Do you love to decorate, entertain, cook, and garden – all with a half dozen of your best friends in tow? Do you adore coming up with excuses for getting your girlfriends together to paint (nails or walls) and drink (wine or girlie drinks)? Do you like reading about the domestic arts?
Then you might like Nesting: It’s a Chick Thing by Ame Marhler Beanland & Emily Miles Terry.
Apparently, the authors have another book called It’s a Chick Thing: Celebrating the Wild Side of Women’s Friendship, and this is a riff on that.
I didn’t know this when I picked up this book. Didn’t know that a large focus of this book would be girlfriends.
I didn’t particularly enjoy that part.
I’ve had friends over the years, but close friends have been few and far between. I love entertaining “the girls” when I’ve got “the girls” to entertain. I like homemaking – it’s my full-time job just now – but I don’t really do it with anyone else.
Now is a rather solitary season for me, a fact that is melancholy when I think of it – and which is probably why I prefer not to think of it. This book didn’t allow me that luxury.
So, if you’re me, this is probably not the best option for you.
If, on the other hand, you’re eager to hear little anecdotes about a variety of women’s homemaking lives and how they do life along with their friends, or if you’re looking for new party ideas for girlfriend get-togethers, this might be an enjoyable book for you.
It’s an eclectic book in four parts covering four aspects of homemaking: decorating, entertaining, cooking, and gardening. It contains stories from the authors as well as excerpts from dozens of different women on each of the topics. It also contains craft ideas, recipes, suggestions for parties, and little blurbs on finding your gardening style or your man’s entertaining style. Vintage photos with snarky captions are sprinkled throughout.
It’s the sort of thing I generally enjoy, apart from the girlfriend aspect – but, in this case, the girlfriend aspect had it falling flat for me.
Maybe it’ll appeal to you more.
Rating: 2 stars
Category: Women’s Interest: Homemaking
Synopsis: Anecdotes and ideas from homemaking women – all about homemaking with your girlfriends.
Recommendation: Eh. I didn’t particularly care for it, but others might.
I would be the same way. I think I’d like some of the homemaking aspects, but that’s not something I do with friends.
I’ve always had one close friend rather than a bevy of friends. Since we’ve moved here, although there are ladies I would call friends, I haven’t developed a close friendship with any, and, oddly, I haven’t wanted to. I’ve pondered whether there is something amiss in that. All I can figure is that, whereas I had hours of solitude before, since we moved my m-i-l home, she’s here all day (though she sleeps much of it), we have a caregiver with her 6 hours a day, and my youngest works second shift, so he is home during the day. I rarely have any extended time alone, which I thrive on and recharge in. I think all my social energy is being used up at home, and as far as I can see, it will need to be that way for this season.