Simple Pleasures: Wine Nights

Several years ago I was in a play. A really bad play. A play that was so bad it had to close early and made several "worst of theatre" lists in Chicago. However out of extreem badness total awesomeness can arise and it was from this diabolical production that I made two of my dearest friends today. Coincidentally they both share the same name and I dub them "My Sara(h)'s". Becoming friends with them made the utter embarrassment of that show totally worth it.

The summer of 2006 (which was the summer of the bad play) we began getting together for what we termed "wine nights". It was chance to go to someones home, drink wine (of course) eat some snacks and generally gab and be girlie. We made a point to have a wine night every couple of months and after a time they have become a pretty regular monthly tradition. It's amazing to think that its been over four years since the tradition began! In this time a baby has been born, a marriage has taken place, someone has moved to New York (and back again) while another cohabited with their significant other, jobs have been lost and gained and soon one of us will be off to grad school. Times may change, but the beauty of a wine night never does.

Sometimes are wine nights are centered around a theme, we have made vision boards, we have had veggie (from our CSA!) nights, we have gone to a BYOB restaurants, the possibilities are endless. It's not a novel concept, it's pretty simple really, but it's a tradition I cherish so deeply. And while I know that life's evolutions will make it challenging to keep these nights regular,  even if they have to stop I will always have the memory of them, and for that I am so grateful.

I deeply encourage people to create such nights with their friends. Life gets so busy sometimes and its so easy to let the days fly by without really connecting with anyone. Text messaging, facebook wall posting and tweeting have replaced real human interaction and have tricked us into thinking we are connected. We are not. We are informed, but we are not connected. There is a difference. I just came home from a wine night and during the entire evening not one of us checked our phones, or our email, or our facebook once. We didn't need too. We were totally contant and enjoying one another's company. It's the simple stuff, the free stuff, the no iphone app is as good as a true friend who listens stuff. I am blessed to have friends who are so willing and open to be so present.

So my Sara(h)'s: I raise a glass to you. For our friendship, now and always.