Twenty Years & Still Going Strong

There are friends you make, and then there are friends that life simply hands you — the ones who become as permanent and essential as breathing. Catherine is that friend for me. And last Friday reminded me, all over again, exactly why.

A Paintbrush & A Whole Lot of Laughs

The plan was simple: help Catherine paint one of the bedrooms in her house. The reality? An absolute blast from start to finish. There's something about showing up for someone in the unglamorous, messy, barefoot-on-a-drop-cloth moments that says everything words can't. We covered walls, got paint where it didn't belong, and laughed until our cheeks hurt — because that's what happens when you're with someone whose company you genuinely can't get enough of.

> "No matter what we do, it's always a blast. She is my ride or die — and I mean that in every sense of the word."

Persian Food & Full Hearts

After we cleaned up and admired our handiwork, Catherine did the most Catherine thing possible — she took me to a Persian restaurant for lunch. A proper, generous, you-didn't-ask-but-I-knew-you-needed-this kind of treat. The food was incredible: fragrant saffron rice, perfectly charred kebabs, the kind of meal that makes you go quiet for a moment just to appreciate it.

But honestly? The food was just a backdrop. What I'll carry home from that table is the conversation, the ease, the laughter, and the feeling of being truly known by another person.

Twenty Years of the Real Thing

Twenty years. I keep turning that number over in my mind. Twenty years of showing up for each other — through the big life moments and the ordinary Fridays that turn out to be anything but ordinary. Catherine is the kind of person who makes every room warmer, every task more fun, and every hard season more bearable.

I am endlessly grateful for her — for the kind of love and friendship that is real, and steady, and covered in a little bit of paint.

Here's to twenty more, bestie. 🧡