When I was a kid the must have accessory for girls was the "Best Friend" necklace. Two pieces of a heart put together to spell best friends, BF, or BFF. A girl coming into school with one would result in an American Idol style try out.
"I brought you cupcakes."
"Here's an invite to my birthday party!
"Remember that time I gave you a kidney?"
I would watch this weird display, shrug my shoulders and run off to punch a boy. I was never one to hang out with girls, my mom raised me a tom-boy so the hair, makeup, skirt, clean nails life style was not one I was familiar with. I took part in the guy world, belching the whole way through. This resulted in two things happening;
*I'm best friends with my husband
*I can count the number of close girlfriends I have had on my right hand

Whoa, whoa, don't start feeling bad for me. Remember that friend you had as a kid that you told a deep secret to and then she told a bunch of people? How about that friend in high school that slept with your boyfriend? Or what about the friend that always brings you down, isn't supportive, hates when you succeed?

I've avoided all of this.

Don't get me wrong, I do like having a girl friend and I do like it when I find a girl that fits the one category I need filled;
A girl that gets me.
I am a complicated woman. I'm spazzy, spontaneous, loud, and blunt. I say too much and regret it later. I will make a scene for a joke. But at the end of the day I can be a good friend, someone you can talk to, someone that will send you a gift just because you are blue, someone that will sacrifice a little of her dignity to make you laugh.
I'm also low maintenance. You don't have to worry about me being needy or competitive or feeding off of you. I don't need a lot of phone calls/emails/visits.

It's really that easy.

But before you start sending my emails wanting to be new bestie, know this; being one of my good friends means you will move or I will move away. Don't believe me?

Danielle Bacon, 1st grade- I moved to Detroit (think about how weird it is going to be for her if she ever Googles herself and finds this)
Allison (shoot, I just can't remember her last name right now), freshman year of high school- She moved away
Michelle Owens, college- she transfered out
Leslie, bartending- I moved to Chicago

And now?

This past weekend I threw Jenn a going away party since she is moving to LA. I met Jenn through blogging early on but it took a trip to IKEA to see that this girl was different. She had a cute charm with just enough nerdiness. She would catch me off-guard with her quirky wit and I felt like I had met a match when it came to my weirdness. I left lunch smiling.
The relationship grew into emails, side jokes, shared eye rolling. Soon I was making jokes about dating her (and grumbling about her not putting out). We would contact each other when we just HAD to bitch about something we saw/read/heard and then assured each other that this really didn't make us evil. I can now run up to her and yell "Demon!" and she will laugh.
The big part of our friendship is how much I respect her. She was different in the fact that she has some serious drive to succeed but not to the point that it defines her. She will do what she needs to do to grow in the working world but still keep down to earth. Work late? No problem. Fly to other cities? Okay! Organize events? Just tell her when you want it.
I enjoy living vicariously through her. While I have no regrets in my life I do know that I am limited in my job freedom. I couldn't take a job in LA so instead I have Jenn. I swoon with her over celebrity spottings, giggle as she tells me about the slide in her office (you read that right), and sigh when she tells me about the weather and the pool in her complex.
She's living the good life and I'm so very happy for her.

So Jenn, go kick some ass in LA and know that you will always have someone to kill zombies with in Chicago (but not play the drums, I hate the drums)