Friendships: Growing Up and Growing Apart

I'm almost twenty-five; and in June, i will have been out of high school for seven years. It doesn't seem to matter how long ago you graduated, though, high school-like drama always seems to find you. Sometimes friendships grow apart, as we grow up but we don't realize the friendship has come to an end until it is filled with toxic drama. Friendship drama is the worst. I am sure we all have it as we grow apart. 
The worst part about growing up and growing apart is knowing when it's time to call it quits.
I've had a few friendships end too late, and others that I thought ended too soon. With another person involved in the friendship, it is easy to feel slighted. 

After high school and college it is harder to keep in contact with friends. We spend 40+ hours a week working, hours in traffic (for commuters like me) and it's easy to come home and just be exhausted. 
When we're in high school, our different interests make our friendships worthwhile. As we grow and get into different careers, we start to have less in common. 
That is when friendships start to fade. It takes a lot more work to stay in contact with someone whose day to day life is different than yours. It doesn't mean that those friendships have to end, just that they take more work. 
Both of you must work harder to keep your friendship strong. It is a careful balance. 
I have had many friendships where I've felt like I've given more and ended up getting slighted; and I've had friendships where I've given my all and I realize now, that it was still not enough. Holding grudges only makes the drama worse.
As we grow apart, letting go earlier is easier. 
Some times, a solution to growing apart is having a true heart-to-heart about your current lives. If you feel like your friend never texts you back, maybe it is because she actually doesn't like texting (or have time) and would prefer a phone call from now on. 
The important part in growing apart and avoiding drama, is to always be graceful in your conversations. A friend may be lashing out at you and your friendship. Don't snap back or ignore his/her feelings. Try to be understanding.

At the same time, it is important to realize when it's over. Sometimes those words "I am sorry, I just don't think we are very good friends anymore." 
Hopefully, your friend feels it, too, or can help you find a way to stop your friendship from growing apart. 
Or there's the drama approach with the response being along the lines of "Fine then don't be my friend" or "You really seem to care so much about me to end the friendship."
Unfortunately, then you are left with a dilemma. Do you enter into the drama or do you just let it be? 
My response? Let it be! 

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And now a fun giveaway!! 

Tiffany @ Endless Bliss | Raewyn @ Be A Warrior Queen Emily @ Designs By Emily F | Angelic @ Simply Sinova | Julia @ EternalGirl Shop Anna @ Flawlessly Flawed | Neisha @ Neisha's View | Janeen @ OkSkinny a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Wedding Wednesday: RSVPs and Feelings

I am so excited!! Last week, we sent out our wedding invites and the RSVPs have started pouring in!! 

Tastefully scribbled out the address / guest name :P

I made our invitations and RSVP cards myself using Photoshop. I printed the invites at Vistaprint because I got a Groupon, and the RSVP cards through Kinkos. [I print everything at Kinkos...]. The RSVP cards were postcard size so all they had to do was fill out the front and stick it in the mail!! 

I am so happy and surprised that people already started replying (I was sure people would procrastinate). I am sure we will still be receiving cards in March, though. 

Our first RSVP :) 

I was so ecstatic when we got our first RSVP card, that I posted a status on Facebook. I should have known that this would spark problems. People started replying to the status saying that they had never received an invitation...because they weren't invited.

Maybe my thoughts on this are irrational, although, I have been told they are not. But excuse me, what? Why would you write something negative on my exciting status? Why couldn't you just say "Woo Hoo!" like it, or just ignore it? 

We're having a large wedding. There are 200 guests - most of them family members, our bridal party and then a few friends that we see regularly. My definition of regularly would be "whenever we are in the area." Therefore, we invited some of our friends from up north that we see every few months, some Ohio friends that I see once every few years, but talk to often, etc. Unfortunately, we weren't able to invite everyone - not even some of our oldest friends. To counter this, we've decided to do a barhop in the evening after our reception. Most of our friends are understanding and attending this festivity. 

Can someone please explain to me why someone would publicly say that they didn't receive an invitation? 

Personally, I would never say something to someone about not being invited to their wedding unless
a) they're a close family member, or b)they're one of my closest friends that I see/talk to daily. 

If I were to say something, I would definitely be doing it in a private way...most likely through a phone call (but I suppose text or Facebook message could work, too). But publicly? On my excited status? It makes me feel so weird. 

I, of course, then had to make some embarrassed statement saying we couldn't afford to invite anyone besides family when I shouldn't even be embarrassed at all! We are paying for this wedding ourselves! We've lived at my mom's house for the past year, saving money. Iman is still driving his car that could break down anytime to save money. I worked 70 hour weeks to save money. 

But, I decided not to let this negative reaction taint my excitement at our RSVP replies!!! :) 

With these replies flooding in, I found renewed energy for planning. Today I am heading to Macy's to fix our registry items (what a pain!), tomorrow meeting with someone to get our rehearsal dinner planned, Sunday hopefully asking our officiant and Monday we are hoping to do our food tasting! 

65 days till the wedding! 

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I'd also like to introduce to you a company that makes amazing handmade boots. I cannot wait to purchase my first pair!

Gipsy Dharma! 

The owner describes the company like this: 

"Life is a journey, a beautiful journey if one looks at it from the right perspective and Gipsy Dharma is my own philosophy of always being on the move and constantly dreaming of what will come next. Gipsy Dharma boots are designed to help people in their journey by, if only slightly, beautifying their lives, inspiring them, raising their level of self-awareness and by giving them a lucky sign to start fresh. After all, don't we all have a little free spirited Gipsy in us just waiting to get out and explore? :)"



What's not to love about that philosophy?

The website has a wide range of shoe colors and varying products made of leather. Have you ever worn leather shoes? REAL leather shoes? They are amazing - especially on your feet.



These shoes make me think of fairies!

Go check out these wonderful shoes, maybe buy me a pair [as a wedding gift?] and enter their weekly giveaway!
 

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