Chicks and Balance

I got a much-needed shot of estrogen tonight. My friends Lana and Valerie and I hung out and enjoyed some champagne and lemonade cocktails with some delicious fruit and chocolate treats from Lunds. Yum! The three of us sat and chatted about friends, boyfriends, husbands, interior design, fun kitchen gadgets, and all that good stuff. It’s good for my soul, I think. I just don’t get the opportunity to indulge all that much.

I’ve always been more of the Girl Who Hangs Out With the Guys. I like (most) sports, I know a thing or two about building desks, I don’t typically talk at length about the details of my day, and I’m usually pretty content with doing nothing at all. I don’t even mind video games that much. In fact, I welcome the distraction sometimes. I can appreciate and tell pretty dirty jokes, and most importantly, I can get made fun of for wearing ugly shoes and not spend an hour crying in the bathroom. I think that’s why I’ve always preferred to live with guys. They aren’t complicated. They make sense to me.

But there is something to be said about Girls Night. A little “I'm freaked out about...” or “I don’t know what to do about…” never hurt anyone, and having a girl friend or two to bounce that back is refreshing. At first when I showed up tonight, Lana asked “So what’s new?” I said “Oh, not much” out of habit. But 3 ½ hours later, I’ve spilled my guts, and they’ve listened to every word. They don’t judge, they don’t dismiss or make fun of me, and they don’t criticize. Meanwhile, I’m totally enthralled in Valerie’s attempt at helping her boyfriend choose furniture, and checking out all the fun wedding stuff Lana got. It’s like the chocolate raspberry mascarpone we devoured tonight. I love it. I don’t eat it every day, but when I do, I enjoy every bite.

It’s all about balance, people. A healthy diet needs both the comfort foods and the good-for-you foods. So, my comfort meal of “wearing pajamas until 3 p.m. while watching football and drinking beer” can only be maintained if I can fit in the “put on matching clothes and do my hair in order to be presentable in public to meet articulate, smart ladies and have an actual discussion” part. As if to illustrate my point, a ginormous bug literally just crawled across the table, and I screamed like, well, a girl before smooshing it with a ping pong paddle and inspecting the carnage…balance.