one more thing...

FINALLY! a little something on my trip to Charlotte. Or at least a little more than just photos. 

charlotte, nc 2012

Alyssa is my teacher.

Sure, everyone teaches everyone something. But Alyssa is Yoda. The girl knows everything.

I’m going to go out on a limb here. Bear with me. But if you think I’m cool, or fashionable, or kind, Alyssa blows me out of the water. She oozes cool. And always has.

You see Alyssa is one of my oldest friends. We met in freshman English. That would be high school freshman English. We sat on polar opposite ends of the class, but I made her do this horrible play of mine and let’s just say, if that didn’t repel her, nothing I could would. She became the track star and writer. I became the smart girl. We ran (no pun intended) in different, yet intersecting circles.

I think we each had a moment our final days of high school--either at her baller grad party, or with her making faces at me (knowing I couldn’t talk!) in full cap and gown—where we knew, or hoped, that we would be friends longer than high school. That’s probably around the time I made her swear that we would go to our high school reunion together, better to face possible catastrophe in pairs is my motto.

We spent college in my living room. She’d come over and we’d hang out, watching movies, or TV, losing at Scrabble (to my sister), but most of the time we had those conversations that are about nothing in particular, but somehow end up being about everything. School. Life. Dating. College. Coffee. Life. She’d always end up spouting some nugget to keep me from the edge.  We’d hug and see each other the following break.

When my world starts to cave in, Alyssa is one of the few who gets the long story.

So, it should seem to no surprise that, especially recently, I’ve written quite a lot of “OMG what am I doing with my LIFE!” emails in her direction. And a couple of weeks ago, she was kind enough to host me for my weekend in Charlotte. I did to her, like I did to a couple of people during my little tour of the East Coast, calling about six days before I wanted to arrive at her doorstep. But I’ve been telling Alyssa for too many years that I would come to visit her, and finally I was making good on my word. 

And, like I knew it would, the trip was awesome. It was full of good conversations, meeting new people, and sightseeing. Seeing a little slice of Alyssa’s life was perfection. She has a great life; seriously, I about cemented my air mattress to her floor and stayed for, well, ever.

Friends are a beautiful thing. Some of them are meant to be around for a only a small portion of time, and others just get better with time (like other good things in life: wine, Cary Grant movies, clothing).  One of the best compliments in life is to be a good friend, to be loved and cherished for exactly who you are and who you will be, by people who choose you. Thank you Alyssa for putting up with all my drama, you m’dear are a truly good friend and all around amazing person…do you know that?

 downtown charlotte, 2012

ah, an oldie but a goodie. me and alyssa washington DC 2009. because seriously, i didn't get a picture of the two of us that weekend. fail on my part.