Thursday, an "-est -end," and Etsy

"Best Friends charm necklace" by madredeolivia

Back in 6th grade I had a best friend. Melissa. We didn't last too long (it's a long and complicated and heart-wrenching story about friendship torn apart due to diverging musical tastes - she was all about the hair metal band "Winger" while I still couldn't get enough of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"), but the friendship was true. How am I so sure? We had the broken heart "best friend" necklaces for, like, a week before we (well, actually, before she) called it quits. Melissa went on to have other broken charms with other bffs while I was left with (and still have) my half, my "-est -end."

Well, since I am now my mid-30s, I think it's time to pick up the pieces and find a new best friend. And thank goodness that etsy has plenty of modern and classic charms for me to bring to the bff table...

First, for the really cool girl with actual good taste in music way out of my league (and maybe if she's really into whales too):

"Best Friends Necklace" by iadornu

For the person who'll be my best friend for the sake of the beauty of the necklace alone:

"you and me" by elephantine

For me and Lorelei. Or me and Mae. (But most likely for Lorelei and Mae. Le sigh):

"Like Peas in a..." by envisage

For my sister because it'd totally win points with my mother (plus my sister would love this necklace anyway for the bow alone!):

"b.f.f. forever" by chainchainchained

For a best friend who prefers bracelets and wings to necklaces and hearts:

"BFF Sterling Silver Friendship Bracelets with Angel Wings on irish linen cord" by hopeonaropejewelry

For a bevy of best friends so I give these out candy - like I heard kids used to do back in the heyday of friendship pins (or maybe just the one friend who'd love this necklace's nod to nostalgia):

"Don't Get Pinched - Saint Patricks Day Friendship Pin Necklace" by JLBstudio

For the boyfriend (or maybe just to show Melissa how badass I actually am now):

"till death do you part best friends pirate skulls necklaces" by TheTamerlane

For my cat because hello? she is my best friend:

"Best Friend pet ID tag" by makeyourdogsmile

For me 'cause why not? With this charm, I can now be my own best friend - even if the combined spelling of this "be- frie-" and my "-est -end" results in being "beest frieends" with myself....

"vintage best friend necklace" by foolproofed

Happy Birthday, Mae!

Our own Mae is celebrating her birthday today! We just want to give her a little shout out and let her know how fantastic we think she is (and it's not just because she is so generous with her talents and spoils us with the beautiful crafts she makes).

Mae is also a tremendous storyteller, a model for having a sense of humor in the raising of your kids (and making sure they have them too), and is, without a doubt, a real kindred spirit. Oh, and did we mention that she makes crazy beautiful crafts that she will, like, just give us? Yeah, that is great about her too...

Mae, we only dream of being as divine as you at your age! ;) Have a great day!

(photograph by Gemma Comas)

Passing Notes

Image courtesy of kimwerker.com

I have seen more than a few bloggers lament the lost art of note folding and passing. I have to admit to my own boxes of both intricately folded/crafted notes and hastily, passionately scribbled out messages from all four years of high school. Every now and then I take them out and (in a cleaning frenzy) consider parting with the pile. But, I always wind up reading them, laughing, crying, and, in the end, tucking them away for another time. I can never throw out those boxes, the crazy combination of silly gossip, hysterical storytelling, endless venting, and proclamations of love....not just yet.

Recently, I started considering how high schoolers now won't have this time capsule of notebook paper to mark their adolescence. Not that their feelings or dramas aren't out there- with social media networks, blogs, and texting there are more than enough venues, but how much is ever put on paper? I wonder if they even know what their best friend's or boyfriend's/girlfriend's handwriting looks like? I could identify who sent me a note just from they way they wrote my name on the thick triangle of folded paper stuffed in my locker grate.

My best friend's handwriting had a funky backward slant and her lettering was as skinny as she was- but to be fair, she often put "You" on the outside of a note. The notes that came from her were in the coded language we used to keep both our private thoughts and snarky comments from falling into the wrong hands. I'm fairly sure if there were Inspector Gadget self destructing messages available to us we would have used them, but lucky for me-I can still read and even understand every word of these notes twenty years later. Lucky for me, I can torment her with them...

Among the countless notes from her, from bored lab partners, from heartsick friends, from ticked off frenemies, are my very first love notes. Even with the misspellings and the small talk of a 15 year old boy (that includes stories of who passed gas in math class and ruminations about the best Pink Floyd album) they still hold some of the sweetest, most genuine things I have ever had written to me. I still feel flush when I read them and all the years and broken hearts since then can't take away from that. I love that.

In my search to find some photographs of old school folded notes, I came across some very funny "analysis" one blogger posted of his high school notes to his then girlfriend/now wife. He not only dissects one of his own, but one of hers as well - nostalgic humor at its best. http://www.pharaohweb.com/blog/2008/04/18/1754/

For all the best friends who have birthdays today

Your Catfish Friend
by Richard Brautigan

If I were to live my life
in catfish forms
in scaffolds of skin and whiskers
at the bottom of a pond
and you were to come by
one evening
when the moon was shining
down into my dark home
and stand there at the edge
of my affection
and think, "It's beautiful
here by this pond. I wish
somebody loved me,"
I'd love you and be your catfish
friend and drive such lonely
thoughts from your mind
and suddenly you would be
at peace,
and ask yourself, "I wonder
if there are any catfish
in this pond? It seems like
a perfect place for them."

"Best Friends" courtesy of Em Gee


"Imaginary Friend" courtesy of Creative Thursday


"Best Friends" courtesy of liz_com1981


image via dogguide.net


"From on High" courtesy of Lisa Golightly