friends with good taste

I’ve been thinking about friends a lot lately – probably because it’s SUMMER and I’m excited to have time to hang out more with friends. We’re hoping to bring back the Thursday night get togethers at our house when there are live blues bands playing across the street and our street corner fills with lawn chairs and people.

I’ve also been thinking about my online friends a lot too. It’s a funny thing to write something into a box – it feels like I’m just writing to myself. But now I have friends all over the place – most of them are only first names to me and I couldn’t pick them out of a crowd. But slowly I learn a little bit more about them and maybe pick up on where they live or what they like to read or how old their kids are, and over time this funny friendship grows into something more. They send me restaurant recommendations when we travel, I remind them of a dish they meant to try out, we connect over a conversation about children, or flowers, or renovation projects, or loss.

Because of this, I’ve really come to like Instagram – mainly because I can follow you back and see what you are up to. (Feel free to follow me @thirdstoryies – it’s set to private, but just send me a request.) I love the pictures in my feed – such a sharp, bright group of talented (and funny!) women and men. I love the conversations and connections there.

A few weeks ago I saw a picture on IG of the daughter of one of these friends. She was wearing this adorable dress covered in hand drawn doodles.

As soon as I saw the dress I knew that was the perfect birthday dress for F. (We usually give the girls an outfit, a book, and something fun for their birthdays.) I commented on the dress, and asked her where she got it. It’s from stadler-Kahn in Philadelphia. A few minutes later it was on its way to me (with a cute note from the artist giving permission for the dress to be colored in by the wearer).

A short while later this same friend posted a picture of this mug.

What?! Gnomes? In a car? With a punny pun? If you know my E, then you know why this was a slam dunk gift for her. Again I asked for the details – and this time I really lucked out because she sells this mug in her bookstore! A few minutes later it was on its way to me.

That same morning I posted a picture of F with her new beloved mouse friend. Sure enough, my friend struck again. Have you seen the book The Mouse Mansion? I had not, but after a quick search I knew it was the book for F’s birthday. She had a copy in her bookstore, and so my order grew again.

I thanked her for singlehandedly taking care of my birthday giving plans in one morning, and I also joked that her friendship might just be breaking my bank!

There are days when I just wish I could do it all – fill all of the hours of the day with all my varied interests and passions. But since I can’t, I’m so grateful that I can know all of you, and all the genius ways you inspire me on a daily basis.