Old friend, new baby, lots of wine, and MICHAEL CHIARELLO

The older I get, the more I realize how important it is to have old friends, the friends who knew you when you were younger and crazier and less of an adult. I am lucky to have so many close female friends. Ann (along with Irene) falls into a special category of amazing, talented, strong women who I've known through years and years of ups and downs.

(All shots are SOOC shots as holy crap, I forgot how long it takes to fly from San Fran to Raleigh and I had three special boys waiting for me at home. Editing can wait.)




Ann recently had her first baby, a sweet little boy named Lucas. During my own newborn time with my boys, I often called Ann while pumping asking her to tell me about the "real world." And that is when female friendship started to become even more important to me - when I realized that sometimes, you need your women friends around to you to boost you up in the ways only they know how. That is why I will treasure this trip, because I got a chance to sit with Ann and her baby and talk about every detail about life as a new mom, together as friends who've known each other (eeek) for 17 years.

I think motherhood suits her well.




It seems so small, to walk with a mom and her newborn in Golden Gate Park, checking out the Rose Garden and talking. But growing into a mother has made me realize those small moments are often the Very Big Moments. Those are usually the Moments that stay with us for much, much longer than the ones we plan and hope for.





We started our visit with a truly spectacular day - in Napa, drinking wine, talking and laughing and talking. Then we drank more wine and talked and laughed and then drank more wine. The greatest gift was being able to do this without husbands, without kids, without other friends around. Just a chance for the two of us to catch up as we have not done in a decade. It was a true delight.





And because I was so giddy and so relaxed and so myself, when we were dining at Bottega I stopped Michael Chiarello to say hello, to introduce him to my old friend with a new baby, and brag that she was having her first night away. Ann was speechless, Michael was gracious (and yummy!), the food was spectacular, and we'll never forget eating his food while talking to him.

Of course, I proved that people never change and I am just as Crazy as I have always been. Hopefully when we're in our 80s, we'll still be debating whether I'm Crazy or whether she's crazy to not be Crazy.