Just as Crazy as You: Celebrating the Friend Who Gets You
Some friendships are built on big moments: weddings, birthdays, the move across the country. But if you ask me, the best ones are built on everything in between.
It's the Tuesday night phone call that was supposed to last five minutes and somehow lasted two hours. It's the look across a crowded room that says are you seeing this? without either of you saying a word. It's the inside joke from 2009 that still makes you snort-laugh in public, much to everyone else's confusion.
That's the friend I draw for. And chances are, she's the friend you're shopping for right now.
The quiet moments
We don't talk enough about the quiet side of friendship. The friend who shows up with soup when you're sick. The one who sits with you on the couch after a hard day and doesn't try to fix anything, just hands you the remote and the good blanket.
Those moments don't make it onto social media, but they're the ones you remember. When I drew Two Friends Comforting Each Other, that's exactly what I was thinking about: one friend leaning on the other, no words needed. It's a gift that says I know you've been there for me, and I'm here for you too.
The fun moments
Then there's the other side: the friend who says "one glass of wine" and you both know that's a lie. The road trips with terrible snacks and even worse singing. The girls' night that started at a nice restaurant and ended with you both in pajamas, eating cereal at midnight and crying with laughter about something neither of you can remember the next morning.
This is the friend who'd appreciate a blonde and brunette in matching Best Friends jackets, toasting each other because of course they are. Or Sweaters, Sneakers and Wine, two besties in their coziest clothes, completely themselves. Or Working Out With Wine, for the friend whose idea of exercise is yoga with a chardonnay chaser. (No judgment here. I've been there.)
The crazy things you do together
Every great friendship has a story you probably shouldn't tell at a dinner party. Maybe it involves a karaoke bar. Maybe it involves a haircut you gave each other in college. Maybe it involves a city you visited on a whim and still talk about years later. For my friends and me, it's New York; that's where Best Friends With Wine in New York City came from.
The point is, your friendship has a personality all its own. A gift should too.
Why an original gift means more
It's easy to grab a candle or a gift card on the way to a birthday party. And there's nothing wrong with that! But when you want to really tell someone what she means to you, a gift that looks like the two of you says something a store-bought one can't.
That's why so many of my drawings come with hair color options, and why I'm happy to change the hair on almost any drawing. The blonde and the brunette, the redhead and her raven-haired bestie: when your friend opens the gift and sees herself and you in it, that's the moment. That's when she knows you thought about it.
Every print is hand-drawn, printed in my own studio, and sealed with care, because I believe the gift should feel as personal as the friendship.
It all comes down to this
When you strip away the birthdays and the holidays and the big milestones, friendship really comes down to one simple, wonderful thing: the pure happiness of finding someone who's just as crazy as you are.
Someone who laughs at the same ridiculous things. Someone who knows your coffee order and your darkest secrets. Someone who makes the quiet moments feel safe and the fun moments feel unforgettable.
If you've found that person, celebrate her. Not just on her birthday, but any day you happen to think, I'm so lucky she's mine.
xo Love, Roxy