By Leighton Maynard
Through life’s ups and downs sometimes all you need is a friend by your side. Or a few friends. It helps when their personalities match. And it really helps when they get together for a girls night to create memories and put the troubles and stresses of girlhood sometimes to the side.
As girls’ night enthusiasts, my friends and I have assembled the perfect routine to make sure we can enjoy our time together and appreciate each other enough.
Girls’ nights are all about balancing planned with spontaneous elements. Sometimes, when something unexpected happens, it improves the night, but sometimes, when there is a last-minute rush, it can take away the vibe of a stress-free environment.
For sophomore Sarah Barwis, these get-togethers are just what the doctor ordered after days of homework, practices, and tests. “We usually have a girl’s night when we all had a stressful week,” she said.
To start a good night of bonding and relaxation we usually take a trip to Target to stock up on things we might need for the night, such as matching pajamas, face masks, candy, snacks, skincare, makeup, and much more.
If you don’t want to spend money, you could also use or make things at home. For example, if you want to learn how to make a homemade face mask, there’s a great recipe on Elle.com in their Elle Beauty Team section. You can not only get the relaxation benefits but you can also have a great bonding experience trying to recreate a store-bought one with things like clay and honey.
If you enjoy the homemade vibe you could also do a baking night. “My friends and I sometimes do a baking competition and it turns into a super silly thing,” sophomore Amelia Friedman said. Your food might not turn out super amazing, but it’s the thought that counts (even when it’s truly terrible, you still can get a good laugh (and enjoy the icing)). There are a ton of easy baking recipes online that are yummy and fun to recreate. This is a great recipe for stronger friendships.
Another food option is a candy salad. Candy salads are a popular trend on social media. A candy salad is a mash of wonderful yummy treats mixed into a bowl to make a “salad.” Not quite sure why the name is the name when it’s quite literally the opposite (and most definitely does not include romaine, iceberg, or arugula). On girl’s nights, it’s scientifically proven that calories don’t count so who cares!
If you have a sweet tooth and want to lean towards something colder, ice cream sundaes are super yummy. You can turn a simple ice cream into a delicious mixture of cherries, fudge, sprinkles, and much more. Then again, it can be equally enjoyable to go to CVS, buy pints of Ben and Jerry’s, and stand in the kitchen eating ice cream directly from the containers.
Moving away from food (which isn’t easy to do) there are tons of other things you can do with your girls! Games are a great way to kick off an exciting night. If you’re not the one for boring original games such as Monopoly try making your own. “My friends and I created a game that we all wrote down an experience in our lives and acted it out in charades until my friends guessed it,” sophomore Leah Woolfson told me. This is a creative way to laugh about old memories and make new ones.
If you like to get your hands dirty, TikTok creators are all about slime nights. A slime night is when you and your friends all work together to create your slimes. All it takes is glue and an activator and you can have an endless amount of fun. Then again, a few months ago, we tried making slime but the activator didn’t work and we got glue and shaving cream all over the hardwood floors. We cleaned it up before any chaos could arrive in the form of parents.
After all the laughter and mess is shared between games, food, and slime you can finish your night with a movie. If you and your friends can’t decide on a genre or a movie try putting movie ideas in a hat and draw from the hat. This is a great way to steer away from any potential arguments (We should watch a horror movie! We should watch a romance! We should watch Young Sheldon!) and allows you to broaden your horizons.
If you’re like me and have trouble sitting still while watching a movie, a braid train is always relaxing and fun. This is when you and your friends all do each other’s hair in a line. This way, everyone gets their hair done, and your “connection” is literally growing!
No matter what you choose to do, it’s crucial to prioritize your friendships. And a big way to do that is to put away your phones. It’s easy to get locked on your screen and forget about your surroundings. Phones take away the actual purpose of spending quality time together and enjoying what you’re doing in the moment (unless you have to snap a few shots of what you’re doing in the moment). Guys and social media may come and go but friendships stay.
In the end, make sure that you and your girls have a good time. This is supposed to be a stress-free zone and always be open to new ideas. Girls’ nights can be an every weekend thing or once-a-year thing but it’s important to cherish your times with your friends, even if those times might include unexpected arguments. That’s life, too. Nothing can compare to friendship among girls, the laughter and tears, joy and pains, smiles and slimes we share with our friends.
