The magic spell you cast --
this is la vie en rose.
- Louis Armstrong, La Vie En Rose
For me, "La Vie En Rose," namely the Louis Armstrong version, is just like the color blue.
I never made a mental decision that blue was my favorite color -- it ambushed me when I realized that I was subconsciously maximizing the amount of cyan, cerulean, and navy in my life. It was a color that I didn't pick, but rather, I realized. Likewise, I never picked "La Vie En Rose." I realized it. It ambushed me as I suddenly had an epiphany, "...This is my favorite song."
When I told my sister one day, she was not surprised in the least. After all, when she was in France, she got me a palm-sized music box that plays "La Vie En Rose," knowing how much I adore the song.
"This is the one song that never fails to make me swoon. Every single time."
-+-
After a satisfying meal, we began to make our way out of the restaurant to proceed with the adventures of the rest of the day.
However, as I got out of my seat, I knocked over a box of spoons and chopsticks. Every last utensil mercilessly crashed to the floor, and all eyes were on me. Joeve helped me pick them off the floor, as both of us repeatedly told the owner, "Sorry! Sorry!"
The entire time, Daniel watched us. I looked up, and I was confused to see no look of shame, nor was he shaking his head in embarrassment. As we walked out, with nine years of friendship under our belts, he simply told me, "I thought, 'Hm, maybe Christa really has changed -- new makeup, new clothes, new contacts, new everything.' But no, Christa. You're still exactly the same."
I filled with warmth.
That's love right there.
-+-
I came out of the dressing room, absolutely ecstatic, "JOEVE. JOEVE, I LIKE THIS SWEATER. I LIKE IT."
For decades -- no, for centuries -- I would shake my head on animal print as a life option. But this was a fairly fresh take on cheetah print. A cozy, soft mixture of navy and heather gray. It looked quaint on me.
After we met a mutual agreement that I looked adorable as hell, she eventually threw back her head in laughter, telling me, "Oh Christa, go change!"
As I got back into the room, I quickly admitted, "Yeah, Joeve. I usually can never pull off animal print. I just can't pull off hot. I can pull off pretty. But I can't pull off hot."
After the all-too-familiar 'lol wtf' pause, she gave me a big hug, "Ha! Christa, this is why I love you."
I closed the door to Joeve replaying the conversation in her head and repeating, with undertones of disbelief at my ridiculosity (and at my perpetual insistence that "ridiculosity" is a word), "Oh, Christa. I love you."
This is the stuff that BFF's are made of. We shaped each other's childhoods, and more than seven years after I moved away from San Jose, they still drive up to Sacramento every January to spend my birthday with me. Especially with Joeve, it never matters how many months or years it's been since we've last seen each other. There is no such thing as a fall in momentum between us. We are completely blind to the concept, and we plan to keep it that way.
Between bowling frames, spoonfuls of ice cream, and meanderings through stores in the mall, they received my rants on Current Topics in Christa's Life, while I quickly became the bunt of Daniel's snarky comebacks. And as much as I truly appreciate an objective voice in all of my decision-making and my ramblings, one of Joeve's adorably endearing qualities is that she always blatantly and unabashedly chooses my side. It never matters what the situation is. The second anyone becomes an inconvenience to me, in any form or magnitude, Joeve gets morally pissed.
I initially got befuddled, very, "Joeve, I didn't even say that much!" and Daniel added, "Joeve, you don't even know the other side of the story! For all you know, Christa's just been full of lies!"
I shot Daniel a 'wait, what' look, while Joeve, with the absolutely most bitter face, went, "I DON'T CARE. You really think I'm going to side with this person? Of course I'm going to take Christa's side, C'MON NOW."
I let the unconditional nature of that statement permeate through me, before proclaiming, "JOEVE, YOU'RE SO FREAKIN' CUTE."
When we finished the day, I was already able to cross off one of my off-road New Year's Resolutions off the list, only four days into the new year -- bowl over a 140! (Me as I wrote that blog post: "Uh.. that's kind of a silly resolution to advertise, let me just.." *backspace*) Managed a 142 with a stunning turkey in the last frame!
And as we were bowling, I propelled myself onto a journey full of both anxiety and resolve. I was habitually running my fingers along the side of our communal styrofoam soda cup, when Joeve reassured me, "Yeah, Christa. I say ... Go for it."
The graduated cylinder in my head eventually broke, full of cracks irreparable, and now I'm left wondering what to do with the mess I've made.
Until then, I am now one Christmas bear richer, and one step closer to pulling off animal print, although still stagnant as ever in pulling off hot.
Damn good day.