Snow Day Hen's Party

Well last night through this morning, we had about a 9 inch snowstorm. It came down fast and pelted us. This is only the second major snow of the season so far.

It was a really slick and BIG storm - the roads were a mess. Luckily I'd packed some extra work clothes in my car for just this kind of snow emergency. My plan was to stay at a nearby hotel, as I've sometimes done before. But a coworker friend of mine, Diane, invited me stay at her house overnight. I was reluctant to do this, because frankly, it just felt "weird" staying at someone's house - encroaching on their personal space. But she insisted she didn't mind - so she drove me home.

Let me just say, it was a fantastic idea. We had a blast! What is usually a hum-drum mid-week evening turned into one of the most spontaneous FUN sleepovers I've ever had since I was ten years old.

We started by cooking a delicious casserole for dinner. It was a recipe she'd never tried but had found on the internet. It's called "Fiesta Chicken Casserole." It has chicken (we used frozen chicken), salsa sauce, sour cream, shredded cheese, black beans and Campbell's condensed chicken soup. The recipe called for pie crust as a topping, but instead, we decided on crumbled tortilla chips for a crunchy topping. Then we baked it in a 13 X 9" casserole dish for 40 minutes. It came out SO delicious! Piping hot comfort food, and I bet it could be made to be less fattening by choosing the low-fat versions of the ingredients. My kind of cooking, inexpensive, and delicious.

Since she likes to sew, she showed me gifts and things she's made for family members. She is a really craft-oriented kind of person that can make fancy gift packages with a theme. She makes diaper cakes for expectant mothers full of all sorts of baby stuff. And she makes just really clever things. I enjoyed sitting in her sewing room and brainstorming cute sewing, knitting and quilting ideas - she doesn't know how to knit (yet) but I have a feeling our craft obsessions might rub off on one another eventually.

Her home is one of those homes that is just COMFORTABLE. From the moment you step in, you feel at ease. Not fancy - just clean, comfortable and welcoming. Before night fell, we watched the birds as they scurried from the snow and into her bird feeders. She has different feeding stations for different birds.

Then after dinner, we sat up and watched her favorite sit-coms - her current favorites are "The Middle" and "Hot in Cincinnati" - while we watched, I snuggled in a warm blanket on her couch and finished knitting the Gimme Five Vest from an old issue of Knitters that I was finishing up using some art yarn I spun. I haven't had time to block it yet, but here's an idea of what it looks like. Pretty cute for a fast knit. It's a drop stitch design.

We stayed up until 11:30 just giggling, talking and watching the snow fall down, covering the deck, the driveway, the road. It was a real hen party. She had a comfy guest bedroom for me and a guest bath - just perfect.

The roads weren't well plowed in the morning, but by afternoon, the streets were clear so I could return home. But I was SO glad I stayed with her rather than risking a long commute at best, or an accident at worst.

And this snow slumber party also made me glad I'd said "yes" to one of those serendipitous
opportunities to open up my world to happy everyday adventures.