Best Friend Dates

Because what blogger doesn't love a bestie who secretly snaps pictures of her being a foodie?

Winter break is a span of several weeks when college students are able to catch up with their hometown friends.  Once you graduate high school the chances are great that you part ways with your friends. Parting ways can mean two things.  

The first option is that you grow to be different people and realize that your friendship was based on proximity.  College is a time when you tend to discover who you really are and what you want to do.  These discoveries sometimes highlight how different you are from those you were close to prior to leaving, and sometimes it is better to drift apart.  In my experiences the past few years, these are the types of people who you get together with and spend time reminiscing on times you spent together  and then the conversation will quickly come to a halt or turn into gossiping about peers.  When these types of conversations occur every time you see this person, it is a clear sign that this friendship might have only existed due to proximity.  

The second option is that you physically part ways.  Going to college hours apart from the people you spent elementary, middle, and high school with can be challenging.  The distance can be a true test of friendship.  The phrase "out of sight out of mind" comes into play here.  When people go away to school they usually make new friends and sometimes forget about those who they were once close to.  However, the distance does not have to mean a failed friendship. In fact, it can be quite the opposite.  Just because you don't see each other everyday and no longer share the exact same friends nor school doesn't mean that your friendship must end.  With today's technology and a little effort it is quite easy to stay in touch with the friends who mean something to you.  I have a few friends who we are arguably closer now that we don't go to school together, we seem to make more of an effort to check in. 

I have experienced both of the above options in the past few years.  The older I get the more I realize how drifting apart from those who I was close to in high school isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It actually makes me value the friendships I still have with hometown friends even more.  I love coming home to the friends who I can spend hours in a local coffee shop with chatting about times we had together,  learning about the ups and downs they experienced throughout the semester,  listening to the stories they accumulated, gossiping about where everyone from high school is and what they're doing with their lives, imagining what our future will look like X amount of years from now, getting to meet their new friends, and sharing my experiences too.  

This winter break I have been fortunate to do a lot of this. I've gone to several different coffee shops to catch up with friends I haven't seen in awhile. I may or may not have even gone to some of these places multiple times.  

My favorite spot at home is a locally owned place that is known on the Mainline for their handcrafted coffee.They were voted Best Coffee on the Mainline for 2013, 2014, and 2015!  Philter is a small coffee shop located in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.  They have delicious sandwiches, baked goods, coffee, and tea.  The interior has decor similar to the window of an Anthropologie store. The staff are some of the most friendly people and are definitely coffee connoisseurs, which helps people like me who are indecisive.  

During the second week of break I was able to catch up with my best friend, Maddie, at Philter.  Maddie has been my best friend since we were in fourth grade.  We met during softball tryouts and coincidentally hated each other immediately because we had the same number, played the same position, and both had dogs named Riley.  Looking back it's pretty crazy how our two worlds collided.  After getting over the drama of a ten year, we quickly became friends and after a few play dates we became inseparable.  The two of us have been through a ton of life experiences, both bad and good, together.  Throughout college we have stayed close thanks to FaceTime, texting, Snap Chat, Twitter, Facebook, iMessage on our laptops, etc.  Some semesters we have been better at staying in touch than others, but regardless of the frequency of our contact our friendship never really changes.  When we hangout we spend hours catching up.  

In December, when we decided that we would meet over coffee, it was a no brainer where we would be going. We ended up spending hours the morning of Christmas Eve chatting over coffee and breakfast.  This semester we were both incredibly busy so we didn't get to talk as much as we would've liked, but I was able to make it up to Penn State for a weekend of fun in September. 

So what did we get to eat and drink?

Since it was rather warm on Christmas eve, we each got iced Coffee with a little cream and sugar added.  The ice cubes they use for their iced drinks are small and perfect for cold beverages.  This iced coffee is my absolute better. It is hands down better than any chain's version of ice coffee that I've ever had. 

Maddie had her usual everything bagel with cream cheese and I had a sandwich.  It was egg with roasted red pepper, spinach, and a little cheese served on a baguette. The combination is my favorite! 

I hope you enjoyed the time you spent with friends this Winter Break!

XOXO