Happy Birthday, Bustle and Vim

Bustle: Vim and I received our birthday presents from each other this past week, and we both sent each other necklaces! How's that for maintaining the same wave length o'er the miles that separate us?

Should I mention that we are both September birthdays? Yes, we're running a little late this year. I blame Harvey. Vim was planning to come to Houston, and we were going to celebrate our birthdays together for the first time since, I don't know, high school? But then Harvey rolled into town, and our gorgeous plans went awry. I called Vim about a week after the Hurricane struck and said that of course she was still welcome, but my home was still a bit wet, and maybe we should reconsider her staying with me. She was all, "Ya think?" And then her family plans fell through, and I had to move to a rental, so, rain check (heh). I would like to state, for whomever keeps the Record, that I had selected Vim's present well in advance from Shopaholic Sanctuary. Her present then went with me to the Rental House, and there it stayed snug and safe for the next 2 months. Why? I don't think I have a specific reason, but I suspect it's because my every thought these past months has been completely self focused. Nothing points you inward to "ME ME ME" like a natural disaster. Last week I shook off just enough self absorption to mail Vim's present.

And then a present from Vim arrived the same week! I adore my birthday necklace!

I usually hesitate buying a bold piece in a bold color, but too much neutral is too much, and I think this deep green is going to go with a lot. Plus, it's not too heavy, so I can wear it all day.

Vim: Yeah....so....I don't have a great reason for mailing Bustle's present super late? That's just kind of (sigh) me. Poor Bustle usually gets her birthday presents late (except for that one year I went to Houston and took her for brunch and a massage - I was ON IT that year!). I will say that I am naturally indecisive and every year I suddenly become paralyzed by this idea that her birthday gift must be special! Must be unique! Must somehow encapsulate 30 years of friendship in one incredibly thoughtful and masterful idea-turned-object that she will cherish for years to come! It's a lot of pressure I'm putting on myself there, and sometimes it leads to super awesome gifts but most of the time it leads to super late gifts. So goes the dangerous pursuit of perfection.

I also love my birthday necklace! It is just the right amount of sparkly. Like, sparkly enough to draw the eye and make an outfit pop, but not so sparkly that it seems like the kind of thing you can only wear on special occasions. I frequently depend on the "statement necklace" to dress up a plain top and jeans combo to fool people into believing I'm a stylish lady person. Y'all, it totally works every time. I also really like the color - a sort of slate blue, that serves as a good neutral without going straight to beige-town, which is not a town that works for me. So, basically, it's perfect.

I am not as photogenic as Bustle, nor do I have small sons that I can blackmail or bribe into taking tons of pictures of me, so you will have to satisfy yourself with this classy table collage.

Umm..and I feel you should also know that I sent Bustle not one, but two gifts! These extremely cute socks from Modcloth were also included and Bustle is going to be a "feet-ured guest" (get it?) on her son's Instagram account devoted to clever socks (coolsockweekdays). Let's just let that extremely adorable fact sink in for a second. Bustle has a son who runs a sock-themed Instagram account with his best friend. It sounds EXACTLY like something we would have done at his age, and I am pleased to know that somewhere our legacy of quirky/clever/witty friendship, with just a dash of dork, is being carried on by the next generation.

Bustle: I really do like my socks. I think Vim's the Bomb, too.