Oh, I love her

Let me tell you why my friend Candie is awesome. I read a book called Candyfreak by Steven Almond. I liked the book: I thought Almond was a funny writer (most of the time) and I like candy, so win-win, right? The problem: the book is about candy that is regional or hard to find. The whole time I was reading the book, I wanted to eat all the things he was talking about, but few of them are available for purchase in my little corner of Arizona. GooGoos? Valomilks? The book needed to come with a sampler.

The biggest problem with the book came when Almond visited the Lake Champlain Chocolate company, makers of the above-pictured 5-Star Bars. I wanted these. Needed them. I went to the website and thought about ordering some, but they are $3.50 each for what looked like something slightly larger than a fun-size Snickers. I couldn't justify it. Saddened, I mourned for my unattainable chocolate fantasy and mailed the book to my friend Candie, because she understands.

The thing about me and Candie is, we shouldn't be friends. We met in high school French class. I was a frumpy awkward pseudo-intellectual geek who liked to knit and and had ugly glasses and braces until my senior year, and she was a tall, tastefully-dressed graceful member of the dance team who went to the kind of parties that high school kids go to in the movies that I didn't think really existed in real life (where are the parents?). We didn't hang out at school. Not because we were embarrassed (at least I *think* she wasn't embarrassed of me), we just knew that I wouldn't like her friends and vice versa. After school and on the weekends, I joked about moving in with her, we spent so much time together.

I still talk to people that I knew before her, but for sure Candie is my best oldest friend.

Sitting on my porch the morning, as a present for Mother's Day, was a 5-Star Bar sampler from Lake Champlain Chocolates, thus solidifying her 1st place in the "Awesomest Friend" category.

(The hazelnut was incredibly delicious and the granola was spectacular. I'm going to have to exercise some self-restraint or else the rest of them will be gone within the hour.)