I grew up with two older brothers, and they are absolutely my two best friends in the entire world. In fact, rarely does a day go by where I don’t hear from either of them. And it’s not always just a goofy text message or a picture of our pets, but I get real person-to-person phone calls and FaceTime calls from them. Because they are just the best.
They’ve taught me a lot of things while growing up. Like how to shoot a jump shot. How to make scrambled eggs. Or how to blend water colors. But I think they’ve taught me a lot of things unintentionally too. Like how to be less dramatic, or how to get your story across before losing your audience 😉 Or just how to be a good person that genuinely cares about how others are feeling. We all lean on each other — and we’ve always been that way. And I’m so thankful that I got to grow up with my best friends.
But I’d be lying if I said I was never just a liiiitttle bit envious of my girlfriends who had sisters. Someone to steal clothes and shoes from. Someone to teach you “how to girl.” Someone to share a room with, even!
Now, for those of you who don’t know this, Alex and I live in a four-plex apartment building. Alex has lived there for all six of his LA years, and I’ve called it my home for the last three. And we’ve had different neighbors move in and out, but currently, we share the building with some of our closest friends. (So close, that sometimes we joke that Alex actually has four wives, not just one. We’re a packaged deal)! It’s not like they were always our closest friends though. In fact, we were all complete strangers upon moving in. Maybe it was the proximity that brought us all closer together, but I’d like to think that we created this sort of whacky little family in our humble little four-plex, because that sort of thing tends to happen when you all find yourselves away from the place you grew up in. We’ve witnessed a lot of each others highs and a lot of each others lows, but we’ve always been there to deal with them in the same way: with a bottle of wine (or two), lots of hugs, and always an open door.
Which got me to thinking the other day, “what if some of us are just blessed with those live-in sisters a lot later in life?” I got mine in my 24th year.
I like to think that by gaining three sisters later in life, we all skipped those awkward teenage years where we probably would have bitten one another’s heads off over stupid little things 😉 And maybe that’s an integral part of sisterhood, but I don’t know, I think we’re doing pretty good over here. There’s something to be said about sisters — they always know when you need a pick-me-up without you even having to say it.
So, to Julie, to Leah, and to Little Laur — I love you gals. I appreciate everything that we share — from our yard, to our families on holidays, and dresses for special occasions. You all make Al and I feel like the two luckiest people on the planet, because we went from moving to a place where we knew no one, to making this place feel like home, and a large part of that is because of you. Thank you for the morning coffee and pup play dates, the home-cooked meals after a long day at work, the shared bottles of wine and cheese plates, the celebrations of obscure holidays, the spontaneous trips to the dive bar across the street, the backyard hangs around candlelight, the karaoke outings and the awful singing to “Stand By Me” that goes along with them, and the weekend getaways that we always look forward to the most. Thanks for always being down to explore the newest Brewery with me; for the days spent at the beach running or just relaxing; for never letting me go too long with a chipped manicure, and for always being the first people we call to explore somewhere new.
So, this is simply a post on gratitude. Because I am thankful that I get to come home from work to find my little family in one of three apartments, sitting around with the dogs, talking about their days, and always welcoming me in with a glass of wine or sparkling water, and usually a meal to go along with it. I am so very thankful for this roof over our heads and all of the people living under it ❤
xox
LAUREN LIVES 