All posts filed under: Friendship

#GirlGoneWildbpstyle

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I went pretty wild over Memorial Day Weekend … bp style.  I went camping.   Here are just a few of the pictures in the wild taken by Husband, by our buddies Petit Parachute and Gadmachine, and by yours truly.  I pulled some lines (in italics)  directly from the journal I kept during the weekend, which will give you a small peak into what the experience was like.  So lucky we are to be living in California.  More power to the Department of Parks and Recreation.   Journal entry excerpts May 26-27, 2014 Fallen Leaf Campground, South Lake Tahoe, California  (all times of day) Thank goodness for melatonin, but it was a gorgeous, quiet sleep I had.  Save for the strong cold air blowing through the tent – hubby says we need to get one of those extra covers that goes over the tent for added insulation- I dare say I was pretty prepared last night and we fit nicely on top of our air mattress in our sleeping bags.  Do I shower now or later? I …

Snippets of My Week(s) #4

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On AltChat yesterday, I mentioned that by telling some small stories behind my Instagram pics, there is a little peak into bp behind the writing.  Follow me @blogger_bp to join in the fun!  This Snippets of My Week series has been fun for me and I am happy to hear you like it too. I am behind on my snippets, with pictures and stories collected over the course of two weeks.  Who knows what I see or hear will make me write about next, but at least my snippets give you a look into the things in life that this gal is sweet on ….  speaking of which… ONE   Talk about sweet.  Not only is this a collection of yummies, but these were all little treats I received from friends in a week.  Gluten free?  Check!  Dairy free?  Double check!  Surprise sweets are even sweeter when they are from thoughtful, loving people.  And that giant slice of baby shower cake to celebrate one of my best gals?  I couldn’t eat it (okay, maybe just …

Great Un-expectations

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  It’s so gratifying to become effortlessly engaged with a new person, especially when you do not assume upon first meeting to have much in common. I simply strolled into a gallery right before closing time to explore.  I peruse in galleries and museums almost as much as I do in shops and department stores.  Food for the mind and soul, don’t you agree?  It was such a treat when the owner of the gallery noted my curiosity in his collection of American work.   I was introduced to Helen Frankenthaler’s soak-stain technique, the detail in Donald Sultan’s flocking,  and Alex Katz’s figurative artistry.  Mr. Meyerovich and I fed off of each other’s enthusiasm for art and approach,  darting from one area of the gallery space to another to appreciate assorted mediums. We naturally began talking about a wider range of topics, including how birth order affects sibling roles, the power of psychotherapy,  and the potential for people to switch careers, finding passion in varied fields within one lifetime. He told me he became an …

You Just Need to Ask

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Photo source: Carin Olsson My inbox greeted me this morning with an email from my old friend, Hamburgirl, that charming, spontaneous, loving lady who became my friend many moons ago and has stayed close to my heart though we haven’t shared continents in over at least a decade and a half. “bp!! How are you??”  the note began very casually.  She shortly recapped the past two weeks saying she had been home alone with her children while her husband was away for work.  The younger child had been ill the whole time and   ” …  very generously shared her sickness with me :(“ She continued, “On that note, my cousin will be in Paris next week and given my last two challenging weeks as a single sick mama, I am now considering a quick escape from life and a couple days in Paris.  I am thinking of going for two-three days.  I know you’re in another time zone, but thought I’d still ask ’cause nothing happens without asking!  Perhaps you are free and can …

Three Shots Are Better Than One

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There is the ideal recipe for a night or day out with different friends.  Depending on the cooks and what is on the menu, the ingredients are varied.  For example, a giant donut, old jokes and divulging new secrets are necessary for an annual Sleepover Tradition.  Throat chakra exercises, sun salutations under a clear sky, and uninhibited ‘festival girl’ dancing made  A Girls’ Day Inward one worth repeating.  The walk and talk on a brisk evening bring to mind My Favorite Kind of Date. The menu for an evening with Salty Sweet and Dynamo Dish last week had to include our shared passion for cocktails, food and delicious conversation. Our night entailed confessions of our sad dependence on peak hour Uber rides, lively discussions on passionate career pursuits, the importance of House of Cards, and some brow-raising conversation. The kind of conversation between women where the tones are typically as hushed as the laughs are loud. Throwing a surly male server our way subconsciously begging to be won over made the night complete.  His veiled indifference was no …

In Case You’d Forgotten

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Original Graphic Print by Hillary Bird Because you are my friend.  Because I love and care about you, I want to tell you during this confusing and frustrating time: We are in this together. You are that person.  That person who does what she’s supposed to do and what she believes is expected of her, what is best and what is right, because those are things you value.  The curse of being a sympathetic member of society is giving a sh*t about things beyond one’s own life.   Putting your all into everything leaves a girl with nothing much left.  It tends to get inconvenient.  The beauty with true girlfriends is that we can listen without judgement.  You are afraid that telling me too many of your household woes and venting your annoyances about the hubs is going to put you in a bad light.  You are worried that I will start seeing him differently.  You are also afraid that this would be considered airing out your dirty laundry in front of me and that it’s not …

The Prodigal Pal

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So here’s the thing… Monday on my day off, I had a list of things I wanted and needed to do: 1.  Look into tickets to go visit my mom. 2.  Start planning a fun getaway for my husband’s 40th birthday. 3.  Buy a better pot for our newest indoor tree, Lucas (I hope Bertie likes him). 4.  Plan a menu for the week. 5.  Determine whether or not to attend ALT Summit, SLC. Instead, I ended up chatting with an old friend who you could consider part of the long-lost variety.   Even though we are “friends” on Facebook, we hadn’t spoken in years. It isn’t because we became enemies, we just stopped being friends.  There was not a huge fight that ended the relationship, though there may have been a tense encounter or two at the finish line to ensure the completion of it.  This friend had less time for me and wasn’t afraid to show it, saying, “Nah,” with no alternative suggestions to any of our typical plan making for the weekends became the …

The Sleepover Tradition

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This weekend is going to be fun.  I am packing an overnight bag and heading to Ciao Bella’s home at dusk for a sleepover.  Her adorable husband and toddler daughter will be exiled to one part of the house for 18 hours while Ciao Bella, the ever energetic Catalina, and I sip pink champagne,  chow down on her amazing homemade macaroons (really, CB needs to start a business, they’re that good) and catch up the way we typically try to on the phone while their respective two year olds are napping or out playing.  There are dinners, there are shopping dates, and of course brunches and lunches, but the ‘thing’ that is really our “thing” is our super girly, funny to the bones sleepover.  Since the three of us became friends a decade ago, we love to have slumber parties now and then.   It’s become part of our friendship culture We’ll be sharing our latest skin care discoveries, squeezing in a trip to Michael’s, and discussing our percolating creative endeavors.  Pulling an all-nighter sans …

My Favorite Kind of Date

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Quite possibly the best moments I have had getting to know another person are the times we’ve spent while walking and talking.  Of all the memories I have with friends, my husband, and the boys I used to know, the ones while talking on a walk are by far some of the sweetest ones. The walking date is underrated.  There’s never a preplanned topic of conversation when you find yourself on foot, and I find that the words exchanged from points A to B are often the most candid and heartfelt.  With every step, my theory is, the soul opens up allowing us to become more confident sharers and willing listeners.  Good weather or starry nights help kick up the romance factor too.   There is nothing to get in the way of a conversation walking side by side, except for his hand on the small of your back to guide you or an unintentional brush up against the arm, but that’s not really a bad thing, is it?   The walking date is all …

Raising Our Friends, Raising Ourselves

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Nailed it. Cartoon by Mark Stivers I spent the majority of the week visiting with Captain America, an old friend who just settled with her family in the midwest.  The last time I saw her daughter, now an articulate three and a half year old with waist length hair, she was a bald, drooling toddler.  This told me we had to hit the accelerator button on several years’ worth of our usual soul searching and girl talk.  Three nights would be barely enough. Well, who needs to sleep, right?   Give me a tall pitcher of water and a comfy place to lounge and I am good to go for several hours!  There was a lot to share and even more to ponder.  Goals to be made, disappointments to get over, new perceptions made clear and lots and lots of laughs in between. Captain America and I met in college.  We spent many a long night on the phone talking about big dreams for our future careers, dancing in discos while intending to be home by …