Lunch with a friend

Once or twice a month, when the stars are in alignment and the goddess smiles upon us, my best friend Clover and I have the same day off together with no other commitments. This may sound far fetched and exaggerated, but it is altogether and sadly true. Between both of us working in hotels (where weekends are really the middle of our week), her holding another job, family commitments and other random things that keep us busy, we get to hang out fairly often, but it is rare to have a whole day of BFF time where it is just us.

If you have a BFF, and I hope you do, you recognize the value of this as worth it's weight in gold. No interruptions (except that one client who has my cell phone number of course), no time constraints, no agenda and no pressure. I am extremely blessed to have a few of these from various points in my life, from elementary school, high school, college and of course my mom, who I can hardly go a day without talking to.

As it draws near to my favorite holiday of the year, I just want to give thanks to my friends. You are what makes my life awesome and complete.

As Clover and I realized that we had all the time in the world, we decided to get out of our sweet little town and head up the coast to Santa Barbara where a flash of inspiration on a roadside sign led us to the Santa Barbara Zoo. On a mid week day it is about the most relaxing place to meander around and just talk and look at all the cool creatures. Small enough to make the circuit in about 2 hours and still have plenty of time for wine and lunch before going home.

We saw the gibbon eating

And we saw the penguins eating....

And we saw the gorilla eating....

I know you aren't supposed to stare, but I don't think a camera counts, right? Besides the grass is the most appetizing thing this guy was eating!

And then we saw the giraffe eating..... we have no clue WHAT it was eating.


After a full circuit of the zoo decided to get our own sustenance as we had worked up a powerful hunger in our travels.

We drove to the Santa Barbara Pier and parked on it just like a good tourist does.

Found a hidden wine bar on the second floor of the shops at the end of the pier....wine tasted with a sweet young man who had a hefty pouring hand.

Meandered over to Moby Dick's for a little lunch, which was not so memorable. But who cares when you have your BFF, a view of the harbor and ocean, a glass of wine in hand and a beautiful day with the sun shining on you.

After much good conversation we proceeded home and guess what we did????

Naps are just awesome!

Even when the lunch is kind of forgettable, lunch with a friend is really about the person you had lunch with and in my case, they are unforgettable.

Thank you for being my friends, when can we do lunch????