I think the sending of little cards and gifts is a great idea! Anytime I receive anything (other than a bill of course) in the mail unexpectedly it brightens my day. It never would occur to me (as obvious as it may be) to do something like that for my friends. I've been fortunate enough to live in several places and have friends scattered across the globe. Its super hard to keep up to date - even with Facebook - so I think this is something I am definitely going to implement as a special surprise for my girls, whom I miss dearly. Great advice Mary! And to the snarky text message commenter up above, when I get unexpected 'hi how are you' or 'i love you' texts from my girlfriends it brings a smile to my face. It might be simple, but the gesture is fantastic. You'd be surprised how many friends don't do things like that.

The easiest way I've found to keep connected with my best girlfriend is to schedule things to do that we both need to get done. Whether it's getting a manicure together or just grocery shopping. Since she works 2 jobs, it's important that her time is utilized well and doing errands is so much better with a friend.

One day a week is dedicated to getting together and just hanging out. Whether it be a movie, drinks, game night...whatever, as long as we are together and having fun. That's the balance between friends and "life". In college we were together a lot more. But, then you grow up have an all day job, and once a week seems like a dream. The occasional road trip comes into play every now and then. It involves loading the car with goodies and music and the one driver that won't make the rest of us car sick. Very important for long trips! Road trips are seldom mapped out and involve things non of us have done before. That way we are trying something new together while having fun together and thus...building on our relationships.

most of my closest friends got married right after college and i've lost touch with almost all of them. especially the (now) mothers. its just a whole different level that you're not at yet. like meghan was saying, how can we connect when they have tiny tots to take care of? its a struggle. one of my best girlfriends is married with 2 toddlers (at age 24!) and though i ADORE her children its a huge struggle to make time to get together and reconnect. as for other friends. monthly dates are so fun. sometimes we'll book a hotel for the night and hit the town for massages and dinner and come back and have girl talk!

Ahhh now, THIS is a topic close to my own heart. No, it's not a new or groundbreaking topic, but for a busy gal like myself((full-time gig/PT art business/FT social schedule/seriously FT relationship)), it's a topic that constantly haunts me---I'm desperately trying to find ways to somehow stay connected to the gals to which I'm nearest and dearest, but it gets tougher and tougher... Why is it so much tougher to have friends when you're older? Because you're so much busier and there's just never enough time to show your friends some friendly love, damnit! Some gals I know recently started a group called the "Til Tuesday Girls"---we get together on a Tuesday night once a month and just enjoy some dinner and wine and enjoy being females and bonding and all that mushy stuff. We even invite new gals to stop by anytime, friends of friends so we can make new friends...and I cherish those meet-up's, lemme tell you. As for my closest girlfriends, I try to schedule a gal's night out or girlie day o'fun anytime I get the chance---just text or e-mail and make it happen. It's easy! I dunno if I trust the "Just thinking of you" texts though, Julia; considering how most folks send out those truly generic texts to everyone in their phonebook, I don't feel any true love unless my name is actually attached to said message. Otherwise, nice idea! You gals looked extra cute this episode, btw...and where's Lilly gone? Does she no longer appreciate the spotlight of TMI fame?? www.sherylspencer.net

my best friends from college and i (there are about 6 of us) live all over the US and in keeping with our college tradition we usually plan 1 weekend out of the year to go to Vegas and catch up with each other. For the rest of the year, we just have a continuous email thread that we hit reply all when something big happens - we move, we get a new job, we get a new bf, engaged, etc. It's simple but who doesn't have time nowadays to hit reply all and write a few sentences.

Texting or sending a card to keep in touch with your friends?? Really?? This topic, like many others, is not new, relevant or interesting in any sense. If you want to carve out your niche and truly build an audience on the web, you have to work harder than that to create something truly unique. You've spent a lot of time building your "brand" but what is that brand worth without a product that your audience values?

I really liked this topic! I have three really close friends, and over the past year, our lives have been going in all different directions. When we all used to wait tables together, and before two of us had serious boyfriends, we would make time at least one a month for "Personal Wellness Days" (PWDs). These could include brunch, pedicures, doing a clothes swap at someone's house, or drinking copious amounts of wine on someone's patio, didn't matter, as long as we were together and relaxing. One of my resolutions is trying to get us together more often, so I am grateful for this segment. I love the idea of doing something "little kid-ish" with alcohol involved. So fun! Anyway, thanks for the info and keep up the good work!

Wow Julia. You are just so generous with your "just thinking of you" texts. Inspirational. I'm crying here.

I just try too keep up with my core group of friends (5 best friends) and the others, I invite to social gatherings to keep in touch. I dont have a lot of free time because i work full time and go to school part time and am in a relationship, all of those take almost every min. of my days. So having gatherings at my place or organizing dinners are a great way to grab those friends you dont have time to spend a lot of quality time with like i do my 5 bests. www.avogueidea.ca