TGIS: Tim's in Town and Mamrie is 40!?

Hello and happy Saturday, patrons! How is everyone doing? I'll be honest, I woke up feeling a little icky today. A bit of a bummer. I think I was maybe pushing myself past my limits running errands the last couple days in prep for Tim to get here. Then, last night we took him out to an elegant evening at the Cheesecake Factory, because duh. Here's a cute picture of us after dinner.

And here's another cute picture of us after dinner when some guy got up on a table and started screaming and street preaching about Jesus saving our souls.

Those are the faces of two kids that grew up Catholic-lite and still find it funny. A thoroughly entertaining evening! But today I am TIRED. So today I think I'm going to introduce Tim to my world of couch nesting, chilling, and watching TV. Just like when we were kids! Aww the nostalgia abounds.

It's been a little disappointing because I've felt myself feeling slightly better and better this week and then suddenly slightly worse and worse. Which is, of course, a consequence of my own actions. BUT is one of those moments where I have to genuinely listen to my body and give it what it wants. And what it wants is water and sitting. HOW BORING. But how responsible. In any other context if I had woken up feeling this tired I'd just slam caffeine, maybe a bloody mary, and power through. But in this more serious context I have to answer for my body. And though the answers might be dull, they're the right ones. So here I am on a Saturday wrapped up on my couch like a glow worm all in the name of health and responsibility. We've entered a new era.

Speaking of entering a new era, how is Mamrie Hart 40?! It really does feel like just yesterday we were trying to figure out how to light my little apartment in Brooklyn with one of those multi head lamps that every dorm room has, trying to get the best set up for YDAD, though both of us had no idea what we were doing. Truly some of the most fun times were sitting around coming up with extra puns about penises and pussies and cracking each other up with stupider and stupider jokes. The older we get, the rarer it feels to have a friendship like the one I do with Mamrie and every year I feel more grateful for it. Warning, sentimentality ahead! But Mamrie is that kind of friend. She's EXCELLENT at being a friend. Sure, she might forget her purse in airports or her ID at a bar, but she never forgets what's going on with her friends. And she checks in and nurtures the relationships she has with the people she loves. She probably doesn't know this because I don't think I've ever said to this her (unless maybe at the end of one of those good ol fun drunky drunk nights lol) but she's really shown me what it means to be a true friend. I never had a lot of friends or closer relationships growing up, so I have a lot of walls up about letting people in. Let alone letting them stay in. Mamrie sort of Kool-aid man-ed through my walls and showed me what consistent care and genuine connection looks like in a friendship. And together we've been able to find a wonderful balance between the professional and personal side of our relationship. Which, again, grows my gratitude and makes me really proud.

We get asked all the time about the key to our long standing friendship and, though I can't speak for her, a huge part of it for me is trust, respect, and genuine admiration. We trust each others instincts and ideas, we respect each others time and needs, and we have a genuine admiration for each other as performers and people. Oh, and we want the best for each other. It makes sense that Mamrie was a cheerleader in high school because she's fantastic at rooting you on. And I think maybe that gets lost in some friendships. But not with Mamrie. Like I said, she'll remember a small stressful thing you shared with her weeks ago and she'll follow up and check in and see how you're doing even when you've long forgotten about that small stressful thing. She makes her friends feel seen, and I think that's sometimes hard to find in friendship. Oh! I haven't even talked about the fun factor! Mamrie makes all of her friendships FUN. It takes an effort to maintain a sense of play in a relationship, but she makes it look effortless. She's ALWAYS finding or creating fun wherever she goes. She's like a fun fairy buzzing around with a fun wand sprinkling fun dust on everything she's involved in. Boring situations aren't boring with her around. And fun things become amazingly fucking ridiculous when she's involved. She really is living proof that age doesn't matter (I mean, she wrote and starred in a whole movie about it 7 years ago 🙃- also SHE'S NOT OLD) and that the quality of your life is a precious thing to consider. It's something to be cultivated and cared for in the unique way that serves you. And damn does she live uniquely. She reminds me that life can be serious and hilarious, that experiences and adventures can generate some of the most meaningful memories, and that it's important to keep pushing yourself and putting yourself out there even when you're scared. Her recent weekend at Viv's is so quintessential Mametown. Vulnerably reaching out on a whim to someone she admires only to end up having one of the most amazing and hilarious weekends of her adult life. How inspiring!

So, as we all celebrate Mamrie's 40th year I think it's cool to reflect on the ways she's purposely and inadvertently made our lives better. CHEESY, I KNOW. But I've learned a lot from that firey redhead over the last 15 years of friendship, and have had some of the most amazing and comically insane experiences (some of which I don't even remember!). So I'm deeply thankful for Mamrie as a person, for our friendship, and for the continued ways she inspires me and others. I didn't expect this post to get SO sweet and borderline corny but here we are. Okay, I gotta get back to nesting. I hope you all have fun weekends - cheers to Mamrie Hart! Thanks, as always, for being here! 💚G