by Malena Lott

You know how I feel about girlfriends, right? That they are the icing on the cupcake, the cheese on pizza, the sun breaking through clouds? It’s why I wanted to dedicate a blog to friends and books – this one – hoping that we’ll share our good reads with girlfriends, celebrate authors and foster great friendships, both online and off.

With my first novella, Life’s a Beach, a tale of two unlikely friends and one bad case of karma, I got to write about these women who are years apart in age and lifestyle who happen to meet in Mexico on vacation. Each have traveled ahead of their partner and form a bond, which begins simply with Georgia, the forty-year-old stay-at-home, returning the sunhat that Avery, a twenty-five-year-old receptionist, lost when she got off the plane. They share caipirinha, a Brazilian drink, on the beach and talk about life and love. Avery is hoping for a marriage proposal on the trip. Georgia is hoping to re-ignite the spark that has gone out of her marriage on what her husband calls their second honeymoon. Some madcap adventure ensues and the two find themselves entangled throughout the trip, causing each to question what they believed about fate, karma and dreams.

When it came time to dedicate the book, I didn’t have to ask the universe for the answer: it was obvious, to Cynthia, for all the ways the universe brought us together. I’ve heard her tell people many times over the years:

she’s yin, I’m yang, she’s the brunette, I’m the blonde; she’s young, I’m old; and on and on. (She’s only 12 years older, but we have always been in different life stages.) Her point was that we have many opposite qualities and yet somehow we are the greatest complement to each other. We’ve been mirrors and sounding boards for each other since 1996 and became closer when we started an ad agency together in 2001 and then closer still when we sold the agency in 2005 and after a year of her moving away for her husband’s job, they returned in 2006 and I’ve counted her as my closest confidante.

So how did the universe bring us together? A job. But no story is that simple. I was referred to her by Rob Andrew, my husband’s boss, one of the coolest guys I ever knew. I’ve learned so much from her about life, how to deal with people and motherhood. I saw her balance work and motherhood and she made me believe I could do it, too. While I feel like it comes easier to her, we probably all feel that way when we’re looking at our friend’s lives. She questions me. We’ve fought. We’ve made up. We’ve had our share of ups and downs and big surprises (my pregnancies, lay-offs, moves, her twin grandbabies, clients who wouldn’t pay, lawsuits, family deaths, Rob’s murder and FINALLY his wife’s conviction and on and on.) Cynthia just now moved away again, and since she’s a new grandma, I know I won’t get to see her or talk to her quite as often. Life happening doesn’t have to cease friendships. It can enhance them, but you do have to work at it. We will call. We will schedule trips. We will stay connected. She’s a soul friend and those don’t come along every day.

What I find most intriguing about friendships isn’t just how they come together, but about the vital energy they can provide to our well being. Good friends are like batteries that recharge us, not drain us.

Thank you, Cynthia. I love you.
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Find out more about Life’s a Beach here.

Readers, do you have an unlikely friendship or fun “meet” story? I’d love to hear it!

And here is the Life’s a Beach drink to share with your girlfriends!

Caipirinha (pronounced kie-purr-REEN-yah) roughly translates to “country bumpkin”. It is made with cachaça, an intensely sweet Brazillian style of rum made from sugarcane juice. The Caipirinha is the national drink of Brazil, where it originated, and is a common Carnavale drink. Although it is more difficult to find, it’s important to choose a premium cachaça for this cocktail in particular because the drink is not heavily flavored and a cheaper brand can ruin an otherwise perfect Caipirinha. You may also like the neater Caipirini.
Ingredients:
1 lime, quartered
2 tsp fine sugar
2 oz cachaca
Preparation:
Place the lime wedges and sugar into an old-fashioned glass.
Muddle well to create a paste.
Fill the glass with ice cubes.
Pour in the cachaca.
Stir well.
Note: Keep the sugar mixed in the drink by stirring often.

Source: From Boca Loca Cachaca , About.com Guide