Claire Bidwell Smith

This is just a post to say that I love my friends.

The other day my friend Dina came over to check out the work we'd been doing on the nursery and before leaving we ended up standing by the stairwell, chatting idly. At one point she glanced down at our untidy pile of mail and the just-opened pair of Jean Straps sitting on top of it and said, "Oh, you got some jean straps? Those seem really cool."

"Oh, yeah, my friend Erin actually makes these and sent them to me," I replied.

"Wait," Dina said, "you KNOW the chick who created Jean Straps?"

"Yes, yes, I do," I replied, suddenly feeling cool.

Anyway, so Erin Healy, one of the creators of Jean Straps is a friend of mine from California and a couple of weeks ago she sent me a pair of said straps to check out and, oh how I love them.

Remember how this is the winter that's going to be different than all the other Chicago winters I've survived? How I got the perfect puffy coat and lots of travel plans, and did I mention that I found a pair of boots that I love? Well, I did, and I've been wearing them for like three months straight. And now, NOW, that I have the Jean Straps the picture is complete. Seriously, I feel like I can actually see the light lack of snow at the end of the tunnel. I think everyone should have a pair of these.

Anyway, back to my cool friends. I know Erin because her husband Rob and I volunteered through 826 in Houston with Hurricane Katrina survivors. It was an intense and amazing experience, the kind that makes someone you only spent 5 days with a friend for life, just because those five days were so harrowing and unforgettable and there are only a handful of people who shared them with you, thus ensuring that you have to know them for the rest of your life.

Rob was smart enough to convince Erin to marry him this past fall and I'm very happy for them. And for my snug jeans inside my boots.

The funny thing is that this is the second time in the last couple of months that Dina has said to me, "Wow, you know so-and-so?" Again, just writing that makes me feel cool. The first time she said this was when I mentioned that my new friend Ashley Alexander would be coming to our holiday party.

"Wait," Dina said, "you KNOW Ashley Alexander?"

"Yes, yes I do," suddenly feeling cool.

Ashley is an artist and Dina and her husband Alex actually have several of her prints in their home. Anyway, I met Ashley through a friend last year and she recently gifted us a beautiful print that we're going to hang in the nursery (if we EVER figure out a frame for it). She says it's because she enjoys reading my blog so much, but I can't really believe that any of these words are worthy of such a lovely present.

Anyway, I feel like this is the longest, craziest post I've written in a long time. The whole time I've been writing this I've been sitting in a coffee shop next to my friends Sandy and Sarah (again, cool people that make me feel cool because I know them) and the three of us have been unable to get concentrate because a ridiculous scene has been playing out at the table next to us involving a very sweet seeming, but very nerdy guy trying desperately to pick up a pretty cute redhead. Sandy, Sarah and I have been going back and forth about it all on gchat for the better part of the last 45 minutes — and it's made laugh and, in a strange way, feel slightly happier and more carefree than I have in a while. Probably because I feel like I'm in middle school and not in a coffe shop, drastically late for work and the towering to-do list I have to complete today.

Anyway, off to work. Happy Thursday! Enjoy my scattered-sure-to-be-typo-riddled post.