lost in Nostalgia-Land...

i repeat, i was lost in NostalgiaLand...

and loving every second of it! for most of Friday night that is. blissfully stuck there with no effort desire to find my way out. gotta say, it's a pretty great place to be. reminiscing with the ones you adore. the ones you laugh so hard with until you feel like you've had the worst  best ab workout of your life. sore for days! the ones you've gone through so many phases and chapters of life with, you wouldn’t even know where to begin. the ones you've grown up and matured with yet somehow they remain the silly, wild 15-year-old-friend you had in them from day one fifteen years ago. 'those' ones. yes, we love those friends. 

so, what is it about getting together and popping bottles of wine with our girlfriends that somehow always seems to have that nostalgic effect on us? no exceptions here. 

it was the Spring of 99’ sophomore year of high school when i transferred in after the winter break for what would inevitably be a less than four month stay. i was the new girl at school. and as i would soon find out, dubbed as "the girl with the BIG backpack.” and yes, to this day they will still taunt me with this major flaw of mine back then. that big, blue Tommy Hilfiger back pack that i thought was so cool. apparently i hadn’t received the memo that it was practically social suicide to be caught wearing the huge backpack i so proudly walked around in. not with one strap like the cool kids did with their (much smaller) backpacks, but both straps. nice and tight. securely fastened to my back. totally clueless.

thankfully they took me under their wing and showed me the ropes. where would i have been without them? and let's be honest, if you went to that school and didn't know who the "Fab Five" were then you were definitely living under a rock. Jennifer, Amber, Trisha, Katie, Brittney—the totally beautiful, fun & FABULOUS five. the super pretty girls, the life of the party girls, the popular with the senior boys girls...and they were all so tight knit.

i can still remember the day that Amber (the bubbly 'bird' of the group) approached me in biology class with a big, friendly smile on her face as if she somehow just knew we were destined to be friends. "Hi! i'm Amber! do you want to come hang out with me and my friends later!?" one invitation. that was all it took and the rest was history.

even through the periods where our paths had gone separate ways (i.e.) moving for the nth time back to NY to finish out my high school years, it was nonetheless that one invitation that sealed my fate with them. one by one i had developed a unique and special bond with these fabulous five that no time or distance could do away with.

and how could i ever forget the day at school i had become such a part of their circle that they actually invited me into a photo of theirs. from that day forward whenever we were together, it was the “Fab Five + Naomi” yes, i remember because a girl doesn't forget that type of honor. ha! and i still have that picture framed somewhere in one of my old boxes of high school memorabilia. it's a priceless one.

and of course, if not for good ol' El Camino High, i would've never met another one of the best friends/ sisters i'll ever have – my dearest Laura. she may have had another 'pack' during those earlier years but just a few years later, once i had found myself back in California and in a Mira Costa psyche class she so happened to be in, we were reunited and in no time at all, the circle had expanded for good. Laura even moved in with me for a while. i was 19 years old by this point in my very own apartment. so grown up. Laura brought the passion to the pack like none other. if there's one word any of us would likely use to describe her, it’s 'passionate'…and passionate about everything especially people and the things going on in the world. she has heart of pure gold and is now the most amazing mommy herself. no surprises there.

but when i really reflect on what it is that i love so much about all of these girls women and what still unites our kindred souls after all these years and through all the careers, weddings, babies, and changes of life…

it all boils down to one thing—the philosophy of ‘necessity’ to live life LOUDLY and PROUDLY and to start the party wherever you are! life is too short to not enjoy yourself. this was and still is the general motto of the pack, clearly evident whenever we are together—wine or no wine. makes no difference. on Friday night, the memory box was unlocked and running rampant as we reminisced!

boxed wine and slumber parties, skinny dipping and lifeguard pool parties, fake i.d.s, sneaking out to smoke cigarettes because they were so cool back then, dressing like hoochie mamas in bare-belly tops, pleather pants, and zebra printed cowgirl hats to high school dances and after parties, all while this girl maintained her ‘good-girl’ image, might i add. i was 'the virgin' and proud of it. ha! late night heart-to-hearts about God and 'Life' over more cigarettes and breakfast burritos dipped in sour cream. it’s been years since i’ve touched a cigarette and somehow that combo still makes my mouth water. nostalgia.  oh the memories with these beautiful souls...

they were so carefree with such a zest for life, and a substance that went well beyond their physical beauty. i know that's why i fell in love with all of them and fifteen years later, not a single thing has changed—other than—not being able to get together nearly as often as we’d all like. of course marriage, jobs, babies, childrens’ school and sport activities will do that. but it only makes those times, like the yearly Xmas dinner and the birthdays and occasional girls’-night-out, when we are all together again only that much more nostalgic.

and ok, well maybe a few things have changed along with having children. the totally carefree state of mind at 15 years old goes out the window when precious babies are involved. we are forced to be more selfless and responsible. which, brings me to the picture above.

Yea, that EPIC picture above....

while i simply cannot speak for all the shenanigans going on around me, namely Amber choking out Brittney in the background!? i do know that hub and i had been playing phone-tag for a half hour and i had to answer in the middle of another attempted pyramid so that we could figure out the situation with the babysitter and Hannah as well as a sober ride home for me and our precious little cargo—thank you Katie & Anthony for that—considering i had no plans to be driving. So, you know, that type of responsibility that was far from our minds 15 years ago well before the concept of marriage was even a real thought. \

but in the grandest scheme of things and the ways that count, i simply love and adore these women because they haven't changed. they’re still the same wild, bubbly, FUN, and witty girls i knew back then. and because we can now at 30 years old meet up first thing in the morning after such an amazing night of partying on very little sleep so that our children can play together at Playwerx, reminds me all the more how wonderful life has been from 15 to 30 and will continue to be from 30-60 with these extraordinary friends/rock stars of mine. i will continue loving and adoring them forever.

now of course it wasn't just a girls night last night considering it was the annual couples Christmas Party and go figure my husband's guys' Christmas party had to be the same night. luckily my sweet little 3 month old beauty was up for getting dressed up and being mommy's date. and quite the sleepy date for that matter. after one good feeding, she was sound asleep and out like a light upstairs while mommy watched her on the monitor all night—eating, drinking red, and laughing away the night in Nostalgia-Land feeling blessed to be surrounded by so much love and laughter.

MERRY CHRISTMAS—HAPPY HANNUKKAH—and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my different ‘packs’ over these last 15 years. i love you and i’m so thankful for your friendship and sisterhood through the span of time. cheers to another fabulous, extraordinary 30 years of making memories!

xoxos