Ellie who are best friends despite their very different life philosophies. As the 1960s swirl around them, Barb tries to hold on to traditional southern values while Ellie is happy to go with the flow and take change as it comes. The two hatch crazy schemes and egg each other on, but they also support each other through phenomenally difficult times.

Both women struggle with their image of the ideal woman-a Donna Reed-style housewife who always has dinner and a smile ready for her husband. As their lives fall apart and come back together again, both Barb and Ellie reevaluate this paradigm of feminine virtue.

Along the way, they get involved with John F. Kennedy's campaign, meet the First Lady, and get stuck in Washington, DC, during a full-scale riot-and that's not the end of their adventures. Deadly serious events will shake them and their friendship. They can't stop the changes of the sixties from affecting them, so they both need to decide if that image of the ideal woman is worth hanging on to-or if it's just holding them back, keeping them stuck in the onesies.