brooke's nooks.

dear kelsey,

without your friendship & support, my inner shine would be oh, so dreary & dull. over the last few years, you’ve been there for me when i wasn’t sure i could be there for myself, & i will never forget it.

happy birthday, pretty!

i am so, so happy for your 28th year.

xoxo,

b

this is Emily.

Emily & i have been friends since the fourth grade.

(the fourth grade!!!)

who knew a friendship once filled with over-sized tie-dyed tees, silk vests, slumber parties, a shared love of scrunchies, & countless hours discussing school boy crushes would last close to twenty years?

Saturday night, after being treated to dinner with Em & her adorable husband,

we changed into our comfies, turned on Miss America, poured some wine, & caught up on lost time.

i’m so grateful for friendships like that with Emily.

after all these years, after all the places we’ve both lived, after all of our own life experiences,

we’re still able to find that comfort & acceptance-

& that shit never gets old!

smile friday: spending time with Paige last night & this morning was definitely a highlight of this weekend’s excursion.

pre-Christmas decorating, i hosted a dinner party.

it was nothing special in terms of cuisine,

although we did manage to cash out three bottles of wine & enough pizza to feed a kindergarten class,

but the company, the company was absolutely fabulous.

there are some people that you know will always be in your life- who have already been in your life for years- who introduce you to their friends because they know you’ll want them in your life, too…

these were the people that stopped by on Friday night.

what a fun, fun night that was…

(big shout out to Ben, Emel, & Patrick…miss you already! xo)

p.s. that pictured bottle of Malbec, Luigi Bosca, is one of BR’s favorites. the week i moved into my house, he brought me 1/2 a case. what a wonderful father!

i met Paige when I was a freshman in college and within a few days, I knew we should be real friends.

throughout the 10+ years that she’s been in my life,

through living together in a precious bungalow across from campus,

giddily laughing while out at sorority parties,

recounting the events of said parties the morning after,

singing at her wedding,

scheduling reunions in Nebraska, Iowa, & Florida,

staying in touch via texts, calls, & snail mail,

leaning on each other through some seriously sucky times,

cheering on each other through promotions (her), dates (me), spandex-wearing volleyball games (her) & big moves to cowboy country (me),

& every other memory that took place in between,

i can say, without a doubt, that the events that have transpired over the last ten months have brought us closer than ever.

i am so proud of this girl & oh, so honored to still call her a friend.

most Mondays start out with a way too early morning,

followed by 10+ hours of work,

topped off with reality t.v. & a more drastic attempt at acquiring the beauty sleep that was not found the night before.

last night wasn’t like most Mondays.

last night, i had a scheduled dinner date with two of my favorite ex-co-workers, Molly & Ingrid.

these girls were my saving grace when it came to working retail

& these girls have the ability of cracking me up more than most.

we had been looking forward to finally seeing each other after unusually hectic summers & settled on trying out a new-to-us restaurant, Late Harvest Kitchen.

trust me, the company & the local eatery did not disappoint.

sometimes, making plans takes some effort,

but when the plans revolve around meeting up with girls like this,

they never disappoint!

Smile Tuesday: Sunday was for this little baby’s baptism (& also an excuse to wear one of my favorite Milly dresses). It was such a lovely way to start the morning…there’s so much love for this little tot.

scenes from a bridal shower: these are my girls. we have more secret scoop on each other than anybody else.  we go back to the elementary school & middle school years. we have fought, we have laughed, we have cried, we have celebrated, & we have loved each other through all of these years. these are my girls & no matter what happens from here on out, they will always be that.