Celebrating Laura

Yesterday June 21st, my very very very good friend Laura (she blogs at http://musingsfromtupelost.blogspot.com/) turned _0. We had a Girls' Night to celebrate this big milestone -- After all, she had warned us repeatedly that she did NOT want a surprise party (hmmm - maybe she is well aware of my penchant for throwing surprise parties?) . So, we had a lovely dinner at Massimo's in Fremont with just "The Girls" -- a dinner party that lasted four fun hours, and a good time was had by all!

I was happy to be there to celebrate a great friend and a great woman -- she has influenced me in more ways than she realizes. Her influence ranges from the profound (she was my first & primary role model to be unapologetically childless by choice), to the mundane (how to talk to strangers and have a good time doing it). She has been there for me through the ups and downs, the laughter and the tears, through boyfriends good and bad, for the breakup of one major long term relationship, and the birth and nurturing of another. Laura and I first bonded over our love of gardening, and our dislike of a manager who harassed us both. We went on to discover our shared appreciation for architecture, liberal politics, Mexican food, and being unabashedly opinionated.

We both changed jobs, but managed to stay in touch. In fact, our friendship blossomed away from State Farm. We travelled to the Big Apple and to Los Angeles to indulge in our shared passions of museums and food, and surprise surprise, had a good time! She was part of our wedding two years ago, and I hear even had a role to play in the planning of Kevin's wedding proposal.

But for Laura, I might never have been a regular concertgoer. Or a KFOG Kaboom devotee. Or ever done the AidsWalk. Or gone traipsing through the homes of perfect strangers while on the Annual SF Victorian House Tour. It does not matter that I am an adventurous eater and she is not. Or that I love both spicy food and cilantro, but she detests them both. Or that I'm an oenophile wanna-be and she's a teetotaler. Or that she loves football and I can barely tolerate it. Or that she's a cat person but I am dog lover.

I love her for who she is: for her warm heart & her generous spirit. For her love of Pearl Jam & Ryan Gosling. For the fact that she makes a killer spinach dip. Because she says she is jealous of my dog Junnu's ultra long legs (but then who isn't?). Because she is never afraid to speak her mind. Because she cares about the environment and Women's Rights. Because she has one of the biggest hearts ever. And because she is Miss Laura.

But in spite of (or perhaps because of?) all our differences, we are good friends -- the kind my 10 year old niece would likely describe as BFF. And amazingly enough we've now known each other for 14 years -- as Laura herself would say, "Good Night, Irene"!