I’m just getting home from a friend’s lake house and am already feeling nostalgic about this weekend. ❤️ It’s such a great feeling to have your friends all together at once. A girlfriend that I don’t get to see very often drove down from Minneapolis to meet us and we spent the day boating and reminiscing about good times. It got me thinking about how lucky I am to have such great friends that I have so much history with. The majority of my friends are people that I’ve known since at least high school, and most from much further back. I also have a wedding next month where all of my college friends will be back together again (can’t wait, Kate and Devin!) and I am so looking forward to seeing everyone. ??? Long distance relationships get talked about often (been there, done that); but people don’t give enough credit to making long distance friendships work. Along with this pretty little vintage silk skirt outfit, today I want to talk about distance in relationships and how to keep in touch with your favs! ?
I feel like after school is over you start to see who your real friends are. In both high school and college, I was constantly surrounded by people my age and being social was easy. I would make plans with people in class or when I saw them walking around on campus, and most likely didn’t have to travel too far to meet up with them. Even when I was home from college for holidays, hanging out with high school friends was convenient because you knew everyone would be home. Fast-forward 3 years, and it is now often a chore to peel myself from the couch after work. ? I am such a homebody and living with your significant other only makes staying home that much more appealing because you know that you won’t actually be alone. One thing that I’ve found that helps me keep up with meeting friends is developing “habits” and scheduling things in advance. For the past couple of months, on Fridays I’ve met up with a friend after work for happy hour. It normally isn’t planned in advance, but because we’ve done it often enough it has sort of stuck as a habit in my mind and when Friday comes around I think to text her. I also do “girls night” once a month with two of my best friends; and at every one, we schedule when we’re going to do the next. Sure, I typically see them multiple times between each one, but having that one scheduled night a month is nice when things get busy and we could lose touch. It’s easy to use these same patterns in your distance relationships also. Ask friends who moved away when they are going to be home next, and schedule time to meet up for brunch or grab a drink. ?? Coming home for a short period of time is stressful and it’s impossible to see everyone; so if you make the effort to reach out to them you can make sure they will make time for you during their limited stay. Scheduling a concrete time and place is so important when making plans that you want to keep. “Hey, we should meet up while you’re home!” is vague and will often not end up happening. “Would you be free to grab brunch Sunday morning?” is a more solid way to make sure you both follow through. Develop habits, schedule time, and be specific. ??
Technology is something that saves my life when it comes to long distance friendships. One of my favorite ways to stay in touch with friends is group chats. I have one with my college roommates who live in Oshkosh, Ann Arbor, and Los Angeles and because of how often we talk in it, I sometimes forget that I haven’t seen them in months. Knowing all of the small, insignificant details of someone’s daily life is what makes me feel like I really know them and group chats make that so easy. It doesn’t really matter that my friend Paige just spent $100 on a T-Shirt; but all of us giving our two cents on why she should or shouldn’t have makes me feel like we all still live together. Snapchat is great in this same way. I have gotten a ton of advice from far away friends when trying on clothes in dressing rooms thanks to it. ? Being able to easily share parts of your daily routine makes it so that you don’t feel the need to “catch up” when you do finally see each other. Even little things like being able to add plans to the calendar in my iPhone and Facebook reminding me about people’s birthdays are a huge help because… #forgetful. ??♀️ Basically what I’m saying is, with all of the tools we have available, there is no excuse to lose touch with friends. Use the resources you have, put the effort in, and keep those relationships going. Finding good friends isn’t easy! Give them the attention they deserve even when life gets crazy ❤️
Sunnies: Here. Earrings: Similar. Lipstick: Here. Top: Here.
Skirt (Vintage): Similar. Clutch (Vintage): Similar. Shoes: Similar.
Now for my outfit. I would say this is most appropriate to head out for a date night or dinner with friends. I bought this off the shoulder bodysuit in the spring and have worn it SO much this summer. Definitely a staple piece. My skirt was a thrift store find and cost me $1, and my clutch is also vintage and was $3. Shop vintage guys! Your wallets will thank you and your style will be much more unique. ?? I normally wear these black heels for work, but they worked well here to dress the look up. I pulled my hair back on the side to show off these cute little jacket earrings, and my lip color is MAC whirl. ? I wear it SO much and get asked about it often. A friend gifted it to me a while back and it quickly became my favorite shade. This was super fun to wear and the mixing of old and new pieces keeps it interesting! Outfit details are tagged above.
Alright guys, thanks for reading! Long distance friendships are hard, but making them work is important. ? Get off the couch and go make plans! And start a group chat. But beware, last week I picked up my phone to see 85 notifications. ? Those chicks are worth it though! ?
Xo Amanda