best friends, mothers and daughters

less than a week to go until we leave, and I've been trying to soak everything in. late night life chats around campfires, gluten-free beer and video games, mid-afternoon movies, last minute trips to the mall, lunches and dinners and concerts [oh my!]

lots of quality time has been spent with family and friends this past week, and more plans are ahead for this weekend and after. I've definitely been getting emotional about leaving all these wonderful people behind.

my mom took this picture of Katie and I at lunch, and I love it because it's just so very us.

Katie and I have been friends "from the womb" as we like to say. our moms met in college at Eastern Michigan and have been friends ever since. Katie was born a few months before I was, and for as long as I can remember we have been friends. when we were smaller and she lived far away [only an hour drive, but that seems an eternity to a 6 year old] we decided to be pen pals. then we moved closer and our moms would get together on the weekends for crafting and picnics. in high school, we hung out all summer. rollerblading, movies, fireworks, concerts, going to the beach, teaching swim lessons...

after I moved to the east coast, she came to visit what seems like a hundred times. New York is our city. and even though we haven't lived in the same state for 5 years, every time we talk it's like it was just yesterday we saw each other. we never run out of things to talk about - even on a 12 hour drive from Princeton to Detroit. many of our great loves are things we have in common: the Met, reading, Buffy, John's Pizza, Lady Gaga, writing, my cat Beaumont, Central Park, and photography. in fact, last summer we photographed our first wedding - together.

but right now I'm especially thankful for this photograph. from a lunch that my mom and I went to with my best friend and her mom, who also happens to be my mom's best friend. how cool is that?

[thanks mom for letting me steal your pictures - mine are still on my camera]