Let me tell you about Emily...

Let me tell you a little something about my partner Emily.  She's beautiful, isn't she?  It's the first thing you notice.  She is long-legged, tall and willowy, with stylish, funky blonde hair, cheekbones for miles, and a huge dazzling white smile.  People always ask, "Are you a model?" which of course she is.  But she is so much more than that.

She has traveled all over the world.  She has produced plays.  She has acted in tv, film, and theater.  She is a stellar mom to a rambunctious, charming, adorable boy and is a loving, supportive wife.  She manages to be worldly and sophisticated while still being goofy and accessible, to be focused and hard-working while still being impulsive and enthusiastic, to be stylish without being vain, to be giving while still setting boundaries.  She is an amazing, talented artist who loves nothing more than to encourage others' creativity.  Most of all, she is a loyal and consummate friend.

On a day when things fell apart for me, she was the person I called for help.  She heard the tears in my voice immediately, asked what was wrong and what I needed all at the same time.  I needed childcare on very short notice.  "Done," she said.  She didn't ask for how long, or tell me that she needed to check her schedule, or burden me with the details of everything she had to rearrange to be there.  She just was there.  With a hug and a smile and tears and with lots of fun playtime with my girls.  She was there.  She's that friend.

She's the friend that you end up staying up all night with -- against your better intentions-- because you just need to whisper that one last thing and that sends you both off on a three hour deep, satisfying, soul-filling conversation.

She's the friend that makes you belly laugh.  Over dinner recently, we were discussing fundraisers and I was lamenting the unsatisfying dinner fare you usually receive at such events.  She began to tell us about a fundraiser they had recently attended, to support a children's charity that her husband's friend ran in Nicuragua.  She asked him to tell us about the charity, and he regaled us with the sad particulars of the situation this friend battled and all the amazing work he was doing in that country.  Twenty minutes later, he wrapped up and we turned back to her so she could pick up her comments where she had left off about this impressive organization.  She turned red, paused, and then mumbled, "Umm....I was gonna say....the beef was really good at that fundraiser."  I laughed for at least 3 days.

She's the friend that tells you that you have spinach in your teeth.  And that will pick it out for you.

She's the friend that tells you that you indeed neeeeeeeed that new purse, pair of shoes, shirt, and journal from TJMaxx.  And that notices and compliments you when you use them.

She's the friend that gives you the perfect birthday present and even remembers to send your husband a card on his birthday.

She's the person that lends you her bracelet and then buys you one of your own when you tell her how much you love it.

She's the person that you can hesitantly tell your business idea and that you want to do it as a partnership and she leaps in with a "yes!" before you can finish your sentence.  Who then proceeds to carry the load when you can't, to provide the energy and the momentum for you when you get bogged down in details, to network like a champ, to create amazing artwork, and to be fair and fun and supportive in every way as a partner.

She's the one who doesn't judge your chip and salsa addiction, mostly because she's busy adding salt to the chips.

She's the friend that makes you feel happy just from being around her.  Your mood is always a little brighter after some time with her.

She's the friend that gives an impressively loud, involuntary, and perhaps slightly embarrassing hiccup very time she gets a little excited.

She's a person even more beautiful on the inside than the spectacular beauty she is outside.  She is a person who listens with intensity and warmth, who radiates love and light.  She makes the world better every day that she is in it.

That is just a little glimpse of the extraordinary soul that is Emily Cline.  She is my business partner, and half of Doodlebugheart.  I hope you get to know her, because you will be blessed for it.

I am so very lucky that this woman is my friend, my best friend.  So lucky.  So grateful.

That's what I wanted to tell you about Emily.