Like high school English, but with more drinking and less reading.

Okay, so:  Book Club.

I do a lot of cool things, but BC is by far one of my favorites.  Easily in the Top 5.  It started out innocently enough, when my awesome friend A back in the hometown got tired of waiting months and months between girls' nights out.  She had always wanted to be in a book club, so she figured she'd start one herself, cajole some girlfriends into "joining" and see where it took them.

Problem is, we're all busy chicks.  Jobs and boyfriends and husbands and kids and tons of other demands on our time... who the hell has time to read?

So A compromised and said all right, we'll just read the trashy celebrity gossip rags.  It's stuff we'd be reading anyway, she thought; why don't we trade the magazines around and boom, now I've just saved you all about ten bucks in grocery store checkout line.

That was August of 2008.  I think we stuck to the original "format" once.

After that, it just sort of evolved into the awesomeness that it is today.  We meet once a month (usually on the third Thursday, but we're flexible) and a different girl hosts each time.  It's been as simple as drinks and dinner, but we've also done Saturday morning brunch (with an intense Bloody Mary bar) and sex toy parties and purse parties and trips to the winery and all kinds of fun stuff.

One of our best moments was "Book Club Gives Back" in November:  we gathered up enough stuff to make two dozen "care packages" for the Battered Women's Shelter, with toiletries and some pampering items, and some packages for their children as well.  A has a 16-month-old daughter, Little C, and she suggested adding the kids to the project because "as a mom, [she] couldn't imagine not being able to give [them] a Christmas."  (A is about to be honored as Volunteer of the Year through an organization she helps; easy to see why, huh?)

The December meeting is everyone's favorite.  We pack ourselves into a couple cars and take a Christmas shopping road trip, complete with slumber party in a hotel suite, pedicures and cupcakes and a LOT of champagne.

The dynamic nature is what makes it so cool.  There are a handful of "regulars" who never miss a month, but you can always bring new girls with you - they're only newbies for about half an hour anyway!

What's more important is the fact that we commit to getting together once a month, no matter what.  It's easy to say "I'm busy, I'm tired, I have too much else going on," and we'll grant you a pass when you really need one.  The truth is, though, we need each other just as much as we need the boyfriends/husbands/kids/jobs/etc.  Sometimes the only thing that will keep you off the ledge is a bottle of red (each) and a fantastic session of venting and giggling!

Then why even call it a book club?

Ahhh, the name is one of the key elements!  Because this way, we can talk about it in front of the guys or in front of our non-cool coworkers and acquaintances and they say "yeeuuuughhhhh, no thanks, have fun with that one." 

Oh, and because it gives us justification for drinking in the morning (I love you, brunch!). 

When I moved, I knew I'd miss my little group more than I could tell them... so I've started an annex here.  Our second meeting is next week; I'm sure the Columbus chapter will be featured here more often as time goes by!