Happy Hour

Had a FABULOUS night with Rock Star Fran last night. Happy Hour at 2A and then a tipsy couple o' slices at Two Boots and hours and hours of girl talk. How can you top that? I mean, maybe if we'd ended the night in the hammock... but only Maggie seems to like hanging out in the hammock with me. We gossiped about boys, looked at photos of one of her recent European Tours (I had no idea there were so many cute Euro indie band boy types), complained about working for a living, talked about family and friends and the narcissism inherent in blogging. It was great. We talked a little bit about the kind of friendships where you don't have to be involved with a person regularly to still have a great connection with them.

Like how I don't get to see Fran nearly as much as I want to, but we can grab drinks and dinner and talk for hours and not want it to end. I actually don't get to see any of my friends as much as I'd like to. Work and life and geography and the limited 24 hours in a day prevent that. But it's so good to know that even if I don't get to see or talk to most of my friends on a daily, weekly, monthly or sometimes yearly basis we can still get together and have the same closeness and warmth and respect we've always had. Even with friends from long ago who have gone off and had lives completely different from mine. We can still appreciate the things we have in common and enjoy the differences.

I sometimes get the impression that my friends who are married with kids in someplace a little quieter than New York believe I find them boring or frumpy. Which couldn't be further from the truth. For one thing, my single New York 30something lifestyle is not as exciting as Sex and the City might lead you to believe. For another, I think where someone lives or their marital/parental status has very little to do with how exciting they are. I've recently gotten back in better contact with a couple of friends from early high school and I love seeing their kids and hearing about their lives. They have all kinds of fun stories. And I sometimes think they have more wild, exciting times than I do. And it's not like they think my life is empty and meaningless because I don't have a man or babies. We still have plenty in common and lots to talk about and laugh about.

Even with all the ups and downs, long absences, misunderstandings, miscommunication and the general mess that comes with having people in your life I am so grateful for my big ole pile of friends. Because I am a cornball.