This week has been a week of solid refreshment.

Last Sunday (I CANNOT believe this was only one week ago) Marco & I stayed at the Embassy Suites in Hollywood Beach and had the best time together. We talked, jacuzzied, walked, ate dinner together… The simplest, best things…

Thursday, on my birthday… I woke up, read cards from my mom & Marco’s grandparents, got a massage, a manicure & pedicure, and went to lunch with my good friend Asia. After lunch, we stopped by Apple and I got a new iPhone (7 plus – LOVE IT). After, we went to coffee to talk (and really, to goof-off).

I spent the evening shopping on my own (thanks Whole Foods & Target for making every experience fun) (this post is not sponsored at all but it’s sure sounding like it – haha!). After my little solo-shopping trip, I met up with girlfriends for dinner at Novo.

When I arrived, my friends were already there. Gosh, you ladies are prompt! We had dinner together, caught up, and talked like we hadn’t talked in months (because we literally hadn’t as my life has been in Ventura with my sweet mama).

After dinner, Asia and I went for a long walk and continued to talk. We walked by the AirBnB that our good friend Amy is going to rent for a MONTH this month, just to experience SLO with us the way that we have.

Side note: BuzzFeed wrote THIS article on “The Happiest City in the USA” and I kind of want to re-do it with my friends to show you what we do on a daily basis – and maybe even tell these girls to come back so we can show them around! 

The next day (Friday) Marco and I woke up, relaxed together, and walked to pick up lunch for me, him, and my friend Kayla who was about to arrive. When Kayla showed up, we ate together, caught up, and then parted ways with Marco as he went to work.

Kayla and I spent the day drinking coffee, shopping, and getting ready. In the evening, we met up with Asia and went to the first night of our Church retreat, WOVEN (if you go to this website, you can see the video of the event!).

IT. WAS. SO. GOOD.

There are so many things I want to share with you, but most of all, I want to share the importance of FRIENDS.

Not just any friends… but sisters. Friends that you can trust to be REAL with. Friends you can cry with, laugh with, and walk through ALL of the times with. This weekend, our little group got closer than ever.

We shared tears, we laughed, we hugged and told each other how happy we were to have one another. And some of us had JUST met. But we went deep, fast.

It was so special…

And through this hard time in life (it seems that ALL of us were experiencing something hard, and just needed to talk about it), I felt filled. Supported. Not alone. Fully loved.

It’s like God was whispering to me: it’s all going to be OKAY. 

I feel emotional writing about it, because I haven’t always had such solid friends.

I don’t know the perfect place to find friends like this, I just know I’ve found them. And I know they’re important. Especially being a girl who used to say she wasn’t a girls girl, because I never felt supported like this by other girls.

I’m sure some of you can relate. 

Perhaps the way to find these friends is to begin to BE one of these friends to someone else. Also, look in the places you wouldn’t normally look. Keep your heart open. Open your eyes to all different personalities – people will surprise you.

Leaving this post with a thankful, and full heart.

Now go hug your very best friends. Send this post to your best GF’s and say “this is you!” and if you haven’t found them yet, open your heart to finding them and go read “For the Love” which has inspired us ALL.