An imaginary dinner party for real friends

What I would do if I could gather all my favorite creatives in one place

Solstice is just around the corner. The sun is out and shining for longer. It almost makes a girl want to host a little summery soirée in her backyard. There’s just one hitch: I would want all my internet friends to come.

The more time I spend on Substack, the more creative people I’m finding and the fuller my cup is becoming. I’m having conversations about writing and books and emotions instead of work and jobs and careers. We’re going deeper instead of staying on the surface. It’s refreshing. It’s invigorating. These are exactly the kinds of conversations I want to be having.

Like I wrote about recently, I love hosting dinner parties, but sometimes they don’t come to fruition. I’ve found peace with that because I enjoy the processes of planning the party almost as much as I like actually hosting. And since many of the attendees I’d want to join are friends I’ve met online and therefore live far away from me, perhaps an imaginary party is fitting.

With that said, you are hereby invited to my imaginary summer soirée. Here’s how I imagine our time together would go.

You’re invited

First, I would send (text) you an invitation. If you know me, you know I love an invitation. You also know I love a theme (and a pun). Therefore, the invitation you receive would be as follows:

You pick your outfit

I know a theme isn’t for everyone, but I also know I’m in good company and that you will be as excited as I am to pick out what to wear for the event. I’ve likely even sent you a mood board with outfit inspiration to give you some ideas. 💡

You arrive

It’s a beautifully sunny evening, just like we predicted (manifested). As you approach the door, you see there’s a note that says to come around to the back gate. You can already hear music playing along with the birds in the trees. You walk in and I greet you, offering you a limoncello spritz. There are also hors d'oeuvres to snack on, including peach bruschetta and a melon and feta salad. 🌻

We craft and chat

Not everyone here knows each other, so in order to casually get acquainted, we have a little craft where you can make your own wine glass charm. Having an activity helps conversation casually flow and you start getting to know the others, realizing the things you have in common and other interesting things about them. 🌼

We eat!

I’m really going to lean into the yellow theme and go all out with lemon for the menu, I hope that’s okay. We’ll have lemon chicken (this one from Ina Garten that I’ve never had but I’m sure will be very good) and a summer Caesar salad with grilled corn and thick pieces of parmesan. We’ll have bread and other things on the side, of course. And then for dessert, we’ll have a lemon cake and lemon possets that are almost too pretty to eat. Almost. 🍋

We pull cards by candlelight

It’s solstice, so the sun is taking its sweet time to set. Even though the sky is still pretty bright, we’re sitting by candlelight. The conversation has gone in so many directions. We’ve talked about creativity, what lights us up, what our dreams are. As I tend to do at dinner parties if the vibe is right, I grab my oracle cards. We sit for a moment, each thinking of an intention or a question. We then pass the deck around, pulling a card from anywhere within it – top, bottom, middle. Once everyone has their card, we each take a look and read the description of the cards aloud. It’s reverent. It’s insightful. It’s magical. ✨

We agree to do this again

The night ends with our plates empty but our cups very much full. The candles have burned themselves down to wax puddles but we’re eager to keep the connective flame alive. We agree we have to do this again. Someone speaks up and says they can host. Someone else chimes in with an idea for a theme or an activity we should try next. We’ve migrated to the gate but are still thinking of all the “one last things” to say before we go. Eventually, we each depart knowing we’ll see each other again soon.

I spend the time I take getting ready for bed thinking about how beautiful the night was. How fun the atmosphere. How insightful the conversations. Yes, we should definitely do this again. 💛

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Author’s Note: I often think about how incredible it would be to gather you, my readers, together in real life (not that our conversations here aren’t real, but you get what I mean). I admit I tend to be more of a one-on-one person, but something tells me I’d be in great company. Maybe someday we can make it happen. 💫