Vintage Friends

Normally on Mondays I post vintage photos relating to the beach, but today I've decided to do something a little different. Today I'm posting a few old(er) photos of some of my girlfriends from California. Why? Because today is the birthday of one of my dearest girlfriends and after having a long conversation with her the other night it made me homesick for all the fun times I had with my friends, I miss them so.

Happy Birthday Susie

I Love You!

We used to get Susie's friends and my friends together for Girl's Night over at her house a couple of times a year. That's me down in front in the all white outfit, Susie is behind in the pink top and to her left, trying to hide, is my girlfriend Marice. I've known them both for over thirty years and couldn't imagine not having them in my life. We've had our share of arguments, but we eventually get over it and it's like it never happened. All the way on the right of the photo is my girlfriend Charlene, we've been friends for forty-five years! We stay in touch, but nothing like I do with Susie and Marice. Marice and I talk every weekend, unless she's on one of her many trips.

Back to girl's night. You should know that there were a few rules:

No Make-up

Comfortable Clothes

There was also the standard menu:

Rhonda's Homemade
Spaghetti Sauce

Lots of Margaritas

More Margaritas

We had to come prepared with new jokes and stories about the men in our lives — basically it was a man-bashing session. I only dated musicians so mine ran something along the lines of:

Question: What do you call a musician without a girlfriend?
Answer: Homeless

or

Question: What the difference between a musician and a mutual fund?
Answer: One of them will eventually mature.

You get the picture. Anyway, Susie and I started the sauce in the morning and it simmered all day. We made tons, because Susie loved lots of leftovers to put in the freezer. The girls started showing up in the afternoon and we ate, drank and laughed a lot. Most spent the night, others had to have someone come and drive them home. Basically, a good time was had by all, until we woke up the next morning with a hangover. Oh well, like I said, we only did this a couple of times a year.

This next picture is a before and after of Susie and I on one of our great adventures. One year I had an argument with my boyfriend the night before New Year's Eve. I know, what a drag, huh? Susie called and insisted I come over. We were not going anywhere, so I just got in the car and went. Well, the next morning we decided we would drive up and spend the day shopping (always a good cure) in Ojai, this great town about an hour North of us. Very laid back community with the best shopping boutiques. Now remember, I had just jumped in the car in my sweats and headed to Sue's, so that's the same way we went to Ojai. We didn't care, we didn't know anyone there and that was just the mood we were in.

Did I say we didn't know anyone there? That's what I thought. We're walking down the street, without a care in the world, when all of a sudden I hear someone yelling my name and I mean yelling! "Rhonda, hey Rhonda!" I look around and much to my surprise is my friend Eddie who it turns out was in town with his band to play a New Year's gig at Wheeler Hot Springs, a fancy resort in the area. We all go for coffee and Eddie invites us to the gig as guests of the band. Men! I try explaining that what we have on is it, we were only there for the day. No problem he responds, the stores are open for another hour. Again, Men! But then I thought about it and look at Susie and said, "Let's do it!"

You have to understand that there are not many women who can power shop like Susie and I can. One hour? No problem. We needed everything from makeup to pantyhose, shoes and dresses, shampoo and soap, oh, don't forget the perfume. One hour? No problem.

The lady at the dress shop called the lady at the shoe store and told her to hold the door open, she was sending two women who knew how to shop! We got our shoes in no time and I added the hat for good measure.

Now there are no department stores in Ojai, strictly boutiques, gift shops and drug stores, so finding suitable makeup and hair junk was a little challenging, but this is the result and I think we did pretty well in an hour:

Before and After in Ojai

Just to show you that when we have more time we can really clean up nice, I'm including the following picture. This one is from the year Susie was nominated for an Emmy and her hubby graciously gave up his seat for me. Did I mention that Susie is a hairdresser for the studios? Yep, she is, big screen and little. I know some of you read about my Texas adventure while visiting Susie on the set of John Travolta's movie Urban Cowboy for ten days, well this is the gal who made that happen.

The Emmy Awards

The studio sent a limo for us and we had an amazing time at the Emmy Awards. Susie didn't win, but hey, it was an honor being nominated, and we partied afterward like it was 1999 (and it was way before 1999). We went to the party at Spago's in Hollywood and finished up the night at Le Cafe in the Valley listening to some great jazz. Our limo driver was the best!

We survived all those wild days and have settled into a more sedate lifestyle these days, but I'll bet you anything we still find the time and energy for a few more before we call it a day!

Have you ever had any had any crazy adventures with your friends? Let me know, I promise not to tell.