The Friday Edition No. 02: Open the Next Bottle

For the nights when one glass turns into another, the conversation gets better and nobody seems quite ready to go home.

There’s a particular kind of night I’ve been craving lately.

Not a big party. Not dinner reservations. Not even something that requires much of a plan.

Just a few friends, something easy to eat and a bottle of wine.

The kind of evening where everyone ends up sitting around longer than expected. The conversation moves from one thing to another, someone looks at the empty bottle and eventually asks the question:

Should we open another one?

And you do.

Because nobody is ready for the night to end yet.

I think those might be some of my favorite kinds of gatherings.

There’s no pressure to entertain everyone. No schedule. No expectation that the house or the food or anything else needs to be particularly impressive.

Just people you like being around, sitting somewhere comfortable, catching up on all the things you somehow never get around to talking about in a text message.

Maybe that’s part of what I’ve been wanting more of lately.

Not more plans. More moments worth staying a little longer for.

ONE SMALL THING

Invite Someone Over Without Making It an Event

I think sometimes we make getting together harder than it needs to be.

We think we need enough notice to clean the whole house, figure out what everyone is eating and make sure we have everything we might possibly need.

But some of the best nights don’t start with much of a plan.

So this week’s one small thing is simple:

Invite someone over without turning it into an event.

Text a couple of friends. Tell them to come as they are. Put a bottle of wine in the refrigerator or open one you already have. Find something in the pantry to put out.

You don’t need a menu.

You don’t need a perfectly clean house.

You don’t even need everyone to stay very long.

Although hopefully they do.

Because sometimes the best part is when the evening goes a little longer than anyone expected.

When the first bottle is empty and nobody is reaching for their keys, open the next one.

SOMETHING WE’RE LOVING

The Tray I’m Apparently Still Thinking About

Last week I mentioned that I might need a really good tray for Friday nights.

Well, apparently I’m still thinking about it.

And now I’m realizing it isn’t really about making things look pretty on the coffee table.

It’s about making life easier.

If friends are outside, I want to be able to load up a bottle of wine, glasses, a few snacks and whatever else we need and carry everything to the back porch in one trip.

And later, when everyone has gone home, I want to carry it all back inside the same way.

Simple. Useful. And yes, it makes the whole thing look a little more intentional too.

This warm wood serving tray is still the one I keep coming back to.

See the Tray I’m Still Thinking About →

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FOR THE WEEKEND

The “Stay for Another Glass” Plate

This doesn’t need to be dinner.

It doesn’t even need to qualify as a proper charcuterie board.

Put out a cheese you really like. Add crackers, something salty and maybe something sweet. If there are olives or nuts in the pantry, even better.

For me, aged Gouda and peppered salami are probably making an appearance. Cashews almost certainly are.

But the goal isn’t to create something impressive.

It’s just to have enough sitting around that when someone says, “I probably should get going,” there’s still a reason to pour a little more wine and keep talking.

Good conversation deserves snacks.

And sometimes, apparently, another bottle.

THIS WEEKEND

Tonight I technically have three different places I could go.

Nothing big. Mostly the kind of plans where I could get dressed, meet someone for a quick drink and still be home at a reasonable hour.

But here’s the problem.

It’s finally going to be cool.

The high today is only around 75, and tonight it’s supposed to dip into the 50s. After waiting all summer for weather like this, the idea of putting on real clothes and leaving the house is suddenly competing with something that sounds much better:

Lighting the fire pit, pouring a glass from the bottle of wine I already have open and staying home.

Especially because next week apparently hasn’t gotten the message that fall has arrived and we’ll be back near 87 degrees for a few days.

So I may take the crisp night while I can get it.

Saturday morning I’m volunteering to help clean up a nearby state park, followed by football with friends later in the day. Saturday night is still completely open, which is exactly how I like a weekend to look.

Sunday will probably start with church, or maybe watching from home, followed by hopefully nowhere I need to be.

If the weather cooperates, I’d love to spend some time outside. Maybe relax on the porch. Maybe start pulling weeds and suddenly become motivated to tackle the backyard.

Or maybe I’ll do absolutely none of it.

A weekend with a little purpose, a little fun and enough empty space to decide the rest as I go sounds pretty good to me.

WORTH SAVING

Earlier this week, I wrote about why this season seems to wake something up in me.

The cooler mornings make me want to finish things, invite people over, travel somewhere new, spend more time outside and dream a little bigger about what could be ahead.

If you feel a little more like yourself when fall arrives too, save this one:

Fall Always Makes Me Want a Little More From Life

Maybe that’s part of why I’m considering skipping plans tonight for a fire in the backyard.

Sometimes the life we’re dreaming about isn’t somewhere else.

Sometimes it’s waiting for us right at home.

UNTIL NEXT FRIDAY

Maybe you already have a full weekend ahead.

Or maybe, like me, you’re looking at a few empty spaces on the calendar and feeling pretty happy about it.

Either way, I hope there’s a moment somewhere in it when you forget to check the time.

Invite the friend over.

Sit outside while the weather is good.

Put something easy on a plate.

Light the fire.

And if the conversation is good and nobody seems ready to leave, open the next bottle.

Not because you need another glass of wine.

Because sometimes the best nights are the ones we decide not to end quite yet.

That can be your #OneSmallThing this weekend.

Make a little more room for the people you want to spend your time with.

And if the night runs longer than planned?

Even better.

What’s your one small thing this weekend?

See you next Friday.

Two Ten South