I've always been a tomboy, usually found hanging out with boys and downplaying anything 'girly.' But as I (fast) approach 40, I look around and it's the women in my life that hold my attention. I could work up a touchy-feely women-are-from-Venus lead-in, but that would blow my street-cred. Chalk it up to lucky, but the last week of 2009 plopped me smack in the middle of my three favorite surviving female friends.

As many of you know, Cate Harrison is recently back from NC and fully reabsorbed by RCC. It was like she was never gone. Old school ET alum and mythical ex-pat Sarah Skeen came back from Perugia for her annual xmas bonzai! trip, and tried and true cheese champ Sara Adduci completed the picture with grace and passion. Over the course of three days, an obscene amount of food and an embarrassment of riches in the bff department, I had the best new year ever.

Cate never arrives empty handed, and her gift of homemade pesto lasted maybe 24 hours in my fridge. Gently heated and spooned over bucatini, it was a triple threat dinner of delicious/homemade/homegrown. The Coda di Volpe ("fox's tail"--insert joke here) from the slopes of Vesuvius in Campania paired perfectly with it. It was subtle and fruity enough to handle the basil, acidic and fresh enough to handle the oil and nuts. A study in complementary elements. As I ate and drank this satisfying combo alone the other night, I reflected on the NYD lunch: conversations about modern Italy, hot soccer players, aging dogs, French disco, filial piety, the decline of letter writing and, of course, boy bashing. Worth waiting all year for...but here's hoping I don't have to wait that long again. Ladies: to shared joys, good wine, and the evolving context of our continued friendships.

CHEERS!