Happy Birthday, old friend....

and I meant that in the non-age-discriminatory way of expressing that we've been friends for what seems like decades and is in fact, just about 5 years.

i have celebrated 5 years of birthday revelry with KAT and each year i'm amazed at how much has continued to change in our lives. five years ago we were happy go lucky reporters, both single (although j and i were dating when KAT and i met), both fancy-free (mostly because we were rePO'rters) and celebrated with martinis at bar grand openings and whatever other free passes we could get our hands on.

now things are a little different. she's moved on to be an editor, and i've moved into the corporate world. but somehow, we still manage to get into some goofy antics. here are some highlights over the past five years:

Stop and Shop runs late at night. everyone knows we play setback, although, to be fair, we haven't played like we used to in a long time. now we're content to play two games and call it a night. we did, however, used to have some marathon times that required sustenance. so natch, we got in the car, pulled on our winter hats (in the middle of a fairly warm spring, i believe) and purchased our half gallons of ice cream and whipped cream. at like... 11:30 at night. something most people do in college, that we are still happy to do past 30.

Homecoming 1984. Well not really. In fact, it was actually Halloween 2002. Me, KAT and our friend Erin all raided the goodwill store to find suitable Halloween costumes for hitting a bar costume party. Friends of mine who played in an 80s cover band were playing at the bar, so we went as Homecoming 1984, 1986 and 1987 respectively. The only woman to convince me to wear peach lace in public? KAT.

Mystic 2003. I don't quite remember what the big plan was for this night, but KAT and I decided that we would celebrate the end of summer properly: with a trip to Mystic for dinner and revelrie. Except I'm not sure what happened to the revelrie. The bar was a dud, so we decided to make our own fun by getting touristy sweatshirts, do some window shopping and drive to Rhode Island to get gas, and really just to say that we crossed state lines.

The summer of girls weekends 2004. KAT and some of our other friends put together a couple of kick-arse girls weekends to celebrate my nuptials -- including one that included my being abducted at a CVS. Sadly, we couldn't do the same for KAT, as she works 7 days a week now. But I have high hopes that her work schedule will soon accommodate a vacation (perhaps in the spring) or a road trip.

The wake for Maureen. I'm sure we discussed this, so all I will say about this is "This one's for Maureen!" and 7 and 7's don't mix with tequila.

The Wedding. 2007. We spend a lot of time together, but probably never as much and in such tight quarters as the wedding weekend last month. It's funny, because usually, it's just j that i like waking up with, but there's something about sleepovers with the girls that never goes out of style. but i think when the four of us go on vacation together (which strangely enough, has never happened), we probably won't bunk together.

I wish all of you could have the pleasure of spending the past five years in KAT's company as often as I have been lucky to do. I miss our 3 days a week good times, but I take what I can get. When you're lucky enough to have a friend who's passionate about the people around her and is up for anything as long as it's fun (and if it doesn't sound fun, then she just finds ways to make it fun), you celebrate her as often as you can. But today, on her special day, please help me celebrate her by sharing your favorite KATism.