Female Empowerment FTW

I have been so blessed to have amazing relationships in my life. My family, fiance, and friends are all so loving and supportive and I don't know what I did to deserve such wonderful people. Recently, I've had the opportunity to develop friendships, some new and some not so new, that I didn't have (or, at least, didn't have enough of) while in undergrad. I guess you could say that I've had a couple of experiences allowed me to use the phrase "girl power".

...not quite what comes to mind when I think of girl power.

I admit that my favorite hobbies are those that you would associate with "traditional female roles". For example, the title of this blog isn't just clever, it's an actual practice of mine from undergrad. I would take study "bakes", meaning that I would take a break from studying, bake, and then get back to studying....hypothetically. If you asked my roommates, what would actually happen is that I would say "I should study...but first I should make cookies", and then 4 hours (and a bakers dozen) later it would be time for bed. Also...stay out of my way when I'm cleaning.


Still, despite single-handedly setting the feminist movement back 100 years, I never really considered myself all that girly. I wasn't interested in rushing during undergrad. I LOVE my Greek friends...but you need to know that I prayed pretty hard to get into a co-ed a cappella group.

Overtones Ladies!

 I love my girlfriends so much, but our friendship isn't one that I would say is based off of being a girl and our bonds aren't one of female solidarity. Do people even have friendships like this? Maybe I'm making them up. Maybe I've been watching too much Greek.  My friends are awesome, and our friendships are built on much more than man-bashing...more on them later...

I love those Button Babies (and Corey!)

So, back to female bonding. One of my great friends recently threw a "No Boys Allowed" brunch for all of her fabulous friends. It was the day before Valentine's Day...naturally, my first thought was that of a bunch of sad, single girls sitting around an Indian restaurant beating down a piñata laced with centuries of female oppression. 

Valentine's Day, anyone?

Of course, being the party planning master that she is, it was quite the opposite! She threw one of the most fun brunches I have ever been to! It was awesome to hang out with her, her sister, friends from college, and her sorority sisters...not to mention a mutual friend whom we both adore! There was no false sense of persevering womanhood. There were no sob-story, day before Valentine's Day woes. I left early, but I'm pretty sure there wasn't a piñata. I made Paula Deen's French Toast Casserole, we drank mimosas...but that's all I can tell you, because, well, no boys allowed. What I can say, though, is that the fabulous-ness was abundant because each of those girls was so different and interesting in their own way.   


My point is, I am so grateful for my female friends. Not because they're girls and they share in my eternal struggle against "the man", but because they excel in the friendship department. They have been there for me through it all. Sure, they've held my hand when I needed a hand to hold, but just as importantly, they've snuck into Theatre II (RIP) with me, laughed through rehearsal with me, and watched every single episode of Oprah while drinking a bottle of wine with me. And perhaps even more importantly...they've told me to man up when the African orphan episode comes on...


...it gets me every time.