last night my friend R had me over to his parents’ house for dinner. and by “had me over to his parents’ house for dinner” i mean that i brought my own dinner from whole foods because i’m the pickiest eater-slash-worst-dinner-guest-ever. if it’s any consolation, i brought his mom fresh ranunculus and daffodils as an “i’m sorry i’m not eating your cooking” gesture.

ANYWAY, i’m not sure if i’ve ever really disclosed too many details about my friendship with R, but maybe that’s because our friendship is so ridiculous, it defies description. in its purest form, R is a brother from another mother. from the moment we met at sistah’s wedding four years ago, we were almost instant friends. he is easily one of the most outgoing and larger-than-life personalities i know. let’s just say that God certainly broke the mold after He created him. to say we share a unique bond, therefore, would be a mild understatement. it’s almost entirely founded upon a mutual love for boy bands, carly rae jepsen lyrics, and impromptu dance parties to montel jordan’s “this is how we do it” and as a result, i have had some of my best belly laughs in life his presence. i’ve also had some of my best belly laughs not in his presence, too. because in addition to his awesome ability to break into a late 90’s hit at a moment’s notice, he also leaves, hands down, the BEST voicemails. i literally have three saved on my phone just in case i’m in need of a good old-fashioned pick me up. last year year for my birthday he spoke the lyrics to will smith’s “gettin’ jiggy wit it” in a british accent. literally, that’s all the message was. just him, reading the lyrics, in a BRITISH ACCENT.

albeit fleeting, R and my friendship can at times be serious, too. unfortunately for him, his phone call just happened to be the first i took in the midst of my complete emotional break-down last spring. whoopsies. while it might have eased the tension, he refrained from breaking into a britney spears’ song to cheer me up and just let me sob while offering a sympathetic ear. like an actual brother, he’s also the first to challenge whether or not the guy i’m seeing at the time is worthy of his gal (spoiler alert: no one is ever good enough), and he’s certainly never one to censor himself when inquiring about, well, most anything. but even despite his prying and oftentimes unsolicited advice, i adore the kid and feel very thankful to have him in my corner.

especially when photos like this of him testing out his new webcam graze my inbox:

love you, boo.