Every Brunette Needs a Blonde Best Friend

I recently came across this adorable quote & picture on Pinterest and it was just too perfect. The timing was also impeccable and the saying is just so accurate.

I've been lucky enough to grow up across the street from my [blonde] best friend. The pavement between our houses probably needs repair, I still have her home phone number memorized, baking in her kitchen is just like baking in my own, and she knows me just as well as my family. I don't know what my childhood would have been without eating donuts and building igloos on snow days, racing up and down the street on scooters during intense games of Cops 'n Robbers, flooding her sandbox when the temperature finally hit 80 degrees, climbing the sycamore tree in her front yard, setting up homes for our American Girl dolls under my piano, and so much more. We somehow survived AP/IB Biology senior year together, mostly due to our love of White Collar episodes and Espresso Milano coffee getting us through those long nights.

College must have pulled us too far apart as fate decided to reunite us in Italy this semester :) We both have a love for the world and a passion for exploring every inch of it so naturally we dove right in to finding study abroad programs. Chatting about where our next adventures would be, we discovered that we'd be living about three hours apart this spring. Our campuses in Italy are closer than they are here in Michigan! Crazy. She'll be in Florence while I'll be at the American University of Rome.

Sometimes our schedules could not be more opposite, but I've been lucky enough to spend some time with her before we both fly across the Atlantic Ocean! This past week we went skiing in Harbor Springs at Nub's Nob and Boyne Highlands. It was so worth it to brave the cold, windy weather for the beautiful, powdery conditions.

Soon enough we'll be having some 50 degree weather and fully recovered from using a lot of muscles we're not used to! We made a delicious farewell dinner for our parents (the recipe for the yummy pesto chicken can be found here) and finally shopped downtown for "Michigan made" and unique American gifts to bring to Italy. Did you know that Reese's don't exist everywhere?! Hershey is all-American. I suppose I'll get by with delicious European chocolate... According to my brother, Cadbury will be a valid replacement to satisfy my sweet tooth! We both put a jar of peanut butter on our packing list, however, as we may not survive with out that. We also found salt water taffy, peach rings, stickers with the Great Lakes that say "Unsalted & Shark Free", a Michigan mitten pendant, and a Michigan shaped cookie cutter. Hopefully our new friends will like them :)

We haven't planned our visits to each other's new homes, but they'll be on the calendar soon enough. I can't wait to share and compare pictures, stories, and memories with this girl. Love you, Cath! Arrivederci :)

P.S. You can keep up with her adventures by following Pages of the World.