A little group of some friends of mine were gracious to me and held a mini-birthday party last night in my honor. As I looked at them, laughing and competing aggressively to talk, I felt the value of adult friendship. It's so different from the days of old, where the catty girlfriends skulked in eager anticipation for opportunities to triumph over you, ideally hurting you in the process. But doing so, of course, in such a way that you'd never have anything tangible to point at in confrontation. They'd feign ignorance if you ever were so bold, and somehow manage to imply that you were thin-skinned and emotional. I'm so relieved to not be fifteen anymore. These new Lovelies in my life are whole, secure, eager to celebrate the successes of others and so, so pretty. I'm a lucky girl.