Katie

I never really got into much trouble as a teenager, but what little I did, it was always with my friend Katie. I'm not going to elaborate, as we're both somewhat established in our respective communities with bosses and parents and friends who don't need to be reading about what naughty things we did when we were in high school, but let's just say that at various points skinny dipping, bonfires, and pepper spray were involved. Katie now lives in Nashville, but this weekend, we were lucky enough to get in some serious, though brief, time together.

It's been about a year since we were last in the same place at the same time, but it never ceases to amaze me how easily we fall back into our comfortable rhythm together. When I picked her up, we hugged, admired one another's new hairstyles, and suddenly it was as if we had seen each other last week. Like many best friends, we have a million private jokes, silly voices and funny stories that we like to relive, but we're equally happy just being together in silence. We spent the evening gossiping, eating dinner and watching trashy television.

At 7:30 this morning, on our way to the Oakland airport, from which Katie would be flying back to Tennessee, we stopped for breakfast, at her request, at Good Luck Dim Sum at 9th Avenue and Clement Street in San Francisco. Katie, a dim sum aficionado, proceeded to order enough dumplings, sesame balls, and pork buns for at least 4 people. When I laughed at her, she explained that she would eat whatever she didn't finish on the plane. So, if you are the poor schmuck who got stuck sitting next to the tiny blond bearing several cartons of dim sum, believe me, you are lucky--and not just because of the name of the restaurant where she got the food. You are fortunate enough to be sitting next to one of the funniest, smartest, most beautiful people in the entire world. But don't piss her off because she will totally take you down--and you will have deserved it.

Love,
Gabi