pyjamas

ok, ok, it has been a month since my last posting. mea culpa. I will work on it, my initial goal was to post very other day, but then, life got in the way. Conferences, meeting new friends, and housecleaning, the occasional wine binge, and family. That's all.

So, pyjamas. p.j.'s.

I turned 55 at my conference and decided to have a pj party in my room. I didn't want a pity party, it has been a rough year, but I would like to think it is a successful year. One of moving on, liberation, not worrying about "the other" and decorating/eating/reading/watching for myself. So, I decided to have a champagne and pj party in my hotel room.

I had a blast.

And, next year, I will do it better.

I did not take my pjs, which are and alternatively have been, an assorted set of long sleeve tee shirts from the mid east council and knit lightweight sweats. I have gone to bed with Alexander the Great on the silk road, a casbah from the Moorish world, and Turkik designs. All with black sweats marked with paint from my walls, as they doubled with paint pants from the summer. And godawful wool socks. I hate cold feet, ( now there's a metaphor) and sleep with socks no matter how hot the summer.

Nope, I got my own new pjs, and alternative pjs. I went with a friend to get some vintage and old clothing, and found a great set from the 40's which are brushed flannel, and outside shiny striped pink, silk pjs that Katherine Hepburn wou have loved. But, no bra. Lots of folks. So, I also took my Syrian silk caftan, red, and lots of embroidery. If I had a turban it would be retro 50's, but it is really from Syria. I selected that for my guests. Barefoot, new red toenail polish.

Lots of champagne, small cupcakes, the new thing, and trays of baklava.

I loved the friends who came. One packed his embroirdered smoking jacket from France to wear. Another, a silk ensemble, ivory, with pjs and wrap. A fave: a flannel set with sushi on it. And, an eccentric brilliant friend in red flannels. It was great.

For those who said, " I don't sleep in anything, ". Too much information! Wear street clothes! come anyway. And they did.

So, what is is about pjs? Not nightgowns, not negliges, but pjs. They seem to be from the great 30's like Gatsby, feminine and not, and appropriate in public. Two days later, friends who missed the party called at 1 am. They still had a present to deliver, would I come get it? I put on my tourquoise wrap, kept on the pink silks and went downstiars in the hotel elevator. I figured if I was found out I oculd always plead lock out.

So, I had a birthday and folks got behind it. I was not pitied, I got presents, (unasked for) and had fun. A new year. And next year, new party, and new pjs.