Letters from Mikey (and the boys)

The above is a letter I received a couple of months ago; A letter from my boys in Boston...written on an 11x17 sheet of printer paper and sent by none other than Mike Audette, a continuation of the letters he's sent me..though I owe him at this point. Few of my Philly friends really understand the connection I have to my Boston friends. I'll try to put to words what exactly they mean to me...but the fact that they wrote this letter is explanation enough:

These friendships are the kind that have stayed with me, no matter where I am and what I've done in my life. I've been blessed with such friends at an early age..and to be honest, I never knew friendship to be any different from this, having nothing else to compare it to until I came to Philly. But I've yet to find a group of people who are so devoted to one another, that neither distance, nor time, nor circumstance has ever come between all of us. Don't get me wrong, Philly is wonderful and I've made true friendships here..but I've never known friendship in this capacity, that spans so long and involves so many amazing people...and I'm eternally grateful.

I love you guys. This letter came at a time when I needed it most.

Letters From Mikey, pt 2

A Saturday Afternoon (in photos)

tea at higher ground with michael.

walk to old city. Book Trader finds. (and a small gift for someone...)

Meet with Min Hee, buy these from Urban. 

Acquire these items from Anthropologie 

Buy Intelligentsia loose leaf organic earl grey and a new tea infuser from De Bruno Brothers. 

buy my perfume and mascara at Sephora. 

Gelato at Capogiro (Apple/Tangerine) Min Hee got Avocado/Chocolate Malt 

at this point, we go our separate ways (but shared a wonderful day with a new friend!) I train it to Spring Garden and meet Justin and his friends at Arbol Cafe where Oscar, the owner greets me with a warm "Ti Kanis?" (Although Oscar is Paraguayan, he once worked at a Greek restaurant) 

More tea and conversation. 

Home. (In time to make dinner with a new friend)

Letters from Mikey

Let me preface this by explaining one of my dearest friendships. Michael Audette and I became friends in the ninth grade. We took Mr Bianca's social studies class together and became good friends by way of his friendships with Courtney Ober and Megan Smith (I believe we sat at the same lunch table at some point freshman year). Somewhere along the line, Mikey and I started seeing concerts together. My dad would drive us one way, his dad would usually drive us back (as far as worcester haha). Some of my fondest memories of these trips include..acquiring as many bouncy balls as possible and letting them loose in enclosed spaces. playing wall ball at the Palladium. Seeing American Nightmare...and living to tell about it. Watching Mike and his dad eat quarter pounders at a rest stop. Listening to Coheed and Cambria for the first time from an Equal Vision sampler..and kind of liking it.  

Things have changed a bit since I was 14 years old. I can't believe we've been friends for ten years ha. Mike has the worst and best luck ever (being struck by lightning...etc etc) Is the only person I know to have ever been admitted into a fraternity (at UMASS none the less) without drinking a drop of alcohol. Rode to Philly on a motorcycle from massachusetts once. Has owned more $25 dollar cars and white guitars than anyone I know. Has painted the Green Monster in his room..(almost to scale and with incredible precision). and he is one of my closest friends...

That said, Mikey has been sending me letters and packages over the last couple of months. I've decided to share them on the interweb in a series I'm calling Letters from Mikey. 

I received the following about a month ago:

(the dinosaur image is a tshirt.)

On New Traditions. January Sixteenth ( in as few words as possible)

a jennifer jacobs birthday visit in south philly. apple and endive bday dinner with close friends. rose tea. hanging out with one of my favorites until i turned 24 at midnight. 12 am birthday wishes from my past. vegan cupcakes. a bouquet of wildflowers. sugar ray kareoke in the navy yard. phone calls from spain and greece. messages from massachusetts and new york and philadelphia and california and idaho and england. waking up to sleepy faces. the most beautiful january 16th spring day ever. bike ride with a dear friend. wandering the italian market. taking photos. tea at gleaners. used books and records and the sweetest kittens. my roommate. bike ride to chinatown with one of my nearest and dearest. chinese noodle shop in good company. blood orange and pear birthday gelato. falling in love with philly all over again. movie night in fishtown. an adopted birthday brunch (happy birthday joel) and more hanging out. 

this birthday was wonderful. thank you, philadelphia for newfound memories.  i saw (most) everyone i wanted to see without getting overwhelmed (like i usually do). I'm blessed and grateful and so very thankful that of all places in the world, I ended up here.