PJ’s are old, but shop my other favorites below! 

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

What are you up to tonight? Hopefully you’re celebrating with someone you love–significant others, friends, who cares! Tonight, Neal and I are going out to dinner at TWO, which I’m so looking forward to!

In today’s post though, we’re not talking about date nights out, we’re actually talking about solo nights in–one of my favorite [not so guilty] pleasures. (Which, with V-Day timing, can obviously be extended to two, if desired ;-P)

I distinctly remember the first time I stayed in on a Saturday night.

The details of how that came about are foggy–but I remember getting some heat from my friends for not meeting them at the bar. (Ah, to be 23.) Regardless, there I sat on my bed, marveling–”Wow! I have ALL NIGHT. To do WHATEVER I want. What on EARTH am I going to do?”

I lit my favorite candle, put on my favorite Billie Holiday record, and ordered take out. (Until this point, I’m pretty sure I had never ordered takeout alone in my life. I didn’t have to compromise with my 3 other roommates on what Chinese dishes I ordered–I picked them all by myself!)

I curled up on my bed with a glass of wine, opened a book, and proceeded to read it for 3 full hours with no interruptions. (Aside from the downstairs neighbor boys who were throwing a party. I remember thinking, “wow, is my building always this loud on Saturday nights?”) A solo “no tech night” if you will. No TV, no computer.

It was seriously one of the best revelations I’ve ever had–that I needed to take time for myself to do something quiet, some time to do something that only I want to do.

Who would’ve thought, right?

Now, despite my change of living situation (shout out to my roommate for life :-P) this tradition of wine and takeout has stuck.

Instead of making my own plans if Neal is gone for the night, or out with his friends–sometimes, it’s Chinese takeout for 1 on the agenda!

Here is my recipe for my ideal night in:

The Pajamas:

I take pajamas very seriously. Honestly, I think my love of grown-up pajamas developed around the time I actually started staying in every once in a while. In my early twenties, I would throw on my ratty old sorority t-shirt and some nike running shorts (don’t be fooled, they were more often used for lounging rather than running) and call it a night.

It sounds weird to look “put together” when you’re just going to sleep, but I feel so much better changing into some really nice, matching, adorable PJ’s–it’s the little things, right? (Not to mention, real PJ’s are SO much comfier than old college t-shirts, who knew?!)

Here are some of my favorites:

The takeout (very important, obviously)

My go-to’s are typically Chinese or Thai. For whatever reason, asian cuisine makes nights in much more fun. Tacos? Italian? Not the same.

I just started using a website/app called Bootler that let’s you compare delivery costs and minimums of different food delivery sites.

They essentially aggregate data from all the food delivery sites in one place. (Kind of like Kayak, but for food delivery!) Meaning, you can compare delivery charges, order minimums AND wait times. (I learned that they vary greatly from website to website–I had been paying double for delivery this whole time!)

The Wine

My favorite wine is Meomi Pinot Noir. (You can find it at most grocery stores!) Neal says it’s become too sweet for him, so now I save it for occasions when he’s out of the house. (And I get the bottle to myself! Mwaha.)

Bootler also comes in very handy when it’s down-pouring snow outside and I’m out of wine. (This happened. It was very bad.) They caan also help you get wine, beer, and your favorite booze delivered within an hour!

If you are unaware of what a dire situation this can be, take this real-life text conversation with Kelly and I recently:

Jess: OMG I’m out of wine.

Kelly: HOW DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?

Jess: I don’t know!!! I have beer?

Kelly: THAT IS NOT THE SAME, JESSICA. THIS WAS IRRESPONSIBLE. Now what are you going to do!?

Luckily, this crisis is now averted 😉

The Book

There’s nothing better in my opinion than curling up by the fireplace with a good book. Right now, I’m reading A Thousand Days in Venice, which is a really great, easy read about a woman from St. Louis who fell in love with an Italian stranger, and picked up and moved to Venice with him. I actually read the second book in the series first, (whoops!) and loved it so much I backtracked and had to read the second. You can read some of my other favorites in this post.

The Beauty Treatments

I don’t often have long stretches of time where I’m not actually doing anything, so I love using my nights in to indulge in some skincare pampering. I usually apply one, (I wrote about my favorites here and here) and move on to an at-home mani-pedi! (I wrote about my favorite at-home gel polish here).

Do you ever do nights in for one? 

In partnership with Bootler. Thank you for supporting the brands that help support GG!