Having an adventure together is a proven way to get closer to your girlfriends. Appearing on Oprah together definitely qualifies! We couldn’t wait for Melissa Mellott to share this Real Girlfriends story and we know you’ll enjoy it.

by Melissa Mellott

I have an amazing group of girlfriends – educated, funny, quirky, beautiful … and single and looking for love. Conversations in a week can look like a scene from Sex in the City – talk of careers, mishaps from blind dates (”did he really say that?”) and bikini waxes (”what’s a landing strip”?) and analyzing our love lives, all done in the “privacy” of over-the-cubicle comments (during breaks of course) or in a cozy coffee shop sipping a cappuccino.

Recently while browsing the Oprah website, I came upon a link: “Do you need dating advice?” Given recent conversations with my girlfriends, I think I double-clicked in a millisecond. After a quick two minutes of venting dating dilemmas on the Oprah site (it was great therapy), I moved onto another distraction.

You can imagine my surprise when I got a call the next day from Jason, an Oprah producer, who asked if my girlfriends and I would want to be on that Friday’s LIVE show via Skype to talk about dating with Steve Harvey, the author of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment. And in a matter of a couple days, three of my (Oprah-crazy and boy-crazy) girlfriends were prepping with Jason for Friday’s LIVE show via Skype.

Anticipation

“And Skyping in from my favorite city Santa Barbara are Melissa and her friends with dating questions” was going to be the introduction, according to Jason, as he prepped us through the Skype session.

Giddy giggles, high-pitched voices, talk of what we would wear and ask, all had us 30-somethings being such … girls. Read the rest of this entry »

Girlfriend-in-Chief Dawn here. When I looked at my Gratitude Challenge card for today, it asked me to think of one specific thing I am grateful for and blog about it. I have to admit my first thought was “coffee”! (Okay, it was early in the morning, and I never start a day without a steaming cup of java). As I was pondering the wonders of coffee, I noticed the coffee mug I had chosen this morning. It was a gift from Girlfriend-in-Chief Tina. Honestly, I can’t remember the occasion on which it was given, but I do remember it was filled with chocolate when I received it. The mug got me to thinking about something I AM truly grateful for…big surprise….friendship. More specifically, I am grateful that I have the kind of friend who gives me little mementos of our relationship. I am not a big tchotchke person, but I keep things that have meaning to me. As I look around my house, I see quite a few reminders of my nine-year friendship with Tina. Last Christmas, she had a plate made for me (by an Etsy artisan) to celebrate our achievements on the website. Thoughtful, right?  I was so surprised and delighted (and of course, guilt-ridden that I had not been nearly as thoughtful). That she took the time from her busy life to slow down, think about me, and make that gesture meant the world to me. I am not nearly so good at slowing down to consider the girlfriends who are important to me and letting them know. (Maybe, just maybe, writing this post counts for a little!)

Read the rest of this entry »

Girlfriend-In-Chief Tina here. Today is Day 10 of our Gratitude Challenge. My task is to pick one of my five

senses to be grateful for.

I am thankful for my ability to see the world through open eyes.

I was fortunate enough to have been born with wonderful eyesight. Yes, with the blink of an eye, I’ve had mine for total of 14,860 days now. Yet, it took The Gratitude Challenge to open my eyes to being thankful for such a simple gift. Being able to see the many colors of the rainbow is something I’ve taken for granted all these years. Sad but true.

Here is a small glimpse of beauty I saw over the summer through the eye of my camera. I realize now I’m not only fortunate to be able to see such wonderful visions but I’m also lucky to be able to capture such heartwarming memories one click at a time.

At the right is the shore of Lake St. Germain. Yes it is a picture of rocks, sand and water. But through my eyes it is much more than that. This is the spot where my boys playfully giggle as the dig their entire bodies into the sand, skip rocks with the greatest of ease and build sand cities to get lost in. I know these times with my children will come to an end as they grow older, so this picture of a place that holds so many memories is dear to my heart.

Thank you Tiny Prints for opening my eyes to something so simple to be grateful for. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey girlfriends—what’s that loud, victorious whooping sound we hear? The kids are back in school, you say? Well then, there’s no time like NOW to calendar some girlfriend get-togethers and fill up some of your newfound free time. Here are some of our best girls night ideas for fall. Click the links for the complete party plans:

1. Bags and Brew Party – Grow your girlfriend circle with a friendly bags tournament while sampling of Oktoberfest beers. Can’t miss fall fun!

2. September Sleepover - It’s back to girlfriend school! Take a little time out with your gal pals, and maybe even get to know them better, with this clever take on a classic sleepover.

3. Little Pink Party – Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, take the opportunity to celebrate and support all our sisters affected by this disease. Our Little Pink Party shows you how.

4. Girlfriend Halloween – Grown-up, girlfriendly ways to celebrate this pumpkin-laden holiday. Be as scary or sweet as you like at this girls night celebration.

5. Beaujolais Nouveau Party – The third Thursday of November is Beaujolais Nouveau Day in France. It’s an undercelebrated occasion elsewhere and a great excuse to gather the girls to drink wine. Oui, oui!

Do you have any girls nights planned for this fall? We’d love to hear what you’re doing. Leave a comment! Read the rest of this entry »

Here it is, our first video blog, courtesy of the people at The Gratitude Challenge. Hope you enjoy it.

So many of you have asked us how to make new friends, and whether we offer a service to help women make friends in real life. Well, we don’t. But now, we know just who to recommend! Shasta Nelson has started GirlFriendCircles, an on-line service that helps you meet circles of women offline, in real life, who are also looking for new girlfriends! In several U.S. cities, GirlfriendCircles is introducing women and facilitating their get-togethers, helping them find new gal pals. It’s about time! This is a much-needed service, and we wish Shasta great success. We hope you’ll all check out her site and give GirlfriendCircles a try. We were honored to write a guest post for GirlfriendCircles on how to make and keep new friends. As you know, keeping friendships alive can be a challenge. Once you’ve met some new potential girlfriends, you need to keep the friendship going—and growing—in the right direction. We’ve got some great tips for preventing “friendship fizzle.” Read the post here.

Whether it’s Girls Night Out or Girls Night In, you’ve got to have music. A few months ago, we went looking for the best songs for girls night: The songs that make you want to celebrate with your girlfriends; songs with girl power! Well, the girlfriends have spoken and Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want to Have Fun is the BEST song for Girls Night Out! That’s according to our little poll: “What is the Best Girls Night Song of all Time?”

Read the rest of this entry »

Girlfriend-in-Chief Dawn here. My task for today (Day 3) in The Gratitude Challenge is to write a blog post about something I’m grateful for today in my life. Well, I’m finding this incredibly easy today. For the past few days I have been visiting the beach with my family. It’s fairly easy to be in a grateful state of mind when you’re away from housework, schedules, and real life. It generally takes me three or four days into vacation to truly relax (just in time to go back home). I personally never seem to schedule enough down time into my busy life, but I always feel better when I do. Vacations are great for remembering what is really important, and what isn’t. As we watched the waves crashing into the shore, my husband reminded us that no matter what happens — who wins the big game, who gets the client, what the test score is — the waves will keep crashing into this shore.

Read the rest of this entry »

Girlfriend-in-Chief Tina here. Since I’ve had more than enough time to contemplate the Gratitude Challenge

today and something that I am grateful for, my list of things to be thankful for is growing by leaps and bounds. But that is what a total of
five hours and twenty-one minutes to be exact, driving alone in the car post-vacation will give you. Lots and lots of time to think.

Read the rest of this entry »

Turn your attention to something, and it grows. The Girlfriends-in-Chief can certainly attest to this little truth. Over the past year, we’ve turned our attention (more than ever before) to GirlfriendCelebrations on and offline. And GIRL, have we grown! Opportunities online and offline have grown for us by leaps and bounds. Our girlfriend circle has grown by a bunch. We feel incredibly grateful for the opportunities—and the fun—that have come our way lately. So, when we were asked to join The Gratitude Challenge with 11 other bloggers, we were both honored and thrilled.

You see, the theme behind The Gratitude Challenge, “Take Note and Give Thanks,” is really in harmony with what we are trying to do here every day. We truly believe that Girlfriends Make Life Better™, and we recognize that you have to pay attention to your girlfriendships to help them grow. Not only do you have to take note of what your female friends add to your life, you need to act on it (by scheduling fun and meaningful times together) to strengthen your friendships and improve your lives. At least that’s our theory. We’ve also written about ways girlfriends can explore gratitude together.

So anyway, both of us have signed a pledge to take part in The Gratitude Challenge for the next 21 days. As part of our pledge, we’ve promised to ” take note of life’s little blessings and give thanks for the relationships, experiences and opportunities that make [our] life unique.” As part of this challenge, you’ll be seeing posts from both of us on the concept of gratitude. This could get personal! Are you with us? We’d love to hear from you, girlfriends, on what you’re grateful for—and we hope you start with your girlfriends. Remember, what you put your attention on grows. Let’s all grow something good together. Read the rest of this entry »