Friends, Food & Festivals.

So many friends, both in real life & social media life, have been taking the time to check in with me, offer listening ears, send cards and condolences or just take the time to physically be present with me. It has definitely been hard lately, but regardless I know I have to continue to push through. After all the family have gone their separate ways, the calls do begin to lessen and the process of moving on begins. It's in these moments that sometimes people need you the most to just make sure everything is still okay....

This past week I spent a lot of time with friends. One of my girlfriends randomly texted me & asked if I had plans Wednesday night. She had an extra ticket to the D'Angelo concert and wanted me to join her. To say I was excited would be an understatement.. He put on a wonderful show & just spending time with her and a few other positive ladies really set the tone for the remainder of my week.

I actually received a lot of random texts last week.

I'm usually not a complainer (especially not on Facebook), but at some point I must admit I felt as if I had reached my breaking point. I posted a status that warranted a large outpouring of responses. Some positive, some commiserating in agreement & others taking the tough love approach to get me out of my feelings. One of my guy friends told me that despite how I was feeling, I had to go on & continue to press forward. There is still a legacy to be continued... I can't give up now.

After he slid into my text messages to expand on what he meant by his tough love response, I really did begin to feel better. Almost an obligation in a sense.....

Because despite how it may feel, there is still life left to be lived.

As the week progressed, additional friends reached out to me.
One stated he had tickets to an event on Friday night & wanted met come with him, and two others wanted to meet for dinner or happy hour. I was able to consolidate all three of those requests and we ended up at Max's Wine Dive for a late happy hour/early dinner. I figured all three would mesh personality wise, aside from the fact that they all didn't know each other. Fortunately I was correct in my assumption....

We ate, drank, talked about life & shared testimonies on the various ups & downs/trials tribulations that are reality for us all. After we ate, we all four left to head over to the event. There were performers and booths set up promoting different events & products. We enjoyed drinking some more, mingling among the crowd and listening to the live music. We grabbed food from a truck outside at the end of the night and went our separate ways.

I'm pretty sure I would have spent my Friday night alone, with too many thoughts but I am so grateful for them ALL for actually wanting to spend time with me.... A much welcomed, yet out of the blue evening.

Another friend & I had planned to spend Saturday at a trunk show, then finish our evening at the 1st Annual Fresh Dark Festival. We learned about both events via social media, and wanted to do something different outside of reading and Netflix the entirety of the day. We were both feeling lazy, so pushed our meet-up time back a few hours. While I was trying to figure out what to wear my best friend from high school randomly sent me a message. She was on my side of town and wanted me to come meet up with her. I hurried up and got dressed, met up with her and to my surprise she had baked chocolate chip cookies for me. So sweet and unexpected.

We parted ways, and I pre-gamed with my friend & then eventually made it drunk to Fresh Dark Fest. The Fresh Dark Festival is a music festival celebrating bohemians, consciousness & free spirits. There was a full line up of performers, visual artist doing a live painting, jewelry and tons of positive energy. I enjoyed every minute of it. We sat outside watching some of the performers for a few minutes, and as it seems to be the theme for my week I got a random text from another high school friend whom I had not seen in years stating he had seen my check-in on Facebook and was in the area. He came to meet us and that made the night even more enjoyable.... I was joined by my best friends little sister later in the night & we all just enjoyed the energy and the people.

I also decided that I wanted to give up being an attorney, and devote my life to being a hippie.... Joking, but not really.

So many beautiful people & beautiful vibes........

It was a much needed deviation from the norm.

My Sunday has been low key, a much needed rest from a busy week and weekend.

I gave my daddy his gift for Father's Day & was blessed with a miraculous nap. Now I am shifting my focus towards getting ready to face this next week.

I'm grateful to be loved. I'm grateful for living.

Most of all, I'm grateful for the random moments that mean more to you than others probably would ever imagine.

I guess I am just grateful.

Surprisingly, these were not the only random outpourings of love I received. A friend randomly bought me a Groupon for an on-line novel writing course, and I talked to a very dear to me friend whom I met through blogging years ago. I received a card in the mail & numerous other visitors to my inbox. It is truly a great feeling to know that after it is all said & done there are people in your corner willing to go the extra mile to let you know how much they care...

True gratitude.