Jazz Hands!

This past weekend was probably one of the funnest I've had in a really long time. I don't think I've ever laughed as much or as hard.
Initially it was going to be a girls night on Saturday at the movie theater with the movie Atonement. But because of scheduling difficulties and bad timing for the movie, we decided to make it into an all out dance fest!
Saturday night started in my closet where I discovered that I had a lack of "boob shirts", needless to say I made due got beautified and picked up Michelle H. We met at Tony's where a group of us (Michelle H., Landon, Ian, Tony, and I) were to supposedly take a cab downtown...you'd think Charleston cab companies would be more willing to help, but alas they were not. By 8:30 we were starved and decided that waiting and drinking on empty stomachs was not an option but, Landon was a trouper and offered to drive the group of us downtown.
Once parked our troupe meandered to Tommy Condon's (AKA: Tommy's Condom) to get a pint and some grub and to meet up with Michelle and Patrick Mc. The discovery of a 45 minute wait at 9:00 was out of the question so we decided to pop next door to Bocis where we met up with Jackie; good drinks, food, and conversation were had.
After the checks were paid a discussion ensued as to where this dance-fest would take place. And it was decided, on Landon's suggestion, we would go to Mad River. As we walked our way there the Michelles (there were 3 of us) created a "Secret Michelle Handshake", JAZZ HANDS and decided it would be our "save me" code. We also decided that anybody who walked though our dance circle would be bombarded by a Night at the Roxbury rendition.
When we entered said club I immediately liked it for the fact the DJ was playing Billy Idol! Some of the other group members weren't convinced. At any rate, we stayed through the Phil Collins and some other interesting music choices and at 11:30 on the button, the dance music ensued and we worked our way to the dance floor.
Locating the perfect spot we (the 4 girls and later 3 of the 4 boys, ahem Landon sat out) shimmied and gyrated. Throughout the night several men decided they would break up our circle and were promptly surrounded and "disposed of". The one that still makes me laugh was a short, 30 something, Hispanic guy who panicked when he was inundated by 4 girls. He was so unnerved that he stayed on the wall for several minutes. Haha our evil plan worked!
At 2:00 in the morning, being the only one mostly sober I was elected to drive. Once on the 26 a motion was made for stopping at Waffle House and passed. (BTW the Waffle House is only good after a rough night/morning.) One of our group spent most of the time hovering in the bathroom (we've ALL been there).
When breakfast was done we ended up back where we started, at Tony's. We each went our separate ways to sleep off whatever ailed us.
Sunday morning was an extremely painful morning for me for a couple reasons. The first being that my body was rebelling the fact that I danced for 2 1/2 hours straight. The second was that I didn't get to bed until 4:30 that morning and my stupid internal clock decided 8:55 was wakey, wakey time. After texting Brandon and the 2 Michelles I decided I'd might as well get up...one of the worst decisions I made was looking in the mirror. Saying I looked like roadkill is being kind.
Around 10:30 Michelle Mc. picked me up with coffee, (God bless her!) so we could walk Nelson (her fur baby) around downtown Charleston (about 3 miles total). It was a beautiful day and to waste it inside would have been criminal. After the trek, we went to Dog and Duck and inhaled our lunches.
A few hours at home allowed me to work on some writing (see Work in Progress) and rest. At 7:00 I joined Amanda, Michelle and Patrick Mc. at the bowling alley for trivia. We sucked big time, but I chalk it up to a long night on Saturday. After trivia Michelle H. invited me to stop by and play some cards with Tony, Ian, Jackie and her. The group of us laughed and chair danced into the wee hours of the morning (sans Jackie b/c she went to bed early, boo) playing "hand and foot", Ian, my partner and I were rock stars that night and beat Michelle and Tony. Boo-yeah!
Making this weekend a recurring event would be sweet and I hope we can make it work, because I had a great time and those typically only happen when awesome people are together with the same mind set. So to my wonderful group of friends from this weekend, I send you: JAZZ HANDS!

Answer Me with Silence

Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all.

Though I try to act in that respect I find myself sometimes talking rather than speaking. Sometimes I hear what I say to friends and family and am either
a) amazed that I can be so astute, thoughtful, or funny or
b) ashamed and inwardly telling myself to shut-the-hell-up in mid sentence.

I tell people that I have chronic foot in mouth syndrome, some nod knowingly; they feel where I'm coming from, others look at me like I have a disease obviously thinking I told them I have hoof and mouth disease (btw, they're two separate things). No, I talk without fully thinking through what I will say; I speak from the hip as some people say. While what I say can be funny and witty I have on occasion hurled an insult without expecting to, and inevitably, later feel the guilt thread through me.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent on the Christian calendar. Lent represents the 40 days and nights that Christ walked the desert and Satan tried to tempt him. Lent for me represents the time when I can try to be a better person. So, for Lent I will give up talking rather than speaking. I will make a concerted effort to say only relevant things and actually listen to my family and friends when they speak and to know when to answer by speaking and answering with silence.

some cool websites!

happy new year! while perusing the web (due to boredome) I found some new sites and crafts. Not Martha and Picnik (a photoshop type software on the web).

Enjoy!

Vegas-California Trip

Brandon and I just returned from our 2 week stint in Las Vegas and Southern California (the SC where I grew up) and we had a great time. We decided to take this trip for many reasons but most importantly for our fourth year anniversary. I had never been to Vegas before and it had been a while since Brandon had been home to see his family and friends.

Our first stop was Las Vegas, for 3 nights, we stayed at the Stratosphere (while they were nice accommodations it was too far north for me...next time we will stay in a more central location). Our first two days were spent with my side of the family, my folks flew from Maryland to Las Vegas and my aunt and uncle flew in from Arizona, the day prior to our entrance to the "city that never sleeps".

I was amazed at how small Vegas was. I was expecting the strip to be massive in length but it was only several blocks. However what the strip lacked in length it made up for in height. I could not get over how huge every single casino was! Our first night in LV was spent at the MGM Grand watching the increadible performance of KA. To say it was amazing is an understatement. The cast from Cirque du Soleil did stunts I had never seen before; a battle on a vertical wall, acrobatics on spinning wheels, and 5 story falls; it was a sight! The next couple days were spent exploring all we could of the various casinos and shops with my parents. Friday night Brandon, my folks, aunt and uncle, and I had a wonderful paella dinner with my great-aunt who lives near LV. It was delicious and was completed with authentic sangria!

From Saturday on we spent time with Brandon's friends and sister (Melissa) and brother-in-law (Aaron). We explored more of the casinos and my favorites included, the Venetian (for the gondola rides), the Bellagio (for the extravagance), and New York, New York (for the Nine Fine Irishmen pub). Needless to say Brandon and I had a wonderful time in Las Vegas.

On Sunday Melissa and Aaron drove us back to California where we stayed with Brandon's folks for a week and a half. The second day we were in California, we went shooting (my first time). We used a 9mm Glock and a 357 magnum (think Dirty Harry). It was an experience and believe it or not, I did better with the 357 than the 9mm. Further in the week we went to Universal Studios and enjoyed a day of theme park fun. While we were there, tapings for Desperate Housewives and National Treasure 2 were being made...where else but in Hollywood could you say that?! Our anniversary was spent in California and we enjoyed Thai cuisine at a new restaurant in Claremont.

A couple days later Brandon's folks had a family party and we got to see a lot of Brandon's extended family. It was good to see everyone again. Nearing the end of our California visit, we took a trip to Melissa and Aaron's new home in Laguna Hills (near Laguna Beach), their home was lovely and we got to explore the local area, cute shops, and played a mean game of Wii! Our final night was spent at Warehouse pizza where Brandon was able to catch up with several of his buddies from High School.

The trip was busy but we had a wonderful time with everyone and each other.

Pirrrrate Parrrrty

This past Saturday B and I went to a Pirate themed party. It was a lot of fun to say the least. About 90% of people were dressed as pirates and it was a blast to see all the different takes on pirate attire. What I remeber of the party was the rum punch - very strong (and knocked me on my butt) and flowed freely, lots of laughter, jell-o shots, something about a plank, and a beer bong. The ride home was rough and B took care of me that night and Sunday morning. I feel much better now, though the after effects weren't worth it, I had a great time. Besides any excuse to dress up is good by me.

The Mile High Club

So the other day I was listening to the radio and they were talking about the Mile High Club...now I don't know about you, but it's something that intrigues me, but I'm apprehensive to make a "moment" out of those tiny, disgusting, airplane bathroom stalls. In fact it makes me dry heave. But according to 95.1 there is a service out of the Charleston Internatioal Airport that allows you to join the Mile High Club with out having to leave your seat.

Enter Club Mile High, now this changes things!

Homecoming

B is home and I can hardly believe it.

Once he was home and settled on the 3rd we made a homemade pizza and watched the Clemson v. FSU game (Go TIGERS!). On the 4th we did some catching up and bought new cell phones, had some Moe's burritos, and Cold Stone ice cream. Basically just hanging out and being in each other's company. The 5th was also full of shopping he bought a pair of Lucky Jeans (I like to say he got "lucky") we also hung out with some pals at Reds Icehouse in Mt. Plesant and had a few beers. Today was yard work day (yuck) and more vegging. All-in-all it's been a very relaxing week, thus far and it's been super nice to be able to see Brandon when I'm talking to him and hold hands with him when we're together. It's those little things that mean so much when he's gone and I'm thrilled to have him back.

So I'm not going to waste anymore time on this blog and go back to being with him. Michelle...out!