Girls Night

“Qu’est ce que c’est Girls Night?”

“What do you mean, ‘What’s Girls Night?’ Wait, do they not do that in France? It’s--ya know--girls night! No?.” Hmm, How do I explain this to you in French? “It’s when a group of girl friends go out. Restaurant, bar, club, whatever. Just the girls. No guys… It means that I’m not free tonight.”

It means that Alicia Keys is touring Lyon; that we plan to pass the night at Cosmopolitan Bar, dancing to everything pop, trendy, and Lady Gaga induced; that Sex and the City 2 is finally debuting in France; that I don’t intend to hold back my enthusiasm about any of those for any guy.

Aside from Ms. Alicia Keys (or A-lee-see-a Keys, as the French say) forgetting to invite me up on stage to partake in a duet, the concert was-- you guessed it-- amazing. Dancing the night away at Cosmopolitan Bar was a triumphant success, though I’m pretty sure everyone was hoping I’d stop “singing” (But I’ll worry about then when I relinquish the denial that I really can’t carry a tune). As for the Sex and the City, well, I think my friend Rachel hit the nail on the head when she commented, “It’s a fairy tale life of four bff's with a dollop of Prada and a dash of Manolo that only results in me being bitter about love for no reason at all ….Maybe the bitterness is at the outfits and the ability of these women to look perfectly coiffed 24 hours a day. Then again, this is the work of an army behind the scenes …..”

Maybe it’s true about the fairy tale, because aside from The Kardashians and The Housewives of (Fill in your appropriate city here), I don’t know any posse of women who 1.) Have time to meet for daily lunch martinis 2.) Stop on the way home to purchase 400 dollar pairs of shoes with a columnist’s salary, and 3.) Have one night stands with men that are actually that climatic. But, whatever, maybe it is bitterness.

Not to give it all away up front but the film may have been lacking a little bit of substance. Okay fine, it was lacking all substance and could be summed up as a two hour advertisement for Abu Dhabi, exorbitant footwear, Trojan condoms, and the much-expired-though-let’s-give-her-some-credit-for-trying-to-make-a-comeback-in-that-black-sequin-number-Liza Minnelli. But it was flashy. It was fun. And if being entertained by sparkles, sex and style for 120 minutes is wrong, well then, I don’t want to be right. Plus, I should be allowed one gluttonous day out of the year because for the other 364 days (leap year excluded), I’m pretty grounded. It’s all about balance.

Furthermore, and this is the point: We spend our Saturday nights and 7 Euros seeing those types of movies because albeit superficial, it’s a reminder that life would be pretty drab without friends. And if you’re fortunate enough to have the type of friends who comfort and console, raise your spirits and then their wine glass, make you laugh, make you think, make you care packages, and make a foster home for your dog when you’re away, then you, my friend, are pretty lucky.

I’m lucky. The people I’m friends with are quite extraordinary and they have impeccable taste; after all, they do hang out with me ;) Some are oldies but goodies and go back to the days of daycare and spandex shorts. Others are newcomers, equally great. The ladies I’m friends with are well informed, fiercely committed, and mindfully sound. They’ve been through marriages, divorces, and the Nordstrom’s sale rack on more than a few occasions. They laugh, they cry, they get frustrated and they get even. They run marathons, race for cures and walk off their dessert. They’ve broken hearts, broken nails, broken diets, and at times, been emotionally broken down. But above all else, every single one of my remarkable friends, if asked on a moment’s notice, can use the correct tense of “your” versus “you’re”. .. And really, what more would you want in a friend?!

So if there’s one thing that this au pair gig has taught me, it’s that real friends are well, really indispensible. To all of my incredible friends near and far, Thanks.


Gratitude:

• I feel the need to brag that I'm going to Mont Blanc tomorrow. No, Rachel, I will not be visiting the pen factory.

• Congratulations to my newly engaged friend who is giving me a say in which bridesmaid dresses I absolutely will not wear!
• I'm going to England in 3 weeks!


• My little cousin is graduating high school next week! Congratulations Cathryn!


• I'm going to bed.