The 5 Friends Every Woman Needs

by Ame Beanland and Emily Terry

1. The "I've Seen You with Braces and Bell-Bottoms" Friend

You bonded over jumping rope, passing notes and gushing over teen idols. Your friendship is based on the deep roots that come from knowing each other through all the big and little events that propel us into adulthood. She understands where you are coming from and helps you get where you want to go.

2. The Biological Buddy

This is the friend who mirrors your family status. If you have children, so does she. You listen patiently to her stories about junior, nod in the right places, and then it's your turn. You swoop in in a crunch to baby-sit or pick the kids up from school and vice versa. It's a beautiful thing. On the flip side, this friend may be the one among your group who, like you, doesn't have children. Together you celebrate your freewheeling status at fancy restaurants, see movies with subtitles and indulge in marathon shopping excursions. Again, it’s a beautiful thing.

3. Your Own Personal Martha Stewart

She knows how to get candle wax off your cat's ear. Need a recipe for champagne punch? She'll fax over five of them. Roof leaking? She's there with some shingles and tar she had in the workshop. She has every tool, every recipe and every magazine article cross-referenced and indexed, and she's as resourceful as the FBI, the CIA and Interpol combined. She is irreplaceable.

4. Your Sister-in-a-Suit

You share investment tips, career strategies and the secrets of crafting the world's perfect resume. What to wear to that interview? She's the one you turn to. Powerhouse, confidante and the Wall Street Journal in comfortable pumps -- she's a source of professional inspiration and awfully fun to have drinks with after work, to boot.

5. Wild Woman

Nothing will shock her, and the word judgment (for better or worse) is not in her vocabulary. You can tell her anything. No matter how serious or benign, she takes it in stride on her way to the next adventure. When you're with her, hang on tight and never use your real name.