Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Gossip and friendship! My take on the ‘writer’s retreat’


Gossip and friendship! My take on the ‘writer’s retreat’

As anyone who’s familiar with our loop knows I’ve spent the past week away from home and in the company of my amazing friends. I picked the Nicole Austin up at the airport then spent a lovely two hours driving around the hill country while PB (psychotic b*tch GPS) led us to no where over and over again. Nic helpful person that she is just laughed and shook her head. My handy dandy iPhone saved the day and we finally made it where we were supposed to be.
Desiree laughed, Nicole smirked and I gave them both the one finger salute. I love my friends, there’s not a drop of sanity among us.
Dropping off our luggage (Yes, Nic, I have more than you. I always do. It’s part of being a princess) topping off our beverages we hit the road with Desiree. Time to meet up with some more of my favorite people for a lovely pre-birthday dinner. Brenna Zinn & Cerise Deland were waiting for us with a lovely bottle of wine and slightly tipsy smiles. Dinner was delicious, the company even better. Cerise always makes me laugh with her sly wit and razor sharp mind.
Off to Regina’s house we went on Thursday. Long drive in a car filled with four writers, four opinionated writers, four opinionated smart-ass writers who love telling me how to drive. We’re all very lucky I have the patience of a saint ‘cause I did manage to come back with all of them. Even now I have fantasies of dumping duck-tapped bodies out in the middle of nowhere. Believe or not we’re still speaking.
Our destination finally arrived and we all stumbled from my SUV eager to stretch our legs and get the heck away from one another. Regina & her lovely daughter Avery (half-baked) met us at the door warm smiles, comforting hugs & a case of chilled chocolate wine waiting for us. Ahh, the perfect hostess.
Needless to say the next four days passed in a blur of laughter, liquor, and plotting. Then there was the moron who came up with the Dr. Seuss Read-Aloud Porn Hour. Yes, I am that moron. It started off innocently enough. I picked up one of Regina’s many books lying around the house. The author was unfamiliar to me so I flipped through a few pages. Damn me and my unquenchable curiosity! The passage I read was so unique I couldn’t help but point it out to my friends. Five sloshed women fighting over one book didn’t work. Viola, Allie starts to read to them and the rest is history. Before you feel sorry for the author of the book, don’t. We made fun of our own work too. Sex is not attractive or sexy when read out loud. Seriously try it sometime and see how goofy you sound. As to the rest…well there is that pesky blood oath. Can’t violate that or something will explode, fall off or swell up. I can’t afford to have anything else swell on my body. I’m already fighting to keep people from slapping bumper stickers across my butt.
People often wonder how I can call six women I see only four times a year close friends. I say shut up. No, really…I’ve been so blessed by having these ladies in my life, I can’t imagine being without them. There’s a moment when they look at you, you look at them & share that perfect moment and thought. “Where can we hide the body?” The desire for murder of a perfect stranger bonds you in ways others can never understand ☺ So no matter how much time passes between phone calls or visits I never feel awkward or strange when we do meet up again. It’s the natural rhythm of our friendship and we’ve all accepted it.
Moving on, the rest of the time passed much too quickly and before I knew it we were back at Desiree’s house saying goodbye to Brenna. Then it was Nic’s turn to fly back home and soon I’ll be the one leaving.
It’s sad to say goodbye, but I know we’ll all get together again in Ohio. We’ll laugh, plot, drink and drive each other crazy. So if you see us stop by, say hi & share a drink and a laugh. We’re always looking to add new members to our coven or sorority!

16 comments:

Regina Carlysle said...

You described it perfectly. We DO have the perfect friendship despite age differences, various personalities and such. We just click. Perfect. Can't wait to see you all in Ohio!

shelli rodgers said...

rflmao. it sounds like an amazing time. if i manage to get my money and go to romcon what kind of chocolate wine do i need? i have never had it and i know they have different flavors. they sell the wine at my local store and i live 2 hours away and have a huge cooler so it can be cold when i get there lol

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Sounds like a fabulous time. When souls, however demented, click it's a beautiful and powerful thing.

Margie said...

It doesn't take proximity to make friends. In this day and age we are all as close as a phone call or computer hook-up. Let's raise our glasses to good friends, Choco wine and meeting at RomantiCon in September. Cheers!!!

Margie Hager

Harlie Williams said...

I'm so envious. I've never had girlfriends like that ever in my life. In fact, I've only had one friend like that when I was growing up.

Cherish what yall have because it is indeed special.

Glad that yall had fun together.

Allie Standifer said...

Shelli,
The wine is your choice depending on what flavors you like. Personally I drink the plain choco wine. We're going to have to find a room to hide & drink our liquor in :O I really hope you can make it to Romanticon. One of the best conferences out there!

Allie Standifer said...

Well said Vonnie & Margie! I couldn't agree with you more, especially about the demented part!

Allie Standifer said...

Umm Harlie, I hate to break it to you, but I think you're stuck with friends now. We're barely house trained, drink more wine than is good for us, should probably be on high doses of meds, but we're loyal & can legally drink in all 50 states.
Welcome to Club Insanity!

Harlie Williams said...

Tis true...thank you and if there is tequila involved, I'm more than there. LOL! Love the wine and my SIL can put it away, too.

Harlie Williams said...

Also, my earlier post was NOT meant to be a pity party, just the facts. I miss living in a big city and being around people that I have something in common with, going to happy hours after work, shopping on the weekends. You know, girlfriend stuff, even if its with people that I work with.

You guys are the closest thing that I've had in girlfriends ever. I wasn't in a sorority, stayed home for college and worked. Plus, I got burned really bad by girls after high school.

My mother has always said that I intimidate girls because I'm so independant. Nice, huh?

shelli rodgers said...

im hoping i get to make it too. i will get my money in bout 3 weeks lets just hope there are still registration slots open and a room available. i have never had the choco wine so i dont know which one id like lol

Marie Rose Dufour said...

Girlfriends are great! It's truly not about age or proximity, it's all about the connections.

Anonymous said...

LMAO!! Good friends are hard to find. Great friends like what you described is even more rare. Since meeting you and some of the other women in loops and FB, I feel grateful for the fun and ease you've brought into my life. Finally meeting in Ohio will be such a pleasure and crap load of fun!! I can't wait to see all the dementedness in real life. Lol! Without such a warm welcome from people in your coven, I probably wouldn't have had the nerve to go alone.

So glad you guys had such a blast at your gathering, and it was great fun to read the variety of posts throughout your trip!! :0)))))

Elece

Allie Standifer said...

Insanity is contagious so be warned. I know all of us our looking forward to 'meeting' you in Ohio too. Just a few more months before we met up to wreck havoc on the innocent citizens of Akron!

Anonymous said...

I love the whole "the" Nicole Austin thing. LOL! Is it September yet? I'm having issues adjusting back to real life and need another dose of insanity.

Allie Standifer said...

Not yet, but we're getting closer everyday. Just start marking the days off in chocolate ink. If you get desperate enough you can lick the pages :)