Best of Friends.

One grizzly bear, three moose, a bald eagle, six dall sheep, and a bunch of beluga whales.

Over the course of one long weekend, I managed to pull out all the tricks and play sightseeing host to two of my best friends.

These friends, Jordan and Whitney, are friends I met during my first year of college at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, in Irvine, California.

Arriving from Alaska to a campus populated by blondes residing from the nearby Southern California coastline, Whitney, Jordan and I bonded together as out of towners, our differences fitting together like pieces to a puzzle. From North Carolina, to Kansas and Alaska, our acclimation to California life was easy, memorable, and made possible due to our strong friendship.

It’s been five years since we first walked those Schiaparelli pink halls with our FIDM tote bags, but last weekend, I had the pleasure of hosting them in my wild and rugged home state of Alaska.

It’s crazy how time passes but it’s like you haven’t missed a beat with those who are most dear to you. We make it a point to see each other at least once a year, a reunion of sorts, and this year, it was Alaska that came up in discussion.

If you thought one fashion student was a lot in this small fishing town, imagine the three of us!

Arriving in a bundle of cosy sweaters and chic makeup, it felt good to be in the presence of two people that made my years in college that much more special. But more than that, it was those years at college that started and cultivated a friendship that lasted even after we graduated.

With only 4 days together, we made each day count, which meant LOTS of photos (imagine lots of photos, now imagine more), fabulous food and drink, and catching up since we last saw each other; which, if I remember correctly, was a reunion where I spent most of the weekend in tears because of a boy. But hey, there’s no other friends I would have rather cried in front of hysterically!

Time is precious, and I think Whitney says it best: The fact that we don’t live close to each other now makes every moment all the more special.

It’s exciting to see where we are now and how we’ve grown since we were wee little ones at school sitting in our Merch Strategies class together talking about Kate Spade and the British Invasion. And though life has taken us in different directions and thousands of miles apart, and though we’ve grown separately in our own individual paths, we haven’t grown apart.

And that is the beauty of true friendship…