list #7: brought to me by valerie

My friend Val is a big-time evangelist for the things she loves. Over the years, she’s introduced me to several books/films/series/places I adore.

1. Harry Potter. I know I’ve said before that Val literally pushed her British edition of Philosopher’s Stone across the coffee table to me, all but begging me to just give it a chance. And when I loved it, she gladly lent me the rest of the series, without a single “I told you so.”

2. Newsies. She was properly horrified when I confessed I’d never seen it all the way through. She actually has some of the dance routines MEMORIZED. Needless to say, she sat me down to watch it, pronto.

3. Clue, the movie. This was the movie at House 9 Abilene for about a semester, as Val became obsessed with introducing it to everyone who hadn’t seen it. Pure late-80s satire/slapstick gold.

4. Gilmore Girls. Val is one of several girlfriends (also Jacque, Lizzie, Charity, Stephanie and others) who knew I would love this show, and though I held out for a long time, it turns out she (and they) were soooo right.

5. Costume parties, and any excuse to have one. We had Oscar parties, Halloween parties, come-dressed-as-someone-from-Oxford parties, pretty much any kind of costume party Val could think of. All held in the House 9 living room, full of good food and movies and dear friends and endless rounds of the “What If?” game.

6. Pine Cove. This is possibly Val’s favorite place on earth. She took a bunch of us there to be the work crew/hang out one weekend in college, and it was gorgeous and SO fun. (She works there now, and I’m sure she loves PC even more now than she did then.)

7. Scene-It, the movie board game – which is Val’s ideal game, since she’s a movie buff. So fun, though I’ve never beaten her, and don’t expect to.

(Val and I already loved a lot of the same things, like Lord of the Rings, You’ve Got Mail, Singin’ in the Rain, musicals and chick flicks in general, board games, and long evenings spent laughing with friends. But these gems might never have made their way into my life if not for her. So thanks, Val Pal. You rock.)

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my first Boston birthday party

As you may remember, I turned 27 a couple of weeks ago. J and I celebrated with a dinner date in the North End – pasta and some yummy pastries – but I wanted to have a party too, a chance to gather with friends and play games and laugh. It’s what our House 9 crew did in college, what our Abilene crew did every time it was someone’s birthday. And I miss having people over to our house – it’s been a rare thing so far in Boston, since we’re still getting settled and our friends are scattered all over the city.

So we threw a party. A Tex-Mex festival, actually. With chicken burritos and my guacamole, Nate’s homemade salsa and lots of tortilla chips. Daniel brought seven-layer dip, Shanna brought queso and everyone brought chips. And Abi made decadent chocolate cupcakes, frosted with cream cheese icing, each one topped with a single raspberry. (She knows me so, so well.)

It was a curious but wonderful mix of old friends and new ones, friends from Abilene and friends from Boston. It felt, as Abi said, like old times in Abilene – and yet it felt new too.

We missed the rest of our party group from Abilene – Kelsey and Jake and Sarah, Bailey and Luke and Bethany, Lawson and Morgan and Drew, and others. But it was such fun to have Daniel and Isaac and Shanna, and Beth and Scott, with us.

Everyone hung around the table, dipping chips into the four dip bowls and talking and laughing. We devoured burritos and chips and cupcakes and Beth’s chili-powder-laced brownies. We played Encore (always a gamble with a new group of people) and sang crazy song lyrics and hooted with laughter. And when it was over, I had that warm glow that comes from spending time with good friends.

We’re still adjusting to life here in Boston, still finding our rhythm and settling in. But I am so glad we’re already finding our people. We brought some of them with us, of course – but it’s great to be living the Boston life together, and making new friends along the way.

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