One Year Older and Wiser Too....maybe

I feel like the perfect prelude to my birthday is this article I found in BBC News this week. (Please note, in my blog when I refer to "this" or "that", you can 90% of the time click on the word and it will take you to a link of exactly what I'm talking about. For example, if you click in the phrase "this article" it will take you to said article) So this article talks about a new terminology in China, which translates to "leftover women" in English. It's a little sad, but I feel like this article is my friend. I showed my Chinese co-worker this article and he laughed, knowing exactly what it was talking about when I pointed to the word "sheng nu". He told me, "You have a few more years, but maybe you should ask for a boyfriend for your birthday". lol. Thanks Jimmy. Thanks. I know you are thinking, "wow, it's your birthday. why are you bringing up the topic of boys?" I bring up this topic to let the world know, I am happy! Please. I don't need you to tell me "you're so wonderful, smart, and pretty. I don't know why you don't have a boyfriend" or "guys are crazy to not be after you". People are always asking me about my relationship status, and you know what? I don't define my happiness on whether or not I'm dating anyone. Please don't apologize. Don't say anything. If I become a leftover woman, at least I know I will be in good company. For now, I'm going to keep living my life the best way I know how, and enjoying every moment of it: the good and the bad.

And now, the tale of my big birthday weekend!

I drove home after work and waited for Saryah before starting the drive to San Antonio. At the mid-point, we, of course, stopped at Bucee's for an energy boost. We got to San Antonio and checked into the Crowne Plaza. I was not impressed. You have to pay for parking. Who does that? And pay for internet. What kind of hotel does that in this day and age? #dumbdumb Anyway, we relax in the hotel until it is time to go pick up bff Erica, who was flying in from Arizona, from the airport. YAY! (best birthday ever!) I pick her up and the night is still young, so we go to Mi Tierra for a nighttime snack. It was funny because Erica was freaking out from excitement. I thought she was going to topple over.

We got some Mexican hot chocolate and it was soooo tastey. I also go myself a virgin margarita because, hey, gotta enjoy the nightlife :) After our midnight snack, we went back to the car, where erica was really excited to give me my gift and her excitement was contagious. First she gave me the birthday card. 1. it was in spanish. 2. it was a twilight card. lol. 3. there was a surprise note on the back from ben! Really, it was a perfect birthday card. Then for the gift! She got me a SNUGGIE! And not just any snuggie....a zebra print snuggie. If you're going to get a snuggie, you cannot be serious about it. Go crazy. I'm so excited to use it! After our adventure, we had to sneak back to our room and be very quiet because mom and saryah were fast asleep  even though my mom woke up when Erica and I were whispering together before sleeping and startled us by speaking. lol. Funny mommy.

Saturday morning started off with 4 females trying to get ready with only one bathroom. lol. Magically, it happened without major incident and we're all still friends. We went to Mi Guadalajara near gma's house for breakfast and met up with Jax and Davy. It was a fun breakfast which ended with us heading to get some yummy pan dulce!

Oh it was a great morning of mexican food and sharing stories. We then dropped of mom to start getting ready for the party as Erica, Saryah, and I went down to the riverwalk to take a stroll in the sun and see the Alamo. There was a long line to go inside, so we just settled on taking pictures! yay!

We then walked back along the river on the opposite side we walked on before, only to discover that on the side of the river we were on, didn't have an exit at the same place we entered. Uh oh. Luckily, we eventually escaped our entrapment on the river bank.  We then travelled to an HEB to pick up some flowers for my gma who LOVES flowers. We arrived and all my siblings where there. #bestfamilyever

The party, of course, was hip and happening. Everyone was there. We laughed, we ate, we talked to everyone. Then the mariachi band showed up. It was great. I love mariachis. They sang happy birthday to me and my grandma. They serenaded us, and it was great to finally understand what they were singing. #spanishpower It was great until they announced they were going to sing the last 2 songs. Then they turned to each other and started whispering, glancing at me, and pointing at me. Then I started to get nervous, because I new something was coming. They proceeded to sing to me exactly like this:

Ok. So maybe it wasn't exactly like this, Julia Stiles reacted a lot more gracefully than I did, but they sang the song. They started singing to me, and everyone stopped to stare at me. People even came in from outside just to stare at me. I laughed and hid my face. I started laughing so hard, I almost cried. aka i was feeling so awkward and overwhelmed, I almost cried. I didn't know how to react with so many eyes on me. I was just a hot mess of crazy. Oh well. It was something I will never forget. A memorable birthday indeed. They then sang gma a song and Ron asked her to dance. It was so cute. I have the coolest gma ever. The party didn't last long after that, as we all had the cops called on us. We're that crazy. #truestory

We inhaled helium, spoke in funny voices, cleaned up the room, and then only a few of us ended up going to the after-party in gma's apartment as she (really me) got to open her presents. She's a classy lady. People getting her purses and clothes. Eventually, it was time to head out for my party. So mom, saryah, erica, uncle john, headed to the other side of town to eat at The Magic Time Machine, except we weren't all that hungry. So we got seated, noticed they didn't have any good apetizers and were deciding if we wanted to stay and eat here. Then some teen girl  with a backpack came up to our table and was like "Hello!" in a really obnoxious voice. All I could think of was 'why are you here? go sit down with your family like a good girl'. Only to discover she is our waitress and is dressed as Dora the Explorer. Oh goodness. We all kinda just paused awkwardly and looked at each other. Luckily, Uncle John took the reigns and asked for a few more minutes, and we left the restaurant to go to a mexican place across the street. You cannot go wrong with mexican food in San Antonio. It's all good. We then drove to the Majestic Theatre to see the 2010 Tony winner for Best Musical, "Memphis". My review: It was wonderful! The music reverberated through your soul and the dancing was spectacular. It made you want to get up and dance with them. The plot was adorable, but the ending was not what I was hoping. However, the actors were phenomenal, and I want to some of the songs from the soundtrack. After the show, we were all wiped out. I couldn't have gone out after that even if I wanted to. T'was a wonderful birthday, and I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Sunday morning was sad because I had to drive Erica back to the airport to see her off. :( But I got to go back to bed afterwards, so that was a plus. Mom, Saryah, and I went to get some breakfast and more pan dulce. Then we went over to gma's to say goodbye  and pick up Saryah's sweater that got left behind before starting our drive home. Long drive when everyone falls asleep. So i just turned up my music and sang along for 3 hours. When we got back, it was a lazy day of reading and cleaning a bit more. (I'm in the process of cleaning our my room at home still) Then I went to my place at night to watch the Oscars and angst over my new facebook profile picture #firstworldproblems. I loved the ode to musicals, because I love musicals. and i love that Jennifer Lawrence won an oscar. She's legit.

Now as an end to my birthday tale, I will leave you all with the encouraging words I received from Jimmy on Monday morning after we talked about my birthday weekend. "Don't worry. You are not 'sheng nu' yet"
  lol
Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes. Y'all were blowing up my phone all day with facebook alerts and texts. :)

"The time has come" the Walrus said, "To talk of many things..."

Dear world,

My birthday is this weekend. All I really want is a Judge's gavel. #truestory When I told wbff (work bff) Charles this, he said I need to ask for something else so i don't come of so crazy. Therefore I have added 2 more things for my list.

1. Judge's Gavel
2. Snuggie
3. Nook Gift Card
4. Aviators....from someone feeling generous
5. A chauffeur for life....i've decided I hate driving.
6. Someone to fly to Orlando with me to swim with the manatees in March or April :)
7. CHI hair straightener....mine blew the fuse when I tried it in Europe last year :(
8. purple flats or closed-toed heels.  (im a size 6.5 or 37 depending on where you're shopping)

Commence Randomness!!!!!!

I got my birthday dress in the mail and it fits! and there was much rejoicing! :)

Work bestie Charles' pearl of wisdom: no one ever hates the ugly girls. Also, he's decided to tell this guy at work, tyler, that i'm in love with him. except when i deny it, it sounds more like im embarrassed and didnt want him to find out rather than a real denial. #embarrassing #charlesthinksitshysterical

Other work thing: Andres. Andres likes to sneak up behind me and scare me. Anyone who knows me knows that I scream when snuck up on. I am not amused. Then he laughs and touches my shoulder. Which makes me madder. Dude, we're co-workers, not friends, and you're married. ¡NO ME TOQUES! I really want to turn around and stab him whenever he does it.....ok.....i really just want to turn around and punch him super hard. No knifes needed. The embarrassment of him crying like a little girl when I hit him will satisfy my need for justice.
My boss came by to talk to me while i was drawing this picture. This is Andres trying to sneak up to my desk with his sneaky little arms out. That is me, with a pink light-saber, about to jump from my hiding place on the cube wall and attack!

It's strange to think how times do change...This past Friday, I went to a party...a dress like a hipster party. Who did I hang out with at this party? My brother's bff, Stevie, Stevie's wife Sonjia and others. A decade ago. I could have never imagined hanging out with my brother's bestie. I wouldn't really hang out with my brother. If you ask my mother, she still thinking my brother and I pretend to no know each other in public. Little does she know, Jamsie and I hang out. Now I hang out with his friends, and you know what? they are cool friends.

On Saturday, my new friend Teri Jo came over to my house! Like my real home. I haven't had friends over and meet my parents in so long. it was cool. well....she only met my mom, but that's beside the point. I was also really proud of myself because i finally have started cleaning my room. because i just leave it as is, since i dont ever live there long enough to do something, but i started cleaning it out more. maybe one day, i will get rid of all the stuff i do not need.

I hate Lance Armstrong. Ok. So I dont  hate him, but I want him to become human enough to feel bad, not for getting caught but for being a big fat liar. This is probably my favourite article written, probably because it's a British writer and it's like he just stole the tone, voice, and words our of my head.

When she began directing in the forties, Ida Lupino sometimes claimed not to know the best way to line up a shot or specify a line reading, explaining “Men hate bossy women. Sometimes I pretend to know less than I do.” #ivedonethatbefore #icanthelpitthatimsmarterthanmostmen

So Saryah has introduced me to the tumblr #allmyfriendsaremarried. Literally. The. Funniest. Thing. Ever. I've decided that this one is the story of my life. Seriously. I hate it. I want to scream. It happens all the time. And this one is pretty good too. Bottom line: she references that she gets drunk over everything, and curses occasionally, but if you can get past that, it's honest truth.

I have discovered Downton Abbey, finally. The first season I was merely curious....the second season is when I fell in love. Spoiler Alert: I love Mr. Bates. He's my homie. I'm happy they've humanized Mary, because I really hated her. Plus, Tom and O'Brien are not likeable...but I don't hate them as much as I did. Plus, I'm in love with Matthew. His blue eyes blow me away. everytime. Thanks mom for finally making me watch it. I stayed up till 3am last night watching it online. #stilllearninghowtojustsayno




life lesson of the day:
"The light of Jesus Christ is stronger than any darkness we face in this life, if we have faith in Him, seek after Him, and obey Him." ~ Virginia U. Jensen

I learn something new every day!

This is just a list of things I have learned/discovered over the past week:

Work bestie, charles, is my bestie for sure. Why?
1. I just downloaded the GasBuddy app, and it said that Sam's Club had the cheapest gas....so he let me borrow his sams club card!
2. He wanted to buy me a Panera cookie because he was there getting breakfast, but when he saw the cookies they said things like "I love you" and "Be mine". He decided that wasn't the best kind of cookie to be giving at work and didnt want HR problems. lol #istillwantedacookie #itsthethoughtthatcounts

I hate SnapChat!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's stupid. why dont people just sent picture texts like the old days? #tradionalist

Sword umbrellas exist

glamping is the only kind of camping  you will ever see me particiate in. #glamper

"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside ... we ALL believe that we are above average drivers!"
- Dave Barry, 'Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn'

I've decided to not text or talk on the phone when I am driving: Surprisingly, using a hands-free device is no safer than holding a phone. Either way, the accident statistics are the same. Why? It has to do with the human brain. Humans can't think of more than one thing at a time. We can switch back and forth between thoughts, or focus on one and monitor another.

Catch Me If You Can, the musical is really funny. And it makes me think of Neal Caffery and makes me want to be a con-man #idbetoonervoustobearealconman

Holly can pull off a fannypak :)  @Galveston

It turns out Galveston Marti Gras (Carnival, for all the Europeans out there) during the day isn't as iniquitous as one would think. I went with Holly and Ryan, where I also learned that Ryan carries a dagger on him at all times. Ok, so maybe like a Swiss army knife, but it seems so much cooler when you say *dagger*. I also learned that no knifes are allowed in the Marti Gras area of Galveston. We got beads and it was a lot of fun. Luckily, no flashing was required for these beads, and it was fun.

If you wear a lot of beads....you get neck pains. #beadsaresuprisinglyheavyinlargequantities

It also turns out I'm super old because i had no energy after Marti Gras to go to Seth's masquerade. I was sooooo sad I missed it and passed out on my bed. Really, it was probably the better decision. I'm pretty sure I would have crashed if I had driven.

I love ginger kids. I've only known 3 ginger kids. The first 2 were twins, a boy and a girl. Saryah and I would call them Fred and Georg-ina. (because calling a little girl George, is just asking for all kinds of problems). Now I have know the 3rd, and we call him Ron. Why do I like ginger babies? Because they all look like Weasleys!

Weasley is our King :)

I bribed little Nathan with Reese's to wear my Gryffindor scarf and James flew him around on a broomstick as we took pictures. He is sooo adorable! And he's my new bff.

Saryah is really funny to watch when little kids try to
climb all over her. #notamomyet

Child labor is wrong, but can be adorable

When life gives you lemons, you cannot make lemonade by squeezing all the lemons at once. You do it one by one. I was having a terrible day on Monday and was feeling overwhelmed. But I started looking at my problems one by one, and they didn't seem so bad when you separate them.

My ex-bff is preggers and I had to find out via facebook. If I ever see him again, I plan on smacking him in the face. That's a promise. ps. im not smacking him just because of *this*

I can eat fast food for lunch, talk to Erica on the phone, take a shower, look fabulous, and drive to get a Panera cookie, and make it back to work in less than an hour. and yes. I believe Panera cookies heal your soul :) #addictedtopaneracookies

Also, it's hard to be having a bad day when little kids are around and being super loving. Especially when little Nathan (aka Ron) asks to help you make cookies saying "I've never made heart shaped cookies before". It would even make the Grinch's heart grow.

Do not buy colored icing that can be mistaken for colored caulking. Some boys find it strange and are reluctant to use it to decorate cookies.

#GHD2K13

Groundhog's Day 2013.

Seriously.

It is the Monday after Groundhog's day weekend. I just told a friend how I've suffered a speech stroke. He asked said "so you had an intense Superbowl weekend?" My response? "Superbowl weekend? Puhleeze. Groundhog's Day weekend" It's like you don't know me at all.

Speech Stroke: When your brain believes you are saying coherent sentences, but what comes out of your mouth makes no sense. Normally a side effect of little to no sleep and too much partying

 Let's start this tale on Friday, 1 February 2013. I had a nice flight that arrived perfectly on time enough for me to walk out of the airport at the same time Lindsay arrived. Surprise time: Jarrett was there too! I wasn't expecting him to come to the airport and pick me up. Another surprise: it was so cold, and I just put on my coat, so my fingers were freezing as Lindsay and I were trying to open the trunk of the car while Jarrett would slowly drive forward so we couldn't  lolz. It was a happy reunion. We all gave hugs and had the heat blasting so I could warm up.

From the airport we had to drive through Pittsburgh to go up to Punxsutawney, our final destination. We went through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and I made a video. Although Lindsay denied my request to find someone with a truck so I could go through it like Emma Watson did, it was an amazing first look at Pittsburgh, which is a beautiful city.

Jarrett chauffeured us too Pittsburgh Mills where Lindsay suggested I get a Steak N Shake as we waited to meet up with her friends.  Lolz. Since Lindsay's the food expert, I let her order for me....well as best we could because we would say something, but Jarrett would tell the person at the window something totally different. It was interesting. Especially when he told the lady I wanted a diet coke when diet dr. pepper wasn't available. I'm pretty sure that's the definition of cruel and unusual punishment. Lindsay and Jarrett are so funny together because they fight like brother and sister, with Jarrett always antagonizing Lindsay until she yells at him, and he laughs. Lindsay and Jarrett eventually switch seats so Lindsay could drive. At one point Jarrett dipped his fries in Lindsay's shake, except he failed at it and ended up dipping his fingers in her shake too....Lindsay was not amused. We finally met up with Alex, Lindsay's boyfriend and three other of Lindsay's friends (Nina, Brittany, and Brittany's bf, Mike), who would all embark in our Groundhog's day adventure with us. They followed us up to Punxatauney in a different car, and the entire way, Lindsay was having to slow down and wait for her bff, Brittany to catch up because they were driving soooo slowly. It was lightly snowing on our drive, I realized that driving at night in the snow looks like you are traveling through space at warp speed. #interestingfact

We arrived in Punxsutawney, and our first stop was the High School, where they were having a banquet dinner and Lindsay's aunt was going to be named Woman of the Year. We all hid in the back with a lot of Lindsay's relatives to await the surprise for her Aunt Jen. Jen didn't know she was getting the award, and she didn't know that her family had come in to visit. While at this banquet, I saw people with groundhog hats on. SOOO COOL! There were the groundhog TY beanie babies on the tables as party favors. It was awesome. The surprise was wonderful, and Jen didn't expect anything.

After the surprise, we all went to the country club to surprise her again with another party in celebration of her achievement. At that party was the writer of the movie Groundhog's Day, but I didn't meet him because I found out too late. Blast! It was a lot of fun, as I got to hang out with everyone, eat cake, have Alex get me milk from the bar (in honor of Stine), see Lindsay's whole family take shots together, and close down the bar with my friends. This is the point in time where I became the driver for the night. #DDforlife

We then went to Lindsay's grandparent's house to leave one car behind and grab the VIP passes and stuff we would need for going out to Gobbler's Knob the next morning. Lindsay's mom was nice enough to bring me some snow boots so I wouldn't loose my toes from the cold. We all piled into Lindsay's car and drove to Mandy's party in a beautiful cabin out in the middle of nowhere. There was a party that had been happening for a while going on in there. People were dancing and having a good time. I think the highlights of the night was seeing Mandy's mom, who reminded me of the Mean Girls mom, you know, the "cool mom".  Another highlight, there were little groundhog finger puppets that were on cupcakes, so people were putting these cute little groundhog's on their fingers throughout the night. The other highlight was more of a disappointment, when Gangum Style came on and after months of hearing about how Alex loves this song, he did no dance to the song. :( It was a sad moment in my life. The night was flying by and around 2am it was time to go.

We all piled in the car again, and headed to the gas station, so everyone could pile up on 5-hour energy and Red Bull. We were pulling an all nighter. But first, we had to park at a stop sign, run out into the cold and get a picture with one of the groundhogs that they have all over the city! Later, we were about to leave the gas station, I realized that a cop car parked next to us. Now, let's get this out there, cops make me nervous. Especially when you have more people than seat belts in a car with you. We all got in the car and in my hurry to get out, I did not see the curb and totally ran over it megatime....and a cop saw it. For the next few minutes, I was panicking as I drove carefully and the cop car continued to follow behind for several streets and turns onto obscure roads. Luckily, I was not pulled over, and we made it to Lindsay's Aunt's house, where we would remain the rest of the night.

That night, was like arts & crafts at it's best. I put on my super sexy Groundhog's day sweater Lindsay gave me. Alex was passed out on the couch, as was Mike. Brittany began painting little groundhogs on top of the top hats using a groundhog cookie cutter and brown paint. It was epic.

I began on the Texas shaped sign that I was to hold up and use to get us pulled up on the stage. It was exciting, even when I realized how terrible I am at drawing a proportion large-scale Texas. I needed help, and eventually overcame this trial. The Texas really looked like Texas. I painted it to make it better. Than we decorated our top hats to make it more individual. Mine said "Bring on da Spring!", Lindsay and Brittany's said "#GHD2K13". We stayed up the whole night, and it went by surprisingly fast. Lindsay, Brittany and I decided we needed a 15 minute rest before we all left, so Nina and Jarrett stood guard and were in charge of waking us up. My eyes were closed but I heard Lindsay's wake up, which included lost of screaming at Jarrett and death threats. I was woken up my Jarrett laying down next to me and stealing my blanket to wrap himself up in a little roll. It was effective, and I was cold. Jarrett then attacked Alex by jumping on him. Mike and Brittany were spared as they were up before Jarrett could get to them.

At around 6:15am, we were all hustling to get everything together and get us all in the car. I discovered toe warmers that heat up when they come in contact with air and my toes were sooo toasty warm all morning. I also had hand warmers in my mittens. I drove Brittany's car down to Gobbler's Knob, because Jen got us parking passes and Lindsay didn't want us driving an overstuffed car around when there are tons of police checkpoints on the drive up to the Knob. #smartgirl Somehow on the journey from the house to the car, I lost my top hat. On the drive, we were able to see the beautiful fireworks display from the car. It was awesome. We were about to park, when we saw Jarrett running out of Lindsay's car by himself and into the crowd of people. #confusion We managed to park in the snow, with a little bit of help from Mike giving an extra push to Brittany's compact car with all the snow. Nina slipped and fell and destroyed Lindsay's top hat. We got into the crowd only to realize we didn't know how to get to the VIP area. To solve this problem, we took on the challenge of getting Lindsay onto Alex's shoulders so she could look around for the path to get us there. Miraculously no one was injured, and past the soldiers (literally) and into the VIP section.The girls got separated from the boys around this point, and we still hadn't found Jarrett. We followed Nina as she got us to the front (later she told us that she was telling people she was trying to get to her child up in the front. lol) At one point there was a very angry lady who was mad that Nina was so tall and that she couldn't see past her. Oops.

The event was super cool. In the beginning to pump us up, there were singers and dancers. At one point there was a chant, "USA! USA! USA!" although I cannot remember why. When the Inner Circle came out, people were chanting "Phil! Phil! Phil!" It was sooooo cool. They knocked on the little tree stump and pulled out Phil, said a speech, Phil did not see his shadow, and then they read the scroll which predicted an early spring! Everyone cheered, and the energy was enormous! They said that people were allowed to come up and try to take pictures with Phil. Luckily, we were in the front and we somehow found the guys, and somehow Jarrett found us, still wearing his enormous viking hat. We waited in line and got our picture with Phil. It was awesome. (Please note, Phil is inside that little tube that says "Groundhog" on it)

Trying to leave the event was just as eventful. When we were leaving the stage Lindsay saw a TV reporter and asked if she was still doing interviews. Lindsay told the lady that I was from Texas and flew up to see the Groundhog, and Alex yelled "We're all from Texas!" lol. She asked me about flying up and I told her about being warm. It turns out I was on tv and quoted in the article for saying "It was great. A perfect weekend to fly up". Alex was on tv for screaming into the camera "Enough talking! We want to see Phil!" but they cut it to him only screaming "We're here to see Phil! WOOOOOO!!!!!!" We then tried to get out of area, and while some people stood in line for the porter potties, Jarrett, for some reason, threw Lindsay into a trashcan. She was so mad, that he willingly climbed into the trashcan himself to make her feel better. While in the trashcan, some stranger walked by and tried to push him and the trash can over. lol. We then managed to get into the car, after adult pointed at Jarrett and told his kid something along the lines of "that is an example of someone you do not want to grow up to be like". bahahaha. On the way to brunch with Lindsay's family, we lost Brittany's car. We were turning around to find them so they could follow us again, when Jarrett jumped out of the car again. We waited for a bit until Lindsay started to drive away, and he had to jump back into the car.

The plan for Saturday was to go to brunch, go shopping to get souvenirs, take pictures with lots of groundhog statues around town, before leaving. The plan was a-go during breakfast, where we ate so much. I also realized guys can be super gross to look at when they eat. lol. Also, can I just note, that Lindsay's family is sooooo nice. They are the sweetest and it is awesome how close they all are. Her grandparents are little socialites and know everyone! They were so sweet and treated us to brunch. During brunch, it started to snow, and Lindsay's parents advised us to get driving back to Pittsburgh before the roads get bad. Poor Lindsay, she was soooo tired, but she's a trooper and we drove back to Pittsburgh and with all the hustle and bustle of getting everyone together and clean up her Aunt's house before we left, we forgot the souvenir shop as well as Jarrett's loafers. lol. The drive was not too bad, but we were trying our hardest to stay awake so Lindsay would have company.

We saw Amish people on the roads. It was sooo cool. Amish people are legit. We dropped off Alex and Nina. As we were driving away, Jarrett said I had to try The Milkshake Shop. Jarrett's way of convincing all of us to do something this weekend was saying "It's for Natash. (Because he's calls me Natash....without the "a", and surprisingly I dont hate it) She's only here for 48 hours. We have to make it awesome". I agreed that I was hungry. So Jarrett and I ran out of the car, and he bought me a pb&j shake. It was SOOOO GOOD! Life changingly good. We then decided to go to Uncle Sam's, which is Lindsay's FAV sandwich place which I remember her telling me about when we were in Germany. On the drive over, we almost died. Because someone honked at us, and Jarrett decided the best course of action was to roll down the window and yell at them. It was two big scary guys and one of them was halfway out the window cursing and yelling death threats at us. I was just praying that he wouldn't have a gun to kill us with. Lindsay quickly turned the corner to get out of that situation, and we made it to the sandwich place alive. We all looked like a hot mess because we were tired and hungry. We ate and then miraculously made it back to the apartments without any harm coming to us.

We got back to the apartment around 2-2:30ish I passed out on the couch like nobody's business. When I woke up around 6:30ish, it was time to shower, because I smelled so badly. It was gross. Then we drove to the other building to pick up Jarrett, who had just woken up. We drove into town and picked up Nina, and went to The Church Brew Works. Oh man. It's a brewery in an old church building. Maybe sacrilegious? Im not sure. All I know is that the food there was AMAZING! Seriously. Luckily, we're all friends and we taste eachothers' food always. All of it amazing. I had buffalo meatloaf. Wow. Speechless. We also had perogies as an appetizer. Super yummy. The best part was on the glasses it says "on the eighth day, God created beer" and we had to "remind" Lindsay that the quote was not really from the scriptures. #giggles

We then drove to go ice skating in the city. It was awesome. Poor Lindsay was having horror flashbacks to our rollerblading in Munich adventure. Luckily, this was a controlled environment with a flat surface. It was magical. Ice skating in the cold as it was snowing. Possibly a once in a lifetime experiences for someone who may or may not ever live outside of a year-round warm climate. After ice skating, Jarrett wanted to play pool. So we went to a bar, and there was a guy at the door. My first thought was, "that's so nice that they have a greeter at the door to welcome you!" Then I realized, he's not a greeter, he's checking IDs. lol. It was too crowded and we eventually decided to go to Charlie Murdoch's and watch the band. It was really cool. The band was good, and they played good songs. Eventually, we were all so tired, we had to leave. We got back to the apartments around midnight, super worn out and exhausted. The past 24 hours felt like a week, and when I spoke I was making no sense, which was pretty funny.

Sunday was just as fun and magical. I woke up and took a shower because you always want to feel clean on the day you're flying otherwise you feel 100X grosser than you would have originally felt at the end of your flight. We went to pick up Jarrett, but he was asleep. Oh Jarrett. We went to eat at the Grand Concourse for brunch. wow. So many options to eat. The best was the fresh donuts. Magic. It was so cool sitting there and the window overlooked the river with the snow falling. I had Christmas songs on repeat in my brain. They tried to tell me that it wasn't Christmas time and I looked at them like they were crazy and said "yes it is. it's snowing".

We went to walk and took the Incline up to Mount Washington, where we took pictures and Jarrett and I had a snowball duel. They made me make a snowball with my bare hands; I thought my hands were going to fall off from being so frozen. But we started back-to-back and took a few steps before throwing the snowballs at each other. Needless to say, I missed, because I have terrible aim. We took the incline back down.

Jarrett and I made snow angels. My first snow angel! Then Jarrett told me I had to eat some snow. So I did. It was pretty legit. We then dropped Nina off, took pictures with the giant Mr. Rodgers statue and saw Heinz Field  Then we headed to the Andy Warhol Museum. Andy Warhol is weird. The best part was the comfy lounge couch things in the middle of the room where Lindsay and I sat and tried not to fall asleep because it was so comfy and covered by a parachute. The other cool thing was the room full of "clouds" that you got to play with. #iloveclouds After we were done, Lindsay was tagged and realized that we had been on tv and were so excited and watched it in the car, laughing. We began the drive back to the airport but not without stopping at Starbucks, where I got my signature Peppermint Hot Chocolate, and we made Jarrett pay ;)

Parting is such sweet sorrow. I had so much fun. I miss Jarrett and Lindsay! However, I also realized, that I am getting too old for all nighters. My body doesn't handle it as well as it once was. Monday, I dealt with the aftermath, and I was a hot mess. #adultproblems