sistah, you been on mah mind

gurl getaways are still the best, even at age 30. probably better now, as the years advance. my two best sorority sistahs, Ru and Nacki, are always good for some nice r&r time. we took a notorious roadtrip to new orleans for mardi gras in 2001, but aside from that, most of our journeys have been to visit each other in our respective cities of choice. Nacki and her husband live in a western 'burb of da lou and Ru is holed up in philadelphia. we seem to get in two visits annually now as the trio with different pairs of us hooking up periodically. i hung out with Nacki during thanksgiving last year in da lou and both the ladies came to visit me in the chi the previous march. i got to catch up with Ru during a philly business trip in february 04, but the last time we'd convened together on the east coast was august 2003, so we decided it was time to get back there. that in itself was a really odd visit because Nack's man was stationed in kentucky and literally was shipped off to the iraq meat grinder while we were hanging out on the beach in atlantic city. Ru is shacking with her folks in a really upscale subdivision that's nestled into a country-esque villa. they have a beautiful pond behind the house and we'd wake up to the canadian geese prowling around their yard every morning. we stayed up til all hours on friday night yapping, most specifically about Nacki's news that she'll be a mutha come october! it's really crazy to think of all the changes we've seen each other through in the last 10 years, and now we'll be witnessing a totally new era for her. she's hoping that MotherEarth will be available to babysit when she goes back to work, and i think it's a great idea, if my benevolent pal is up for it. saturday was spent getting mani's and pedi's and attempting to see a movie after the funkiest italian food i've had in a good while. we had a fantastic thin crust pizza (an anomaly in the chi) when we arrived, which was the polar opposite of the horrible gnocchi and spaghetti we tried to eat later on at this mom & pop pasta joint. how can a restaurant mess up spaghetti? luckily, the convo was stellar, so no worries about a nappy meal. i'd been balled up about finances and other life drama for a couple of weeks and sleeping really poorly, but after a couple of days in the company of my hoochies, felt completely rested. not many of my friends can incite such calm. in fact, it's often just the opposite, so i don't take their influence lightly. our next meeting will be this summer at Nacki's new home where we will lounge around the pool and boss her man around. he's actually been bragging to people about serving as our cabana boy, which i think is hilarious. i'm going to find Nacks a t-shirt at the cutie deli on damen and have it printed with "the cabana boy is my baby daddy". i hope he's ready to step and fetch, because we some demanding bitches. long live the hoochie three!