Just wholesome ways to spend time with your besties.
I don’t know if it is just me, but my TikTok “For You” page is full of those “Me? Having a boyfriend?” and “How I love being a woman,” videos, and it has really reminded me to embrace my femininity as well as showing more gratitude towards female friendships. Partners come and go, but the one thing that is constant in your life is your best friend. They are always there for you through every stage of your life and love you through it all.
Remember when you and your friends would play dress up and dance around in extravagant Disney princess gowns and accessories? Or staying up until the wee small hours of the morning giggling, sharing secrets, and talking about crushes? Those days don’t necessarily die away with age. We can still love to dress up in fancy outfits and strut around to fun music, share our deepest fears and greatest hopes until the sun rises, and have these wholesome and whimsically feminine connections with our gal pals.
Have a Dress Up Night
Throw on some old Italian or light classical music, even runway music, and dance around the room with your friends. Not only will it make your inner child feel like a Disney princess once more, but it is an instant confidence booster, as well as a fun way to spend time with your friends!
Wine and Jammies
Get in your snuggliest clothes, bake (or buy) some cookies, pour the wine, and turn on the sappiest romcom. It’s nice to have a cuddle sesh with your best friends and laugh or cry your hearts out to a movie together.
Group Journaling
Sit outside on a sunny day or light a candle on a cozy night and journal together! During peak Covid times, I was a part of a “Girl Power” Zoom group that would meet each week and journal. We would all share our responses, and it was a really empowering experience to harness deeper connections with friends, along with women I did not know as well. Journaling with friends, whether you share what you write or not, can be a really cathartic bonding activity.
Scrapbooking
Over the summer, my friends from home and I pitched in to buy a scrapbook from Michael’s along with stickers and gems to decorate. We decided we each would get a week to fill in the scrapbook with what was going on in our lives that week, how we were feeling, etc., and then we would send it to the next person in our group. Scrapbooking, especially sharing one scrapbook, has been an intimate activity that allows you to both unleash your creativity and have fun expressing yourself, but also learn more about your friends. I love seeing how different our pages are in design, and how well they fit together. Plus, it looks very aesthetically pleasing, and it’s our little secret as to what’s inside.
Sleepover
Ah, the classic sleepover. Rent a movie, buy some snacks, put on some spa masks, and you’re set. Laughing the night away while you try to sleep is a given. Plus, in the Halloween season, watch a spooky movie or tell a ghost story!
These are just a few ideas to spice up your usual hangouts with your besties. Friendship is so important, and it is something you realize more and more throughout your life. Whenever I am hanging out with my girlfriends, I always feel so grateful for the simple moments like sitting in a circle sharing funny life stories or laughing in bed about the night’s adventures. There’s no worrying about whether so and so texted you or crying about a boy. There are just fun times with your friends, and throng feelings of love and support from your besties. So go ask your friends to have a dress-up night or to make a scrapbook—it’ll be fun, and it will bring you closer together, too.