i have cool friends.

perhaps it's the season. maybe it's having a toddler. sometimes i think it's just me. 
i find myself struggling with motivation, running after creativity's tail, staring at the keyboard wishing all of the words whirling around in my ribcage would come together in some sort of sensible fashion.
i have been feeling uninspired.
so where do i turn?
more of than not, i look to you, my circle of interwebfriends. i read and gaze and visit and, all of a sudden, find the inspiration i need to breathe, to create, to love, to live.
i posed this question to a group of friends i admire deeply, care for and respect.

what inspires you? 
first up is celia. celia runs her own business and i work for her part-time, helping her cook and such. really, she teaches me how to cook like a seasoned pro and, without even trying, teaches me to trust my instincts and that the answer to almost any problem is salt and pepper and a poached egg.
she has the most amazing style and is one of the most beautiful and intoxicating and self-assured women i know. she is comfortable being herself, and there is no greater learning tool than that.
oh, and i love her husband, too. (hi joe!)

When Krista sent out an email to all of her friends asking what inspires them, I felt like I was being asked a loaded question. "Hmm... what inspires me?" Well all sorts of things, actually. Art? Check. Wes Anderson Films? Check. A well prepared meal without all the fancy foam bullshit? Check. The fact that my Husband has exercised consistently, 4-5 times a week, for the past 4 years? Check, check! How anyone can do that is completely beyond me. So yes, all this stuff and more inspires me on a daily basis, but there had to be that one thing that reigned supreme, stood high above the rest. And that one thing is definitely my friends, because I've got some pretty cool ones.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote this post on a group of friends I have that are somewhat older than me. One of my readers commented and said that I had "some amazing friends". I've always known this, but to hear/read someone else say it, kind of blew me away a bit. I sat for a minute and thought about how incredibly lucky I am to have the friends I have; how they have all, in their own way, been such a significant part of my life. I've always thought of my friends as the family that I chose. I'm not really into the whole "friends for a season" concept. I've tried it before and it's total crap. I'm definitely in it to win it. This does not mean that my friends don't drive me bananas at times, or that they are these perfect people with perfect lives (they're not), or even that I have not had the same affect on them here and there. Despite all of this, they are, like I said, my "family"... and I love them each in their own way, totally unconditionally. I'm inspired by their strengths and achievements, as well as their faults and failures. I'll never understand how Alexis can put a green sofa, a blue rug, and orange and yellow side chairs in her living room and make it work; it's pretty brilliant. Camille and Beth are business owners that bust their asses and that's just so admirable. Marissa is one of those girls that is so effortlessly cool. Heather is in two bands and gets up on stage... in front of lots of people... on a regular basis. That's just nuts! Kate has the most brilliant sense of humor; sometimes I think it's way too genius for the average person to grasp. Krista and Carrie are new moms, figuring it out and learning something new every step of the way. I know some day I'll be able to call them when I have a crying baby that's making me consider jumping out of a third story window. Then, there's KW, who's practically been there since the beginning. She works in pro bono family law, sews matching aprons for her sister and her nieces, and puts together scrapbooks for all the major events in her life. Isn't there a slot open in the sainthood for people like this?!

So, those are my amazing and inspiring friends in a nutshell. I'm constantly learning from them and they make me want to be a good person and an even better friend. Like I said, I'm very lucky to have them. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by life, like I have no clue wtf I'm doing, but when I think of my remarkable friendships, I kind of feel like I've got it all...

* jackalope and friends