ladies of leisure

for eva gabor, suzanne monroe, & tracy "lyra" martin, the grueling summer months had been so devastatingly chaotic, that a much needed slumber party was deemed the only remedy. while ms. monroe was slaving away at summer camps, eva was busy canoodling with peter freyne, elton john, patrick leahy, and all of the seven daysies. down in warren, tracy was donating her own blood, sweat, and tears to help the fabulous phantom theater run smoothly. the ladies who lunch (on wednesdays, after tracy's tail-feather fluffing NIA dance class) had tragically not been together since the fateful day of July 3 (actually a thursday).

as is always the case with these multi-tasking, over-booked, talented women, one of them is inevitably late (and although, ms. monroe probably wouldn't like to point fingers, it's usually eva or tracy -- except for the aforementioned July 3rd lunch). the slumber party started at 7, but tracy was in the valley making sure the backwards dancers had their lemons in a row, so eva and suzanne gnoshed on fresh veggies from eva's garden & waited ever-so patiently, being ever-so careful not to dish any real dirt, until the red-haired bombshell arrived.in the meantime, ella, the 3-legged punk, surveyed eva's digs, and much to the dismay of ms. monroe, chased crawford (named as such for his signature cindy crawford mole) out of the house.

when tracy and her black, curly-haired doppelganger arrived, ella made it known to squid that the pink cat bed was most definitely, already spoken for. squiddy cowered in her mother's arms until ms. monroe scolded ella and attempted to instill jealousy by smothering the black miniature poodle in kisses. only the real marilyn can pull off that kind of trickery though. ella was pretty much a punk for the remainder of the evening. at least the ladies of leisure declared that while some owners are like their animals, ms. monroe and ella are nothing alike.

after the long overdue reunion, eating commenced, bubbly was poured, dancing & lip-synching ensued, and of course, the dirt was dished. oh how the men wished they were flies on the wall. after the catch-up details were all caught up on, the talk turned to more important things -- such as the dreams, goals, hopes, and upcoming plans of the ladies of leisure. if there had been male flies on the wall, they may have been disappointed that they weren't being talked about at all, a fact that went not unnoticed by the divas, a fact that was in fact cheered on and to which a drink was drunk.

at exclusive slumber parties such as this one, high quantities of calories must be consumed (inhaling is optional) & putting one's (elastic-waisted) pajamas on immediately is highly recommended. fortunately, the following day was eva's 35th birthday, so tracy's magical chocolate cake was in attendance as well as julie's magical cookie dough. (on a side note: the ladies of leisure have had some bad luck with dessert. at the christmas pj party at tracy's, they splurged on a mirabelle's special yuletide log that was too sweet even for their sweet-teeth. and at the last slumber party at ms. monroe's, oliver rudely ate the cake). the ladies of leisure have been dreaming & drooling for another ever since.
after the eating and the dress-up/character improv, tracy had consumed, imbibed, & expended way too much for her petite frame to handle, and left her friends for her dreams and to cuddle with squiddy (though she was really just over there on the couch).however, ms. monroe and ms. gabor were just getting started, and spent a few hours studying the mastery of marilyn monroe and jane russell in "diamonds are a girl's best friend." how those women twirled their little pinkies so is a mystery. and that "daddy" was ever a term of endearment for a suitor, well that just blew eva and suzanne away. after the movie, ms. monroe drifted off to sleep (at approximately 2:30 am), while eva fed her TV-monster till 4 am.

the morning after was spent drinking coffee, painting toe and fingernails, wishing eva a happy birthday with a special gift for her annual exodus to shelburne farms, and lamenting the fact that the ladies of leisure had to return to their constantly demanding lives. a next meeting was planned: a road trip to see madonna no less, and the hearts & souls of eva, suzanne, and tracy were refreshed and filled to the brim with love, hope, & friendship -- the slumber party had worked its magic.

please to enjoy some archives (christmas 2007 pj party with EMS, TWM, & SML):
and read eva's blog about it here.