A Quiet Dinner

A quiet dinner. Dinner out with two good girlfriends of mine. Low key and mellow. Cozy and comfortable. A quaint little Italian bistro with delicious food and a nice house Merlot.

When I arrived, the girls were sitting at the table by the window and the first thing I noticed (after hugging each of them) was how beautiful the lighting was. Since my girlfriends are big blip supporters, I announced my vision for the evening. The pregnancy glow is what I wanted to capture. "Yes, I knew it" said one (the not pregnant one). "Oh great...." said the other pregnant one. But I knew I had her permission so I discreetly got out my camera and snapped a couple of pics. I'd like to say that the photo session was discreet but the laughing probably gave us away. And the, "Okay, look there. Look casual. No look up, over there". And these instructions were coming from two out of the three of us.

We must have sat at the table for over a half an hour before we were finally ready to think about ordering. We each started the meal with a nice salad and then an hour later, we ordered out entree. Each of us loving the fact that we didn't have to rush off anywhere. Our entire evening was freed up. And our waiter was very respectful of the fact that we really just wanted to spend a lot of time sitting around the table and catching up. I ended up ordering a 'Jalapeno Shrimp over Linguini' dish. The spice produced some heat. Exactly how I had hoped it would taste.

Conversation with these girls flows very naturally. The dynamic between the three of us works well. We can talk about our families, our day, our goals, our hopes, our fears, our dreams, whatever. I love how life pulls people together for very specific reasons. Bonds that are made and connections that are powerful and real. I have special friendships in my life and that is a gift that I will always cherish and be forever grateful for.

As we were leaving the restaurant tonight, we saw a group of people walking across the road with fancy cameras and tripods. "Ooooo, oooo, ooooo, look look!" We knew that they had to be a part of a photography club. I looked closely to see if I could recognize any NW Blippers. And then we literally bumped into a woman with a huge teddy bear of a black dog. We had a five minute conversation with the woman as to if her dog had real hair or fur. She did not know so we took turns guessing. My friend ended the evening with, "Yes, I believe your dog has poodle-ish hair". The owner laughed and left us with a challenge, "Okay ladies, I dare you all to use the word 'Poodle-ish' tomorrow". "Done deal" we all replied. And my other friend told her, "Don't worry, it'll be mentioned in the blip.

XOXO lady loo's, you both know how much you mean to me!