Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Kewpie Girls


Me and Susan in Mexico

Susan, Kate, and me at Kelly's bridal shower in Columbia, MO

Maggie, me, and Susan at Kelly's bridal luncheon in Columbia, MO

me, Maggie, Kate, Kelly, and Susan in Chicago

Kelly, Kate, me, and Susan at Kate's wedding in Ixtapa, Mexico

I thought I had written about my 30th birthday, but I can't find it...so here we go. My closest girlfriends are the Kewpie Girls...a group of five of us: me, Kate (Chicago, IL), Kelly (Columbia, MO), Maggie (Chicago, IL), and Susan (NYC) who have been friends since elementary and junior high. (They all have a blog attached to mine except for Kelly) We are called The Kewpie girls because the Kewpie doll was our high school mascot. I went to grade school with Maggie and Susan and then we joined up in junior high with Kate and Kelly. As you can see we are all spread out around the country, but still make an effort to stay close through email, keeping up with each other's blogs, phone calls, and traveling to visit each other. I could write so much about these girls, but will try to focus on what they did for my 30th.

I've always been freaked out by getting older, even when I turned 17 and woke up to John Cougar Mellencamp's lyrics, "Hold on to 16 as long as you can, changes come around real soon make us women and men." That freaked me out! So you can imagine the big 3-0! I was the first one to turn the dreaded number but that day ended up being one of the most touching days I've experienced.

The morning of my birthday I received a large box addressed from "The Kewpie Girls." I already choked up without even opening the box. Open the box, and tears start rolling. There was the sweetest letter on top with cute drawings of "The Kewpie Girls" on top explaining that the box contained 30 items that reminded them of me. Each item had a note attached with a memory or a reason why a particular item reminded them of me. This was the most thoughtful and meaningful gift I have ever received. I thought, "I don't deserve this and wow I am so blessed by my friends."

The box contained the following:

From Susan:

"Southbound 35" by Pat Green to represent the short drive down I-35 we had to drive from Austin/Dallas to hang out!

acrostic of my name
Sled ornament because the first time we hung out as kids was sledding in our neighborhood
Picture frame w/ Betsy Johnson and Jessica Simpson because Besty Johnson was on our flight back from Ixtapa, Mexico and we always liked to talk about Jessica Simpson.
Bracelets because I like to wear chunky jewelry
Jimmy buffet tape because I hate Jimmy Buffet and a quote from our Senior year cruise was, "Jimmy Buffet is shitty."
Matchbox car because Susan always drove me to school
Reese’s big cup because we share a passion for Reese's and call each other any time we try out a new Reese's product.
Taco bell bucks because we ate a lot of Taco Bell in high school.

From Kate:
Scarf/sash
Chapstick because I always wore orange chapstick in high school until I saw a picture of myself and realized it made my lips look orange.
Photo album with a camera on the cover because of my love for photography.
Golf balls because we were on the golf team together.
MW blocks for our Midwest gang signs that we like to throw up in pictures.
Compact that says, "You say bitch like it's a bad thing," for my love of cursing at just the right moments.
Key chain because I always seem to get us locked out of Kate's apartment or house every time I visit her in Chicago. This once caused a missed flight....I think?

From Kelly:

In Style Magazine
Missouri cookie cutter
Watch
Coin purse
Note cards
Magnet with a sweet saying on it.
Wine glasses and a Bottle of yummy wine

From Maggie:
How cruise control works explanation because Maggie drove with me from Missouri all the way to Texas when I moved in my little Ford Ranger truck that did NOT have cruise control.
Gun pin-I think this was because we convinced Brian Lee that my brother's name was bullet.
Toni Braxton tape
Sweet tarts because I always teased Maggie for spending money on such a candy.
Catalog post cards
The cars picture because it was my first concert in the 5th grade
Cd case for my love of music

Thank you Kewpie Girls. I love you! I think about this all the time and it always cheers me up!

7 comments:

Susan said...

You have a good memory!! I have a correction....the 3rd pic up there is from Kelly's lunch, not Maggie's. And you got the quote from senior year spring break wrong....it was "I LOVE Jimmy Buffett"!!

jessica said...

I actually wrote it all down and saved it so I'd remember! Correction made on photo caption...sorry Maggie and Kelly! I still say, "Jimmy Buffet is shitty."

Kate said...

you are so sweet. sweet to remember it all in such detail. i am glad it stuck with you. so you are sweet, not semi-sweet today.

couple things:
1) I have always remembered you telling the story of waking up to John Cougar Mellencamp on your 16th b-day. I think I've told that story to Joe 10 times now and always think of it when that song comes on.
2) I believe the correct version of facts was that every time the subject of Jimmy Buffet came up on that trip (or a song of his came on), someone would yell, "Jimmy Buffet is shitty." To which Susan would emphatically reply, "Jimmy Buffet ain't shitty." : )
I find this extra humorous now, b/c at the time I know I would've been the one yelling "Jimmy Buffet is shitty." Now I am married to a big Buffett fan, so I've come around. Funny how love can even change your musical tastes. Either that, or I'm just an extremely maleable person! : )

Kelly said...

What a sweet blog entry Jessica! You know we all love you, too. And that's hilarious about the Jimmy Buffett quote - I had complete forgotten about that :)

Susan said...

Maybe, Kate's the one with the good memory! I can't remember exactly what was said, but I think she's right!

I can't sleep and was thinking about this blog entry and had to get on because I have another correction! I also included the song "Southbound 35" by Pat Green in my stuff to represent the short drive down I-35 we had to drive from Austin/Dallas to hang out!

jessica said...

1. Last night at Trivia Night one of the team names was "Jimmy Buffet sucks!" Hilarious after just posting this.
2. Yay for Kelly for posting her first comment, at least on this blog...we want to hear more comments from you Kelly!
3. Susan...correction made..again...sorry!
4. Kate, I don't think love could ever change my opinion of Jimmy Buffet. You are a good wife!

Kate said...

you would be surprised.

did you know: every night when we put Georgia to bed, we sing her a verse of Margaritaville?
this started b/c suddenly you have a child and realize you don't know any kiddie songs yet. and now it's just stuck, b/c it works.

we're in the process of getting her used to going to sleep to a music box instead, in case a babysitter doesn't happen to know the words to Margaritaville...
(what kind of babysitter is that?)