There’s an article that has made its round on the web for the past few years, entitled Five Friends Every Woman Should Have. It’s written by Michelle Burford, of O, The Oprah Magazine, and begins with this commentary:

“Friends are the family we choose for ourselves,” writer Edna Buchanan once said. I consider the “family” I’ve gathered — with five kinds of pals I count on for completely different things — among the wisest choices I’ve made. If you can find even one who embodies any of the characteristics that follow, you can consider yourself fortunate.

In case you haven’t read it, I’ve included the a link to the original article.

Burford lists the five categories of friends as: The Uplifter, The Travel Buddy, The Truth Teller, The Girl Who Just Wants to Have Fun, and The Unlikely Friend. I’d like to expand on her thoughts a bit…

1. The Uplifter
This friend is more likely to say “yes” than “no” regardless of the situation. She’s willing to watch your kids when you need a break, and sends you notes of encouragement when you’re feeling down. She is a perpetual source of positive feedback.

2. The Travel Active Buddy
I’m guessing there are not a lot of 30- and 40-something moms who jet-set off to St. Lucia with pals (as the original author suggested). Instead, I think this friend is the woman who joins you for a late-night chick-flick when you need a few laughs, or the one who cycles beside you regularly at the gym. There may not be a ton of deep conversation with this buddy, but that’s OK because the silence (while you’re being active together) is comfortable. You enjoy that this woman is just there with you when you need to get out of the house.

3. The Truth Teller
Burford wrote, “Intent is what separates the constructive from the abusive. Once you’ve established that the hard news is spoken in love (not in jealousy or malice), you’d be smart to seek out this woman’s perspective.” I agree. In addition, for Christian women, this friend is the one you can count on to give you sound advice from a Biblical perspective. And when you’re finished talking, she prays with you about the situation. We all can benefit from a few Truth Tellers in our lives.

4. The Girl Who Just Wants to Have Fun Who Has Been There
This friend is the one you turn to when your husband loses his job and you don’t know how to handle it, or when the school wants to set up an IEP for your child but you don’t even know what those three little letters stand for. You may have met her through your kids’ activities, church, or some other family event. In any case, she has a family like yours, and can offer suggestions when some aspect of your family is cause for concern. Why? Because she’s been there. This mentor is a great person to help guide you through a new experience.

5. The Unlikely Friend
We all have unlikely friends. You know, those who are quite a bit older or younger, of a different race or religion, richer, poorer, or just part of a completely different social circle. As Burford wrote, the friends “have added richness to my life that only variety can bring.” Amen to that.

As a good (yet unlikely) friend once told me, every now and then you need to take stock of your friends. You should always surround yourself with a few in each of these categories. But perhaps more importantly, we need to make sure we are acting as these types of friends for the other women in our lives. So while you might have a couple of great girlfriends who are the mentors in your life (The Girls Who Have Been There), who are you mentoring? And while you might have several women who uplift and encourage you, who are you uplifting?

When the earthquake struck Haiti, we were immediately concerned for our friend, Kez. She’s an American nurse who lives in Haiti ten months out of the year, volunteering with an organization called Angel Missions Haiti. They help identify children who have medical needs that cannot be treated in Haiti, and find a way to bring them to the US to be treated. (In case you’re wondering, Kez spends the other two months of the year working as the camp nurse at Chop Point Summer Camp in Maine, which is of course how we know her.)

We were all thrilled to find out Kez not only survived, but has been caring for hundreds of refugees in a field near her home (or what’s left of it). She has been able to secure additional supplies for her refugee camp, and continues to care for them as she is able (with God’s help). She is blogging about how this catastrophe has changed her life and the lives of those around her. Here’s a brief tidbit of her latest post. Please keep Kez in your prayers and click through to read the rest.

A new life – I used to have a life. It is gone. Can you imagine that? Everything that you knew, everything that made up your day – gone. Now, I have a new life, but it does not resemble my old life.

I used to have a job, several jobs actually. They are gone, buildings disappeared into piles of rubble and patients disappeared to the countryside. Now, I have a new job, but it does not resemble my old job.

I used to have friends. They are gone: dead, injured, or evacuated. Now, I have new friends, friends that I love, but they do not resemble my old friends. (Continue reading…)

I am frequently asked how to achieve certain stylized effects with photographs. When I respond with my typical “I use Photoshop,” most people aren’t impressed. It’s not that they dislike Photoshop, but that they don’t have access to it (i.e., it’s expensive) and/or don’t know how to use it.

So when I came across Rollip, I figured it was worth sharing. Rollip is a tool that offers cool photo effects online, so you don’t have to purchase or learn how to use Photoshop. Instead, you simply select the desired effect and upload your photo. You are then given the option to download a web-quality version, or purchase a high-quality version ($2.99 for 15 photos).

I tried a couple of effects – vintage, line drawing, and so on – to see how it worked. For the average mom playing around with pictures of her kids, I think it would work quite well. Check it out at www.rollip.com. Happy filtering!

I’m always looking for examples of type treatments that accurately convey meaning. For example, consider how one designer’s treatment of the word Halloween really helps you feel the emotion of that night.

I recently came across another blogger’s a list of 62 “intelligent and integrated logos for type lovers.” View his collection see more inspiring concepts.

What a novel concept: an established cosmetic company finally giving away a gift that connects with its target audience. And guess what… not only is this promotion free to customers, but it will garner Estee Lauder more brand awareness than the cheap makeup samples they have been giving away from decades.

Here’s how it works: women can visit the Estee Lauder makeup counter at participating department stores beginning October 16 to receive a free makeover and photo shoot. According to a spokesperson, “The photographer will do some minor retouching – nothing crazy – print out the picture and also e-mail it to the customer.” The resulting photo can then be used on Facebook and other social networking venues. Bravo to Estee Lauder for thinking outside of the box to come up with a promotion that just might get the average 30-55 year-old woman to venture to their makeup counter for the first time in ages. And who knows… a few might even buy something (or so they hope). At least we’ll all get nice profile pics .