My first work bestie was Stephanie… or wiener as I like to call her. I showed up for my interview at the Stephen F. Austin State University Rec Center and saw this petite little blonde girl in a floral skirt who would be interviewing with me and immediately thought, “bitch isn’t gonna steal this job from me!” During the interview, however, Stephanie managed to win me over (even though she was my competition) when she was asked, “What would we be surprised to learn about you that we can’t tell by looking at you?” and then answered, “I have seven tattoos…” followed by a slight pause for shock value and then a chuckle and a “just kidding!” From there, Steph and I bonded during our short three-hour shifts over our abilities to speak sarcasm fluently and the crush we both had on a coworker. That silly little blonde in a floral skirt and I don’t get to see each other or speak often these days but when we’re back together, like we were a few weeks ago when she came up to Chicago, it’s just like we’re back in that rec center checking out sports equipment and gossiping about our fellow undergrads.

Steph & I after winning a costume contest at work as Mary-Kate & Ashley

Then there was Liz… or, you guessed it, Lizzie Bear. Somehow, after only knowing me for one short weekend, I managed to convince Liz to move to Louisville, Kentucky, for a job we had both been offered there. She, foolishly, fell for my tricks and convincing arguments and moved into an apartment with me and some other moron we worked with. Liz and I had the same job at the Marriott in downtown Louisville so our bond started over our hatred of the oversized wool red jackets we had to wear as part of our uniform and blossomed over our love of vodka waters and living in leggings with men’s v-neck t-shirts on our days off. Liz is the sole reason I made it through my first six months in Louisville and I treasure the little inklings of time we spend together now that she lives in Philly and I’m in Chicago. And like Stephanie and I… when Liz and I are together it’s like we’re back in Louisville (woof) at Captain’s Quarters on a Sunday night… it’s like no time has passed at all.

Liz & I in our heinous red coats!

Then came Jenny… and Julie… and Jill… my life savers at my current job. My first interaction with Jenny was shortly after she started and she complimented my outfit… hello, instant besties! It took Jenny and I entirely too long after that first encounter to make our friendship “real” but after months of joking about hanging out in “real life” we finally decided to make it happen. We ended up at some creepy house party and my hair looked awesome that night… I knew that was a sign this friendship was really going places. Julie and Jill made their way into the office bestie crowd after we bonded over hair buns, Pizza Wednesdays, spray tans, pudding shots and endless whispered conversations and giggles about who keeps leaving their feminine spray in the bathroom. Sadly, a few months and a thousand office giggles later, our foursome became a threesome when Jenny moved away for her dream job. Thank the Lord, though, for text messages and her father’s employment with Delta to allow her endless $40 roundtrip tickets back to Chicago every opportunity she has. These three make me laugh with silly emails and g-chats through rough days and daily 3:30 p.m. chocolate breaks. And someday, when we’ve moved on to new opportunities… I have a feeling that when we get back together… it’ll be just like we’re back in the windowless walls of our 11^th floor offices.

Jill, me, Jenny and Julie on the night we all became real life friends!

Work besties are a blessing and let’s be a honest… a necessity to get you through the work day with promises of vodka water happy hours and ordering pizza for lunch every other Wednesday. And when your work besties become real life besties, you know you’ve got something special because not only can that person stand to be around you for 8+ hours a day at work… but they actually like you enough to want to be around you outside of work, too. So to Stephanie, Liz, Jenny, Julie and Jill… thanks for being the best work besties a girl could ask for. Thanks for making me laugh, keeping me entertained and for liking me enough to be more than just my coworker…