Blue Eye Shadow, Denim Mini Skirts and Other Mysteries of the Universe...

After turning 35 last year I soon realized that there were lots of things that I could no longer do. Mainly because I had lost interest, but also because, at some point during the last couple of years, I realized I had become a “grown up.”

On a Saturday night 15 years ago, you would have found me downtown, wearing blue eyeshadow and a denim mini skirt, effortlessly sliding off a barstool to sing Bon Jovi karaoke while trying not to slosh my beer on the guy next to me. True Story.

Yes, that would be me.

Nowadays, not so much. Last Saturday night I had a plate of cake and some Red Stag whiskey for dinner. I was in my stretchy pants by 6 p.m., and it was a struggle to pull myself off the couch at 9 o’clock and walk the 12 steps it took me to get to my bed. Also a true story. 

While the days of line dancing with strangers 'til 2 a.m. and the confidence of wearing short skirts are long gone, and these days I'm more likely to be found spending Saturday nights on the couch with my dog, there is a happy medium.

Fortunately my medium came in the form of the LBDC. Finding a group of girlfriends who still love to have a great time, whose husbands want them home at a decent hour, whose children need to have a good example set for them, or who are single and just want to enjoy a girls night out without being obligated to the bar scene has allowed me to experience some of the most fun and adventurous times of my life. I have made new friends, gone to new places and tried things I never thought I would be interested in.

Because I am the Type-A personality, which my friends and family love me for, I decided to make a list. I’m sharing some of these wonderful adventures in the hopes that there are other 30- and 40-somethings out there in their stretchy pants watching LMN, thinking about the 90s and wishing they could have a bit more fun, without the denim mini skirt and the late nights at the bar.

Set yourself a monthly goal. Once a month, decide that you will call up a girlfriend and randomly select from this list. Put on your sneakers, get a sitter for the kids, and go learn how to can some veggies, give manicures at your local nursing home or attend a fashion show. The possibilities are endless. If you find yourself wishing you had a partner in adventure or a group of girlfriends to meet for margaritas and bean dip, visit our site and join the LBDC. Because as we say, finding friends is as easy as throwing on a little black dress, blue eye shadow optional.

~Shay Ashcraft
National Director, LBDC

Top 100 Things To Do That Don't Involve Going To A Club:

1. Cooking Classes
2. Pottery Classes
3. Painting Classes
4. Groupon, Big Deals, Living Social, Deal Chicken
5. Volunteer in your community
6. Glamping
7. Create a team of girlfriends to run in a marathon
8. Attend a happy hour
9. Snow tubing
10. Wine tasting
11. Attend a musical
12. Cooking demonstration
13. Visit a chocolate expo and market
14. Join a group of girlfriends at your local brewery pub
15. Learn to sail by taking a lesson at your local sailing club or showing up for a free social sail.  For example the Sailing Club of Washington offers Thursday evening Social Sails http://www.scow.org/faqs and Percy Priest Yacht Club in Nashville offers a Learning at the Helm program http://www.ppyc.org/membership/calendar.htm#LATH
16. Learn to ski- Water ski in the south and snow ski if you are up north
17. Pretzel yourself: lulu lemon stores hold free yoga classes both in store and in local studios. http://www.lululemon.com/community/giftofyoga?mnid=mn;community;gift-of-yoga
18. Bourbon Trail
19. Sushi night
20. Rock climbing
21. Have a dinner party where each guest is responsible for either a course and wine pairing
22. Bowling
23. Putt Putt Golf
24. Saki and Sushi tasting
25. Get a Saturday afternoon massage
26. Attend an exercise, spin or Pilates class
27. The majority of women wear the wrong bra size. Grab a couple of your girlfriends and head to your local dept. store to be fitted and buy new bras!
28. Scrapbooking night
29. Spend a day at a water or amusement park. Be a kid again!
30. Take a tennis lesson
31. Plan a girls only picnic
32. See a chick flick at the theater
33. Plan a monthly hiking tour. Discover great new hiking trails in your area and do one each month.
34. Host a swap party - invite guests to bring their slightly used clothes, accessories, DVD’s and swap!
35. Go shopping
36. Start a book club.
37. Ballroom dancing class
38. Zip lining
39. Take surfing lessons
40. Mani/pedi/spa /acupuncture day
41. Rollerblading/ice skating
42. Have your fortune read
43. Paddle boating
44. Drink wine and organize - invite your BFF over and get some organization into that walk-in closet!
45. Makeover night
46. Visit a museum
47. Desert night
48. Host a reality TV night - invite a group of girls over to watch the season finale of The Bachelor!
49. Game night
50. Sleepover
51. Dance party
52. Favorite Things Brunch
53. Couponing - invite a group of friends over on a Sunday morning. Clip and swap the weeks new coupons and scour the weekly circulars for all the great deals.
54. Craft night
55. Make your own jewelry
56. Laser tag
57. Tea Time - host a tea party
58. Tee Time (Go Golfing!)
59. Fishing
60. Spend a day on the beach
61. Hair night - spend an evening watching YouTube videos and practicing some fancy braids on your girlfriends
62. Get a tattoo
63. Sledding
64. Spend a day at the beach or pool
65. Walk on the greenway
66. Visit a local orchard and pick your own fruits and veggies
67. Spend a day canning
68. Ice cream night
69. Celebrity Wine Tasting
70. Visit a hibachi
71. Facials
72. Antiquing
73. Home of the Stars tours
74. Water rafting/kayaking
75. Go see a boy band in concert!
76. Skydiving
77. Plan a scavenger hunt
78. Take an archery class
79. Go to the gym together-plan your workouts with your girlfriends-gossip on the treadmill!
80. Attend the state fair
81. Plan a masquerade ball
82. Attend a self-defense class
83. Host a potluck
84. Spend a day working at a soup kitchen
85. Find your favorite food truck
86. Go to the Zoo
87. Attend a street fair
88. Adopt a highway for Earth Day
89. Build a bonfire and have a wiener roast
90. Take a hot air balloon ride
91. Take in the ballet
92. Cemetery tour
93. Hayride
94. Haunted House/Ghost tours
95. Murder Mystery Dinner Theater
96. Scope out your local sports team and take a picnic while watching them practice
97. Join House Party for chances to host amazing parties and get free promotional items
98. Gun range-learn to shoot!
99. Take a factory tour! -Visit the Coca Cola factory in Georgia, The Hershey Factory in PA or the Blow Pop Factory in TN.

100. Join the Little Black Dress Club!

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!