I am the luckiest person ever. Why?
Because I have such good friends! One of the highlights of the summer: Stella and Al visited from the east coast!
They took me out to dinner and presented me with a birthday present (they were both born in the winter so this was intentionally ironic) they made from scratch:

Plus, Al is growing his hair out to play an aging rocker in a movie – the plan is to film him dragging a huge amp from Pike Place to Broadway – hilarious!

I miss our champagne brunches, picnics on the beach, wandering through forests, yummy dinners in the shade of their backyard, and of course, being together at Thanksgiving.
But it is endlessly wonderful that, despite geographic distance, we are still good friends.