How COVID cabin fever inspired an evening of glitz and glamour.
Brian and I did something unthinkable during The Great Quarantine of 2020. We canceled our Netflix account.
Now before you send the police over for a wellness check, let me clarify that the only reason I've kept Netflix for the last two and a half years was to watch The Office on repeat. I could pretty much quote every pivotal episode. I relish the opportunity to work "theeeeeeere's been a muuuuuuurrrder in Saaaaavannah" into everyday conversation.
I'd also like to point out we have HBO, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Disney+, so honestly, we're not hurting for streaming entertainment services.
Something much more uplifting to come out of The Great Quarantine of 2020 is that my experience in being an instant mom to a teenager unlocked a part of my heart once buried in TikToks and inappropriate memes. I officially became a high school ministry small group host.
I first approached our beloved friend (and girls' ministry associate at church) Chelsea for details on how to go about getting involved with this side of our church. Although attending since before the doors opened, I had honestly never stepped foot in the student ministry building prior to this year and had little experience with the vibrant personalities within.
Chelsea was overjoyed as our student ministry had been heavily affected by the COVID crisis and she and our Student Pastor Reid had been formulating a plan to get some summer small groups off the ground.
Prior to kickoff, I joined a Zoom call with the other group leaders - friendly faces many of whom I know on a personal basis. We began the meeting focusing on the nuts and bolts of what we would be studying, and how everything would work. After ingesting the necessary logistics, I asked a question which I'm sure was vitally important to the success of the entire program.
"So how bougie am I allowed to be?" I muttered to the shock and amazement of the other serious adults in the room.
When Reid assured me he expected nothing less than the full Christy Fuller experience for my group, I was relieved. There's nothing worse than having to tone down your natural Michael Scott state. I am Beyonce, always, too.
I don't have many talents, but spoiling the people in my company? I live for that stuff. I excel in that department. If The Olympics had a category for the best hospitality, I would Michael Phelps the competition every four years. If the Pawnee Goddesses were a thing, I would have a badge that reads "World's Best Hostess." And themes? Boy, do I love me a good theme!
Our first night was a little rocky. I think it's complete whiplash when teenagers see adults exhibit any emotion other than annoyance. Or exhaustion. Maybe doing snow angels on the living room rug to demonstrate the fluffiness came off a bit strong. I knew the more they'd get to know me, I would shed light on a little known secret adults are hiding - most of us don't know what we're doing. We're all winging it.
Life, my dearest readers, is an evolution of learning. As we get older, we only grow more acutely aware of the moral, legal, and financial ramifications of poor life decisions. But most of us still make them from time to time. And that's fine. There's grace in newfound wisdom. As my late father-in-law used to quip, "a bought lesson is well learned."
We learn in the spaces between the eraser marks of our lives. Hmmm...maybe I should consider copyrighting that line to put on coffee mugs.
I spent a few days praying and meditating about what my mindset was in my teen years and I came to some very deep observations about myself:
I am the woman I am today thanks to all of the women - my mom, my mom #2, my aunts, neighbors, Sunday School teachers, etc., who took the time to guide and shepherd me into being a decent human being. Their lessons wove this incredible tapestry of love and concern for others into my soul.
I lovingly reflected on every single person who welcomed me into their home and treated as one of their own. Everyone wants to belong.
I wanted our group to be a safe space of sisterhood and love. Of course, we would have some incredibly deep discussions on faith, friendship, and life. But I wanted them to feel as if they belonged in my home as an extension of their own home. So in my opinion, the best way to go about that was to curate some outlandishly themed nights. We had an Instagram charcuterie night featuring rivers of pepperoni (it's a thing, look it up), and one tray of nothing but pepper jack cheese wedges and flaming Cheetos. Teenagers are fun!
One evening we had Brian build us a proper fire in the fire pit where we roasted marshmallows the size of tennis balls and paired them with Reece Cups and Kit Kats. I called it the Bougie S'mores Bake-off and I wouldn't recommend any of the girls for the next seasons of Nailed It! Their combinations were seriously impressive.
But deep down, I knew I wanted to do The Dundie Awards. I had been itching to do one with my previous small group (all adults used to my juvenile tendencies) before COVID hit. As any astute fan of The Office would tell you, The Dundie Awards is pure Michael Scott magic. It's kind of like The Dinner Party episode without watching anyone's 13-inch plasma screen being destroyed.
Knowing these gals had missed their junior prom because of COVID, I threw out the idea that it could be a dress up or dress down affair, whatever they wanted! Ballgowns and yoga pants in the same room? Why not?
I ordered authentic Dundie Awards from a trophy place online, sweating every second until they arrived. And sadly, I had to ask the girls if I could move our awards ceremony from Friday to Sunday when they didn't arrive exactly as planned.
For one of our girls who went into a COVID-required quarantine and was unable to join us, I was sure to have her Dundie Award shipped directly to her. That's what sisters do!
We planned on a fiesta-themed dinner and I shopped for delectable desserts at Whole Foods. Which is funny because getting the lady to agree to write "The Dundie Awards" on an organic triple berry cream cake was just another example of why I should have a handler in public. Apparently, they don't get customized requests a lot at Whole Foods. Lesson learned.
I laid a red carpet in the foyer (actually red bulletin board paper, genius idea!), hung streamers from every available surface, and awaited our girls' epic night.
As Brian and I prepped our meal, I realized the queso I had picked up was actually plant-based queso from Sam's Club and tasted like old socks. I made an emergency call to my gal Kajeana, knowing she would be dropping her daughter Grace off for the awards celebration within the hour.
Kajeana saved the day, because what good are Scanton "The Electric City" nachos without "That's What Cheese Said!" queso? Although in retrospect, serving nachos to teenage girls in formal dresses wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had.
Maybe next time I'll serve staplers suspended in various shades of Jell-O.
Finally, the moment had arrived. With the help of my handsome cohost, we donned our best formal-esque attire and began to hand out our awards. My favorites included:
The Flaming Hot Cheetos Connoisseur Award to Michaela, whose blood might actually be Cheeto dust liquified.
World's Best (Awkward) Dancer to Grace who is legitimately a very accomplished and graceful ballet dancer.
Best Quarantine Video Blog to Addie who made us laugh with things she and her dad gave away from their COVID-quarantine basement lair.
Favorite Small Group Sibling to Sami who is nothing but delightful and hilarious every week.
World's Best Hypewoman to Padme, because when you need someone to have your back, Padme is your girl.
Best Road Trip Stories to Macie, whose trip to California sounds like a National Lampoon's sequel.
Glamping Grand Champion to Britney who loves her phone and air conditioning as much as I do.
Best Volleyball High-Kick to Michaela whose soccer instincts always took over when we played volleyball.
There were many, many more but you get the idea.
After our awards ceremony, each girl did a dramatic dance-inspired entrance on the red carpet, with Dundie award in hand. Our very own swarm of paparazzi took photos and loudly sang The Office theme song. I cannot stress how loudly. And really terribly off-key.
It's important to be fun and quirky and silly. When the girls announced they were going to Target in their gowns, I absolutely supported that idea. I always tend to run into people I know when I'm sans makeup and have a serious case of bed head. I hoped and prayed they would meet all of their crushes, as they looked seriously Instagram-worthy.
So you've been scrolling this long you may have thought to yourself, where are the photos of the girls? Yeah, I'm not their parent and they're minors. Everyone's parenting style is different, but I think it's a safe assumption you shouldn't put photos of adorable young women online. But the photos I took that night I'll cherish always. More so, the relationships I'm building with these exceptional human beings has been the best part of my summer.
Their infectious laughs and positive spirits will likely affect me more profoundly than I would for them. But just for one night, I hope they enjoyed an evening of laughs, glamour, and custom-curated awards.
I'm a firm believer that every girl needs to be treated like a Queen from time to time.
Love you girls. ❤
Thanks for reading!
~ Christy
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