I don’t even know how to write about this past weekend, y’all. Sure, I’m sitting here on the front stoop, red bowl of peanuts by my side, typing, but I know whatever trite words I say will not do the weekend justice.
I’m trying, though. I will probably split this into two parts as well. I have been thinking a lot about how to do this, and this is what I have decided (then I came up with another idea after this was almost finished. I have included that in an extra set of parentheses):
- The Animals (The People) (Side Characters)
- The Animals (The Actual Animals and Food and Other Stuff) (Side Quests)
Yes, I know people are animals. This is not the time for semantics, y’all. This is a time for pure, unadulterated love. So, please, let me get started.
The Idea
Like many of the people who made it to the slumber party, this idea just popped into my life (read: my head) one day. I had been writing bunches of articles about Airbnbs all over the Midwest and Michigan, in particular. Every time I wrote one of these, I would try to put myself into the rental… who would I bring with me, what little nearby attractions we would explore, what fun activities we’d participate in around the property, and, of course, what food we would eat. I seriously do try to imagine my own lil mini-vacation whenever I write one of these.
When the places were small, I imagined Mickey and me. When they were larger, I increasingly imagined myself and a group of girlfriends.
Now, I will say this. Throughout my life, I haven’t been that great at having female friends. After tons of self-reflection, therapy, and morning pages, I realize now that this was because I was raised to be competitive with other women, not see them as allies. This went so far as my own mother becoming increasingly competitive with me as I reached further and further into adulthood.
I have (obviously) done quite a lot of work on healing that part of me and have found myself with some incredible female friends. Like, ones that I can feel 100% comfortable being wholly myself with. Some of whom had never met each other, and some I had never even met in person. But I knew I loved them all and wanted them to meet each other.
So, I thought about planning a slumber party retreat. When I was little, I didn’t like slumber parties and often came home before dawn. I wanted to create a space for lil Jacki to feel safe. A slumber party she wouldn’t have wanted to leave.
I whipped up a massive survey and sent it to folks I felt had the right vibe. In the end, 8 answered the call and were ready to try this ridiculous idea with me.
I found an Airbnb, and we picked some dates. Then, one by one, we sent our money to our Money Captain. This was not me. I am not a money girlie, which is another reason why I shied away from organizing anything like this previously.
And I really started planning. Here are the things I knew I wanted to do:
- Unhinged PowerPoint Presentations a la Smartypants
- Detroit Pizza
- Ferndale Friday Progressive Dining
- Belle Isle
- High Art
- Hot Tub
- Vintage Shopping
- Show Off Detroit
- Wiggle Dance Party
- Good Eats
- Morning Pages
- A Craft
- Karaoke
- Watch Dropout
- Cook Pasta
- Have Fun
We did about half of it? Maybe less, now that I think about it. And that was fine, honestly, because we added a few unexpected things (like the zoo and a bowling alley lounge) and just spent so much fabulous downtime doing nothing but talking. At one point in the weekend, one of the crew asked the other, “What do you keep in your bag?” and we were treated to a compelling 45-minute breakdown of everything in it, and its purpose. It was fascinating, and it wasn’t even one of the PowerPoint presentations!
By the time the dates of the sleepover arrived, we’d lost three of our team: to illness, to money, to other commitments. Each one made me a bit sad, but I also understand doing what is best for yourself. More than once, we all said we can’t wait until they all join us next year. Yes, we’ve picked a place already. This is gonna be a yearly event ,and I suspect it will get bigger and bigger every year. Ugh, it was so perfect, y’all.
And a big part of what made it perfect was the people. It was as if someone in Central Casting asked for actors who could portray love and kindness without even trying. Comedians who were skilled at improv comedy as if it were part of their nature. Costume Designers who had impeccable senses of style. Directors who could solve any tech problem and had things set up and taken down before the rest of the team could even blink. We were perfectly matched and I’m so looking forward to seeing what everyone new will bring to the table each year.
Here is the cast of characters from the 2025 season:
- Jacki: this is me, I put the thing together and had some sort of tie to all the people that came.
- Aubrey: the human who introduced me to NYC, not once but twice. Y’all have heard about her before.
- Erin: an Internet friend who “pause and talked” her way through The Other Two with me when Logan was at his sickest. I had never met her in person, but had known her online for years.
- KPerks: a force of nature. My travel buddy. One of the reasons I live in Michigan. My twin! (Erin is our triplet, KPerks was right.)
- Rachel: I barely knew Rachel, online or otherwise. She was an Aubrey addition and rightly so. Rachel is fucking amazing, and I am so happy to call her a friend now.
- Stevie: she made the journey to Detroit to do the home inspection on The Professor Haus. Also, we just get each other, you know? We also have massive amounts of Anderson Cooper lore.
So that’s the core 6, although we seemed to make it our purpose to collect side characters wherever we went.
The Rental
My requirements for the Airbnb were pretty simple: enough beds so everyone could sleep, walkinf distance to places, at least two bathrooms (this requirement has been upgraded to three. not because there was any bathroom drama, but because we had three bathrooms and there was NO bathroom drama at all, so we want to keep it that way.), and a hot tub.
Always a hot tub.
And I found one… in Ferndale!
It had a lot of other things too, like lawn bowling and putt-putt for some reason.
Most importantly, there was room to hang, sleep, eat, and the walk to do things was quite short. I mean, we coulda walked to a curling arena if we wanted to. How many Airbnbs can say that?
This one could also say it had the following:
- an outdoor shower
- a ping pong table
- heated mirrors (we called these “button mirrors” and hated them)
- backyard – usually covered in grass
- thanks for confirming your yard isn’t gravel or lava.
- a bonus rv that someone else can rent
- pool (that was half filled)
- mood lighting
- a tent
- a “gym”
- fire pit
- awkwardly-placed hammock
- bbq grill
- secure entrance (ominous)
- workspace
- HA
Now, I feel it is proper to give an honest depiction of the space and, well, y’all. It was:
I mean, it’s fine. It served its purpose. But there were lil annoyances.
One bedroom with two single beds had weird vibes, and we almost decided to keep it empty, but we didn’t. Another room had a king bed with a V so deep that the sleeper was forced into the middle every single night.
There were two kitchens, three bathrooms, and enough room to sleep at least 15 people, but there were only four bowls and four coffee mugs. Were we supposed to eat and drink out of our hands?!
Luckily, I brought mugs enough for everyone. Yes, I made them.
The initial plan was to bubble paint them in Valley of Oh colors, but we had no Dawn dishwashing detergent to make the bubbles, so I pivoted! I grabbed Nadga’s huge bucket of stamps and got to stamping.
I think they are cute, and I can do bubbles next year!!!
I also made the executive decision (with the help of the rest of the slumber party crew) to buy some compostable plates, cups, and forks. Given the state of the kitchen supplies, it was an excellent move.
Don’t get me wrong, there were things we loved about the Airbnb. Namely, the ice drawer in the freezer. It was massive, and it was always full. We went through the ice, y’all.
Not for cocktails, though. I bought some booze for the event:
- One bottle of Tito’s Vodka
- One bottle of Hendricks Gin
- One bottle of Lobos 1707 Mezcal
- Four local IPA beers
- One Bottle of Champagne (huge)
Do you know what I came home with?
- One almost-full bottle of Tito’s Vodka
- One full bottle of Hendrick’s Gin
- One almost-full bottle of Lobos 1707 Mezcal
- Four local IPA beers
You might wonder where all that ice went? Into our reusable water bottles that we filled up every morning for heading out for that day’s adventures. I guess you could call us hydration QUEENS?
The only day we even made cocktails at the sleepover was the night of the powerpoints. AKA the first night. AKA the “Real World” night.
The Arrivals
Y’all, I am not great at meeting new people, so I was nervous about the first night, like, a MAD amount. Luckily, Stevie was arriving early, and she’d be there for the new people meeting. We had a great morning walking to my favorite local coffee shop, my former favorite walkable grocery store, and a nearby hardwood store. It was the perfect calm down to the preparation stress.
I thought the arrivals would be like the very first episode of The Real World every season. You know, when the house guests show up to find out what happens when you “stop being polite… and start being real.”
Remember, the squealing and the suitcases rolling in? People showing up to this very nice house and meeting strangers, some of them who they will love and others they will hate? The first episode is always exciting.
Except it was nerve-racking to think about in real life. Again, though, my nerves did NOT need to be wracked, because everyone was awesome.
In fact, I Hoofentootered (iykyk) with one of the “strangers” within 15 minutes of meeting them. It was then that I knew that this weekend would be incredible.
The arrivals weren’t without drama, though.
First off, I had a lot of stuff (and four people who flew in early) to pack into a Lyft.
Even worse? I am NOT a good Tetris-er. However, two of the slumber party goers were, and they made everything fit with room to spare even.
The arrival drama did not stop there, either. When we got into the Airbnb, the codes didn’t work.
And we had to use the codes on, like, 3 doors to get into one “apartment” and 2 to get into another. And they were two separate codes, and NONE OF THEM WORKED.
After a bit of back and forth between me, the Finance Captain, and a phone call with the host, who said, “Well, I see you on the reservation, but you didn’t make it, so I can’t really help you. Would you feel comfortable knowing I am giving this code away to strangers?!”
Then I told him the code we kept trying, and he said, “Oh, that should work. Try this one.”
And that one didn’t work. So I went downstairs to try it on that door. And it didn’t work. Then, in a fit of (well-controlled, almost comical) rage, I tried the original codes.
They worked all of a sudden. I guess they must have turned them on when I called or something. IDK, it was annoying.
But you know what I didn’t do? I didn’t panic. I knew we could figure it out together, and we did.
This was a theme for the weekend. When one couldn’t figure out something, others did, and no one panicked.
There was zero drama on a three-night girls’ night trip. Can you believe that? There were, however, some incredible presentations.
The Presentations
Night One was PowerPoint night. I spent all week working on mine, which was entitled “Top 5 Candy Holidays”.
This is a topic I am very passionate about.
I figured these presentations were a great way to kick off the trip. You know, give everyone a chance to get to know each other on a deeper level.
They weren’t the first thing we did, though. We took in a massive delivery of groceries from Kroger, and our Food Captain (Night One Only) put together a lovely Charcuterie Spread, with options for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.
While she was doing that, I created a spread of my own on the ping pong table. I set up the previously mentioned mugs, some forks, spoons, first aid kits, and other necessities. I also had a stuffed toy for everyone, name tags, and a book titled “Meet My Friends”.
This book included a page for each person, detailing how I knew them, why I loved them, and essential information such as allergies, emergency contacts, tips for when they seem overwhelmed or anxious, any hidden talents, and their comfort TV shows.
Yes, I created pages for myself, and I hated every minute of it.
I loved putting these books together, and I am already looking at ways to improve it for next year.
So we were fed, we were gifted, and we were ready to get these presentations over with. I don’t know about the rest of the group, but I was pretty nervous about this part.
No worries, though. I had BedTyme with me. There was a bit of stress regarding getting the presentations to display on the television (the ONLY time all trip we turned on a screen, y’all. clap for us). Within like 5 minutes, our newly minted Tech Captain had my PPT on the television, and we were ready to go.
I presented, and it went fine. Well, actually, I think it went incredibly. I had so much fun and would 100% perform this presentation at open mics. I’d just have to bring my own tech and make sure I’ve got it to 5 minutes tops. I enjoy writing comedy very much, but don’t like just standing there and talking AT people. My favorite standup “set” I ever did was me singing a parody song (“The Comics Who Laugh” styled after “the Ladies Who Lunch”) while my friend flipped a flip chart I had prepared beside me. I guess I need a prop to feel comfortable.
The next person requested they go early, because they feared their presentation would be too depressing compared to everyone else’s.
It was not.
It was fascinating. They all were.
We even got an accidental Game Changer!
Please note that these photos were taken prior to Aubrey giving her presentation, so the posing is not dynamic, and we did not employ contraposto. But we learned as the weekend went on, as you will see.
You will also see that there is no photo of me, that is because I didn’t think to take pics until after I was done presenting. Ah, well. Next time. We almost presented again on Sunday to film them, but instead, we just had fun together. (Not that presenting again wouldn’t be fun, but we were having other fun, instead.)
Y’all, these presentations were the perfect ice breaker. I feel like each of them perfectly captured our personality, and I learned so much, not just about my friends, but about the world around me. I considered things about jobs, meditation, animals, and my own body that I hadn’t previously.
All my friends are so smart and funny. I loved their presentations, and I love them.
After the PPTs, we all put on our bathing suits and piled into the hot tub, where we listened to the John Proctor is the Villain soundtrack, talked about what books we brought, and just chilled.
We just existed in the same soup pot of bubbling water together, and it was magical.
The whole weekend was.
But you’ll have to wait for part 2 to hear about the rest of it! There will be side characters galore in that post too. I guess this one is technically the main characters.
oops.
