west side girl time

Dinner with friends- such a treat. Such a concept, really. Since elementary school the majority of my friends have always been male. First there was Keith. He and I would pretend to be Native Americans (look how PR I am), and use mashed up ferns as medicine for imagined injuries. Then there was Russell. My dad called him Hustle-Russell. Little H-R and I were true buddies, and he made a joke of proposing to me in public. He was always mostly joking. In high school there was a whole crew- Reynolds, Gavin & Pat. They were my dearest friends, even through much of college. We loved making faux-horror movies with my camcorder, and going to coffee shops. 

But in college it got weird. Boys were becoming men and men were becoming boyfriends, fiances, and husbands. And suddenly I learned, like Billy Crystal says in When Harry Met Sally, "men and women can never truly be friends." Now, I don't honestly agree with this. I still have male friends, but I guess they are all actually my husband's friends. And I guess I WOULD feel uncomfortable with my husband having one-on-one time with a female friend of his. Maybe I do agree with it? No matter, as I was saying- it got weird in college, but by then I'd missed the elementary lessons on making female friends. Girl friends. What an odd concept. Living on an all-girl floor was more than overwhelming my freshman year of college. I made one real friend that year. She and I were roommates for the following two, but now she's off across the country and married and terrible at communicating across any distance, never mind long-distance (and I am too, so there's that added strike). 

Then the last two years happened. I have been so-so-so blessed to get to know some beautiful women I work with. And we have become friends. And now I have friends. Girl friends.

So last night, as we have several times this summer, we made dinner together, drank tasty drinks and laughed a bunch. To drink was a personal favorite- even my signature drink at our wedding- dark and stormies. Dinner was a homemade pesto pizza, piled with garlic, basil, gouda and sauteed and caramelized veggies. My oh my, it was mighty tasty. And Natilda, the darling, made a rhubarb pie. We had it with vanilla bean gelato. I'm practically still full, but my mouth is watering. Then we watched West Side Story- which I had NEVER SEEN!- and we made sure to comment on every single wonderfully over-dramatic moment. Hannah's cat, Alistair, even chimed in (Hannah has a voice for him. It is hilarious. He's got quite a mouth.). 

I am so thankful for friendships. For dinner with friends, laughing with friends, support of friends. As Grammy writes in her letters- P.T.L. (praise the Lord!).