Staying in is amazing. It's the best feeling in the entire world.
There is no more euphoric feeling than the moment you cancel plans, or the moment you look ahead to your Friday night and realize you have no plans.
You just get to lounge around your apartment and do whatever you want, basically.
I'm a huge adherent for staying in, for a multitude of reasons. Ever blasted your favorite Pandora station, lit a bunch of candles, and just chilled out on your couch for an entire Friday night? I have, and it was invigorating. Staying in on a Friday night in NYC can just be... better than going out. And I'm not making that statement without evidence. Here are ten basic reasons why.
1. Saving Money
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Uber has a surcharge and the bar is expensive. It's not uncommon to spend more than $100 on a single night out in this city, especially when bars have credit card minimums, drinks cost $14, clubs have covers, and drunk you loves buying shots for all your new friends.
Drunk you ruins your bank account, and so does NYC's absurd prices. You can have a perfectly fun night in your apartment, get drunk on a $12 bottle of wine, and save $88 dollars. You'll also be able to see your friends, and hear them talk, which is better than dark, loud, crowded bars where you can't hear what anyone's saying or even pee without waiting in a thirty-minute line.
You'll also have a way better week if you save $88 dollars - you'll be able to go out to eat without guilt, pay for an exercise class, and maybe even take a cab or two.
[anad]
2. It's too cold out
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This is the best possible excuse, it gets you out of so many vigorous nuisances like going out.
Staying inside on a cold winter night is so wonderful. You can bake brownies, you can smoke marijuana, you can watch movies, you can, put simply, chill the F out.
You don't have to bundle up, worry about getting your coat stolen, spilled or puked on at the bar, or losing your new Urban Outfitters gloves. You don't even have to wear your coat or gloves, instead you can stay in your super comfy pajamas and snuggle under your super warm blankets. If you have a kitten, you can cuddle with your kitten. If you don't have a kitten, you should probably borrow one.
3. You have nothing to wear
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This is a kinda lame excuse since there are so many places to shop in NYC, but we live hard, so our $10 Forever 21 dresses and $12 H&M shoes can really only last three, maybe four wears before they crumble under the weight of our unsustainable lifestyles.
Also, it's winter, so you've probably packed on a few extra pounds (I know I have) so it's not really the most ideal time to be posing under the glaring lights and three-sided mirrors at stores' dressing rooms buying new clothes.
Also, who feels like shopping when it's cold out? Who feels like putting on heels and dresses when you could stay inside in sweatpants and drink hot chocolate? I think those questions were pretty rhetoric. I think they pretty much answer themselves.
4. You don't want to be hungover tomorrow
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The possibilities of a non-hungover Saturday are insane.
You can finally go to that yoga class or basketball game or watercolor class you keep meaning to go to, that you keep not going to because you feel like you're going to throw up and it's easier to stay on the couch and watch movies when you're hungover.
When you're not hungover, though, the world feels like a new place. All the dizzying possibilities for Saturday activities in NYC stretch out before you like millions of promises for a better future, like a million different possible utopias. The options for being hungover on a Saturday? Puking in the toilet and lying in a fetal position on the couch, basically. Which isn't fun at all.
5. Not getting puked on
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Have you ever gotten puked on? I have. Three times. And it's terrible. Especially if you're like me, and you have an extreme propensity for also throwing up if you smell or see throw up. Which, I'm sure most people are like me in this regard, because throw-up is universally gross.
The chances of you getting puked on if you stay in your apartment are almost zero, unless you're throwing a banger and getting blacked out in your apartment, in which case the chances are actually pretty high. But, I don't think throwing a party in your apartment actually counts as “staying in,” so I'm dismissing that argument on a technicality.
If you're staying in, not drinking, and having a chill night, you definitely won't get puked on, and if you're going out and hitting the clubs and getting ratchet you ... might. So, staying in seems like the best option to me here, considering the alternative. Especially since we already established your wardrobe options are limited and wearing a puke covered dress is not a good look.
,6. Going to the gym
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What better way is there to spend a Friday night than at the gym? Going to the gym is productive, fun, satisfying, and you get to bathe in the waves of endorphins afterward, which feel way better than shots if I do say so myself.
You also get to look hot, which is only a bonus motivation, especially if you're at the gym to have fun. I highly recommend taking a class, like spinning, zumba or yoga, which are all way more fun than wasting away on a treadmill. Unless running on the treadmill is your thing, in which case you should totally do it.
A night of bumping to dope jams in a spinning class can be way more productive and satisfying than bumping to dope jams in a club, and no one will spill their vodka cranberry on you. Also, just to be pragmatic here, you already paid your monthly membership at the gym. You might as well use it.
[anad]
7. You're gettin' it in
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A cozy night of cooking, watching a movie, playing scrabble, and all around chilling out in someone's apartment is a perfect date night.
It's the perfect combination of circumstances for romance, which could very well lead to someone's bed.
It's certainly way easier to make it into that special person's bed if you're already in his apartment than if you're downtown in the East Village and he lives on the Upper West Side, and it's also much more romantic than a drunken makeout with a rando.
A stay-in-Friday date night as a great step in any relationship. I definitely recommend it.
8. You went out on Tuesday
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Tuesday is the new Friday and Friday is the new Tuesday. Why? I'm not sure, but I have a hypothesis.
I think going out on Friday is over with, it's been beaten to the ground, and us New Yorkers yearn for the thrill of spontaneity. It's like, go out on a Tuesday? That sounds fun, exciting, living on the edge, crazy and so New York. Going out on Friday? Yawn. It's been done, then done again, then done again.
Everyone goes out on Friday and in NYC, we don't like being a part of the prevailing “everyone.” We're individuals who crave extraneous fun over planned, expected fun. We love resisting convention, and staying in on Friday certainly gets that done. Also, staying in on Friday is relaxing, and awesome too.
9. Your friends are lame
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This is actually a pretty bad excuse, because you definitely won't make new friends by staying at home in your apartment, but sometimes we all get a little sick of our friends and we need a night off. There's no shame in taking one. Especially because forcing yourself to go out and be around people you're sick of won't help your situation, and taking a night off from them will.
If you take one Friday off from hanging out, you'll be much more tolerant the next time you hang out with them, much more able to put up with their shenanigans, and, who knows. You might even miss them.
If you're really getting sick of your friends though, they don't respect you, and generally don't make you feel good when you're around them, you should consider finding new friends. Your friends should reflect the best parts of you, not deplete your weekend fun.
10. It's better for your soul
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Whether you read a book, surf the internet, update your Tumblr, even just get out some crayons and color with your roommates, staying in allows you get to make the choices you want to make, rather than submitting yourself to the whims of mean bouncers and bartenders.
Sometimes taking a night off from your strenuous social calendar can be nourishing for your soul. You definitely won't make out with any asshole randoms or watch your ex make out with someone else if you spend your Friday night baking cookies in your apartment. But hey, you'll never know until you try.