Bri and Carly

Last night, I hit the town with one of my best friends in the world. We went to see "The Holiday" (which was really a warm and lovely movie). We then went to The Macaroni Grill for dinner, and got completely sloshed drinking martinis, spending well over 2 hours catching up over salads and huge bowls of chicken pasta. We then hopped over to the Buffalo Club on Granville Street to see a (decent) punk band play, before retiring back to her downtown condo for a girl's only sleepover.

What can I say about this friend that will convey how wonderful she is? We bonded instantly when we were working together in Toronto at a restaurant, spending long nights with gossip, laughter, hangman and deep conversation. I have never met anyone who is so much like me - we're both positive, bubbly, happy and social people. We have the same taste in movies, music and nail polish colours ... but beyond the exterior, we also share the same philosophy on life, love and our futures. We spent so much time together last summer in the Beaches and I was grateful to have a new friend in my life.

Needless to say, I was wrecked when she moved back to Vancouver (her home and mine) to pursue her career as a restaurant manager. It's been 4 months since she left, and Toronto hasn't been the same without our adventures together, shopping at the market, cooking together, watching sex and the city or going to see random bands playing in random bars.

Finding and keeping female friends is so hard. I have had many girlfriends in my life, most of whom I have lost touch with when one of us gets caught up in a relationship, gets married or moves to a new city. Females ... I dunno. There's just something about my relationships with girls that has always been different from my relationships with boys. All of my 'best' friends have been boys. Girls tend to judge you, tend to be jealous of you, tend to talk about you behind your back (I know ... because I am one,and have done such things although I'm not proud of it). Girls compete with each other, which I always found really hard to handle.

Carly and I haven't had any of those problems. We cheer each other on when we succeed and demand that we pick our asses up and try again when we fail. I know her weaknesses and she knows mine and we love each other anyway. No one has ever been less judgemental of me- she is on my side 100% when one day I want to move back to Calgary and teach and the next day I'm thinking of opening my own theatre school in Toronto. Her response is always the same "I love it!".

Having a friend like her, I love it too.