Friends in tutus

As far as the lady friend department goes, I've been pretty fortunate all of my life. Wonderful, intelligent, beautiful, hilarious ladies have somehow always entered my life and stayed there.

A special group of ladies has been in my life for an especially long time. We like to call ourselves the Victoria Girls, after our elementary school name. Friends since third grade and on. Pretty special, right?

The reason I think we've all stayed in relatively good contact with one another through elementary school, middle school, high school, college and on is because of one Victoria Girl in particular.

In 7th or 8th grade, our friend Cindy had the opportunity to go to the American School of Ballet in New York City. Not just for a year or two, but for the rest of her middle/high school career. I remember thinking that this was going to change everything. That we wouldn't be friends with Cindy anymore since she would be on the opposite side of the country from us (Southern California to New York City is about as opposite as you can get).

After Cindy moved, we all found ourselves hanging out a little less with each other and a little more with different people. That's how middle and high school goes. You grow up and change, gravitating toward new friends who are more like you. But Cindy- I think- was a huge force in keeping us all together. Whenever she came home to visit, we all wanted to see her, pulling us back together into our core group again.

Having a close friend move so early on in our friendship taught all of us girls the importance of staying in touch with each other. I've tried to keep that lesson close to my heart with all of the friends I've made along the way and am proud to say- if I may toot my own horn- that staying in touch with old friends is a favorite skill of mine.

You may not hear from me for a couple weeks, but I'll always check in with you to see how you're doing.

For the last couple of weeks, I've been seeing ballerina things all over the internet, making me think a lot about Cindy and inspiring me to share out Victoria Girls story with you guys. Check out Cindy's gorgeous photo:

(The talented and beautiful Victoria Girl, Cindy Huang via IE Social Culture)  

 

(First Position via Cup of Jo) 

(Joedero via Etsy)

(Pure Barre classes in Austin, TX)