival and healing. We&#

San Antonio and Boston~

I'm in Austin. Two days after Christmas we flew to Texas for another of Worcester State's basketball tournaments. Bruce's motto is, "I didn't miss any of David's games in high school-- and he played three sports-- why start now?" My motto is, "I didn't make all of his games in high school-- nor did I try. The least I can do is go to the ones that require traveling to a place I've never been." David spends his days with the team. When they are not playing or practicing, the coaches take the kids out to see the sights. We have plenty of free time to see the sights and to relax, which is what I'm after, basketball aside. Today we headed 80 miles south to San Antonio and sauntered along the River Walk-- the much corralled and exploited, but nicely so, San Antonio River-- in sun and sixty plus temps. We visited the Alamo, and absorbed a bit of Texas's interesting history and culture. Beautiful! Eye candy! Never ashamed to lug a camera