Study methods and friendly judgment
Sarah arrives for our Tuesday study session carrying what appears to be a mobile office in her backpack. Color-coded pens arranged by urgency level. Notebooks with actual tabs. A…
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39 entries tagged #friendship.
When your pottery mentor becomes the student
Margaret Wu just completed her pottery teaching certification. At seventy. While I'm over here still figuring out how to center clay without it flying off the wheel. When your pot…
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Assembly required
Sarah texted around six asking if I could help her put together a bookshelf she'd been avoiding for three weeks. Of course I said yes, even though my track record with IKEA instru…
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Concert prep protocol
Michelle texted me yesterday asking if I wanted to check out this indie band she'd been obsessing over. Apparently they were playing at the Fillmore and she had an extra ticket af…
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Dating debrief session
Sarah showed up with her usual Saturday energy and a suspicious amount of curiosity about my love life. Within five minutes we were camped out on the living room floor with coffee…
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Scientific method
Michelle walked into today's session asking about Jake's mysterious glass bottles lining the kitchen counter. "What's your boyfriend fermenting now?" she said, eyeing the setup li…
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Long distance heartache
Margaret showed up at my door this afternoon with a tin of jasmine tea and that particular look that means she needs to talk about family. Her sister in Taiwan had called this mor…
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Pre-game protocols
Sarah showed up an hour early to 'help me get ready' which apparently means completely overhauling my entire outfit choice and questioning every makeup decision I've made since 20…
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Studio rescue mission
Margaret called this morning with that slightly panicked voice that means her pottery studio looks like a tornado hit it. Yesterday's workshop with twelve beginners apparently lef…
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Reverse mentoring
Michelle came over for our usual Tuesday training session, but somehow we ended up on my living room floor for an hour afterward just talking. Reverse mentoring She was supposed t…
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Care package diplomacy
Alex showed up with this mysterious foil-wrapped bundle that turned out to be his mom's empanadas, and suddenly we're both eight years old again comparing whose family makes the b…
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Pre-game protocol
Sarah showed up with her phone already loaded with what she calls 'the definitive getting-ready playlist' and immediately started connecting to our bluetooth speaker like she owns…
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Code blue recovery mode
Sarah knocked on my door at 4:30 looking like she'd been through a medical drama episode. Same, honestly. We both just finished a shift that included two code blues, one family me…
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Emergency tea council
Sarah showed up at my door looking like she'd been hit by a truck. Same energy, honestly. We both had that particular brand of February exhaustion where even making decisions feel…
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Pre-workout prep with the efficiency expert
Carmen shows up at 6:45am looking like she stepped out of an athleisure catalog. Hair perfect, matching set, shoes already laced. Meanwhile I'm still negotiating with a piece of h…
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Masa and mayhem
Carmen knocked on my door at 10 AM with a grocery bag full of corn husks and a determined look. "Today's the day we finally do this," she announced, dumping everything on my kitch…
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Portrait mode breakthrough
Carmen showed up with her new iPhone 13 this afternoon, completely baffled by all the camera options. 'There are like seventeen different settings and I don't know what any of the…
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Breakfast burrito diplomacy
Carmen showed up at 9am with breakfast burritos wrapped in foil like little silver presents. "I made extra," she said, which in Carmen-speak means she planned this whole thing and…
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Recipe rescue mission
Alex showed up this morning with three empty binders and the patience of a saint. "Let's actually make sense of all those recipe cards," he said, surveying the shoebox of Abuela R…
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Kitchen studio
Text from Sarah at 2pm: "Studio heater died. Rain check?" My response: "Bring your clay. I have a kitchen counter." Turns out pottery doesn't actually require a fancy studio - jus…
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Sunday stillness
Carmen brought over this mystery novel she's been raving about and ended up curled on our living room floor, completely absorbed. Sunday stillness Something about watching her rea…
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Twelve shades of indecision
Carmen showed up at 9am with a gym bag and the announcement that we were 'getting ready together' before our pottery class. I thought this meant throwing on clean clothes and mayb…
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Digital native meets digital immigrant
Carmen showed up today with her phone already out, declaring it was time I joined "the streaming revolution." Apparently my collection of burned CDs and iTunes purchases makes me…
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Trail mix and tall tales
Sarah texted at 8am with 'want to see a waterfall?' and somehow I said yes without asking the important questions. Like how far. Or how steep. Or why she was grinning like that. T…
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Emergency beauty protocols
Carmen showed up at 6:45am looking like she'd wrestled with a mascara wand and lost spectacularly. Apparently her bathroom light burned out mid-application and she finished in the…
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Small gestures, big hearts
Carmen showed up this afternoon with a tupperware container full of her grandmother's snickerdoodles and an idea. Mrs. Patterson from 4B had her knee surgery yesterday, and Carmen…
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Gravity wins
Carmen has been bugging me for weeks to try the new climbing gym downtown. I kept making excuses because honestly? Heights and I have an understanding - I stay down here, they sta…
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Athletic genius
Sarah came over today determined to finally master some basic yoga poses before her next running group meeting. She'd been talking about wanting better flexibility for weeks, and…
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Care package assembly line
Finals week hits everyone differently, and I've been watching some of my nursing classmates really struggle lately. Sarah mentioned yesterday that she's been living on vending mac…
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Adult responsibilities
Michelle showed up at my door this afternoon with a shoebox full of receipts and that look people get when they realize tax season is actually happening. "Please tell me you know…
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User manual not included
Michelle's iPhone started making some weird chirping noise today during our training session review. Not the usual text sound - something completely different that made us both st…
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Against my better judgment
Carmen showed up at nine-thirty with that look in her eyes, the one that usually means trouble. I was already in my sweatshirt and ready to crash with a cup of tea and my anatomy…
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Assembly required
Carmen volunteered to help me put together the new bookshelf I've been avoiding for three weeks. "How hard can it be?" she said. Famous last words. Assembly required Turns out the…
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Recovery position
Carmen and I dragged ourselves back to my room around 2am and immediately collapsed. Recovery position This is what defeat looks like. We spent three hours at some random house pa…
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F-stop what now?
Sarah met me at Java Joe's this afternoon with her fancy digital camera and infinite patience. Turns out there's actually science behind taking pictures that don't look like they…
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Accidental tutoring session
Headed to the rec center this afternoon to meet Carmen for our usual workout when I spotted this girl from my anatomy class looking completely defeated over her textbook. Sarah, I…
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Green thumbs and dirty fingernails
Carmen showed up this afternoon with a bag full of tiny succulents and declared we were having a "plant intervention" in my room. Apparently my one dying fern wasn't cutting it an…
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Unexpected workout buddy
Carmen and I just finished destroying ourselves at the rec center (her idea of a "light cardio day" nearly killed me) when this little orange furball came trotting up to us outsid…
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Trail mix and life talks
Carmen suggested we get out of Chapel Hill for the day and I am SO glad I said yes. Falls Lake is only like 45 minutes away but it felt like we discovered this whole other world.…
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