Friendship Dinner - The Creamery

This weekend has brought me so much contentment. It's been so needed, and I am incredibly thankful for all the fun times we've had so far this holiday weekend (and we are only halfway done!).

I had several long talks with close friends, met a few people that I've been dying to meet for a long time (Hi Joan and Michelle, you're so fun!), had such entertaining nights, ate lots of great food (we ate out two nights in a row - score!), and was just basically surrounded by the people that I love at all times. Spring Quarter has been so busy and hectic for everyone, so it was really nice to have a couple nights where people just sat around and chilled together like we used to.

My closest friends and I started a new tradition. We decided that for next year, we are going to have biweekly or monthly "friendship dinners" - standing dinner dates with our large group of friends so that it can be a time for us to touch base and catch up. And if somebody can't make it one day, there will be so many more for them to participate in!

We started the tradition a bit early and it was So. Much. Fun. Our group dynamic is just amazing - everyone was laughing and talking like the great pals we are. The food was absolutely wonderful and the conversation was just so familiar and uncontrived! It's so nice knowing that this is just another way for us to all consistently see each other next year.

Our restaurant of choice was the Creamery, a diner-like place with really famous milkshakes. It's located at the Stanford Shopping Center, which is about a thirty minute walk and a ten minute bike ride from campus. We had some hilarious moments at the beginning because Karen, Annika, and I decided to walk while everyone else decided to bike. The guy we talked to on the phone had a lot of stipulations for such a large group and one of them was that we couldn't be late at all. My roommate Cassandra was absolutely losing her marbles because we [the walkers] were 3 minutes late. Amusing.

We use any slight-special occasion to get slightly-dressed up. Putting on real clothes is such rarity! What fun!  But in all honestly, people, the milkshakes were so good. Thick and frothy and cold and lovely. The rumors are true.

I had the turkey sausage lasagna, but there were so many great options to choose from! I wanted OOE (a goal of mine in life is to order OOE - one of everything [on the menu duh]), but was very pleased with my choice. It came with buttery, crispy bread and a pear and arugula salad. I'm not the biggest fan of arugula, but I did like how the sweetness of the pear balances out the bitterness of the arugula. And the lasagna was pretty great!

I absolutely, one hundred and twenty nine percent, with all my heart and soul, with my ten fingers and ten toes and every ounce of my being... love everybody at this table.