Field and fountain, moor and mountain…

Today is the Epiphany. The day the Magi reach the Baby Jesus. (It was a long way away, so give them a break!)

Today is ALSO my BFF’s birthday.

This is her and me on our last adventure (Lauren and Jennie do Cali’s Coastline 2010.) We’ve also adventured to Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York City, Michigan, California, and Italia. I’m sure I am leaving some places, and states, out, but we adventure a lot.

We’ve been friends since we were nine, and I moved to Clinton, CT, and was placed in Lauren’s 4th grade class. She was shy. I was loud. We were on the same bus route. It worked out.

When Lauren turned 10, we had to sit in the third row at the movie theater because I forgot my glasses and couldn’t see the screen. We were seeing 101 Dalmatians. We had met only four months earlier. That, my friends, is true friendship.

15 years later, Lauren turns 25 today. We are still best friends. We still go on adventures. (We should, in fact, plan one soon, don’t you think?)

So Happy Birthday, Bestie. Hope you play Scrabble for both of us today!

"Sure, get off the bus at MY house!"

This is a line I once uttered to my friend Lauren when our bus driver forgot her bus stop (AGAIN!) and I decided she could make it to gymnastics if she got off at my house and my mom dropped her at her house. This was before cell phones. And, obviously, before we were 16. In fact, I think we were 13.

When I was 14, Brittany and I were both on the soccer teams, and even though she was on varsity and I wasn’t, we would always, always sit on the bus together.

When I was 16, and Kelly was 15, she asked if she could back my car up in my driveway. I said, “Sure!” She ran over a solar light. Whoops.

Every few years, my girlfriends and I try to convene somewhere and hang out. Lately, it’s been in my neck of the woods — whether those woods be Boston or LA! Lauren (see below) is already here, and my other ladies Kelly and Brittany get here tonight. Our other girls, Alex and Erin, will be SORELY missed.

Here are some photographs from our previous escapades — I am so excited and so blessed to be having friends who I’ve known and loved for over a DECADE coming to visit me.

I don’t know what is happening in this photo.

But this is what happened next.


The last time these girls came to see me, I lived in Boston. We went out to dinner, and I forgot my pen in the restaurant. The waiter (who dealt with our loud and ridiculous behavior) ran after us, saying, “Excuse me, ma’am, I think you left your pen.” A minute later, he came out again, with Britty’s purse, and said, “Excuse me, ma’am, I think you left your purse.” We. are. a. mess.

I cannot wait for all three of you to be here, all together, again. I love you oodles. 🙂