Her Last Day Of Being Two

American Graffiti

So...

Anyone out there have any magical tips for getting ball point pen and colored markers out of wood?

Peekaboo

A Long Way From Los Angeles

Earlier this month, we welcomed my longtime friend (no, really -- we went to junior high, high school and even college together; she's totally my people), Carolynn, and her daughter, Alyssa.

In what has quickly become a hosting tradition here, the kids ushered our youngest guest to the backyard and directly into the sprinklers within moments of her stepping through the front door.

As Carolynn was raised on a pretty steady diet of trips to Maui throughout her teens and young adulthood but had only been to Oahu as a young child, she has a deep love for Hawaii but we were able to show her "our island" for pretty much her first time.

So we filled the girls' brief trip with some of the Oahu classics: visits to a placid Hanauma Bay and balmy Lanikai Beach, a drive through Waikiki, a local hike, and lots of time relaxing at home (mostly poring over old yearbooks and Radar magazines while snacking on apples and bagel chips). Good times.

Although we've been able to participate in most of each other's Big Life Events over the previous decade or so, the last time Carolynn and I had a chance to spend this much time together we were both working toward our undergraduate degrees at UCLA, sharing a criminally overpriced apartment overlooking the peaceful Los Angeles National Cemetery, negotiating the intricacies and landmines of our respective college relationships, and trying to resist making too many trips to Diddy Riese Cookies in Westwood Village.

(I'm going to see if I can dig up a halfway decent photo from that era for you. I warn you now: there may be BIG hair involved.)

So I was very excited to be able to share our new Hawaii life with her -- and to show her that, among other things, I finally know how to make my bed every morning. (OK, at least most mornings.)

What a treat to be able to spend so much concentrated time giggling and reconnecting with an old friend...

...while watching a new generation of friendships blossom.