⊹♡Friday Night in the Suburbs III
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- 36 minutes ago
- 5 min read
By Rachel Turney
Copyright ©2025
Adult Activity Book Entry Three: Toy Land
This Friday night is all about enhancing the experience. I suggest you and your partner each purchase a new toy to try out. Alternatively, you can look into stimulation exercises that use things you may have around the house, like the classic whip cream or ice in the mouth. This is also a time to get out old toys you already own and see if those still hold value for you.
If you are looking for toy purchase suggests, check out Tonia’s article in Bare Back Magazine:
Naughty and Nice: Unforgettable Kinky Father’s Day Gifts for Your Partner. This list is not gender specific. There are many websites that provide toys for all couples/adult activity partners, including gender affirming products. I looked into a few and found that one large retailer, Pleasure Chest, has a good reputation for inclusivity and a very positive mission. One of my friends said he and his husband enjoy Mr-S-Leather, which specializes in high quality fetish products for all.
How we did the activity:
Due to my poor planning, we opted to evaluate the toys we already owned and see if they still sparked joy this month. We typically use one large vibrating massager as part of our usual sexual routine. We also have a mini travel stimulator, which I highly recommend for those on the go.
We hadn’t used our clitoral suction stimulator in a long time. This product came recommended to me by an acquaintance who said it changed her life during the pandemic. For some reason I have never really bonded with this particular toy, but I decided to get it out again as part of research for this column. Having given the product another chance, I think it’s a great piece for foreplay and we decided to keep it. It was much more enjoyable to use this with my partner versus alone (as I did before I met Zach). I think it is key with this toy because a partner can manipulate positioning better than you can alone.
We also have the classic G Spot Rabbit. I forgot all about this, but Zach got all the toys out and had them charging up for our big weekend of research (so helpful lol). Now this one can be really fun because the whole thing vibrates. The design of the clitoris “ears” isn’t the best maybe, but it still gets the job done. Again, this toy works better with a second party facilitating a the manipulation.
One toy we ended up tossing was our anal trainer set. The real issue was the make and material, which was very stiff. I have learned that this is an area where you want to spend some money and get quality products. We hadn’t used them in years and decided it was time to retire them from our collection.
I asked Bare Back Magazine EIC Natasha for an extension on my deadline for this article because I was looking for our sheet restraint set. I finally found it in a pile of sweaters on Zach’s side of the closet (curious). We have the brand Sportsheets, which require a little bit of planning and set up because they go under the mattress. I was looking forward to this, but it became clear right away that Zach didn’t really like being tied up. This is something I knew because we have tried out zip ties before. I ended up releasing him after about ten minutes. I am not ready to part with the restraints, but I’m not sure how we might incorporate them in the future. We have had success in the past when I was the one being restrained. I asked Zach more about his aversion to this activity and here is what he said, “Our sex involves varied positions and movement and that was taken out of the equation. I also like to be able to touch you.”
Our blindfold, tickle feather, and little whip all still sparked joy. It was fun to get these things out and just spend a little more time in foreplay than we typically do. I hope you find that too this month as you explore Toy Land.
Have a sexy Friday night!
From the suburbs,
Rachel Turney
Friday Night in the Suburbs Mini: In the “Advent” of Connection - Christmas Mini Article
In the “Advent” of Connection
A few years ago, I bought an advent calendar with small individual drawers. You can pick one up at a craft store or use an alternative like individual envelopes for this activity. You don’t need holiday decor nor a Christmas theme to participate.
I wanted to create a way to facilitate connection in meaningful ways daily with my partner during the busy winter months. I wrote up notes and ideas to facilitate shared conversations, time together, and sexual exploration over the days leading up to Christmas. I’ll share a few of my prompts to give you some ideas:
Day 2: Let’s chat about our memories of our first kiss.
Day 5: Redeem for a five-minute massage today.
Day 7: Redeem for - stop everything and have sex. Expires in five days!
Day 10: Let’s chat about which of our sexual encounters you have enjoyed the most in the past month.
Day 12: Check under the tree.
As you can see, I stuck to two basic themes of chat prompts and actionable redemption ideas. You can even package up some little sexy things like lingerie, toys, and aphrodisiacs, like I did on day twelve. What was under the tree? That one, I am choosing to keep private. ;)
Like all of my activities, this is designed to facilitate more time together connecting in intimate ways, whether it’s through conversation or physical intimacy. One of my friends with young children mentioned that she just couldn't stick to something like this for a month. She suggested instead preparing a dozen envelopes with these ideas and opening them when you do have time to connect, like before bed or on the weekend. That’s interesting because I have found that our sex life is fuller if we spend time together first thing in the morning. Whatever time you interact, just make sure you prioritize time for those intimate connections during this busy and final month of 2025.
Please check out the other articles in this series and stay tuned for my January edition!
Notes for transparency:
We did these activities in October and November due to my article deadline.
Regarding the two retailers I mentioned, these are not personal recommendations, as I do not have products from either retailer currently.
Bio:
Rachel Turney, Ed.D. (she/her) is an educator and artist located in Colorado. Her poems, research articles, drawings, and photography can be found in a variety of publications. Rachel is passionate about immigrant rights, teacher support, and empowering other artists. She is a Writers’ Hour prize winner, Best of the Net nominee, and her photography appears on a few magazine covers. Rachel is on staff at Bare Back Magazine as a contributing writer with her monthly column Friday Night in the Suburbs. She is a reader for The Los Angeles Review. Her poetry collection Record Player Life is forthcoming with The Poetry Lighthouse. Her second collection, Retired Wannabe Club Kid, is set for release in 2026 with Parlyaree Press.
Website: turneytalks.com Instagram: @turneytalks Bluesky: rachelturney