A Girls’ Weekend with Elvis!

You need some…

Do you have golden friends? I am talking about those people in your lives who love you no matter what, can finish your sentences, laugh at the same goofy things, basically, your husband/wife/significant other in friend form! I have been blessed with lots of friends in my life. But, they have come in and gone out at different times. They were needed during that time and appreciated and even loved. But, a golden friend? That’s another thing altogether! And, then you go on a girls’ weekend (with Elvis) with those golden friends? Again, that’s another thing altogether!

My golden friends…

These two women are two of the absolute best human beings I have ever been privileged to have known. They are kind, gracious, and beautiful…inside and out. They are mothers, teachers, and sisters. They are quite simply amazing. Both of my golden friends are still teaching. I am the only one old enough to be retired! We became the trio of teachers at the end of the hall…the ones who always managed to be on the edge of being in some kind of trouble or another…the ones who laughed for hours on end…the ones who cried with each other at bad news.

K…

K and I met when she was fresh out of college. I hadn’t been teaching long. I was a non-traditional student in that I didn’t go to college until I was in my late 20s. So, I even though I’d only been teaching a couple of years longer than K, I was over ten years older than her. K and I were both special education teachers at that time. She worked with students with emotional handicaps, and I worked with students with learning disabilities and mild learning deficits. Over the years, we talked, but we never became close friends. In time, K became a sixth grade teacher. Eventually, we both taught together in fourth grade after team teaching math (oh, the stories I could tell) while I was still in special education. We had quite a few adventures in the years before D joined us!

D…

D came to us when she and her husband relocated to the northern part of Indiana from central Indiana. Her specialty was lower elementary with a couple of years in fourth grade. K and I had been solid partners (we’d had a third member, but he left us for third grade) for years by then. We were cautiously optimistic about D joining us. We knew she was one of “us” the day she walked into the door! It was exactly like something we would do! D was always the one with the most common sense, I think! K and I would make some weird suggestions for teaching, and D would talk us down!

An adventure…

The small village in which we taught had a very fancy (read extremely expensive) restaurant. The owner wanted to inject some culture into the village. She introduced the idea of a fair. One of the things for the fair would be art works produced by the local school. Our art teacher decided we would paint “en plein air (painting outside)”. Our subject would be this little bridge at the bottom of the hill that resembled Monet’s bridge at Giverny (here). The afternoon before we were supposed to paint the bridge, K and I were frantic. We hadn’t sent any information home with the kids about how to dress while we painted the bridge. We also worried about things like how would each kid paint their little square without messing up others, would we need ladders, and what, exactly, was our liability! D just looked at us like we were nuts. She reassured us it would all be fine…all said while giving us one of those looks like should she call someone! The next day, we troop down the hill to the bridge where the art teacher was waiting. She handed each kid a small square of canvas, explained the process again (the kids were prepared…we weren’t), and told them to begin painting! K and I looked at each other and burst out laughing! We thought they were painting the actual bridge!!! D knew exactly what was going on and couldn’t even fathom what we’d thought was going to happen! We still laugh about it to this day!

All fun and games…

Of course, teaching is never all fun and games. There is always something new on the horizon when it comes to education…hahaha…no, there isn’t! That “something new” is usually just something that was in vogue years and years ago, has been pulled out of the moth balls, given a fresh new coat of paint and new name, and et voilà, a new strategy, program, or system. Together, the three of us would be able to put together enough of the pieces to get it to make sense. We each had our own gifts and shared them with each other. There was none of that “I came up with this so I’m going to keep it just for me” nonsense. We truly were a team…loving and laughing a lot!

A split…

Unfortunately, some good things must end. D’s job was eliminated in staff cuts. She and her husband returned to central Indiana. In fact, she returned to her old school and a lower grade level (I know she’ll say she loves those lower grades, but I know she loves fourth grade). Her husband began a different career entirely! Several years later, I retired, and the trio of teachers at the end of the hall were no more. Actually, the end of the hall is gone, too as the building was replaced a few years ago.

The weekend…

This past weekend, the three of us reunited, and it was like no time had passed at all! Within seconds, we were talking a mile a minute, remembering this field trip, that administrator, and those kids! We talked and talked and talked. The first day, we made it to the Cake Bake Shop in Carmel. Here is a video about this place! And, the cakes look just like that! We were going to dine in…the wait time was 3-4 hours! We decided to get cake and go! We each selected something different. Those pieces of cake are three layers tall! I got red velvet (the pink swirly one); D got the Millionaire cake; and, K got carrot cake. I think we each ended up liking the others’ choices better! But, they were all delicious! That evening, we had a nice dinner at a chain restaurant because protein was necessary after all of that confection! We talked until the wee hours of the morning. The next day, we got up late, had brunch, went back to D’s home, and talked for more hours! Eventually, we showered and decided to sally forth to conquer what was left of the day!

Ahem…Elvis

We had decided while planning our weekend we would see the new Elvis movie. We arrived at the theater in plenty of time only to find out three seats were unavailable for that showing. Luckily, there were three for the later show. That gave us plenty of time to walk around the shops, shop, eat, shop some more, and finally go to the movie! As we were walking around, I discovered K had already seen the movie! But, she said it was so good she was more than happy to see it again. If you haven’t seen this movie and you have a teensy tiny bit of love for the King, go see it! If you like Baz Luhrmann movies, go see it! It is amazing! The cinematography is dynamite! The casting is mind blowing! If you didn’t know Tom Hanks was playing Colonel Parker, you’d never know it! But, be still my heart! This actor, Austin Butler, has captured the essence of Elvis, and his eyes just bore into your soul!!! And, those lips…oh, my goodness!! Well, all I can say is you must see this movie…preferably with your best friends! Is there artistic license? Oh, I’m sure there is…but, boy, is it artistic! Luckily, the movie deals more with the young hunky Elvis and less with the less hunky Elvis. It leaves you wondering about choices…we all make choices leading to different endings. I have always hoped Elvis really and truly was living in Michigan, working at the local Burger King and singing in the shower (I also hope Prince is there with him).

Shopping…

D is a marathon shopper! She loves to shop and lives for the find! K is a sprinter, I think, when it comes to shopping. She’s in it for a bit but enjoys the activity more than the find. I am somewhere in the middle, I think. OK, clean up that Diet Coke you just spit out! Honestly! D would get the gold; I would take the silver; and K would get the bronze when it comes to shopping Olympics! And, our tastes in clothing are not really all that similar. D loves black (and looks stunning in it). K loves pink and all the frilly things (she has three boys so she deserves it). But, guess what? Neither of them bought anything! Only yours truly did…a pair of L’Artiste block heeled sandals at DSW and some wooden bead bracelets. You’ll see them on the blog soon.

More Elvis…

My mom’s best friend loved Elvis so I saw all of his movies and heard all of his songs. My best friend (we were probably 8 and 9 at the time) would play “Love Me Tender” and “Teddy Bear” 45s on the 33 setting and scare ourselves silly! Now, as I mentioned earlier, both of these golden friends of mine are much younger than me. They were little kids when the King passed, and I remember it as if it were yesterday. Neither of them have been to Graceland, but my kids and I went with my mom for Spring Break one year. I sometimes worry we have lost sight of the glory that was the King. Elvis’ voice stretched across two octaves and into a third. Some call him a baritone, some a tenor. It really doesn’t matter. Elvis and his voice are woven into the tapestry of our country.

The Lewk!

Well, these pictures are just a bit of a lie! I did not wear all of this when I was out with D and K. In fact, the only things I wore from this picture were the sandals! I wore a pair of John Hardy hoops, and that was all of the jewelry I wore that night! The bamboo bracelet above is John Hardy. The Lagos bracelets are here, here, here, here, and here. My earrings are here. Here are my sandals. These are several years old and are so comfortable. I bought this Rhiannon Split Midi a few weeks ago and knew I’d wear these leggings with it. My leggings are called caraway. The Rhiannon Midi is from Kantha Bae and is made of recycled silk saris. I really love this outfit. The weather was warm the night we were shopping, but I was cool in the silk. I have received so many compliments on this outfit. Now, here’s the thing. I know this midi is so unique, and that’s what catches the eye. But, that’s OK. I’ll take the compliments any day! (And, yes, there are still boxes in my front hallway.)

Affiliate links and such:

Just a reminder that Marsha in the Middle may use an affiliate link. Those links are usually italicized. If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link I provide, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. I recently became a Brand Ambassador for Sarah Flint shoes. You can use SARAHFLINT-BAMARSHA for $50 off your first pair. As of right now, I also have an affiliate code for Kantha Bae! Use MarshaintheMiddle in the promo code box for $5 off any order (excluding Bestie restocks)! In case you didn’t know, bloggers must disclose the use of affiliate links. That’s why I include this in each post.

Wrap it up, Marsha!

I hope you are lucky enough to have one golden friend in your life. I know many talk about true blue friends, but, to me, a golden friend is the best! And, I have two! We don’t always agree. We even have had moments where we haven’t spoken because one of us has upset the other. But, deep down, I know these two women will be my golden friends well into my golden years! Love you, K and D!!! I have their permission to write this post, but I’m afraid I failed miserably at conveying this special friendship of ours. I am truly so blessed and lucky to call them both friends. So, can we talk? Do you have a friend of the true blue variety or even the golden hue? Have you been lucky enough to go on a girls weekend? Have you seen Elvis? And, what about that Cake Bake Shop (they’re opening one in Disney World next year)? Please leave a comment or two so we can talk! I promise to get back to you as soon as I can!

Thank you!

What can I say except thank you a million times over for supporting me with your subscription (figuratively…no money is involved here), your comments, and your friendship! Writing a blog post and having no readers would be a sad thing indeed! I’m so glad you are a part of my journey!

Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style, My Bijou LIfe, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, Being a Wordsmith, and Mummabstylish. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I’m a co-host on the Weekend Traffic Jam (here). I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I also co-host Final Friday Print Mixing with Michelle on the last Friday of the month. I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties! Boy, that’s a lot of co-hosting!

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