J – I am very much a girl. I love shoes, clothes, shopping, chocolate, playing dress up, getting compliments, chick flicks and, yes, jewelry. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend after all, or are they? I grew up somewhat of a gypsy and traveled a good deal of the world before I saw my 20s. I really have no roots to speak of. I am a drifter. Having said that, I consider my friends to be my best asset by far. They ground me, make me laugh, bedazzle me and, best of all, make me look good, better than any sparkling gem. Without them, I’d be just be plain shabby. I adore them all and all for different reasons. And I’m not ashamed to admit that I need them desperately.
M – Truer words were never spoken. I have this great plaque hanging in my office that says, “A good friend will come and bail you out of jail… but a true friend will be sitting next you say saying, ‘Damn… that was fun!!’” (It probably wasn’t the best quote for my impressionable teens to be gazing upon but, in my defense, it did keep a smile on my face during some of my more trying parenting moments.) Girlfriends just seem to get one another. They provide free therapy that’s always spot-on (even though it’s sometimes hard to hear). I can tell them all about my, uh, most recent body changes and they’ll not only be able to relate, they’ll suggest remedies. And just when I get worried that maybe I’m not that much fun anymore, we have a Girls’ Night Out and I realize I’ve still got it going on (at least in my warped little head I do).
J – My network of friendship is one of the things (even though period pains, labor pains and the various pains of menopause are a never-ending reminder) that I have loved about being a woman. And like you, I know that when a problem arises, I have a plethora of women to choose from who will help me through. Even at times when I just need to vent, they will indulge me. I truly believe that one reason men are attracted to women (besides the obvious) is that we LISTEN. We will comfort them and cradle their hurts, and that is just what is needed in these trying times.
M – I loved the BFF party we organized. Spying some really tacky, cheap (post-holiday) Valentine’s Day lingerie, we decided to have a small girlfriend party at my home. We dressed up in our favorite evening gowns, sipped specialty drinks made with vodka and fresh pomegranate juice, dined on delicious dishes we’d all prepared and then danced to our favorite tunes as we tidied up. Afterward, we got a bit more comfortable in our matching lingerie to take some silly pictures for our scrapbooks and then spent the remainder of the evening reminiscing about the journeys we’ve all been on, together and apart, and how truly fortunate we are to have each other in our lives. I think GEM = Girlfriends Empower Me.
J – Lord! That lingerie was THE WORST. We looked like candy stripers gone wrong. I think that was also the night that I was supposed to bring the dessert, right? And being the fabulous cook that I am, I made the fine decision to put baking powder in the cake mix instead of baking soda. They both kinda looked the same, and they both had the word “baking” on the label. I figured, how bad could it be? As it turned out … BAD. My Mexican Wedding Cake looked and tasted like Play-Doh. You guys were good sports about it, though, and managed to choke down a few bites as you laughed through your tears. So I lift my glass of vodka and pomegranate juice (sans tacky lingerie) and make a toast to another year of great friends, great food and great fun.
M – I’ll toast to that. We definitely looked more like candy strippers than candy stripers. I don’t think I ever told you that my best friend and I were real-life candy stripers when we were in high school. We actually signed on because we adored those red-and-white striped jumpers. When our shift ended, we’d walk around town for another couple of hours hoping that someone we knew would see us and marvel at our cuteness. It almost made up for the plethora of truly disgusting bedpans we had to clean. Almost but not quite.
Wag Up
J – Valentine’s Day, My Birthday, May Day, Mother’s Day, Groundhog Day and any other day that I get to celebrate something. Why not?
M – Watching reruns of girlfriend shows featuring Lucy and Ethel, Laverne and Shirley, Mary and Rhoda, Wilma and Betty, Thelma and Louise, Alice and Trixie, etc.
Wag Down
J – When I get home and discover that the store forgot to take off that stupid, plastic, alarm tag thingy, that the clerks somehow always seem to miss. C’mon!
M – Women who bash each other. I think we all need to chill out a bit and stop judging one another. We should be allies, not enemies.
