What an awesome weekend. Seriously - it was productive, fun and hangover free - what a great feeling! Matty and I are trying not to go out on Fridays so that we can get a good night's sleep and save all of our energy for Saturday. Matty's marathon training has him doing his super long runs on Saturdays and I am loving this yoga class up at the Chestnut Hill Healthworks on Saturdays, so it just works out so well if we stay in on Friday, make a yummy dinner and catch up on our DVR or Netflix. This was the first weekend of this (which will be interrupted next week for Harry Potter, obviously a super special occasion) and it was pretty awesome. We woke up before 6am Saturday, which is something I can't even do on weekdays, so we hung out, cleaned up the house and then went and opened new bank accounts at Bank of America because our bank sucks and we are trying to be super organized and budgeted and BofA is so much more conducive with that. Then Matty was off to run around the city for 7 miles and have lunch with his BFF while I had a crepe breakfast with Emily and then went to yoga with Lauren and caught up on some E! and cuddles with Louis (see above pic). Afterward I picked up Matty and we went grocery shopping and then came home and decided to hit up Common Ground to say hi to DJ Brian, who we haven't seen since he pumped out the jams at our wedding. Unfortunately, after an awesome dinner and a Sam Adam's Pumpkin (who knew they had this on draft?!) we were very aware of the time that we woke up and went home to fall asleep on the couch around 10. Thus far the only drawback of mellow Fridays, which I think a nap will be able to cure next time.
Sunday morning we woke up right around 6:30, giving me time to get some coffee in me and then head to the gym for some cardio and another yoga class. I was totally that lunatic waiting at the door for them to open, but at least it was 7:30 and not the weekday time of 5:30 (right?!?!). After that Matty and I headed to Mass together and hung out for a bit after with our YAC group trying to recruit new members and then Matty dropped me off at Copley so that I could meet my dear friend Karen for lunch. Karen and I went to NOLA together my second time there, which was my first with Boston Cares, and is the group that remains very dear to my heart and has the most people that I am still very close with. Karen is also a part of the fleur de lis tattoo crew, so we are forever bonded that way too. We had an awesome lunch at Charley's on Newbury and then decided to get a cocktail at the Back Bay Social Club, which turned out to be an awesome idea. Karen had a refreshing Gin Something and I had a pumpkin drink that tasted like Fall in a martini glass. It was awesome to hang out and catch up with someone who knows me and where I come from and shared such a life-changing experience with me.
After an awesome time with Karen, I headed home to Matty who was cooking a deliciously fragrant lamb ragout dish in preparation for having Vanessa and her boyfriend over for dinner. After putting some water back in my system (did I mention the two Sam Winters over lunch?) I was able to whip up some pumpkin cupcakes and get ready for our guests. We had a wonderful time; it is always a treat to spend time with Vanessa and soak in her positive and inspiring attitude, and we adored her boyfriend, who seems to be a great fit into her exciting and successful life. Vanessa brought over some lovely wines and led us through a tasting, which was super fun and then we dug into the delicious meal that Matty made for us. After watching some football and hearing about holiday plans and other fun adventures our guests left and Matty and I just had to high five each other for such an awesome dinner party and such an awesome weekend.
The whole weekend was so wonderful and positive, but it also really got me thinking about friends and the work it takes to maintain a great friendship. I have friends all over the country, from all different walks of life that do all sorts of things with their time (work, school, volunteer, parent, etc) and for that I feel incredibly, incredibly blessed. However, it isn't all blessings and luck, maintaining these friendships take effort and time on my part and on theirs and lately I have been feeling that some of these friends are not really holding up their end of the relationship. There are definitely times when people get busy, like I am pretty sure my wedding made me more inaccessible than usual, but I made sure that I at least made some time for friends, whether it was a quick drink or a text or a phone call while I was running errands, because that is the responsibility you have when you are friends with someone. Right now I work full-time, volunteer at least two or three evenings a week, go to the gym a lot, make dinners and spend time with my husband and have a whole lot of social plans, but I still make time to let my friends know that I love them and they are a part of my life, no matter how busy our lives may be. Recently I have even had to book hang-outs two or three weeks out, but once that is booked I try my damnedest to make sure that nothing else gets in the way. My friends are important to me, and many are as good as family and I am very proud of my status as a good friend and I hope that anyone reading this can evaluate themselves and decide how good of a friend they are and take the necessary steps to be better if they need to, or encourage their friends to be better if that is where the need lays. Send an email and ask them over for tea, even if the date is three weeks out, because at least for those three weeks, your friend is going to know that you have set that time aside for them to catch up or chat or even just be there. Take advantage of the times you get to share, especially when they are few and far between, and be thankful that your friends are willing to make time for you, I know I am.
XoXo
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