sentimental time....

Well, the family and I enjoyed a fantastic trip to Needles, CA for our annual trip with mom, bran and families... So much fun this year with sisters Nic and Lauren joining us!!!
We arrived home from the river on Monday evening... tell me, why do I always do this to myself????
I had planned a "Friendship Dinner" which really should've been called a "thank you" dinner for Tuesday evening!!!! It was a thank you for my birthday... they all dressed in costume and acted out their "Grease" roles, which for many was beyond "out of their comfort zone"! Then, a week later, they planned a "surprise" trip to San Diego for the night... they kidnapped me and whisked me away for that incredibly fun "Girls Night Out!"
First of all... I shouldn't have planned it for the night after I got home from the river, seeing as I did nothing except SHOP to prepare for it!!!! Second of all, well... as "Charity" goes.... I planned it for one date, but when that didn't work for the 3 out of 12 gals I invited... I sent a text and asked about a few other dates... after posting about 4 different dates and completely text bombing the girls... I finally found a date that worked for everyone... a Tuesday night, I guess it was June 18th. I put it in my phone as that, changed the evite to that date and apparently all the gals had it as that. Well, here's where I'm ME.... I, out of Lord knows where got it in my head it was the 11th, not the 18th. Maybe that was a date decided, maybe it was just thrown around, but none the less, in my head for the next 3 weeks, I would continue to think it was the 11th.
So, after the amazingly unusual PRE PLANNING of shopping for things I would plan to do/use the day after settling the date... all I had to do was put it all to use and finish my preparation for the dinner. That would leave only the simple menu I had planned to keep it easy and the focus off eating, but on what I had intended on the evening being... a personal Thank you card.
At least I thought to text everyone on Saturday, to remind them that the coming Tuesday, June 11th would be the date of the very important dinner. There were several responses to the effect of, "THIS TUESDAY????" which is why, now, I'm thinking maybe I did mess up the final decided date.... hmmmm
So, after confirming, "yes, this coming Tuesday" thinking, ~"gosh, the date really snuck up on the girls"~ I started to get excited for what was planned. Only thing was... I had intentions to write each of them a poem or letter as to why they were important to me including photos etc. Well, that was going to be a challenge! I hadn't even begun before the river... thought about working on it in the car, but was worried I'd get car sick... then I thought I'd start Monday night when we got home... Nope NOPE and NOPE... Tuesday morning a stared... started to download and search for photos I wanted to use... took a break around 10, when Alex woke up... he left... kept working... he came back a couple hours later, I stopped... he left an hour later... I started again... my sister Brandi was coming for the dinner and told me she'd leave her house after the kids got out of school, around 1pm... she called and was on her way before I was done finding all the photos I wanted to use!!!
Brandi showed up 3 into my letter/photo prints and Vanessa followed right behind her. THANK GOODNESS... (if you don't know who Vanessa is, she is my "earthly angel" who came to me when Logan was 4 months old and has been taking care of all of us ever since!) So they stepped in to help... kinna ruined the surprise affect for Brandi but at that point, I didn't care!!!!
So, by 5 o'clock we almost completed the "planned" special touches and went to get ready/freshen up. Back out at 5:30, sister Cami showed up and we completed set up.
The girls... most of whom arrived (always arrive) fashionably late gathered, clueless of what was in store....
I invited the 10 girls who surprised me with the Girls Night Out, plus 2 of my 6 sisters. (The Locals ;) All of the girls have been some of the dearest friends I have ever had. One specifically, Gina. Gina is my partner in crime, my named "bestie", a very important person in my life. Unfortunately, she texted me THAT day and told me she worked from 5-10!!!! I couldn't believe it! First, she NEVER works evenings, second, how could my named "bestie" not be here???? I was, well, let's say devastated for lack of a more powerful word!! I tried to make her understand how important this evening would be without giving anything away... I tried to encourage her to "call in sick" but a good quality that turned bad to me that day was that she wouldn't!!!! Her work ethics are ridiculously great, but that stunk for me that night... and for her!!!!
Anyways, all but Gina made it and I don't want to take away from the fact that all the other girls made it despite the date confusion and coordinating challenges.... I was thrilled!

So, the surprise and long awaited evening began! We went down to my wine cellar that I had decorated just for us! Friendship signs, candles, a beautifully decorated table with each friends place card with their name and friendship stickers. Monogrammed glasses, cheek girly paper plates with fancy printed napkins and finally, a monogrammed frame and with personalized letters and photos to each girl expressing what they mean to me from the bottom of my heart. They were beyond moved and immediately appreciated the unique and special meaning behind the evening.

We sat around the table... started with a toast to friendship. Then I went on to explain why I felt a card wasn't enough to let them know how much all they had done for me, meant to me.That was the first spout of tears. Following that, I read a poem that Darlene and my mutual friend, had shared at her memorial service. It was about the different forms and purposes of friends in our lives. Second spout of tears.... Then, I asked each girl to read their place card and all the special friendship comments on them and then to share what I had wrote in their frame. Tears, tears, tears... it became a challenge to read your frame without loosing a tear... not sure anyone completely accomplished that one! In the middle of the readings and tears was so much laughter... one of my favorite things! We laughed about crying, we laughed about a memory brought up by a comment or a photo... we laughed about laughing... oh how we laughed! Once we made it through those, I served dinner (which, I might add, was a special gift from my husband! I had requested a meal and he had told me it was too much to do that day, then when I opened it to serve to the girls, it was what I had requested and it was DELISH!!!!). It was time to pray... holding back more tears, I thanked the Lord for the blessing each of these women are to my life and of course, I blessed the food and the hands that made it!
It was time to just relax, chat and enjoy more laughter as we reminisced about times we had shared and memories we had created!
The evening ended with a viewing of my birthday video which brought more smiles and laughter and finally, a group photo (minus 2 who shot out too quickly after dinner). The girls couldn't have been more appreciative and seemed to truly be blessed as I'd hoped they would be, by this heartfelt evening full of love.

I can't express what the evening meant to each of us, what it meant to the future of these friendships... what it meant to share with those treasured individuals, how much they really meant to me. If you have a group of friends, no matter how small or large the group... I would highly recommend doing the same thing for them... and for you. It was an evening of a "friendship lifetime" that we will cherish always....