Rob and I are flying to Boston tonight. We're spending Friday exploring and Saturday at my dear friend Jenna's house, where she and I will see each other in person for only the fifth time.

I had plenty of friends as a teenager because I went to a small Catholic school and there were sixty people in my class. Everyone knew each other, and even if you weren't friends you still were kind of friends because you had the fact that you were both there in common. I was one of those young women who make me cringe now--the ones who say that they "just don't get along with other girls." In my defense, I had an incredibly tight group of female cross country teammates who are still my best friends today, but because we were spread out among three different years, I never felt like I had that circle of best girlfriends with whom I would graduate.

I made friends in college and lived in an apartment with three women who felt like family. But once we graduated and I started moving around a bit, I realized how hard it was to make connections with people unless we were in a classroom together. Working helped, but then I started making the transition to working from home and it got difficult again.

In December of 2011, I found myself in Washington, DC, deep into the small talk of a cocktail party full of people I didn't know. It was my first blogger event and I surprised myself by first purchasing a ticket in advance and then driving two and a half hours to be there. I figured I would make some friends who had blogging in common, and I really did--just a few years later, Jenna was one of three of those cocktail party strangers standing behind me in a bridesmaid dress as I married my husband.

Being connected by our blogs and Instagram accounts and just having the Internet in general is something that I might have been uneasy with in some other life. But we live in a world where my best friend from Minneapolis is a wonderful person who I never would have met without an email from her telling me that she moved here from far away once too, and she knows what it's like to be in a new city and not know a soul. Friendship today is so limitless--both old and new ones are strengthened every day. And for that I am so grateful.

The night before Thanksgiving in Roanoke, Virginia (as I am sure it is in other cities as suggested by this article in The Onion) is often a bit of a high school reunion. You run into a pretty large number of people who look familiar to you even though you don't know their name, but if you arm yourself with a couple close friends you've stayed in contact with, it's usually a really good experience.

I write a lot about college and how much it made me into who I am today, but I tend to skip over high school. I really loved my time growing up and going to school where I did, but for some reason going back and and seeing old friends that I've lost touch with sometimes makes me feel a little melancholy. We met up with friends of mine on three occasions this weekend and had the best time, but on Saturday afternoon I found myself flipping through old yearbooks and feeling a little bit sad. Part of it is because almost a decade has passed since I graduated and it doesn't even feel a little bit like that length of time, and the other part is that I don't feel at all like the person I used to be and I wonder if I'm the only one.

Lena Dunham said she missed her high school reunion because, first of all, she was at a diner enjoying some delicious rice pudding when she should have been on her way over, but also because she wanted to avoid past incarnations of herself. "Everyone's nice!" she said about her classmates, but she still didn't make it to see them after ten years. I'm actually looking forward to our ten year reunion, but I kind of identify with what she's saying.

High School Megan was a bit of a goodie goodie and thought nothing looked cuter than a polo shirt with the collar popped. She had little to no anxiety, but she lacked a lot of experiences. She drove a Volkswagen Jetta with a license plate that said MEG JET and put a lot of sugar in her coffee. I love her, but she kind of embarrasses me sometimes. Nostalgia usually feels so good on me, but when I reminisce on high school days I sometimes feel like I'm shrinking. 

College and grad school and Minneapolis all played huge roles in shaping me into the person that I am today, but high school laid that foundation and gave me some wonderful friends along the way; and I forget about that sometimes. E.E. Cummings said "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are," and he was right, but I don't think you have to venture out and never look back.

I hope this weekend brought you exactly what you needed.

We're in Farmville this weekend for the Hampden-Sydney vs. Randolph-Macon game on Saturday. Going to two different schools in the same town was such a perfect situation for the early years of my relationship with Rob--we both had our own space and our own groups of friends, but it was so easy to see each other, and it's so fun now to go back and visit Longwood whenever we're in town for a Hampden-Sydney event. I like sharing a college town with my husband.

Last year we missed lots of fun weekends like this one, but all throughout our college years and right after graduation, we were always tailgating with friends for HSC football games. My twenty-first birthday party was actually a tailgate at Hampden-Sydney!

To prepare for The Game (and because I can't resist any excuse for wine and food), I put together an early tailgate for La Crema--because whether you're at the game or just in your backyard, you can throw a quick, easy, and beautiful party. Even the neighbor's dog, Bentley, couldn't resist showing up and begging for a chicken wing or two.

This post is sponsored by La Crema. For tips on throwing a great tailgate of your own, check out my post on their blog today!

Photos by Sarah Gatrell of Photo + Love.