I Went on a Girls' Trip!

This is Jules, Ang, Sarah-Beara, Jenn Jenn, and me (aka Ree Ree). We go back as far as fourth grade, and we live in (left to right) Atlanta, San Diego, Kansas City, Dallas...and Pawhuska. We work in (left to right) accounting, veterinary medicine, advertising, horticulture...and butter. 😊 I love these girls so much, and time with them means time with people who've known me in all the awkward, clunky, messy stages of my life! And I've known them through theirs. And that is a beautiful thing.

Starting out our day, I was wearing jeans with a plain black tank and blazer. Once we started walking around Broadway in Nashville (which is bursting with western bars, restaurants, and shops), I felt like I was dressed in business casual attire and I felt too serious. So I found a logo tee and changed...and felt much more groovy! I mean far out! I mean cool. I mean with it. I mean hip. I mean...never mind! (Hi Sarah Beara!!) Sarah is such a beautiful, wonderful light. I love her. And I love logo tees with blazers! It only took me 54 years to try it.

You know when you hang out with old, old friends---whether they're from childhood, high school or college---and you basically settle into whatever age you were when you were primarily friends? That's what it's like with Jules, Jenn, Ang, and Sarah. No subject matter is safe, and the most immature moments cause the most laughs. I took this pic of Sarah in front of the Weenie Fever-Mobile, and all the twenty-somethings who walked by were probably wondering why two middle-aged ladies were having a photo shoot and cackling in front of this hot dog trailer.

Jenn Jenn and I went to the same church, so we went to church camp together, had crushes on camp counselors, and have a large bank of deep memories that are absolutely endless. She is a soulful, hilarious friend whose humor strikes the deepest cord with me---yet she can zero in and talk about things that really matter, when that is needed. She has the greenest thumb I know and can grow anything, and she and I probably watched The Breakfast Club together nine hundred times in the 1980's. She would walk through fire for me, and she probably has. Jenn is a gem!

The five of us couldn't leave Nashville without getting new cowboy (cowgirl!) boots, and it was so fun to see the boots we wound up with. Clockwise from the top (tall brown), here were our choices: Ang, Jules, me, Sarah, and Jenn with the silver bullet. My boots are DENIM and I'm not sure I've ever put on a more comfortable pair of boots. Where have they been all my life?? I absolutely love them.

If you're reading this blog post, we're all friends here, so I know you won't be offended to read that for a long time, we have referred to ourselves as The Mofo 5. It's dumb, it's irreverent, it's silly, it makes us laugh, and it suits us. I know that most all of you reading this understand the deep importance of old friendships. As we get older, that importance just increases. The world is a beautiful but tumultuous place, and as our kids have grown and we've entered into the empty nest and middle age years, having the acceptance and understanding of old friends doeth the heart good.

This is me waving goodbye to our friends in our weekend rental. I drove to Nashville (long story), and because I had over-ordered groceries from Instacart before we all arrived, I had to haul home several bags of food, several 12-packs of carbonated beverages, many bottles of wine, and a very large hardly-touched bottle of tequila. Seems I've lived in the country for 28 years and therefore am incapable of discerning how many groceries to order for 2.5 days. My friends were very confused and rescinded my Instacart privileges for the next girls' trip. (Ladd was also confused when I got home! Haha.)