Just what I needed...

with my BFF at a wedding this summer

I drove to just outside Philly this weekend to spend some time with my best friend, Marianne, who has known me since I was 13. I have had almost 20 years of friendship with her. No one knows me the way she does, and I am so thankful for this weekend with her.

Only Marianne would buy tickets for me to the Cleopatra exhibit at the Franklin Institute... and go with me (unlike my hubby, lol) because she knows I'm the only person in the world who would "dork out to Cleopatra" like her. And I absolutely adore her even more for not making total fun of me when I got a little too excited before we walked through the entrance to the exhibit. I was acting as if I was really going to meet Cleopatra. In my defense, it was a very dramatic entryway, and I am prone to being swept up in the moment. (If you're a history dork like me, go see this exhibit before it leaves in early January! If you're going to the race in Philly next weekend, it'd be a great activity.)

Only Marianne would encourage and inspire me to dance with total abandon in a bar where we were the only patrons. I guess the DJ felt like we should get the full experience and turned on the disco ball just for us...

And only Marianne would encourage me to invoke my inner rock star and sing Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" while attempting to dance like Tina at karaoke. And then when I didn't sound so rock star (or dance so Tina), only Marianne would convince me I danced and sang like a pro.

Spending time with my best girlfriend was better than any mood boosting medicine on the market... just what I needed.