Tuesday, May 6, 2014

a toast to best friends: homemade scoops and cinnamon rolls


me and my bff: the era of awesome


Let's be honest: there is nothing as wonderful as best friends.

The story of best friendship is epic and everlasting, it's tragic and it's beautiful, it's tormented and resilient. It's full of jokes and memories and victories and confessions.
Best friendship, in many ways, is what a romance should be -- through those trials and tribulations, you have each other's back. It's a relationship that lasts. For life.

Which is probably why I took it so hard when a beautiful little show called (appropriately) Best Friends Forever was cancelled by NBC last year, after a measly 6 episodes. Measly but potent, meaningful, sweet, wonderful, friendly.

I think one of the reasons it resonated with me and my BFF so much was that the show highlighted everything about our lives and our relationship. Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair created this show from deep within their own real-life best friendship, and it totally showed.
It was a show that focused on the love, rather than the cattiness, the mean-girlness, and the backhanded "joking" that comedies so often use when illustrating the friendships of women. It was truly about being there for each other, being honest with one another, loving each other, and going through the best and the worst of times...together. 

If I could have a chance to write a note of goodbye, one last tribute to this show, it would probably go something like this:

Dear BFF,

My Wolverines chair has been deflated ever since you left. 
I've felt like nothing but a baby -- a DUMB DUMB BABY -- without you in my life. Remember the good times? The homemade scoops, the hot cashew breath, the steely mags. 
It all had to end, Fatal Blowout style, because the seats were a bit distant from the stage and people like short bangs cause they're broken in the head and LeRoi LeBaller isn't a real critic. 
I meant what I said, that where you go, I follow.
But ignore the butt dials, and my confessions of wearing swimsuit bottoms (which is unhealthy, those trap moisture), and the day-long baths with my Lilith Fair double disc. 
Because here it is: it's time to get out of these sad khakis. To get back to my fighting weight. To put a pin in the cinnamon rolls, cinch that waist, and move on. 
Maybe to a candle shop in the birkshires, or to a restaurant where I can serve up sweet meats and cougaritas. It's time for me to have a life of razzle-dazzle, to have my moment in the sun. To be the Braveheart of my own story, to tell the sons and daughters of Scotland that they are free!

Thanks for everything, though. Done and done. We're all in the tub now. 
I love you guys.

Caitlin


If you didn't understand a word of that, invest a few hours to watch those treasured 6 episodes and you'll be up to speed.

The bright side and the good news of this entire thing is that Lennon and Jessica are still BFFs, and they're still going strong. And the really good news? After waiting and wishing and hoping, they have created a brand new show for us which just premiered last week!
It's called Playing House, and centers around Maggie (played by Lennon) and Emma (played by Jessica).
Emma leaves her prestigious career in China to move back to her tiny hometown to be with her very-pregnant best friend Maggie, who is going through a devastating separation from her husband.
Along with a host of other fantastic characters (and some gnomes), they will be figuring out how to raise a baby together in this delightful comedy about life and love and facing your hometown demons.

The new episode airs tonight on USA, 10/9c. Give best friendship a chance. 




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