Girlfriends

They're really important, you know? Yet it seems that after college it's been harder for me to make close girlfriends. I miss the days of hanging out, without a care in the world. I miss living in the same city - or even within driving distance - of my good girlfriends.

When I was in Iowa this weekend, the stars aligned and I was able to meet up with some of my very best and oldest girlfriends. Pretty Girl was in town from Minneapolis, visiting Katie and Jackie, who were in town from Singapore and Boston, respectively. I don't get enough opportunities to sit down with these ladies and laugh and laugh and laugh. And be rambunctious. And reminisce about the good old days. I feel refreshed and recharged after a mere few hours with these ladies. On the way home, we stopped to have dinner with my oldest friend and her family (as in, we've been friends since we were six!). It wasn't enough time to catch up, but it was enough time to remind me that I need to make visiting more of a priority.

Making new friends these days often involves making friends with kids. And I so value all of my friends with kids. But I've found that I have a new, unexpected outlet to connect with other women. I wrote about what this blog means to me earlier this month. For the longest time, it was a journal for me - a place to record moments and milestones about my family. But something happened about a year ago, which changed the way I think about this blog. I started actively reading other blogs. In the course of 2012, I started corresponding with S. from Simply Bike. The more I got to know her, the more I liked her. And then I met Bobbie from Run.Bobbie.Run through S.'s blog. They both live in Iowa, so when I was passing through, I figured it was time to meet them in person. And let me tell you, it was so fun to talk with them in real time and space. There wasn't enough time to visit, but apparently there never is.

As a media scholar, it's so interesting to me to see how the internet facilitates friendships between people who are separated by miles but manage to find enough in common to create supportive and interesting and encouraging relationships. Without ever having met S. and Bobbie, I knew they were the kind of ladies I could relate to and share with and just generally like. I look forward to seeing them again (hopefully sometime soon). Because, you know, you can never have too many girlfriends.