Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Happy Birthday, Queen Elizabeth!

...And no, her name is not actually Queen Elizabeth...or even Elizabeth, for that matter. But she has always felt like my big sister, even when we shared the most coveted room in the sorority house (corner room, second floor, with an air conditioning unit. One of the few perks of being the House Manager was getting to pick your room before anyone else. Well, and getting to pick your roommate. Queen E lobbied harder for that job than anyone else. I like to reward hard work.)


I was obnoxiously distant during my last two years in the sorority. I blame The Psychopath (AKA ex-fiance #2) for this noticeable absence. When he told me that if I got drunk on my 21st birthday, he would leave me, I should have taken it for the flashing red sign that it was. But I was young and in love and incredibly stupid. Queen E stuck by me on my 21st and for all the days following, even when I didn't come home for weeks on end and debt collectors were calling to hound me about bills unpaid. Today, that wouldn't be a problem for Queen E, but this was before cell phones, when the only number they had was our land line. And they liked to start calling around 7 AM.

We fell out of touch why my life fell apart, as hard as I tried to keep it all together. Note to any tweens or teens reading this: if you think a guy may be ruining your life or if you sense that you are not the woman you were before you met him, give back all the jewelry and the football jersey and run for the hills. He's not worth it. It's not worth it. The first sign will be when he asks you to cancel plans with your girlfriends so that the 2 of you can eat Donato's Pizza on his couch and watch The Matrix for the 15th time. But somehow, we found a way to connect back up, even before Facebook came along. I attended her wedding, visited her in Chicago, she came down to Kentucky, and the friendship that we should have had in college began to take root. Eventually, she was a bridesmaid in my wedding and we attended her daughter's christening.

Today, she turns 25. Again. It is a lady's prerogative to never tell how many times her BFF has celebrated 25, as long as she can still pass. And she absolutely can.

And because she's a Virgo, too, and we both love lists, here's one for you, Queen E!

Reasons why Queen Elizabeth rocks my little Virgo world:
1. She can laugh about The Psychopath Years...now.
2. She is 199% honest. Even brutally. But I depend on that, especially when I'm making major life decisions.
3. I would have never been able to set a wedding date if it hadn't been for her.
4. She finds great deals on photo printing, jeans, make up, shoes, wine and everything in between. And she shares it with me so I can shop, too!
5. When I spend too much on our shopping trips in Chicago, she lets me blame it on her.
6. She is one of the few people who will wander aimlessly around The Container Store with me for hours....and then help me recreate it all from what we find at IKEA.
7. She loves a plan. And hates it when a plan changes. It's like we were separated at birth.
8. She introduced me to pinot grigio and Jen Lancaster. That alone is worth Lifetime BFF Status.
9. In the past few years we have had: amazing seats at a White Sox/Red Sox game (as in, a player's wife was seated directly in front of us), countless dinners at Maggiano's, tickets to my first ever hockey game (GO Blackhawks!), tickets to The House of Blues Gospel Brunch (totally worth every penny...but get there early for extra mimosas!), trips to the beach, trips to distilleries, and trips down memory lane. And that's just what springs to mind during my first cup of coffee...
10. Our birthdays are exactly 2 weeks apart and that means we are pretty much twins.

Happy Birthday, Queen Elizabeth! I hope you get all of the wine, chocolate, and Coach you wanted! I'm sorry you're there and I'm here, but I will make it up to you one of these days!
xoxo

16 comments:

  1. How sweet! Friends like this are so hard to find. My BFF is also an old sorority sister who also still laughs about my ex. I wouldn't trade her for the world....happy birthday to your bud!!

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  2. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUR FRIEND!!!!! She sounds awesome! And happy almost birthday to you. And happy almost half birthday to me. Because it's on the same day, ya know.

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  3. All Hail and Happy Birthday from one Queen to another!!! Wine....yeppers, got some chilling in the fridge.

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  4. I LOVE THIS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY QUEEN E!!!

    I love that you have a rich history and have stood by each other. Pyscho Ex Fiance's who are possessive and annoying are the worst! I was once in that young and dumb club, we should totally start a "WE'RE BETTER NOW BECAUSE OF THIS" group!

    Happy Almost birthday to you! ox

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  5. Oh, man, can I relate to the young and "in love" bits, there... sigh... One of the few things I miss (not regret, though) about going a non-traditional college route is not being a part of a sorority. Still, at the 10 year high school reunion I met up with a girl I barely knew in school and we've become quite close. All in all, not a bad trade ;-)

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  6. Happy Birthday Queen Elizabeth!

    Happy (pre)Birthday to you!

    I'd like to second the all you can eat buffet of wine, chocolate and Coach wish.

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  7. Everyone needs a "QE" in their lives---thanks for reminding me how much and why I love mine!!! Happy B-day, Allyson's BFF!!

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  8. Thank you Allyson and all of Allyson's blog friends, it has been a wonderful day. All of what Allyson said was true, however, it takes 2 to have our friendship like our's so she deserves half the credit. Al - the cake was from Plehn's, bloody mary's instead of wine and ipod touch instead of coach. Ask Mama Virgo to grab us some peach graeter's for October!

    xoxo
    QE

    PS... My present to you, an easy appetizer for potlucks... cut dill spears in 1/2, coat in plain yogurt, roll in panko breading and bake at 375 until they start to brown. Serve with chipotle ranch. YUM

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  9. I love friends that let me blame stuff on them!

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  10. Um, she sounds pretty much amazing and totally fabulous! A huge happy birthday to her - we virgos are the best, aren't we?

    Shoot me an email - I tried to find yours in my saved contacts but I can't =-( Gmail's been mean to me lately. Then I can give you my address =-) Yay!

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  11. A great post to your friend, hope she had a wonderful birthday!! And yay for those awesome White Sox / Red Sox seats!!

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  12. Aw, what a wonderful friend! I definitely have one of those stuck-by-you-even-when-you-were-dating-the-biggest-mistake-of-your-life friends. They are a treasure never to be underestimated. I'm glad you had one when you needed it!

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  13. Any friend that will let you blame your shopping sprees on them is a friend for life!

    Does this mean your birthday is two weeks from yesterday? These are things I must know.

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  14. Great post. Glad you were able to reconnect, even pre-Facebook. Really strong friendships are just soooo rewarding!

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  15. What a sweet post to your friend :) It's so important to have friends like this--through it all, these lasting friendships are what life is all about. Happy birthday, Queen E!

    And happy almost birthday to you!!

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