“The best kind of friendships are fierce lady friendships where you aggressively believe in each other, defend each other, and think the other deserves the world”
Less than a month ago I celebrated my 48th birthday. I can’t believe that even comes out of my mouth….48. When did that happen? I look at my kid’s ages 26, 25, 19, and 19 and I honestly think “wasn’t I just their age”. Honestly, I think I was. Friendship is always something I speak to my kids about. If you have 1 good friend you are blessed. I was lucky enough to have the very best friends for every stage of my life so far. My two besties, Kim and Aubrey. Kim and I have been best friends since the 1st grade. We walked to school together every day. We only lived just down the street from each other and Kim was always late. Like always!! I’m extremely punctual, like 10 minutes early punctual. So, yes Kim made me late for school daily our entire lives lol. Kim and I like to tell people the exact moment we knew we’d be lifelong best friends. It was first grade, she was sitting at her desk wearing her brown corduroy pants and had an accident. Of course, everyone was looking and I stepped in and told everyone that it was lemonade not pee. And there you have it, a lifelong friendship like no other! Aubrey moved to our school in Massachusetts from California in the 3rd grade. We became inseparable and every childhood memory I have has one of my best friends in it. They are both my go-to, my forever constant, they both know the ins and outs of what makes my life a crazy story. Yet, they love me anyway! I would be lost without them. Completely lost. I hope they both know I simply adore them.
A sweet friendship refreshes the soul ~ Proverbs 27:9
Friendships like that are irreplaceable. When we were in elementary school our music teacher had us sing this friendship song “Make new friends but keep thee old, 1 is silver and the other gold”. I feel like I’m at that point in my life now. I have the best of both worlds. I was blessed with childhood friendships, more like sisters to be honest. And I have special friendships with other friends that came later in life. I have best friends from the years of my kids growing up. There is nothing better than a baseball mom best friend. The time spent on the bleachers, tournaments, the highs and lows of childhood sports, and all those memories in between. That’s my friendship with Caroline. There is never any amount of time that can pass that we can’t just pick right back up where we left off. Caroline and her family relocated to Texas years ago and I’ve missed our coffee dates and just laughing about anything and everything together! We decided a trip to Italy was needed and the countdown began…..
Currently, I’ve met some wonderful new friends through this whole “travel to Italy” journey of my life! Noelle and Emilia, my Italian besties. They share this insane passion for all things Italy. They understand the desire to want to be there and the excitement in the planning, searching, and journey of it all.
Back in the fall, I got a text from one of those friends, Noelle. We started communicating after finding a shared interest in Italy. We both had been in pursuit of purchasing a home in this foreign land. She is from Georgia. We had already purchased our home and she and her husband were aggressively on the hunt for theirs. Fast forward, some facetime and texting back and forth…..and there I am replying to her text “Hey we are going to Italy in November, do you want to go”. Without hesitation, I said yes. We hadn’t even met each other yet. That really didn’t matter! Fast forward to November 2021. I departed from Orlando, Florida and arrived in Atlanta, Georgia en route to Italy. My layover was all of 30 minutes which if you are familiar with Atlanta airport getting from terminal A to E via foot, shuttle and sprint…..30 minutes is absolutely not enough time. Just imagine me sprinting (with my carry-on backpack) sweating and about to pass out. There I see this kind of familiar face (behind a mask of course) so I see familiar eyes lol…..is that? Could that be? NOELLE!!!! If I remember correctly, I all but collapsed in her arms as she met me outside the gate. She said very calmly, “they’re boarding, but you have time”. OMG! Hello new friend. Let’s go to Italy together!!
We spent about 10 days in Italy together. We started at my house first. Noelle and her husband had already purchased their home, but had to begin the fun part of renovations and decorating!! So off to the 2nd hand, vintage and antiques store looking for anything and everything. A few stops at IKEA, Leroy Merlin and Casa & Co. and now Noelle had a good idea of what my life was like last February after we purchased lol. We had a great trip! We experienced traveling internationally with a new best friend (that you had never actually met in person) DURING a pandemic! I’m telling you, this is the stuff amazing friendships come from. Her home in Italy is literally a few villages over from ours. It’s a 12 minute drive and we couldn’t be happier to know we have American neighbors so close to us!! Their home is in the village of Monteleone Sabino. Their home is beautiful!!
The best part of our trip for me was having Noelle and Felix meet our friends & special neighbors (that we consider family now). Giovanni and Alessandra had us over for dinner and they got to meet Lallo. Now she can put a face to the names she hears me go on and on about. That was their first authentic homemade Italian dinner with an Italian family! Night one on our arrival, how truly special. Alesandra is the most incredible cook and baker! And she did not disappoint once again. A homemade pasta dish and a pistachio tiramisu was what was for dinner….deliziosa.
We spent the remaining few days of our trip at Noelle’s house because I had other friends arriving to stay at my house. My sweet friend Hailey and her husband Justin were recently married in November & they had reached out about staying at our place. They were our first actual guests in our home in Italy. They came for their honeymoon and had the very best time! Hailey and I worked together back when I worked at Disney. She came from Alabama and did the Disney college program. We’ve remained friends all these years and I adore her and now her hubby too! I know Justin loves me…..lol Hailey.
Just like Noelle and Felix, Hailey and Justin were invited over for a special dinner with our neighbors Giovanni, Alesandra, and Lallo. Later in the week they got to experience another dinner party at my other neighbor Cristina’s home. The amount of wine consumed that night is one for the books! What happens in Italy stays in Italy. All we did was laugh, laugh some more, and memories were made to last a lifetime. There is something so very special about sharing friendships. Friendships that despite the ability to even communicate, you know there is happiness and admiration and that is all that matters in life.
~ Stay close to people who feel like sunlight ~
While on that trip, Hailey and Justin had a photoshoot in Rome with my other neighbor Lida. She is an incredible photographer and they asked me to attend their session in Rome that day. Of course I did and never in a million years did I expect what was about to happen. Long story short, I pissed my pants in Rome. Yup, when in Rome. Hailey and I had to go to the bathroom before their shoot, we found the one right outside the colosseum. You had to pay a euro and there was about 15 people men & women waiting outside. 1 by 1 the attendant allowed you to go. I had on new black palazzo pants (wide leg). Hailey went before me, no problems, no issues, no scene. I’m up….I go into the 1×1 tiny, gross, wet floor nasty bathroom and as I pull down my pants, I pull up the bottom so they don’t touch the disgusting floor….I think I’ve cleared the toilet……I think I’m peeing into the toilet…..NOPE…..my legs are getting soaked…..OMG I’m peeing all over myself. What the flippin’ flip. In all my concern for the pants not touching the ground, I didn’t think the crotch part of my pants would be a problem……the crotch part didn’t clear the toilet and when I went, yup…..it missed the toilet, but not my legs and feet. Now I’m soaking like a wet diaper and have to walk back outside by the line of 15 people……mortified. I find Hailey and Justin and tell them some stupid story about almost slipping and falling back and peeing myself. Yup I lied. I didn’t slip, I didn’t almost fall, I just didn’t clear the crotch from the toilet. Off to find the roman water fountain to hose my legs, feet and sandals off. Hailey and Justin were so flipping sweet, they told me that they didn’t even notice my pissy pants lol. Yup & they snapped a photo of me hosing off outside the colosseum. How fun are they! Ha!! Memories guys!! These are friendships that will last a lifetime!!
As I type this I am preparing for another girls trip! I’ll be leaving on Thursday with my friend Caroline. I miss her so much and all we do is laugh when we’re together! To share my home in Italy with friends is what it is all about. To make it even better my friend Emilia is joining us! Like Noelle and I, Emilia and I have not yet met in person. We’ve talked, text and face timed and we both feel like we’ve been friends for years!! Some people just connect. Emilia is also in search of her perfect Italian dream home! So, she’ll fly from NY and meet Caroline and I in Rome on next Friday! Let the games begin!
~ Friendship’s the wine of life ~ No friendship is an accident ~
Looking back over the past 2 years since this pandemic started and seeing where I am now, still not 1 regret. Purchasing this home in Italy has proven to be the best decision for our family. To bring family and friends there to enjoy it with us is such a blessing. That’s just the house part. When you actually meet our neighbors in Italy it makes the entire situation something you can’t even describe. We were placed in this perfect little village for a reason. All of these friendships are for a reason. The journey of life is what you make of it. If there is something in your life that is heavy or you feel stuck and the happiness has been sucked out of your life, step back and re-evaluate. What can you do to bring a ray of sunshine back. Is there something that makes you happy and gives you a purpose? I found travel was that for me. I found the planning and the dreaming and the excitement of all of that was just what this weary heart needed. We made the leap, we jumped through the hoops and yes a few times I tripped…..or peed my pants….but no regrets. There is so much joy in knowing part of our heart is over in Italy. 5000 miles away from home we have a home, we have friends and we have memories awaiting our next trip!
Stay tuned. The games have begun! Just typing this out is making me smile. I know I’ve been in a funk since my last trip. The holidays were wonderful but hard. The weight of grief is heavy. Losing a parent is difficult. Sometimes you just don’t have much joy in your heart, and when you feel like that it’s best to step back and remember all the things you should be grateful for. I’m truly grateful for that dream in my heart that turned into a reality. Purchasing a home in Italy has brought enormous joy that is just not mine to keep. It is sharable. I’m forever grateful for the most amazing friends ever. Both old and new best friends. I’m blessed to have the opportunity to share this crazy life with those who love me enough and want to be part of it!
So….Arrivederci friends….I have to get packing!!
Be open to HIS plan. Blessed is she.