It’s often hard to stay focused these days. It’s like there’s a constant gravitational pull from all the important satellites in my life — family, work, creative impulse. I’m thinking someone needs to invent a time machine, stat. Or some kind of reading-by-osmosis sort of situation. Got it, scientists?

Thankfully, the steady presence of a group of great girlfriends has kept me reading regularly at times when everything else was spinning like crazy. And last week, we celebrated a decade together, which still completely amazes me. That’s a LOT of books. A lot of food and wine. 🙂 And a lot of witnessing of the magic that happens to ladies as they move from their mid-20s into their mid-30s. Not that we’re that old or anything.

You can see our ongoing reading list here. We’ve experienced some doozies (Gifted Hands by a certain brilliant Baltimore surgeon springs immediately to mind), but many, many more beauties. We’ve read outside our interests, embracing graphic novels, science fiction, science non-fiction, poetry, YA. We’ve braved some hefty — and some so-light-we-wonder-if-they-even-qualify-as-book-books — stuff. And we’ve learned so much talking it all through together.

Not everybody finds a group of friends like this, and not many groups stay together this long. I know I say I’m lucky fairly often, but it’s true. These girls are rock solid friends, incredibly smart and funny — and I’m lucky to be a part of it all.

Cheers, ladies! And welcome to decade number two.