The one wonderful thing about blogging and the internet is that moment when you read something and see something and you know, with no doubt in your mind that there is another person out there that just GETS you.  Whether you’re dealing with a breakup, trying not to pull your hair out planning a wedding, a baby that won’t stop crying, a best friend that is driving you up a wall or a deployment, you can rest assured that there is someone out there that has gone through what you’re gong through.

Since Matt’s been gone, I’ve put the internet to amazing use.  I’ve connected with wives, girlfriends and fiance’s who are going through the same thing that i’m going through.  I’ve joined networks like True Military Wives Confessions on Ning and added SpouseBuzz to my Google Reader.  SpouseBuzz is where my post today is being brought to you from.  I read this, and I found myself shaking my head with every line.

Honestly, I thought I was the only one that slept on the couch because I can’t bear to lay in our bed without him there next to me.  I thought I was the only one that cried over laundry, because there were none of his clothes to be done.  I thought I was weird because his shoes are still by the door where he left him, like he’d be coming home this afternoon.  I’m not.

If you have ever wondered what I was thinking or how I felt, what the days were like for me or how to relate… I think this letter says it all.  It’s something that brought me to tears (not that tears means anything at this point… pretty much everything brings me to tears), it’s something I could have written myself, and probably have in a few versions here on this site.

If you can, please do me a favor?  Read Jennifer’s Letter below and if not right now because it’s winter, in the spring… put up an american flag.

Editor’s note: The following is the full text of a letter written by Jennifer Chaloux to her husband, Spc. Matthew Chaloux, a Georgia National Guardsman, who was deploying to Afghanistan for a year.

When you find out your husband/boyfriend is getting deployed, your world changes completely. The man you share your life with is leaving, and there is no guarantee he will come home. Days fly by quicker than you have ever known. They are consumed with nonstop picture and video-taking, hugs, kisses and sighs because reality is too close. We try to finish projects around the house and get a quick lesson on using power tools.

It’s days on end trying not to cry too hard so you don’t make him feel bad … laying your head on his chest trying to memorize the sound of his heartbeat, the way he holds you, kisses you on the head, his laughter and his cologne. Holding his hand and not wanting to let go, not even for a second. A million kisses and hugs. Saying I love you 50 times a day and still questioning whether you have said it enough.

Doing the same paperwork six times over, knowing you’ll have to do it again.

Having that conversation no one wants to have about injuries, death and his wishes if it happens. Spending the last week together attending going-away picnics and family events for the military families, the whole time seeing smiles that conceals heartache.

Watching families hug more than they probably have in a year, and children running around oblivious of the danger that awaits their father or mother. Having moments of laughter, and the next second reality hits and tears start to flow. Watching other families before they deploy, men holding their newborn babies knowing they will miss their first giggle, word, and wonder if they will know him when he gets home. Families taking pictures of everything, no matter how trivial.

Seeing mothers treating their 40-year-old as if he was a kid again, and she always will. Trying to memorize everyone’s face and last name because when he calls he never uses their first name when he talks about them. Not being able to be there when they are promoted to show them and tell them how proud of them you are.

Attending a send-off ceremony and watching your husband and all the soldiers recite the Soldiers Creed, and feeling like you are the luckiest girl in the world to be married to a hero. Strong and proud they stand in perfect formation.

They are clearly disciplined and well-trained. It’s a side of him I have never seen, and I thought I knew everything about him.

The last day together you fight back tears every second and wonder how you can just walk away from him. You watch families around you hugging and saying their good-byes. You feel numb and every emotion all at the same time.

You struggle to walk to your car and drive away without him, only to pull over moments later to breakdown.

Your home is just a house now. Everyday revolves around thinking about him, worrying and watching the clock to calculate what time it is half way around the world. You try to stay busy, but the stress doesn’t go away. It’s a roller coaster ride, and life won’t let you get off.

Being alone some days is more comforting than forcing yourself to be in a good mood to have coffee with a friend. Friends struggle to say the right things to help, but feel helpless as well. It’s an invisible barrier that separates even family.

Doing laundry and realizing there are none of his clothes to do, and wishing there was. Setting the table for four at dinner even if there are only three of us. Sleeping on the couch for weeks because you can’t bear to sleep in your bed when he is on a cot, and it’s just not the same without him next to you. Leaving his combat boots next to the front door because it comforts you, and they won’t be moved until he is home.

Feeling guilty for enjoying a sunny day, a good movie or just a ride in the car. Avoiding phone calls because you just can’t talk about it, again. “I’m fine” is never enough, but you can’t make them understand no matter how hard you try. Alienating yourself so you don’t have to fake a smile or conversation.

Wanting to just scream and yell until you have no voice left, and wiping away those endless tears. “Snapping out of it” will take a year. Bonding with Army wives you just met, and pouring your heart out because it’s easier than telling your best friend.

Wondering if he will be the same person he was when he left and feel comfortable in his own home when he gets back. Feeling selfish for having a pity party when he has it a lot worse. Watching the news when you are told not to.

Knowing when we talk he will never tell me he had to dive under something to avoid getting hurt or he just came back from a mission that you didn’t know he went on. Not knowing who you are at the end of the day because you can’t be who you were without him.

The word “why” is the first word in everything you think about. No matter how hard you try, you’re always thinking the worst case scenario. Wanting to sleep the whole next year because it’s the only time you get a break from worrying. In reality sleep is only a couple hours here and there.

Avoiding your favorite CDs or TV shows that you enjoyed together because you have no one’s hand to hold or arms to lay in. Wearing his clothes while he is gone and using a shirt with his cologne as a pillowcase to snuggle up to.

Trying to pray double-time, but feeling like a hypocrite because right now you would be angry with God if something happens. Walking around with a lump in your throat and a pit in your stomach for the next year. Saying “thank you, he’s fine,” because if you say too much you’ll just cry, like you have done for the past four days. Truly feeling lost, scared and powerless every single day.

Just going through the motions of getting up, getting ready and going through your day clutching your phone in case he calls. When he does call you get an instant high just knowing he is okay, and trying not to forget to tell him about all things you did that day, but leaving the part out about screaming like a mad woman because the sink is leaking, your tire is going flat, the lawn needs mowing, bills need to be paid. When all is said and done, you’re proud of the woman you are and you have a girly toolbox because you decorated your husband’s tools with glitter and rhinestones.

Wanting people to understand most of the soldiers don’t want to be there either. They want peace like all of us do. Wondering why almost every house you see doesn’t have an American flag on it like after 9/11.

Wanting to tell all the people at an anti-war rally that they are there because they are free and have those rights because they live in a country protected by the military. That the people your husband encounters everyday would love to have a right to an education. When the worst happens they will want the soldiers to protect them. That every family and person who lost their life to the 9/11 attacks are being disrespected if we didn’t fight back. Don’t hate the war and the soldiers, hate the people who started the war.

Understanding the TRUE meaning of honor, pride, dedication and hero.

They are drivers in a convoy, infantry, mechanics, medics, doctors and nurses, and chaplains. Most of all, they are our husbands, wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. They have a job to do and a family to take care of.

That family not only consists of a spouse and kids, but your family as well.

Display the American flag, support our troops and never forget.

circa 2004

I think, after a certain point in a deployment, you start to become numb.  You learn that nothing is certain in the military, you learn not to make plans or hang all of your hopes on a specific time frame for something.  That “something” could be anything… a phone call, a return date, an email.  You learn to be grateful for every second, for every word, every email.  You learn how to adapt to a life alone, at least for a little while.  I’m not saying it’s easy, it doesn’t hurt or that I don’t think about him every single second of every day, because it’s not, it does and I certainly do.  It’s just that after almost eight weeks of being without him, I can feel myself getting calloused.   I don’t cry as much, I let more roll off my back and i’ve realized that it’s okay to ask for help if I feel like I can’t do it on my own.

In a way, i’m grateful for this experience.  So many people never get to appreciate the person that they are with on such a basic level.  Girls get gussied up for Friday date nights at a fancy restaurant and go to see a movie with the guy they love but me? I get pretty for my Monday night Skype dates with my love that’s a world away.   Some girls take for granted being able to lean over and kiss their honey whenever they want, but me?  It’s been 56 days since i’ve been able to kiss Matt, but I take comfort in closing my eyes and recounting every single detail of our last kiss.  I feel like, although this is all wildly painful and hard, it’s equally amazing.   I don’t know many girls that get a love letter every day.  I do.

We are forced to communicate and work together and support each other with nothing more than our words and I feel like this is giving us such an advantage.  I think that when you are forced to say that goodbye, when you are left to do nothing but wait (but sometimes you’re not even sure what you’re waiting for) and when all you have left some days is this overwhelming feeling of worry… you realize that this love you have for this other person is something so much bigger than yourself.

I didn’t really know where I was headed with this post when I started, but I think what I ended up with is so representative of everything that I feel right now. I love when I start writing and just… end up somewhere. Even on days like today when I get some kind of crappy news that things aren’t going exactly like I thought that they would, it really helps to just sit down, write and remind myself of all that I have to be thankful for.

Before I worked in real estate, way back when I was still a struggling college student, I was a teacher. In order to help pay off my loans quickly, I enrolled in a few extra classes and received my Child Development Associate Certification which allowed me to teach full time in a group preschool setting. My first teaching job was at a Montessori school in a little church. I worked there for three years, it was by far my most favorite job ever. I loved everything about the Montessori method, I adored the children and the parents were amazing. (My boss was a complete and total wench, but that’s a whole different story) Those kids, they were my life for three years. I worked there from 7am – 3pm every day and went to classes every night from 4:45 – 9:45pm. Hard? Of course, but that job made it all worth it.

I have this uncanny ability to remember faces and names, so i’ve run into a few of the kids i’ve taught here and there around town, but neither them or their parents recognized me or said anything. I never minded, it was seven years ago that I taught them and not everyone is a freak like me and can remember faces for almost a decade. But today, I had to run into the local Jr. High to drop something off. I was just about to walk back out the door when the secretary looked up and called my name. I turned around and she was like “I thought that was you, I’m Jack’s mom!” Whoa. I taught him when he was four and five and he’s now in the fifth grade. She remembered me. I told her I was surprised and her reply? “You shouldn’t be, you really made a difference in my little boy’s life.”

As I turned and walked out the door, tears were welling up in my eyes. It was all worth it for that one sentence.

I took the post down.   Feeding into internet drama is not my thing and I realize that in posting what I did, I was giving her what she wanted.  I don’t have to defend my actions to ANYONE, especially some stranger on the internet.   There’s a reason why I shy away from becoming friends with other AF wives, and I think now… it’s painfully obvious why.  Was I right bringing it public on my personal blog?  Probably not, but a wedding blog is certainly no place for a comment war.  Anyway, it’s done and over with now.  Thank you all for your support, it means the world.

MOVING ON!

Take five and go look at what my twin did.  She’s ridiculous and I adore her.  Submit a picture, let’s have some fun!

Internet was down all night last night for Matt, I didn’t get an email ’til almost 5am my time.  I lost a lot of sleep last night.  I know it’s probably needless worry and that he’s relatively okay where he’s stationed, but not hearing from him all day gets me seriously nervous.  I was awake until a little after 4a, so i’m running on minimal sleep.  Thank God today is my Friday.

With all of the AWESOME that has surrounded Love Harder, I wanted to let you all know that I’m (along with all of the other amazing Philly / NJ bloggers) running in the MMRF Race for Research.  It’s this October in Philadelphia, but they have them in San Fran, Boston, Chicago, the Twin Cities… probably somewhere close to you.  We all plan to run under the team of Love Harder and raise funds again in the name of H.A.D.  I think it would be AMAZING if we could get 20sb-ers represented in every city that there is a race in.  It’s a 5k, so it’s like 3ish miles.  If you don’t think you can run a 5k, go here.  Couch to 5k changed my life.

Matt so kindly noted that we are almost 1/3 of the way through this deployment when we had our Skype date on Monday night.  I guess in another ten ish days we will be 1/3 through this mess.  I have no idea how it’s going to “fly by” like so many people say, but here’s hoping.

Since he was so kind to tell me that we were almost 1/3 of the way through deployment, I sat up all night looking for THE PERFECT homecoming dress (I feel like i’m in High School saying “homecoming”).  I’ve decided that although insanely expensive and a completely ridiculous purchase, i’ll probably buy my dress from Anthropologie.  They are all just so classic and detailed and GORGEOUS.   Here’s a few of the ones that i’ve had my eye on…

Gorgeous, right?  That perfect yellow ribbon, the length, the fact that its a tank top sort of cut so I don’t have to worry about my dress falling down mid holy-crap-he’s-right-there!!! mad dash to my honey.  But wait, check this out.

LOOK AT THAT BACK! How stupid gorgeous is that cut out and that ruffle?!  My only issue is that I’m unsure how that ruffle is going to make my butt look.  Hm.

Another Yellow one, but I adore the detail of the black belt and the contrast between the two different patterns and colors.

I think this one might be my favorite.  I know, it’s strapless.  I don’t care.  I sort of prefer strapless because i’m so damn short.  I feel like not having my shoulders exposed and a dress that’s at my knee or just past makes me look stubby.

Thoughts?  Amazing places for really great dresses on the interwebs that won’t cost me my first born as payment?

We’re having a photographer from Operation Love come to homecoming, which i’m really excited about.  The last thing that I wanted to worry about was pictures, so they are going to take care of that for me which is AMAZING.   Beware when you click on that link though, the galleries had me all sorts of ugly crying.  It’s really beautiful though.

Until tonight, i’d never watched the movie.  I’m not one to get caught up in hype and i’m also very in tune with my own instincts… If a guy wasn’t that into me, I knew it and I didn’t need a book to tell me so.  Deployments give you a LOT of down time and a lot of quality time with the remote without your other half hogging it and turning on man TV.  He’s Just Not That Into You was on HBO so I figured i’d give it a go.  I mean, BRADLEY COOPER.  How bad could it possibly be?

I know i’m probably a little late on the jump, this movie has been out of a while… But holy hell was I pissed off after the first twenty minutes.  This movie, Scarlett Johansson (someone I usually LOVE), made my physically ill.  It goes on to basically validate every asshole behavior of men that there is.  The cheating, the game playing… it’s all ridiculous and suddenly, it’s okay and justifiable because “he’s just not that into you”.  I mean, excuse me?  It portrays women as despirate, weak and overbearing.  I can’t even put my finger on one thing that made me so furious… It can make even the most secure girl insecure in her own relationship.  I seriously sat here analyzing past behavior of the man I loved and then I realized what I was doing and seriously said out loud “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”.  Like, is that the movies intention?  To glorify cheating, shake women to their core and make them completely insecure and generally flip out?

If so, it definitely succeeded.  Not even the hotness of Bradley Cooper could save this one.  I turned it off twenty five minutes in.

*  I’m getting marrrrrrrried!  This is not a surprise.  Obviously.   BUT, rather than clutter up my blog over here with wedding stuff… I’ll be posting over at Bridal Bloggettes! Add us to your reader and follow our adventures to wedded bliss!

*  This morning was full of AWESOME and started off with a very unexpected phone call from my honey.  I seriously had to catch my breath when it was him on the other end of the line.  It was just after 7 this morning and it was a weird 609 area code number.  Forgetting that they patch calls from Iraq through a local base, I was SO not going to answer.  Thank God I did, I was greeted with a “Good Morning Baby” and was able to start off my day smiling from ear to ear.

*  The internet has rallied behind one if it’s own and come together to make a pretty awesome video and raise over $2,500.  I can’t believe that a little idea has expanded to get this much attention.  If you haven’t made a donation yet, please consider giving up your latte and helping us triple our original goal of $1,000.  You might not think that your $5 matters but oh, it does.

*  I think Heidi and I would like to hang out in New York City for the day sometime in the near future.  No real plans, but lots of cupcakes and good food and cheap drinks.  Interested?

*  I hate the winter.  During the fall, my nails were so long and pretty.  Now that the temperature is hovering right around freezing, my skin has been so dry and awful, I can’t slather on enough lotion.

*  I have a little bit of exciting news and as soon as I get the go ahead from the powers that be, i’ll share.  I’m a little giddy about it really.

*  I really need to clean out and reorganize my google reader.  Is there an easy way to just start fresh?  That would be awesome.

*  Speaking of starting fresh, i’m DYING for a new blog design.  Something clean and simple and pretty.  We’ll see.

*  Have you submitted your love story to Project Love Story yet?  It doesn’t have to be the “boy meets girl” type of love story.  It can be girlfriends, family, pets… whatever.  Be creative!  Email me or comment here for info on how you can help this awesome little project to grow!

*  Work is currently giving me a big fat headache.  I’ve really got to work on setting my goals and getting the eff out of here.

*  Matt left 46 days ago.  It’s been 46 days since i’ve seen him.  i have another 120ish to go.  That makes me like… not a whole lot done.  Cue the tears.

*  I really hate when I stop and think about how long he’s been gone and how long it will be until I see them again.

*  I ordered all new office furniture from Target the other day.  I’m so excited to get started on this.  It’s my present to Matt for when he comes home.  Expect lots of posts and pictures!

The quandry: We feel terrible. Just horrible. And oh so helpless… if only there was something we could DO for them.

The answer: Ummmm. Did you forget that WE ARE THE INTERNET?!?!!??! And also, Yes We Can!!!

The result: Brandy and your Hot Awesome Dude… this one’s for you. Love, The Internet.

Our Plea

Our friend Brandy is a brilliant writer, a wonderful teacher, and a generous friend.  And she is in love with a man who has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

We are raising money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Fund in his name.  For the price of a cinnamon dolce latte, half-caf, hold the whip, you can be part of an effort to cure a disease that affects approximately 750,000 people worldwide.

http://www.loveharder.org

Every dollar brings us a dollar closer to a cure.  And every donation brings a sliver of hope to a girl who needs all the hope she can get.

Love Harder,

Rachel

What You Can Do

• Give. Be part of a worldwide effort to cure a disease that affects approximately 750,000 people worldwide.  Every dollar helps.
• Pass it on. Forward this story to five people.  Share this blog post.  Become our fan on Facebook.
• Love harder. Life is short, love is unbending, and no one knows what could happen next. Tell someone you love them today.

Where Your Money Goes

• The American Institute of Philanthropy recently named The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation one of the best organizations to give to in terms of their accountability and use of resources.
• By working closely with researchers, clinicians and partners in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, the MMRF has helped bring multiple myeloma patients four new treatments that are extending lives around the globe.
• The MMRF has advanced twenty Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. They need your support to advance these clinical research programs and accelerate the development of better, more effective treatments.
• The MMRF’s Multiple Myeloma Genomics Initiative recently became the first to sequence the multiple myeloma whole genome in its entirety.
• A whopping 98% of your donation to the MMRF will be used immediately to support high-priority multiple myeloma research.
• With diminishing funding for early stage drug development and the next myeloma treatments not expected to be approved until 2011, the MMRF desperately needs your help.

You can see Brandy’s Story here.  Trust me, it’s not something you’ll want to miss.

DONATE: http://www.loveharder.org
CONTACT: theloveharderfund@gmail.com
FACEBOOK: http://facebook.loveharder.org
MORE INFO: http://www.themmrf.org

(I just want to throw out there how insanely honored I am to have had the chance to be a part of this. This video, the Love Harder Fund, Brandy… they are all something so very special.  Everyone involved (especially this girl) went above and beyond the call of duty in putting this together.  The internet can do so many amazing things, and as a community, I think we’re capable of HUGE things… this proves it.  WE LOVE YOU BRANDY!!)

Just a Moment…

5 bloggers

5 photographers

5 stories

Today, my self portrait is up with Hope’s words.

It’s going to blow your mind.

for every handful of good days that i have, there is always one day that just knocks the wind right out of me.  it’s not often that i have had a day where all i wanted to do was just sit and cry, but today was one of them.  i’ve been so overwhelmed lately and it’s just… it’s hard.  there has been work drama and drama with an past friend that has some serious passive aggressive issues.  add in to that mix trying to plan a wedding from a world apart and missing the hell out of the one person that has the ability to make all of this go away and you have an emotional disaster. i literally feel like my heart is in a vice grip.

i try as hard as i can to just… get from point a to point b throughout the day.  i try to appear perfectly normal even though my heart just has a constant ache.  i do what i have to do.  i try to be social when the occasion calls for it, get up and go to work on time (mostly), let the looks of pity from people when i say that matt is deployed just roll off my back.   it’s like i’m just getting through my days in this sort of haze.  i don’t want to ask for help with things because i don’t need it.  honestly, i think that part of me doesn’t want to come off as anything but a super woman.

everything that i do is done at half brain power because i spend every waking moment wondering what he’s doing, if he’s okay, what did he have for dinner?  is he exhausted?  i wonder if he’s eating okay.  does he have a lot of friends?  what does he do when he isn’t working? i know vague answers to all of these questions, but surprisingly i couldn’t really tell you.  i mean to those of you familiar with a deployment, i guess it isn’t so surprising.  we spend our valuable time emailing back and forth about wedding details, and how much we love each other.  i usually tell him what bills i paid and how much, i send pictures of me and the cat.   i’m forgetful and i’m scatterbrained, but it isn’t intentionally.

the emotions that have come with this whole deployment thing have caught me off guard.  as much as i try to be outwardly strong, sometimes it gets the better of me and i can go from hysterical laughter to a crying fit faster than a lamborghini can go from 0 to 60.  it’s true.  it’s a combination of stress, worry and heartache.  a fricken car insurance commercial sent me over the edge the other day.  i mean, really.

we’ve sort of been arguing about the guest list for the past two or three days.  i feel like it’s wrong to invite anyone but extremely close family and friends because you’re essentially asking someone to spend 2k going to your wedding.  tone gets misconstured, feelings get hurt and it’s hard.  it’s hard enough to plan a wedding sitting next to someone, let alone via spotty email conversation.  i keep trying to tell myself that it isn’t a big deal… because it isn’t.  it’s just hard because i feel like this should all be fun and it feels more like a chore that i have to force myself to do.

all of my emotions just came pouring out last night in a flood of emails.  good, bad, everything.  i told him everything, because i felt like he should know. while i was writing it, i was hysterical.  i know that i’m not cut out for this, i’m simply not meant to be alone… i’m not that strong.  everything just hurt so bad.  i was tired of fighting alone, i was tired of immature people playing silly games and i was tired of fighting with work to get what i deserve.  i think whenever someone gets to the point of emotional overload like i was last night, it just… it feels good to just cry.   once i get the tears out of my system, it’s like a clean slate.

part of me regretted emailing him like that,  but he emailed me back and instantly made me feel a thousand times better in a way that only he can do.  he told me to take a day off, spend time with my girls and go shopping.  you know what?  i think i will.

Meeting bloggers is a funny thing.  When I started blogging when I was in High School, the thought of actually meeting other people who blogged was not really something I had ever gave much thought too.  My online relationships were few and far between and I mean… who meets people from the INTERNET!?  They could be serial killers for all I know.

Right.

And then, a few years ago… there was 20sb.   It was a game changer.  It was a community.  For almost two years, I followed the lives of a handful of people, thanks to this network.  Phone numbers were exchanged, gchats were had, texts were sent, skype conversations were a regular event.  It never really entered my mind that I hadn’t met these people face to face.  I count may of these people as some of my best friends.

And then Vegas happened.   Then there was Chicago and NYC.  There were sleepovers in Cali and Minnesota.  Now, there was Philadelphia too.

Down here in the wonderful Southern most point of New Jersey… it’s not exactly a very social media savvy environment.  Sure, there’s always NYC, but that’s over three hours from where I am.  Anyway, Thursday I headed up to Philadelphia to meet up with Jess (!!!!!), Caity, Katie and Rachael.  I had already met Katie before in NYC, but the rest of these lovely ladies?  Not so much.  I was beyond excited to get into the city and see them!

After a little confusion getting to the PATCO station, I met up with Katie and we were on our way.  It was a gorgeous day on Thursday, probably almost 60 degrees out.  We wandered around the city snapping pictures and having fun, and then we met up with Jess!  Seriously, I was so excited to see this girls face.   I helped her start her blog a little over a year ago, and I just adore her.  It was insane to me to think that we had never actually met, but when we did?  It was so normal.  Like we were already awesome friends that hung out every night.

Soon after, we met up with Rachael and spent some time goofing off in Love Park and getting on the Discoery Channel.  FYI, we’re going to be famous.  As it turns out the Discovery Channel was shooting a show on realtionships of all kinds and were were filmed being goofy and singing underneath the Love sculpture.  It was an absolutel blast and it’s been a LONG time since i’ve laughed that hard.

We met up with Caity at Osteria for dinner where we proceeded to put ourselves in a cheese coma.  Well, all of us except Jess… but we’ll let her slide.  We had mozzerella en carozza, which we decided is like french toast (watch for a blog post on how to make this.  INSANELY easy and oh my god, so good) and the best pizza EVER.  Seriously.  Yum.  We all talked and laughed and just had the best night ever.  I seriously needed a girls night after the past month.  Towards the end of dinner, it was decided that this was going to be a monthly event, and I couldn’t be more excited.

Our next meetup / girls night will be February 25th in Philly.  If you’re in the area, come join us!!