gratitude for friends

I am filled to the brim with gratitude every single day I get to wake up alive.

Really.

I’m grateful for the simple things in life: hot showers, massages, chiropractors, heating pads, indoor gyms, the invention of diet Dr Pepper, pebble ice. I could go on and on about the things I’m grateful for; instead I’m going to focus on one thing:

My gratitude for friends.

My girlfriends are my lifeblood.  There aren’t enough words in the English language to explain the depth of my love and gratitude for the tribe of women in my life I’m lucky enough to call friends.

I have friends who’ve never heard of the internet, friends who’re addicted to it, friends who *ARE* the internet, and friends at home around town who just don’t really care.

The bottom line is that I have a lot of wonderful and amazing friends in my life.

Some of my friends are more *colorful* than others.  These two are actually just being themselves, which is exactly why we get a hotel room together everywhere we travel.  Ladies like these make long plane rides across the country absolute, hysterical fun.

And if it came down to it, they’d bail me out of a Mexican prison.  They’re serious business, these girlfriends.

The entire stage at BlogHer ’10 was taken over my my posse of girl friends who have more fun than you can shake a stick at, even when there’s no stick to be found.  There is not a single woman in this picture {including the snippets you can barely see of a few of them} who isn’t a hugely successful entrepreneur, who isn’t stressed to the max all day everyday.

But when it’s time to get down and party, ‘There ain’t no party like a Mormon party, ’cause a Mormon party don’t stop!’.

Not all the women in my life know each other, but some do, and it makes the strength and power of our bonds that much greater.  My collective tribe of women and I have all gone through some serious life challenges over the last handful of years.  It’s just the way life is; but would you like to guess who shows up at hospitals, funerals, bedsides, and airports with sustenance in the form of massive amounts of caffeinated beverages, chocolate, and bad magazines?

My girls.

My bond with, and love for my friends scattered all over the country is no less strong because of distance.  We send one another cards and treats in the mail, keeping up with each others lives remotely until we gather again in some strange city.

My tribe, my dozens of women around the globe are the friends I have on speed dial, knowing if I need something, anything at all, they’ll drop everything and find a way to help me.

So yes, yes I’m a little sentimental about gratitude for friends, because I have more than my share of happiness, love, and long-lasting friendships to keep me stocked in gratitude until the rest of forever.

Hallmark sponsored this post. I’m partnering with Hallmark to shine a light to the Life Is A Special Occasion blogger campaign for the rest of this year. Everything I share is my personal truth, all opinions are always my own.

If you’re interested, here’s a link where you can sign up for Hallmark email to be notified about special offers.

P.S. What are you grateful for this month?  Fall fashion, mocha lattes?  Tell me, I’d love to hear what’s making you all happy and grateful.

{note: only a small portion of my friends are L.D.S., it’s just that all these Mormons know each other}

Allison

Hello there! I'm Allison Czarnecki, founder + editor of Petit Elefant, a blog all about style on a budget for every part of your life: style / home / travel / family. I do a lot of how-to beauty + style tutorials, travel posts, easy recipes, home remodel projects, and cool DIY crafts you totally want to try. I'm super happily married (to a hot Polish immigrant) and am the mother of two kids, a daughter and son, all of whom are featured here on the regular. We live in the country but we're a little bit rock + roll. Welcome!