As a girl, there’s an unspoken magic in the chaos of getting ready with friends. It always starts out with a simple text (“come over before we go,”) and somehow turns into a full blown event complete with crowded mirrors, different playlists and trails of makeup.
Getting ready together isn’t really about the destination; It’s about the laughter echoing through an apartment as everyone scrambles to look their best. Someone’s lost their highlighter, while others are STILL deciding what to wear as we need to leave. And of course, there’s that one person who comes ready and does their best to help everyone out.
It’s a beautiful kind of chaos, equal parts performance and therapy session. In between mascara coats and shoe debates, you’re also talking about your week, that one mixed signaled text and how time seems to be slipping through our fingers faster than we’d like. There’s a rare kind of honesty in that space: music blasting, feelings pouring and having fun.
Sometimes, when I’m surrounded by my college friends in this happy whirlwind, I think back to senior prom. That was a different kind of getting ready, but it’s the same energy with different faces. My high school friends and I crammed into my friend’s bathroom, surrounded by perfume and scattered makeup, helping to zip dresses and fix hair. There was nervous excitement in the air, part celebration and part goodbye. We didn’t realize how much we were about to change, or how that moment would become a snapshot of the last time we’d all be together like that.
Now, two years later, I find myself doing the same thing. Same laughter, same last minute chaos, just with new friends and new stories. The setting has changed from parent’s house to cramped college apartments, and instead of prom dresses, it’s jeans and tops. But the feeling? It’s exactly the same. That shared energy before a night out, that mutual hype up? That doesn’t change, I promise.
I know that one day, I’ll miss this. The chaos, the cramped mirror, the pre party pep talks that always run longer than they should, just the easy comfort of belonging somewhere. But, I also know that life has a funny way of circling back. My friends from home? One of them transferred to UIUC this year. We all still hang out when we are home. We grow, move, change and somehow find new people to get ready with. Maybe in a new city, maybe before a wedding, maybe just for dinner plans.
Getting ready with friends it’s just preparation, it’s a celebration. Of friendship and of every version of ourselves that we become along the way. And to my friends, the ones blasting throwback playlists, borrowing my perfume, and yelling “five more minutes,” thank you. You’re the best kind of chaos. One day we’ll laugh about how seriously we took outfit choices, but I hope we never stop finding excuses to keep getting ready together.