They say as we move further into adulthood, our social circles become smaller as we focus on quality over quantity. What they don’t tell you is though you may have fewer friends to appease, the things you do for and with those friends get… a little weird.

Let me give you an example. In case you missed the memo, 2025 marks the 250th birthday of British novelist Jane Austen. You know who didn’t miss the memo? My friend, Anna – a local school librarian and classic literature nerd. Though she may not admit it, Anna spent months planning a regency-era themed garden tea party. This included creating an 11-minute YouTube video titled “How to dress ‘regency’ with what you already have in your closet” – a video that sent our friend group into a spiral as we realized that though dressing up was supposedly optional, it really kind of wasn’t. 

Luckily, Hope Gospel Bargain Center never disappoints. Though unable to find a puff-sleeve, Empire-waist dress and cottage bonnet or a tailcoat and breeches, my partner and I were able to piece together two frumpy outfits befitting of regency-era commoners. The rest of the friend group’s outfits did not disappoint– we all paid our dues and fulfilled our contractual obligations because good friends show up and don’t ask questions.

The party was off the chain, honestly. It was quite possibly the most lavish social event that Eau Claire's Hogeboom Avenue has seen in recent history. We sipped lemonade and beer, ate cucumber sandwiches and lemon scones, made bookmarks and bouquets, and played some yard game involving ribbon-adorned hoops and wooden sticks – all while listening to Anna’s custom “Regency Jams” playlist. The main event of the evening was the poker chip horse racing game that made us all feel like we owned a slice of the British empire. It was a wholesome evening that will surely remain a core memory for us all.

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MY FRIEND CODY POETICALLY REFERRED TO IT AS OUR STONE COLD JANE AUSTEN WEEKEND – A TRUE ODE TO THE YIN AND YANG OF OUR FRIEND GROUP.

Though a dress-up tea party and wrestling smackdown were hardly on my personal list of things I'd like to do with my limited free time, both events were mostly just great. A small but mighty social circle is all one really needs.

SAMANTHA KOBS

The next evening, though, a different friend had a very different idea of fun. This time, not one day and one mile from our Hogeboom tea party, our friend group was now sitting ringside at the Higher Ground Wrestling event at The Plus per our friend Peter’s suggestion. Leading up to this event, my pro wrestling exposure was limited to televised '90s WWF smackdowns and the recently released Mr. McMahon documentary on Netflix. Now, it was time for me to see the magic with my own eyes and feel the sweat as it flew off the wrestlers’ flailing bodies.

This night, too, was off the chain. I learned that a “heel” is the antagonist of the ring while the “babyface” is the perceived good-guy that the audience just can’t get enough of. Free-Range Kara was a babyface. She galloped out to none other than Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee” and eventually left her heel, Tori Fox, a loser on her debuting night. The evening unfolded dramatically. A young boy celebrating his 15th birthday in the VIP section was brutally chastised by a different heel, a referee got knocked over in a fit of rage, and a hometown favorite Kanan Korus snagged a scramble match victory. We heckled so hard our voices were cracking, and then the night came to a close, and another core memory was solidified.

My friend Cody poetically referred to it as our Stone Cold Jane Austen weekend – a true ode to the yin and yang of our friend group. Though a dress-up tea party and wrestling smackdown were hardly on my personal list of things I’d like to do with my limited free time, both events were mostly just great. A small but mighty social circle is all one really needs.

As Jane Austen’s official birthday approaches later this year, let us remember a line from an Austen novel that Anna has certainly read a hundred times over: “There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”