Monday nights out.

Ah, the Akikos. Two lovely ladies who anybody would be lucky to have as friends. One of them is going abroad for the holidays, and so the other wanted a mini-farewell party. End result is a little get together at an izakaya with five good friends. I couldn't ask for a better ending to my weekend.

As I get older, I find I still love organizing a big event. I love having a large group of good friends together, having a grand time and making new memories. At the same time, however, I crave the smaller get-togethers, where it's easier to really connect with people. Often at the big events I want to hang out with everybody, so I go jumping from group to group, conversation to conversation, and at the end of the night I feel like something was missing. But at a small table where everyone is within arms-reach, it's just one group, and it's perfection.