Wednesday, June 3, 2009

F. A. R. T.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for joining us on this fine Wednesday. Cheryl here. I have two big acts to follow this week. First Heather brought us to tears about savoring the moments of our life. And then Claudia had a fun day with our Fancy Flours Cookie Cutter Challenge. The mermaid was the winner. Yay! I can't wait to see how she's decorated. But today I'm here to announce that next Monday, June 8th is National Friendship Day. Be in this moment with me.

I could tell you about all the friendships that I have savored through the years with my best friends but that would take forever. If you're as fortunate as I have been then you have several best friends through the years. There was my very first friend, Cassie, that I wanted to be twins with. We dressed alike in our Tina Tomato and Lucy Lemon shirts. Or I could tell you about my Kristi that I watched scary movies with. There's her sister Johnanna. We were the wildest of friends. (I say "were" because I'm not wild anymore.) And there's DeDe and Darci and Angie and, and, and! I different friend for a different time in my life and I cherish them all.

I love my old and new friends and what better way to celebrate those friendships than by picking out something small to send them to let them know that you appreciate and love them. It's totally out of the blue and unexpected. But what? What are you going to send these people that stand by you no matter what? These people that have seen you cry the "ugly cry" and laughed until you had tears coming down your face and held your hair while you puked!

I'm all about making my friends laugh so what better way than to provide some fun napkins like the ones below. These say r.i.c.h. - Relax, it's cocktail hour, s.l.u.t.s. - Southern ladies up to something, and p.o.o.l. - Perfect outlook on life. Hop on over to Homewetbar.com to order some for your friends or shoot, give some to yourself. You can share them with your friends at your next party.

Or, another fun idea are these party cups. There are many to choose from over at Connexxions but these three are my favorites. Everyone fills in there fun saying for the chosen cup. These say:

  • It's not a party 'til _______
  • I'm gettin' my ________ on!
  • _______ by day _________ by night

Tell me those aren't fun. Do you want to take a shot at filling in the blanks? It could be fun.

Okay, but I understand you may not have time to place an order and get it sent off to your friend in time so what about this. You may or may not remember that Claudia collects things that are big. My aunt was having a birthday in February and I was thinking about what I could send her. Something inexpensive but something that would make an impression that said, "Hey, I think you're special." I was pondering Claudia's collection of all things big and thought of a Big Postcard.

I took a piece of poster board and cut it so that it was about 14 inches tall and 22 inches wide (the 22 inches is the short side of a regular sheet of poster board.) I pulled out the finger paints and let my creative boys go to town. JB started painting a picture of a girl that sort of resembled my aunt. She had blond hair. Drew drew a heart that said "Happy B-Day" in it. I started adding flowers all over. We called it Picasso's Birthday Girl. On the opposite side I wrote a big note that said Happy Birthday and put her address.

The workers at the post office laughed at me. The people in line laughed at me. Heck, I laughed at me standing in line with an over sized postcard painted with a funny looking girl on it. It cost about $1.5o to mail and it was worth every penny. My aunt called us and you could just tell by the laughter in her voice how much she loved it, which in turn made me very happy. You don't have to be an artist to do it. I promise! Just put some bright color paint on there and go for it- find your inner-childlike-artist. Surely you can remember that person.

I wish I could tell you I was more organized and that I had my over sized friendship postcards painted up and ready to go so you could see pictures but I don't have it done yet.
  • Poster board- check.
  • Paint- check.
  • Time- I won't let you slip away!
I still have some time since the actual day is on Monday, June 8th! And so do you!

Oh, are you wondering what my title, F.A.R.T. has to do with today's post? Just a fun game. Tell me what you think it stands for. It's about friends. Or make up your own fun acronym about friends and share it with us.

Will you do one more thing for me? Please. Will you email us a picture of you with a friend and tell us a quick story about that friend? It can be a friend from your childhood, a new friend, a friend that makes you laugh or just whatever you're in the mood for. Personally, I'd like to see you and your friend as kids but it's up to you. Just email it over to highlowaha218@gmail.com.

Before I go I just want to thank my newest friend Margaret for always sharing such fun times and ideas with me. She found the links to the fun napkins and cups. Thanks Margaret!

Signing off until tomorrow...

19 comments:

heather said...

Okay F.A.R.T. the first thing that came in my mind fits with the "sentimental" Heather that has been around this week so I'll say,
"Friends Are Rare Treasures"

Hopefully we have a few new readers here again today courtesy of your friendship postcard. If you see the pictures of Katie, Cheryl, Claudia and I on the front you get the idea of what we are asking for when we request a friendship picture.

Txtranny said...

I enjoyed reading the post today. It is true that friends mean the world to us all. I have had several major surgeries and if it were not for the love and support of friends I would have not made it through.
What are some other suggestions for small gifts I could give my girlfriends to let them know I appreciate them?

cassie p said...

Txtranny, I was just thinking the same thing. I am not sure I am into sending out 5 giant postcards, but would love to send something other than a card. What are some other ideas?!

Friends Are Really Terrific!! :-D

Cheryl Houston said...

I'm so glad you asked Txtranny and Cassie! What about baking something for your friends? If you have a special cookie cutter that you can develop a little tag line for or Cupbrowookies or cupcakes... made with love from me to you.

Do you have a Sample House nearby you? I love this place! It has all kinds of fun goodies~ funny girl stuff. Sweet smelling stuff. Candles. Etc...

A RAY SHIRT! I know you don't have time but oh I wish you did. :)

Claudia said...

Cassie and Txtranny... have no fear... we have a few more Friendship ideas coming your way this week. Stay tuned.

But, if you intend to do some mailing and time is an issue how about a few of these ideas...

some notecards and a few stamps; a book the two of you can read; do a virtual shopping spree for your friend. Go through magazines looking for pictures of all the things you would love to buy her if money was no object; a small package of markers telling him/her that they brighten your life; stickers that remind you of the person, can easily be slipped in a card envelope; seeds to plant something in his/her garden (a reminder of your ever-growing friendship); a book mark; a copy of an old pic of the two of you with a note; oh, the list goes on.

My guess about F.A.R.T...

Friends Are Rarely Tempermental"

I must say, Heather hit it out of the ball park first thing this morning. It will be hard to come up with something better

Claudia said...

P.S. The mermaid is going to be a really tough one! Does a mermaid constitute a "creature?"

Just curious.

heather said...

Ummm...of course the mermaid is a creature, a mythical one!

Margaret said...

Thanks Cheryl!! It is fun to have a work friend become and outside of work friend! That is when the fun begins. :)

Anonymous said...

I think Heather's got the F.A.R.T thing going on!

Perfect plug here for creative greetings, they are like a party on a card... go to my blog and see what I create:
http://prdesigns.blogspot.com
note cards
notebook with pen or

gift cards for a coffee or Jamba Juice
a small boquet of flowers
a gourmet box of teas/coffee/macaroons

Just think what you like to get, and I'm sure your best friend would like anything perfectly wrapped and out of the ordinary! Just do it!

aka Peggy at work @@

lindsaymarie said...

F.A.R.T. = Fun At Random Times
i liked this post a lot, it got me thinking about my friends, and how much i miss most of them! only a couple of my close friends are in my hometown, which is where i am now. since graduating college, most of them are spread all over, from hawaii to california to missouri to connecticut... i'm going to write out some cards to send them for friendship day, thanks for the heads up about such a great holiday!

Katie said...

Good morning, HLA!

Friends are revolutionary together!

And yes, I believe that a mermaid is a creature for all HLA purposes.

I love seeing all the new faces on here- we hope you'll keep coming back!

Cheryl Houston said...

Starbucks GC in a card that says, "Let's do coffee." (That's from one of Peggy's wonderful cards.)

Katie's roommate, Lori! My office has the most beautiful purple flower arrangement in our Rotunda. The girl that puts it together has been out so she just put it up today... it made me think of you!

Claudia said...

Keep the ideas rolling. This is kind of fun. Of course the more ideas we generate today, the harder we're going to make Heather's job for tomorrow.

Oh, darn. :)

Here's to another creature - albeit mystical!

cassie p said...

OOOH maybe ill go check out the dollar spot at target tomorrow; to see if they have anything fun i could send. most of my friends live far away also. it stinks!

Tera said...

Claudia...it's def a creature. Your other choice is an inanimate object and it's def not that :)

I love talking about my friends. They all mean that world to me. I think that you hit the nail on the head, Cheryl...I, too, have different "best buds" from different times in my life. There's Julie my BFF from growing up, Erin my high school BFF, Noel my camp BFF, Megan my college BFF and Jen my work BFF. Love them all!

Katie said...

Cassie and others- I was just at the dollar bins at Target last week, looking to put together a great birthday gift for a friend! They have some really cute summer things there right now. One of my favorites was the flip flop hand towels that I found- they were adorable! They also have a lot of really cute baskets/organizers for $1 right now- in fun summer colors!

heather said...

Hey no one has filled in the blanks yet so I'm going to take a shot.
* It's not a party 'til I'm there!

* I'm gettin' my Ray Wattson!
* Business by day Mommy by night

Cheryl Houston said...

Heather! Love the gettin' my Ray Wattson! Let's see...

It's not a party 'til someone gets their eye poked out.
I'm gettin' my blog on!
Secretary by day Goddess by night.

Robin Weiss said...

It's not a party until there's cocktail weenies!
I'm getting my head on (straight)!
Mommy by day, mommy by night...