Back in April B has ventured into her 27th year. I'm glad she's able to test the waters a few months before I have to jump in!
We celebrated with a pub crawl: snap backs and tattoos were not optional.
I showed up after the party had already kicked off (I had a lot of errands to run that day) and without my snap back. Yeah, totally forgot to write that down on the errand list.
I caught up with the group at Little J's - a small bar off of Washington. B supplied the tattoo's and I got inked up. The weather was perfect so we spent most of our time on the patio hula hooping and playing Jenga.
Steady Hands Holly
After a few hours we moved to the next spot: Luke's Ice House. I really wish I would have ordered food here, but didn't think about it until B was ready to move to the next spot.
Ashley, Me, Brandon
Kat got B an awesome disposable camera that added birthday boarders.
Ashley, Taffan, Me, & Bob
I assisted B in walking the two blocks to Brixx (which I always thought was spelt Bricks) and bought us dinner. Something super healthy and classy like hot dogs, fried pickles, and mozzarella sticks with tons of water. The food options were limited, and not tasty at all.
Dinner...seriously not tasty
I suggested that we head to the tattoo parlor to comemortae the day, but B wasn't on board.
Ashley, Bob, Me, Taffs, B
I hung out all afternoon and decided to call it a night around 7:30...because I'm kind of lame.
We kicked off Amanda's bday weekend at The Tasting Room. They have amazing truffle fries & sweet potato fries. If they would make sweet potato truffle fries then I would probably eat there every day.
Winter has finally hit Houston and we had the unfortunate table right by the door. Where people came in and out of constantly. And sometimes they would stand there holding the door open while talking to someone outside. By about the third time of that situation I did yell "in or out! IN OR OUT!" at them; I don't think they heard.
After dinner and multiple glasses of wine, we were ready to head to the after party. And no, it was not in the hotel lobby...it was at La Barre.
This was my first male strip club experience. I didn't really know what to expect outside of what I saw in Magic Mike. So I imagined their dance routines and took it down a few notches. Turns out I should have further lowered my expectations.
It was very interesting. I'm honestly not sure if the male strip club is geared towards turning me on or cracking me up. I don't think that I have 1. laughed so much, and 2. had so much shock face at one event.
Watching all of the physical boundaries being crossed made me nervous. I can appreciate a nice body, but I don't know you so I don't want to touch you, and don't even think about touching me. I obviously didn't get out any dolla dolla bills, y'all.
Houston's #1 eligible bachelor performed. Yes, our most eligible bachelor is a stripper. If that's the best we have to offer, then I'm doomed.
Why did we get the super creepy waiter and not the cute one the table next to us got?
Stripper fight!
"Look at his triceps!"
"Feelinloveinahopelessplace
I think it should be law that all male strippers have to wear boxer briefs instead of the bananna hamock. eww. just eww.
Boy band reject.
Do they offer memberships?
Watching Christina get forced out of her chair and then get difed was hilarious...but probably not to her.
I told Amanda that we should get her a lapdance, but once she gets up there she needs to flip it and end up lap dancing the stripper. I don't know why she didn't get on board that idea?
I love spending part of my weekends with Cole, Brittany, and Emma.
Emma is about 18 months now, and she is more and more fun every time I see her.
I do miss her being baby sized so I could just hold her for hours, but she's still little enough that I can hold her if she likes it or not. Luckily this was a day when she liked it.
It's been interesting watching her learn to talk. And really amusing when her works come out sounding like something else.
Clock was cock
Fork comes out more like fuck
At dinner she dropped/threw her fork on the ground and said "oh, fork." But it obviously sounded like something else. So of course we had her say fork a few more times to entertain us.
She's also pretty smart, with the exception of her confusion of black and brown. It's surprising how much fun it is to draw shapes, numbers, and letters to have her identify them. She can even identify an octagon.
So far mine and Emma's fave things to do are (because she totally told me when I asked):
Dance around the living room. Sometimes she even let's me hold her and twirl (once she stops fighting it).
hold her above my head so she can pretend to fly...but then realize it's more fun to walk on my face and then use my torso as a trampoline. This is all fun and games until she gets too big and cracks my ribs.
Chew on my necklace...and sometimes attempt my finger.
Let me feed her with her fork when she's having trouble using it.
Drawing shapes and letters so she can show me how smart she is
Making balls with play dough, just so she can smash them and have me re ball it.
After Emma goes to bed, then we have some adult fun. Which usually includes trips to Target, Ohh La La Bakery, and a round of Harry Potter Scene it?
Yes, this was all for me. I did end up sharing half of the large cupcake.
I won! Beating Cole and Brittany was a pretty sweet victory. I then ran around the living room with my arms up pretending I was on a hippogriff. It.was.awesome.
I feel like my visits home are a joint custody battle between everyone that I want to see. Since I didn't have my own car for the first part of the trip I was having to coordinate with my friends for transportation and shelter.
Luckily I have a few that will take me in, despite what I write about them on here.
I decided to opt out of Kara's dinner with her friends to head over to Lindsey's, but I'll def have to hit them up next year.
Lindsey is preggs and married now. When we were texting to set up our plans I asked if I could come over and just sit and rub her belly. She didn't really acknowledge that, so I tried not to rub it too much.
We chatted and got caught up on work, family, friends, and boys. The boys topic is always the best because I like to make up fake answers to shock Lindsey...I realize that I should probably stop doing that until after she has the baby though.
I haven't really gotten to know her hubbs since I live across Texas, but he's so nice. The way he treats me you would think that he's known me for years! I'm so happy she found a good one.
Lindsey took off the next day and it was like old times when we roomed together for a semester in college. She was super sweet and made me waffles. What a good wife she would have made me! I even got to see Orion move around in her belly.
She also provided me with much needed advice and perspective. I'm glad she's always got loads of that to share.
I love spending time with Lindsey and can't wait to come back once I can hold Orion in my arms!
After getting our nails done at an overpriced Amarillo shop, we stopped for a late lunch at Ruby Tequila's.
This is by far my fave tex-mex place to eat. And I will forever be heartbroken that they closed the Houston Midtown location. Moment of silence, shall we?
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We met up with two of Kara's friends: Amber & her sister Lynne (I really can't remember).
While waiting for them I realized that it was Wednesday which means it's all day happy hour! I asked Kara if she wanted to play real housewives and get drunk before 5. She looked at me like I was crazy.
I ordered the large Ruby (also my fave drink. Actually the only drink that I actually enjoy) and she ordered the small. Probably the best idea since she was driving. I fully enjoyed my drink, and would have gone in for a second one, but I couldn't fit anymore liquid in me.
It was cool to finally meet Amber. I've seen her in Kara's pictures and think she's exceptionally good looking. So I shared with Kara about how pretty I thought she was and how she had the best lips with the best color...so naturally Kara told her all of this. Thanks for making me look creepy. Who's the ahole now?
Jacked from @kamercer
After lunch we headed back to Canyon. We stopped at the local coffee shop that I didn't realize existed and then took some photos since Kara has, you know, arrived at photography. haha. Kidding. I seriously think she's a great photographer, but today she was an insty photog. I posed for Kara, and apologized for my redic face. We took some pics inside the coffee shop, outside the coffee shop, and in a strangers yard.
Yep. This yard had a cool aluminum trailer with some Christmas decorations. The decorations had all fallen over, so I set them up and started posing.
When we got back to her house she started doing some real photography editing, and I started blogging. What a presh married couple we would make.
I was cracking up at what I was writing and then this exchange happened:
Kara: Are you writing something mean?
Me: I'm laughing, wouldn't that mean it's something nice and fun?
Kara:No, because you are always writing mean things.
She was partially right...because I had just typed a sentence about how she hated old people. She told me I had to write how I was kidding so people wouldn't think she was mean. but I assured her that I only type the truth and people needed to know it.
As if her lack of HP knowledge wasn't enough, she didn't stop there.
We had our annual donut date set for 9:30a since she doesn't have an internal alarm set as early as mine. She refers to mine as "blue hair hour." Kara also hates old people.
I had nightmares that night and forced myself awake, but the sun wasn't up yet. Crap. So I risked the dreams that would be waiting for me, and snoozed for a while longer. Friendship sacrifice. At 8:30a I was wide awake trying to be quiet and wait for Kara's 9a alarm.
FINALLY it went off. I was starving.
I forget (and apparently Kara does too) that Kara moves at a slower pace when getting ready, so we didn't leave her house until about 10. Luckily none of the girls could make breakfast so they weren't waiting on us (but I do wish they could have made it).
We roledl up to DS (donut stop) and they are basically out of everything. They had less than a dozen donut holes (Kara's main jam) and the 2 cherry donuts did not look like they were still warm. So I told Kara that we were headed to Amarillo to see if they had a better selection.
I let her know that I was kind of peeved because this is my fave thing in the world. I could go without any other food for the rest of my life (nutrition set aside) except for donut stop. I know I'm crazy, just go with it.
It was a post Christmas miracle that the Amarillo location actually had a plethora AND they were warm.
Kara & Me (thanks for donating your photo to the blog..even though the editing makes me look creepy.)
Kara was kind enough to scoop me up from the airport Christmas night...even though my flight was about 45min delayed. Our embrace was so intense that passerbys could have confused us for lovers.
So she safely delivers me to her house where she puts me in the massage chair of death. This thing is both glorious and frightening at the same time. It has separate places to put your feet and hands so that it can lock you in. She tilts me into the "zero gravity position" and turns it on. The first time it starts to massage my arm (aka squeeze my arm into place so I can't escape) I started to panic and pulled it out asap.
While in the chair, the topic of Dexter came up. Probably because I'm still high off of my 7 season marathon I've been working on since Thanksgiving (it's good to have goals!). Anyway, I mention about how Dexter is totally cool, except for that time that he killed his bff, but his bff totally had it coming. She asked why he would kill his bff, so I told her it's because he put him into a massage chair of death. She thought it was a coincidence that she too had me in a chair of death....she obvs didn't catch the sarcasm. Haha. It was pretty funny watching her as I explained that I was kidding...except for the part where he really did kill Miguel.
I mentioned something about Harry Potter and she said "Did you see the new one?" Me, "huh?" Kara, "You know, the Hobbit."
I.Died.
I felt speechless for about .0023 seconds. How could she even confuse the two?
Anyway, I believe I threatened to dexter her.
And in that moment "Dextered" became a verb. And yes, I kind of threatened my bff. No big since she later called me an ass hole.
Making new friends is like finding a new beau. It's stressful and seems impossible. How do I approach a stranger? What if she thinking I'm hitting on her? What do we talk about? What if she thinks I'm too weird?
I do have a small group of girls that I hang out with in Houston, but when most of them are married it's harder for them to have time for you. So it's necessary to friendship court some new ladies so you don't end up all alone with your stuffed dog Bogart.
I have actually met some girls through pole & the gym that I talk to pretty regularly, I just need to make the transition into hang out friends.
Sarah used to work out of our New York office but recently moved to Houston. I had met her before and she seemed cool, so I sent her a text to make plans for Friday.
I was honestly nervous. We had shared brief conversations so I didn't know if we would really have anything to talk about.
Friday night I picked her up...after missing her street and not noticing until I was practically downtown. We headed to Gloria's for a late dinner, and it was so much fun! Luckily Sarah is such a cool girl and really chatty so there weren't any awkward silences. We talked about work, how we both ended up in Houston, and dating/boys.
Next we walked over to midtown. We were going to start at Wonderbar but it was practically empty. I don't know where everyone was because it was after 10. That's a highly logical time to go out, right?
Instead we kept on to Little Woodrow's. Little Woodrow's is really laid back. The whole bar is practically outside. Here we had one of the most awkward pick up lines ever. Do you remember the show Pick Up Artist from the CW? One of the techniques that the boys were taught was to open up with a random question. Ok, so this guy comes over, "Can I ask y'all something? Do you prefer a guy that's wearing a tshirt because it's so hot in Houston or a guy that's out wearing a long sleeve shirt with pit sweat?" Did he really just open up with a question about sweat? I just kind of looked at him like he was crazy. Sarah is more sociable than I am, so she humored him. We ended up letting his friends come over to our table. They turned out to be pretty cool. One guy was married so we got to hear all about his wife and how they met. It was a really sweet story. And the other guy resembled Stefan from Vampire Diaries. (I may need to hit up TVD rehab).
**side note. The next time we hung out we stayed in, watched suites, and played board games with her co-worker...that looked a lot like Jeremy Gilbert (from TVD). I hope this trend continues!
Next we hit up shot bar to get the dance party started. Sarah even found someone that tried to teach her how to two step. It was a great night and if I would stop being a hermit, I'm sure we'll hang out again soon.
I had invited a few people to dinner...but only Adam & April, and Croc could attend.
So Friday I met Adam & April, and Croc at Lupe Tortilla for Dinner. Croc and I split Fajitas (which were so delish) and he paid for dinner (whapshhhh)...in exchange for me taking care of his drinks that night.
While the boys got caught up talking about politics or something that April & I weren't into, we chatted on the side. The more I hang out with April the more I like her. Good pick Adam!
Croc was supposed to have a real date/concert thing after dinner...but he got dumped. Ok, he didn't get dumped, but whatever. So we all decided to meet up with Kylekins, his parents, and some more friends.
I dropped my car off, consulted with B on the dangers of taking my muscle relaxer and drinking (I have to take them with food, but I had a drink with dinner, yeah). She said I wouldn't die or anything, so I took them since I wouldn't be driving the rest of the night. (Please note that I do not promote this behavior, because you might die even though I didn't). Luckily it continued to have the same effect on me as when I'm not drinking-None. Yay!
So Croc picked me up and we headed to Volcano. I sat on the bench with A&A and Croc sat with Kyle. Kyle's mom was insisting that she could still talk to Croc if he was sitting on the other bench (by me), but I don't think Croc was catching the fact that she thought we were together together. So I chatted with April and continued to weave our friendship bracelet.
Kyle's mom was so kind as to buy us a round of drinks. I don't remember the technical name, but it was basically a frozen rum and Coke. When someone buys you a drink, it can be quite the tricky situation because you feel obligated to drink it even if you don't like it. This was one of those times. I don't really like coke, or rum it turns out (unless it's Malibu!), so I waited until it melted and chugged it. As we were leaving I met Kyle's dad and he asked if I was with Croc. Croc was sitting by me at this point, so he told him that we are just friends. Which is accurate, but the way he said it was as if he was ashamed at the though of otherwise. Way offensive Crocadilly! But was is far more offensive is the way that it was so apparent that Kyle had never mentioned me to his parents. WTH? We used to hang out all the time! My parents know about you, even if they can't identify your name. I digress...
We headed over the Baker Street Bar (maybe? I don't really know, I don't go to these bars often). On the walk over I serenaded Croc with the Aggie fight song. And then he feel in love. He didn't really fall in love, but he was surprised that I knew it.
Someone scored us the large connect four so we entertained ourselves with that for a bit. I played Kyle's dad in a death match that he ended up winning. Sucks for me. We played, we drank, we chatted. Then Croc dropped me off on his way home...after arguing about which Lonely Island song is best: Natalie's Rap or Mother Lover. Umm? Natalie's Rap, duh!
It was a good time. This is not my typical night out because I am a lover of dance! BUT since my back is still healing, I must take it slow and enjoy these more laid back nights out.
And Croc, you are welcome for not making it totally awkward by calling you "Babe" and acting like you were denying our love. I know how easily you can get flustered.
I forgot to add HBO...but luckily S+J have it and shared with me.
They were still at S's parents house so I let myself in, let the dogs out, enjoyed my delish freebird burrito, and watched TV. I thought it started at 9 so I showed up around 8:40...turns out it started at 8. In a panic I tried to turn the TV on, but it was set for the playstation. I figured that out after a min and then rushed to find HBO. They have Comcast so I'm not familiar with the channel order. Found HBO...in spanish. I didn't notice at first because it was the sceen where Jessica was playing Rock Band and the singing was in english. I finally found it in English just in time to enjoy the last 15 min. Luckily it replayed an hour later, so I set that to record.
Jes and Steven finally came home. We watched the Mad Men season finale. About that...I've only watched the first season and a few eppisodes from the most recent season. And all I have to say is WTF? Where are the clif hangers? I don't even feel inticed at all about what'll happen next season. I didn't have even one OMG moment. Maybe I'm just used to the shockers of Vampire Diaries and True Blood. Or maybe grown-up shows are boring.
Then we watched Girls. I feel like it went off path from the last episode. Like they needed a few more events to happen between the two. But I still loved it. The fight between Marnie & Hannah was great. They both had good points, but Hannah is kind of an unnappreciative free loader.
Steven decided to call it a night after that...since it was almost midnight. And Jess and I stayed up talking until after 2. I hadn't seen her in two days so we obviously had a lot to catch up on!
At this point I'm half living there so I spent the night again. Monday was my last day of housewife vacation so I really enjoyed it by sleeping in until 8:30. Seriously body, WTF? I never sleep in, not even on the weekends because I like to get up and run and enjoy as much of my time off as possible. But I'm taking off from running due to the jacked up back and was fully prepared for multiple days of sleeping in. One day I woke up at 5:30. What is that?
Jess was already up and about so we made teamwork breakfast. I love it! Pancakes and scrambled eggs. Delish! We watched some morning TV, then I finally indulged in the new epp of True Blood. So good. So good.
I spent the rest of the morning watching The Client List marathon and drifting in and out of napps, then we had lunch at RA. I got pancake batter on my dress so Jess lent me her closet for the day. Thanks Jess! Her closet is probably a little cooler than mine...except in the casual/sundress area. Who doesn't love sundresses? Apparently Jess.
I had the most delish Vegetable Tempura Roll (seriously my fave thing to eat ever. ever.) and the california roll. Then back home to contuine the marathon and napping pattern. And we had some Oreo's. Jess loves the cookie part and sometimes I only like the filling, so we make a pretty good pair. haha.
Then we parted ways for a few hours. She went to Yoga and I went to pole practice. I had a lot to make up for since I missed on Tuesday, and my Sunday session was kind of weak. Then we met back up for BodyPump. I really missed bodypump since I had to miss for a week. I did low weight since my back was hurting on squats, lunges, and the cling-press. I felt like a little bitch. But it did feel good to reclaim our front row spots!
Saturday afternoon I headed to hang with Brittany and Emma. On my way out there, Brittany called to let me know that Daniel was on his way too.
Great. Just great.
We aren't really on speaking terms, so I already knew this would be awkward. The thing is, if I'm not on speaking terms with someone, then I'm extremely closed off. I can't just act like everything is ok and make small talk as if we are acquaintances. Whatever.
After about 15 min of that uncomfortable situation Brittany suggested we head out to do some activities. Great plan! Cole was on Emma duty so we could have some grown up girl time.
We headed to our fave ceramics painting spot. This time Britt painted coasters while I worked on mini cupcake stands.
Then we had dinner at Hasta La Pasta. Always so good! I love their chicken fettuccin alfredo. I don't typically go out for Italian, so it's always a treat when we go here!
Our next stop was target to get Brittany some workout clothes and DVDs. I suggested 'Dance With Julianne Hough.'
We got back just as Daniel was leaving. Good timing, otherwise I would have left and I hadn't had enough time with Emma yet!
We played with Emma and read her some books before putting her to bed.
Brittany usually dresses her pretty cute but Daniel had just given Emma that M&M outfit he got her when he was in Vegas. Sorry Emma.
Britt wanted to play Just Dance on XBox Connect, but my back wasn't going to allow that. So instead we popped in her new workout video and I supervised and motivated while enjoying Brittany's sweet dance moves!
Although I could have done without the Daniel part (he knows why), the day was great. I love getting to spend time with Brittany and Emma. She's my fave little nugget.
Sunday I woke up and my back wasn't feeling so great. Not sure why since I hadn't done anything that would mess it up. I thought hitting up bodyflow would help stretch it out...instead it made it worse. I went to the chiropractor on Tuesday since it wasn't getting any better. I decided to downgrade my workouts to only doing the stationary bike since it was the only thing that didn't hurt. Jess is always one to be supportive, so she joined me in Quardio Love Fest week.
Which means I missed Pole. So sad. I had planned on going to watch, but once I got home and curled up into fetal position I realized it was too comfortable to move. I was worried about how this would effect my trip since the simple motion of breathing even hurt my back.
Turns out I didn't need to worry about that after all. If you read this then you know my weekend didn't go as planned. Instead of going to NY I ended up staying in Houston and still taking off. Luckily Jess doesn't work (I guess she kind of works from home) so we had a grand time living the dream.
Thursday she worked on websites while I blogged, hung out, took naps, and had a few "WTF just happened" convos. Still don't have the answer to that, but it was a nice relaxing day. We hit up the gym per usual and then she invited me over for dinner that night. I ended up having dinner with S+J every night this week except for Tuesday (see fetal position above).
Since I was down about the whole change in trip plans, S was nicer than usual and put on True Blood to cheer me up. So sweet! I ended up falling asleep on the couch until Jess woke me up around midnight and I moved into the guest room.
Friday I was up by 7:30 and took advantage of their HBO on demand and caught up on some more TB epps. When Jess woke up we headed to Le Peep for le breakfast. I hadn't been before, and it was adequate. I got the waffle and it was good, just nothing extraordinary. Jess got the biscuits and gravy - they were pretty delish.
I then introduced her to Memorial Bakery where I got a sugar cookie, and she got the cuttest angle food cake ever. A trip to the post office, then back to her couch. We basically just lounged around all day (much to Steven's delight). Then we hit up QLF for our daily sweat sesh. S texted Jess from the weight area asking if she wanted to do dinner with Doug and LeeAnn...and Jess scored me an invite too!
So we rolled up to Thai Spice in our sweat glory and I got to meet Caden for the first time! He is so precious with his serious expression and red hair. I watched him for a sec while Steven showed everyone his new car, and I managed to get a smile and a laugh out of Caden. He is such a sweet baby.
After 3 long months, I finally made my way back out to Kari and Romero's house. It was extra fun because Jessica V was there, and so were Cole, Brittany, and Emma.
The boys tended to the grill while I multi tasked making brownies and eating the guac that Jessica made. Super delish!
After dinner we played some games that I had never even heard of.
Imagineiff was pretty fun. When it's your turn you roll the dice and move the piece on the outside circle (names) x amount of spaces. Then you draw a card. Put the two together: (for ex) Imagine if Jessica was a musical, which would she be? Then it gives you six multiple choice options. The players have 6 cards, each with a number (1-6) on it. Once everyone chooses which they think is most accurate everyone reveals their card selection. If you chose the same option as another player, then you both move one space. So it doesn't really matter what I say I would want to do, it's all about what everyone else thinks.
The next game was a whole other story.
I will say this first: I am very competitive, so I tend to only play things that I think I will win, or that have a clear path to success. I can be a gracious loser, but I won't play something if I don't even stand a chance, like literally can't get any points. For instance, Taboo. I understand how to play, I just suck at it at such a level that you wouldn't even think is possible. I can now add a new game to things I will never play: In a Pickle.
I hate that game. If the Devil were a game, he'd be that one. It's the kind of game where you have to defend your reasoning for placing a card, and you can be told it's not good enough. Which is stupid. But what was most irritating is that the players didn't seem to understand the rules. I know everyone had a few beers, so I'm going to say that I blame it on that instead of pure stupidity. But it's extra irritating playing a game that should have never been created when the players aren't even playing right. I def had a few outbursts. To prove that they didn't understand, I would play cards incorrectly and they would agree that it was correct! Pretty sure Cole and I were the only people that understood the rules. I think the only time Britt has seen this cray cray side of me is when we played C+D in HP Scene It? and they cheated their way to victory. I was livid!
Once that cruel form of torture was over I headed home since it was past eleven.
It was really good to hang out, but if that game is ever pulled out again, I will literally walk out.
[Spoiler Alert! Since my posts are a few weeks behind...you may be remembering when you read this and wondering wtf is going on. This obviously happened two weeks before that happened.]
After Marc invited me to Belmont Stakes the first time I rejected the invite. I had many reasons, one being a scheduling conflict. For over a month I'd been planning on going to see The Head and The Heart.
He asked again. And again I said no but provided more reasoning. Basically, I'm selfish. I really like Marc(obviously) but I don't get to see him that often with the whole having half of America in between us thing. So when I do get to see him I don't want to share him with tons of other people (it's a group going to the races).
He asked me a third time. Same answer, I was standing firm.
Then 4 days later I asked him if it was too late to change my mind.
It all happened so fast, and without warning, that I didn't have time to discuss with S+J (since J and I email and workout together most days she's usually up to date on my life)! So when Marc called them, I think they were confused also. When I woke up that morning, I didn't know I was going to change my mind. But I guess my mind has a mind of its own.
Within 6 hours I had made arrangements with Marc and booked my flight. So excite!
Pretty sure my mode swings are giving him whiplash. I bet he and Bella Swan could bond over the feeling.
I was also excited about getting to do another NY trip with my fave husband and wife! That joy ended on Thursday.
Thursday we had Noah's Ark dinner (Jes + Jes, Amanda + Mandy). It was so good to see the girls! We ate at Ruggles and I got the cheese pizza. It was good, but I'll try something else next time. We had a great time chatting about what had been going on in the last few weeks, Mandy's haircut, giving Amanda a hard time for the accidental ditch, etc.
Red Mango was after dinner dessert. I've been there twice before and wasn't too impressed. But this time they had new flavors, which included cake batter, so I'm now on board with Red Mango. The weather was nice, almost chilly, so we ate outside by the lawn. I brought up the NY trip, and that's when Jess broke the news that they weren't going. I almost went into cardiac arrest. I really wonder what my expression looked like from her end.
I was feeling a little anxious about this, but was soon distracted by a fun emotional roller coaster ride that the Biebs took me on:
Excitement because he announced the tour and the prices were reasonable! - I was literally screaming with joy!
Irritation because I have to rejoin the fan club to buy the tickets
Anger at the increased fan club price (last time it was a one time fee of like $30, this time $99. WTF?!?)
Rage - I decided to just wait until the tickets went public, but the step after the fan club sale is the ticket auction. WTF is that?!?!
Saturday morning I work up bright and early and hit up the park for a nice run. OK, there wasn't really anything nice about it. I'm coming back from injury so I have ran maybe 4 times in the last 3 months. Yeah. Since then the heat and humidity seem to have gone up ten fold. Oh, how I love you Houston! My leggs/knee has felt like it was good to go for a few weeks now but I wasn't making time to run. I finally realized it was because I was scared. I knew it would be rough and I knew I would be slow from taking time off and from the weather. I was afraid of failure. I was also afraid that pain would reemmerge.
I got new shoes a week or two ago, so it was nice to finally put them to use! Luckily (a rare time I would say that) my Garmin died on the way to the park. It was nice not to be judged by it or myself as I took an extra slow pace so I wouldn't die of a heat stroak.
After my run I showered and met up with Laura at the Farmer's Market. I got trapped into some girl trying to get me to help save the rain forest.
Her: (after talking to be about what they do) We would love to get you involved.
Me: Ok, are you wanting my time or money?
Her: We work off of donations, let's get you signed up!
Me: I'm going to have to pass on that.
Her: What's stopping you from making a donation?
Me: It's just that I'm very selfish with my money and want to keep it all for myself. I know, I'm a terrible person.
Her: (speechless.)
I always figured that honesty was the best policy, so I just went with that.
After stocking up on Macarons I headed out to Katy to hang with Cole, Brittany, and Emma. I couldn't believe how much she's grown since I saw her last month. She's walking and even running around! It's crazy how fast she grows.
We took Emma to a park that had a water play area. Seemed like a good idea, but she didn't like it. So we headed home to change and go to the regular park in their neighborhood, but not before we stopped for snowcones. Back when I was living with preggo Brittany she went through a craving of snowcones. I loved that phase! We were there a few times a week, so it was kind of like the good ole days going again. Except this time Emma gets to enjoy them from outside the belly! The first bite I gave her was hilarious. She didn't like the cold of it so she made a really funny face. But after a few seconds she smiled and started shaking her head like a crazy person!
Not a happy camper.
After our second park adventure Emma was ready for a nap which worked out because Britt and I were ready to play Harry Potter Sceene it! She just found the newest version that includes all the movies, so we were pretty excited to play. We were both a little rusty on our HP facts, but I ended up pulling out the win...bareley.
Yeah, slept through my alarm again. My body must have needed some extra sleep. I guess I'll just have to wait a little longer to try out the new running shoes :(
I started out my day in the kitchen listening to Drake and finishing up the cinamon rolls. Even though I wasn't with my mom on Mother's Day, I still dedicated this breakfast to her. I know, I really shouldn't have.
I was about 15min early for the mani/pedi appointment, and none of the shops were open yet (it was 10:45a)...except for the oil change place across the street. It was like fate shined down on Matilda and saved her life! I won't even tell you how long it had been since I got her oil changed...or when her inspection went out...oh, and the registration (which I've had the sticker in my car for months a while, but was waiting for the inspection so they could scrape off the old one and put the new one on).
I checked-in for our appointment and Jessica (oh, that felt weird saying her full name) was a few min behind me. After picking out our colors (Big Apple Red, what else?) we got seated and had a Mimosa in hand within seconds. I honestly don't even like Mimosas, but I'll take it if it's offered. And? It was actually pretty good. It reminded me of church punch. Yummm! So I proceeded to have 5...or only half of the first one because I was too busy talking to Jess. It had been forever since we'd hung out...or 14 hours, whatevs.
After that wonderful 1.5 hours of relaxation Jess headed off to Mother's day activities with Steven (thanks for sharing your wife!) and I headed to Express, Pole, and the grocery store.
When I got home, I attempted to finish the special features on Breaking Dawn, but my body demanded a nap after that intense pole sesh.
That night I cooked dinner, and watched The Vow with B. It's alright. I'd seen it in the theater, but took a mini nap (what? I can't always endure late night movies.), so I wanted to see if I had missed anything important. I hadn't. At least they end up happily together forever, so it wasn't a complete waste. I hate when movies don't end like that. I'm watching a movie to feel good, not to feel reality! For ex, Prime. I really like that movie, but the ending makes me want to throw myself out a window. Am I supposed to feel good knowing that love isn't enough? I didn't pay for that message. I was paying for you to tell me everyone always ends up happily together forever. Geez!
Anyway, it was a pretty legit weekend full of fun activities and loads of sleep! I feel fully ready to take on the next week and see Drake! Yay for sister wives dates!
Saturday I slept through my running alarm. This is probably because it was raining pretty heavily the night before, leaking through my window, and running down my blinds, keeping me from my precious sleep. It's a pretty annoying sound. It gets even more annoying when you are thinking about the 4 work orders you've put in with the apartment office about getting your window sealed so that this won't keep happening. It's crazy, but I feel like 1. Their selant must be pretty crappy if they keep having to do this to my window, or 2. they didn't effing seal it. Probably 2. That was a super fun office visit. Oh, and thanks for calling me Brittany. You do know that two people live here right? It's a two bedroom and I know I signed papers. Whatever.
Anyway, I made it to the gym in time for bodypump and some additional cardio. Great start to my day! Then I headed home to shower and cook lunch before taking care of the errands I didn't do on Friday. While eatting, I watched TVD season finale again. (Are you keeping count? that's 3. If you don't watch that show, then you should start, like yesterday.). While I was still chilling on the couch Jess called to see if I wanted to join her for a mani/pedi. Ummm, duh!
I got ready in record time and we headed over to the nail place. Well, they were full so we made appointments for Sunday and headed over to Sugar Babys. This was my first time. I'm so excited that Jess likes cupcakes so we were in mutual agreement when we saw it across the street. I've passed it a few times and have always wanted to stop, so I'm glad I finally did! I got the chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream (since Hey Cupcake obvs can't provide that for me. Bitter much? duh.) It was so good. Crave is still my #1 cupcake, but this is probably 2nd.
What to do next? Hit up Pleasure Zone. Duh! Oh, do you not usually do that with your bff? ha. I decided it was time to upgrade to some stripperish shoes for pole class. So who better to help me out then Jess. The store had a pole so you could try out the shoes. Since this wasn't on the agenda I was wearing jeans. That was a rough climb up since my thighs couldn't grip it. I think Jes was mildly impressed. The place I take classes use to have 10min time slots you could rent out to bring people in and show them your skills. I told Jess that if they brought that back that I would def bring her to show her my moves. I told her Steven could come too, but I think that could be sightly awkward for him. We looked at some of the clothes, but didn't get anything because I don't want my ass out since this is just for fun and not my job. (Which reminds me...I mentioned to my dad that I was taking a dance class...a pole dance class. His first question? "Are you doing this to make money on the side?" No dad, I have a pretty legit real job, and I'd probably hit you up for money if I ever needed it before I take this show on the road.)
Steven was still out golfing (I think that's what he was doing) so I still had a few hours to play with Jess. So I took her to the running store. She was kind of in awe that all of those shoes were for running. "All of this can be yours if you just take the first step and start running." She passed on that golden opportunity (that New Years resolution of mine is obs not going well. I still have a few months to make it happen. I haven't given up, I've just gone into stealth mode.) I made a quick exchange for a slightly bigger size so I can keep my toes in tact and have less blisters.
Then we hit up Thai kitchenvillage Cottage. And it was so good. Not Thai Kitchen good, but a close second. When I first moved to Houston the apartment was close to a Thai Cottage so I would eat there every few weeks, but it had been a while so I really appreciated the goodness.
Our last stop was Whole Foods. Another first! I didn't get the grand tour, but we picked up some perfumes/oils/smell good stuff. Which was a task since I have a cold and can bareley smell anything. But I trust Jess' judgement.
I spent the rest of the evening watching old Vampire Diaries episodes (I'm already having withdraws. I'm really glad I keep all of season 3 on the DVR so I can get through these next few months.) and started making cinnamon rolls from scratch. You know I'm legit like that.
The boys and I were having a friendship fued. I think Croc and Kyle thought I was kidding, but Adam knows me better than that.
To summarize: We used to hang out twice a week, then we took turns being too busy/out of town/other activities, then they started doing things and not inviting me. Basically: my feelings got hurt.
I talked it out with Adam and we are back to BNFL status (best neighbors fo lyfe). So I figured I'd try to schedule some WW time with CK to get us back on track as well. I committed to the plans before they told me that they were going to see The Avengers at 7:15. That's def when I should have pulled my parachute cord...but since I had been giving them a hard time about not hanging out I didn't want to ditch. (Note to future Jes: efff that!). I know I'm probably super lame, but I only want to stay out until 11:30p because I'm always so tired after WWW. Anyway, I invited April and I'm so glad I roped her in but I'm also sorry that she had to suffer the late night.
April and I arrive a little after 10. And guess what? CK are running late. How late? So late that I probably had time to find a Time Turner to go back to that morning and tell myself not to go. They finally show up at 10:40.
Yes. I was less than pleased and it was written all over my face. We danced a few times and at 11:30 April and I said our good byes...when I really wanted to give them the peace flip.
Hopefully we can pull out of this friendship rut and return to what is now referred to as "the glory days when we all got along." haha. But seriously, I just miss hanging out so hopefully we can work a little bit of that back into our lives.
