Where do I begin???

thank you for bein' a friend.

Wow, i'm whelmed.

I appreciate the support with the Duchess. Working out will be my biggest struggle because it is absolutely gross out this time of year and it's hard to work out at home because my roommate and Collin probably don't want to watch me doing squats in the living room when they could be watching the history channel. But I will have to work it out.

Kevin, I have a hard time picturing you swimming at the Y. Do they let you smoke while doing laps?

On another note I am feeling very loved today! I had a long, stressful, tiring day at work (we are gearing up for black friday and i feel like i'm running a marathon) and then i got home and read ann's blog and now i am very happy. My birthday always falls near Thanksgiving and I guess that's good because it helps me reflect on what I am always the most thankful for. I am very lucky to have the greatest friends on the planet!!! I shall give you all the summary, and it's long, so bear with me.

I met Pete, Safin and Jeff the first day of college. actually, the first hours at college. Sarah won me over with the fact that she was wearing a Beastie Boys tshirt and got me drunk that night on the rum she smuggled in. pete and jeff made me laugh and i think we even met reese that night, and we went "gambling" at that stupid casino night thing. I already knew Alli from high school and it seems so odd that we are all so close and that reese and alli live together now (how strange how fate works). i love the fact that we are all friends still and even though we don't talk often,when we do it feels like I just saw them yesterday.

I met Ann and Kevin through pete and i thought ann hated me at first. it turns out her chinky eyes are very off-putting and makes it look like she's scowling when she's really not. once i got to know ann i loved her! me, her, pete and kevin would hang out for hours at rodrigues-laughing, drinking coffee, chain smoking, thinking of porn titles and plotting our vegas excursion. I also met jenny at this time and we would practically live at kevin's apartment (and later star in our very own Behind the Summer).

ann became my roomie after safin and i participated in the Asian Exchange Program. ann and i would sit in our room and she would film my "gooch confessionals" and we would play "Jumpin'" and "could Jew only take my picture" on repeat. she would feed me pancakes at 3 am and I would yell at her for making us keep the window open in the winter, causing icicles to form on the window and me to freeze my ass off while i slept. the last time i saw ann she got to see Jack and unfortunately he was not in a good mood. although it was soooooo nice to see her I wish i could see her more often.

I could go on and on about all of my friends and how much they all mean to me but ultimately they were and are a part of my family. Shirl picked lice from my hair. me and jenny and kevin have had so many adventures in the city. ryan and i got to toss vhs porno tapes at leah's head. safin and I went to countless sample sales. pete and i would dance to britney. jeff and i went on dangerous late night journeys for weed in the bronx. the list goes on and on.

all i know is that i've lived in a nice house, a shitty apartment and everything in between. I've had more money than I knew what to do with and been so broke i couldn't even take the subway. i've had good times and bad times. all sorts of jobs. within four years i graduated college, got married and had a kid. But although I live very far away from those who mean so much to me, and although it hurts my heart to see all of them hang out and have a good time when I wish i was there, i know that they haven't forgotten about me.

chris and collin both agree that none of their friends would say the nice things about me that you guys have. at the end of the day i know that all i have to do is think of a funny memory from college or an inside joke and it will still make me chuckle. i definitely have the bestest friends in the world! Thanks for an awesome birthday!