4 Bay Area Women Enjoy their Monthly GNO (Girls Night Out) By Annette Kevranian, Katherine Sarafian, Kim Bardakian and Nicole Vasgerdsian-Brady
We were four Armenian-American women watching a Golden State Warriors game in 2003. By the end of that game, we wanted more-not more basketball--but more time together, more conversation, more insight. Now a comforting sisterhood, our Girlfriend Group gets together on the second Monday of the month regardless of deadlines or vacation, sickness or health.
We call our monthly night 'G.N.O.'-Girls Night Out-and it has become the highlight of our month.
We celebrate our friendship not by meeting at a bar to gossip, but by diving into activities. We have Belly danced, Salsa danced, Irish danced and Pole danced--way before Oprah's show! We've gotten in touch with our inner Martha Stewarts by making candles, mosaic frames, wreaths, masks of our own faces, beaded jewelry and by teaching ourselves to knit. Shooting guns at a gun range, touring San Quentin Prison and visiting an adult entertainment store have stretched our own personal comfort zones. Our Bay Area Backroad adventures have included building sand castles in Half Moon Bay , singing Holiday songs on the cable cars of San Francisco , learning about teas at a local tea house in Oakland , and discovering the inner workings of the Caldecott Tunnel during a private tour. We've had cooking competitions in the manner of Top Chef, made video time capsules of our friendships, had a professional photo shoot to document our fifth anniversary, and recently attended a book signing by one of our favorite childhood authors, Judy Bloom.
Six years after that basketball game we've really hit our stride, discovering that a bond that might have started at our Armenian church actually has less to do with being Armenian and more to do with being women, true sisters. It's a bond we hope will endure and strengthen through the years.
Tips for a Girls' Night Out (GNO):
- Make a date and stick with it.
- Take turns organizing
- Have fun!
GNO ideas:
- Belly Dancing class
- Wreath Making
- Jewelry Making
- Knitting
- Pole Dancing Lessons
- Guns Guns Guns -- shooting range
- Yoga class
- Irish Dance Class
- Tea Education/Tasting
- Caldecott Tunnel Tour
- San Quentin Tour
- Video Bowling/Hyperbowl
- Personality Assessment/Testing
- Chinese New Year celebration
- Salsa Dance class
- Baseball Game
- Improv
- Makeup class
