All You Need Is Love.

So I am in a bit of a fun blogger mood tonight. Partially because all of my responsibilities are away at summer (or, rather, fall) camp. Aside from work, which will now be taking the spotlight in my oh-so-thrilling social life, all of the things I've had on my agenda are checked off. I have zero obligations aside from hiking, yoga, cooking, cats, and ideally personal hygiene. Watch out, world!

It isn't that I don't like being busy. I actually prefer it. I have this over-analytical, writer-y side of me who needs to be constantly preoccupied lest she start wondering, like... what feelings mean or something. This is great once in a while, but trust me when I say I accomplish much more when this is not the case. I do plenty of soul-searching during my deep conversations with Newps.

So now it's September and the next thing on my agenda (aside from the 67 lbs. of family birthdays this month) is whether or not I want to tackle sewing my own Halloween costume.

Kewl.

At the risk of blabbing on about how lazy I anticipate being in the coming future, let's talk about something else.

My Best Friend got married this weekend. And I am SO not the girl who swoons at weddings, but this one was absolutely perfect. maybe I'm just getting old, but I totally cried at least 3 or 50 times. Sayum looked like a Bride Magazine model, complete with horse-drawn carriage. The thing that blew me away, on top of the physical beauty of the day, was the amount of love pouring out from every corner of the evening. The majority of her bridal party flew in from Michigan and rented an enormous mansion with a waterslide and a grotto. Every day was all about Sayum and how to make this the most special weekend of her life. I'd never seen an outpour of love the way these girls funneled it to Sayum. It was, and this is an understatement, inspirational. I'm not kidding, it really made me re-evaluate the level of friendship and love I give to the girls in my life who are important to me.

For being someone who loves spa nights and Bridesmaids... I guess I'm not a very girly girl. I'm more comfortable with fart jokes and movie quotes than late-night gossip and martinis (well... maybe martinis.) Or heaven forbid someone cry in front of me- I completely panic.

I am learning, though. I'm learning to be gentler, and to appreciate the female bonds I have in my life. It's been honestly tough at times, but I think there is a greatly undervalued emphasis on girl friends in my life- and I hope to nurture those friendships where they stand strong. I'd be lying if I said that I don't trace this back to some pretty crummy female friends I had as a kid, and I think that is why I hold Sayum on such a pedestal. She has been the absolute perfect friend to me, and if I am at all lucky I will figure out a way to do my best impression of that.

Friendships are so important, and it can sometimes be easy to get caught up in life and forget to make time for the people who make time for us. But if there is one thing I've learned in the past few years of knowing Sayum, and in the past week of witnessing the bonds that exist with her Michigan friends, it's that those relationships are worth every moment of effort.

Thank you, Sayum, for showing me the type of person that I want to be. I can't promise to come close to perfect, but I am that much closer to being the best friend that I can be.


I love your guts, Mrs. Boucher.