We'll always have Target

This week’s Friendship Friday post is about L.R.

I met L.R. on MySpace in 2007. She came up a bunch of times on my high school alumni’s page, so I checked out her page. It turned out that she went to the same high school and college as I did (different years though) and moved to NY around the same time I moved to NJ. I e-mailed her to share these fun facts and found out that she lived down the road from us in Illinois. Coincidence? I was surprised we had never run into each other since we both frequently ate at Yen Yen and Lou Malnati’s.

A few weeks later, she came out to meet me in NJ and we had a fun girl’s day at the mall. We got to know each other better during that time. A few months later, she met up with my husband and me in NYC and we just got coffee and walked around trying to find a place that had billiards. In January of 2008, she came over to visit and finally got to meet my older son. She was even so kind as to get him a gift. She won him over immediately! That afternoon, we went to Target and it was like taking her to an amusement park. She doesn’t get to go to Target that often since she lives in the city, so she had fun stocking up on what she needed. I got a new joy out of going to Target (a regular thing for me) by seeing it though her eyes. (Although I suppose I’m the same way when I go to Wal-Mart when I’m in Illinois.) After that, it was hard to coordinate schedules very often. She came up to NJ for another Target day in June and got to meet my younger son. Then my older son and I had lunch with her in August when we were in the city. After that, we didn’t see her until December, when we had a latke and pizza party at her apartment.

Last year, we also only hung out a handful of times. Once for another Target day and once to have her over for Shabbat lunch. L.R. is a chef, but we wanted to cook a meal for her. She’s usually cooking enough for her job, so we thought she’d enjoy letting someone else do the work. We were glad to have her over for a meal and brought out our best work in an aim to impress. She’s also the one who gave me the fabulous challah recipe which I make all the time.

L.R. is a strong female figure in my life. I admire her thirst for adventure and ability to just pick up and move without a second thought. She knows what she wants and goes for it. She reminds me of the girls on “Sex and the City.” She knows how to go out and have a good time and isn’t sitting and waiting around for Prince Charming. Every time I go to her Facebook page, she has new pictures of something fun she did with her friends. I love that she had the ambition to become a chef and just went for it. I wish her success in her career. I’m glad I became friends with her in such an interesting way. She is incredibly sweet and a lot of fun to talk to. Her friendship has enriched my life.

She was one of my few real “girlfriends” when I lived in NJ and I was sad to leave her behind when I moved. I just hope she’ll “follow” us again and move to DC someday. Until then, she knows she’s always welcome for a visit and that we’d love to see her again. No matter how far apart we live or where our lives take us, we’ll always have Target!