My Huckleberry Friend...

Happy Sunday, weirdos!

Sitting in bed with Lottie (who is snoring), wondering why my head has to hurt even though I didn't finish that final glass of wine last night.  Getting old is the worst.

Anyways, remember in my last blog how I said to stay tuned for why I was excited for my 3 day domestic trip coming up (and you know it has to be something legit if I am getting excited to do work)?  Well, I had a layover in San Jose...which means I GOT TO SEE KATIE!!!!!

Katie is my best friend.  To be more specific, she is my huckelberry friend.  What, you ask is a "huckelberry friend"?  In the most basic terms, it means that they aren't just good friends...they are friends that have known you for years & have stuck by you & loved you NO MATTER WHAT.  I find it fitting that I use this term for her because it is taken from the song "Moonriver", which always reminds me of her due to the fact that 1) it is from "Breakfast At Tiffany's" and we both share an obsession with the movie 2) the song is sung by Audrey Hepburn, who is one of our mutual faves & someone we bonded over early in our friendship (I think of Katie every day I wake up and walk downstairs because the Audrey canvas that once hung in her apt now hangs here).  No other term could describe her better.

Katie & I met 6 years ago, when I was still working for a regional carrier named Mesaba.  Scheduling had called me at an ungodly hour to throw me on a trip and I was dreading it.  Until I walked onto the CRJ900 I would be sharing with another FA for 4 days and met this gal:

Baby Katie the day I met her

As soon as we introduced ourselves to each other, I knew it was going to be a blast.  We bonded over our mutual love of "Charlie's Angels" during our first flight & it was all downhill from there.  To date, it is still one of the best trips I have ever had in my career.  We never stopped having fun. Our crew had a long NYC layover, and our pilots had never been out in the city (whhhaaattt??), so we let them tag along on our fabulous adventure.  I could write an entire blog about just that one summer day and all of the funny stories.  Maybe another day.

Times Square

After that trip, Katie and I became buddies. We enjoyed the same things: thrifting, nail polish, pasta, hating on stupid people, baby animals, personal style, makeup, sitting on the couch binge watching trashy tv...the list could go on and on.  Through the years, Katie became my best friend.  The kind of best friend that becomes family; mostly because she decided she loved the Zell's and would be related whether we wanted it or not.  After awhile, we sort of forgot she wasn't haha.  One year I remember sitting in my hotel on Easter Sunday and texting her to see where she was at and the message back said "over at your parents for dinner".  All I could do was shake my head and smile.  Friends who bond with your family and friends on that level are hard to find.  It is to the point that she isn't just MY friend; she has her own relationships with the friends and family she met through me.  She saw me through some of the worst times of my life, especially when Cassie was sick - and always knew what to say to help my troubled mind.  Or sometimes knew that I didn't want to say anything, but would sit on the couch with me eating cupcakes, binge watching Johnny Depp movies until it seemed like a good idea to go get Kool Aid at midnight to dye my hair (because we saw it on Pinterest & clearly it was a good idea....nailed it).  I watched her go from Miss Johns to Mrs. Canlas as I stood by her side at the court house in San Francisco, signing the papers as her Witness.

In a nutshell, I cannot define what Katie's friendship means to me.  Truly, I would be lost without her.  In a world where people these days just suck, I know we can count on each other to not.  Never have I doubted that she wants the best for me always - and is honest with me, even if she is afraid it might hurt my feelings or make me upset.  To me, that's the epitome of a real friend.  It shouldn't be hard to find people like that in life, but it sure is!

After Katie married Mark in August 2014, he whisked her off to San Jose (where he is a pilot for Virgin America).  My heart burst with happiness for Katie, all the while it was breaking for me.  My best friend was moving to the other side of the country.  I told her recently that I knew we spent an extreme amount of time together, but never realized how much until she was gone.  How lucky am I though to be in this industry and know that she is just a 4 hour flight away?  Better yet, I get to see her on my San Jose & (sometimes) San Fran layovers.  If it weren't for my job, I wouldn't have probably even met her super adorable 6 month old son (Ian) yet.  If you are wondering, yes I refer to myself as Aunt Ang.  Duh.

Alright, back to the original topic at hand...my layover and the excitement I felt since I had plans with Katie.  My plane landed around noon & after a quick pit stop at the hotel to check in and refresh (and let's be real, charge my phone that I am always on), I was picked up by the Canlas crew.  They took me to check out this amazing place where you build your own bibimbap.  For dessert we grabbed macaroon ice cream sandwiches.  MACAROON.  ICE CREAM.  SANDWICHES!!!

Taking advantage of the fact that it was 76 degrees outside (that was tough to type as I am sitting here in MI staring at the slushy snow coming down outside), we then headed to the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden.  Which did NOT disappoint.  The second I stepped out of the car I was hit by the heavenly smell of roses.  The rest of the day all I could think of was the tune "Painting The Roses Red" from Alice in Wonderland.  So badly wanted to yell "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS", but refrained.  Mostly so I didn't scare Ian.

Afterwards we strolled down Santana Row and checked out the shops, then grabbed some tea. By far my favorite part of the day was the fact that Aunt Ang didn't get just one smile from Ian, but 2!  They were hard won; he's a tough sell.  He has yet to figure out that I'm a sucker (just ask Laila about Aunt Ang), but once he does I am done for. All in all it was a perfect little afternoon.  The best news of the day was that Alaska Airlines has officially purchased Virgin America (again, where Mark works).  You know what this means?  Katie can use her flight benefits ("marry me and fly for free" is a real thing) to now fly to DTW!!!  This wasn't an option before since it is not a route for Virgin;  meaning it will be easier for her to come back this way...which means I GET TO SEE HER MORE OFTEN!!!!!!  Things are so lonely around Michigan without Katie. My life is always busy it seems, yet I have been very blah of late.  Sure, I have tons of friends and love all of them, but my relationship with Katie is special.  One time we joked that basically I just wanted to date the male version of her...she is my biggest fan, tells me all the time how fabulous I am (especially when I am feeling unfabulous), calls when she says she will, texts throughout the day, thoughtful, sensitive, and I can sit around in my yoga pants and no makeup with her all day and not worry what she thinks.  However, when you break it down, she filled that void for years while I took time off from dating too seriously while other (more important) things demanded my time and attention.  Right after she moved I got into a serious relationship, and it wasn't until it ended back in October that I fully understood how inseparable we really were.  Now is the first time it's has been a few months of being truly single (for any of you hot, also single guys out there reading this right now...heeeyyyy) since she moved away & I have more free time on my hands than normal...and it feels...bizarre. I knew I missed her...but lately I have REALLY MISSED HER. You see, being lonely can be an occupational hazard for a Flight Attendant.  Sure, we are surrounded by people all day long...but typically they are all strangers.  Then you get home and everyone is busy with their own lives.  Or they just assume you are out flying because you seem to never be home, so they forget to get ahold of you to do stuff.  Don't even get me started on attempting to date as a Flight Attendant.  That is a different blog for a different day for sure!  Being able to see my bestie (who totally understands the life of an FA because she lived it and can empathize with how it feels), give her a hug, and just hangout for a few hours was an amazing feeling.  I needed it.  It broke up the 3 day trip and made it seem like less of a work thing.

How things could have been so different in both of our lives if the Mesaba FA who was originally scheduled to work that trip all of those years ago hadn't called in sick.  I wouldn't have met the young lady who would one day be one of the most important people in my life.  Pretty sure I wouldn't be the person I am today without my Huckelberry Friend.

Katie's baby shower
June 2015

XJ Days

Seems about right...

Strawberry Field on our first trip together.  The first of many adventures to come!

"Two drifters off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end
Waitin' round the bend
My Huckleberry friend
Moon River and me"  ~ "Moonriver", Audrey Hepburn