Spontaneity and a couple of food metaphors

My life typically lacks spontaneity. I love the idea of dropping whatever I'm doing and running off to do something unplanned, but let's face it, I rarely do that. The closest I can do is surround myself with spontaneous friends. Friends who decide we should go for a run at 2:00 in the morning. Or get frozen yogurt samples at the gas station. Or drive all night to pick up a desk from a radio station in Missouri. And these people in my life help me get a little taste of spontaneity without becoming a glutton. I am oh so thankful for these people, because they know me well enough to know when I need structure and when I need adventure. My spontaneous friends are some of my closest, dearest friends and the memories that we create are some of my favorites. Please don't misunderstand me, this is not a suggestion for you (whoever you may be and however well you may think you know me) to burst into my office one day and exclaim, "Let's go cow tipping!" I'll roll my eyes at and kick you out.


Last night I had the extreme pleasure to do something slightly spontaneous. Since I work at Shop Good on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Monday and Wednesday nights are my relaxing nights when I don't plan anything other than maybe watching a movie and/or reading whatever my latest book is. But yesterday afternoon, I got a message from a dear sweet friend of mine from college. I actually only went to the same school as he and his twin brother for a year, but we became really great friends in that year and I've made a point to keep in touch with them as much as possible over the last 10 years (usually the one I talk to the most is the one who is single at the time, so it varies from year to year as to who has more time for me). Anyway, I got a message from my friend saying that he was in Siloam Springs (my hometown) for a week and wanted to meet up and hang out. I was disappointed, because I thought we wouldn't be able to make it work, since I'm three hours away. But we decided to meet in Tulsa at a coffee shop and catch up on each other's lives for a few hours.

Neither of us knew about any places in Tulsa, so I Googled Tulsa coffee shops and found one that looked decent, sent him the address and we met there. Unfortunately, the listing must have been old, because the place didn't exist. Lucky for us, though, the coffee shop used to be on a really cool street, so there were plenty of other places to pick. We had pizza at Hideaway (my first time... very yummy and great vegetarian options!) and then went across the street to another, slightly crowded but pretty cool, coffee shop.

There are a handful of people in my life that I know so well and care so much about that, regardless of how long it's been since I've seen them, we can always carry on an incredible conversation. And that's saying a lot, because I'm terrible at small talk! But this guy and his brother are both those kinds of people. There was no awkwardness, no uncomfortable silences, and no one dominating the conversation. We just enjoyed each other's company thoroughly. I only got to spend about 2 1/2 hours with him, but it was a great little escape in my weekday from the same ole same ole. I actually spent more time on the road (it was about an hour and forty-five minute drive one-way) than hanging out, but it was totally worth it! I love the fun little surprises of life, enjoying each one and savoring the flavor they add to my sometimes sodium-free existence.

Me and my friend...proof that I actually did hang out with him (I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures; I took this one right before we parted ways)