(***More photos below)
God damn you, Haylie Duff. Get off your sister's coat tails!
In that magical time between awake and asleep this morning, I was straight trippin'. The alarm would go off and I'd give myself just 5 more minutes... just four more minutes... just three more minutes... to lay there in the peaceful solitude of my cave-like bedroom. For some reason, Hilary and Haylie were haunting me. I was giving Haylie all sorts of shit for not having a life of her own. I told her how pathetic she looked in the media and how Hilary is like, 10 times cuter. But then someone told me she helped to cast and coached Robin William's in his part in Good Will Hunting. After that, all was forgiven. I gave her due props.
It was one of the best weekends I have had in a good long while. And boy did I ever need it. I took a break from the usual cohorts and surrounded myself with new slash long-lost faces. I even got the hell out of town.
Friday night got off to a rocky start, but I made sure it was smooth sailing once I made my way up to Dio's hood. You see, I have not seen Dio in a month. We talk everyday, but scheduling conflicts coupled with distance have kept us apart, not to mention the issues we have. There is still copious amounts of love there. In fact, I just got done going through pictures to print out at Walgreens tonight and 70% of them include him. He is so daggone cute. We have made some great memories.
We had plans all week to go to Red Lobster, the seafood beacon in the dregs of suburbia. I fully realize that Red Lobster is not fine dining. For some reason, even though Chicago is filled to the rim with amazing restaurants, our pull towards Red Lobster can not be denied.
So I just had to document our dining adventure. Observe.
He decided to order an Alotta Colada�: A jumbo, frozen pi�a colada served with a Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum sidecar.
I got all tropical on that bitch and got a Bahama Mama: A frozen blend of Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum & tropical fruit, topped with Myers's Dark Rum. YUM!
As usual, we ordered way too much food, which neither one of us could finish. Not box, please. Red Lobster is entirely unpleasent when re-heated.
My leftovers.
His leftovers.
But of course, we had to polish off the Cheddar Bays. There is always room in my tummy for those little slices of heaven.
We headed back so he help me run an errand and drop me off at my girl Sandy's condo for the night.
Dio does his adorable Dio Car Dance.
Daddy and H informed me that the power had been shut off due to Com Ed being complete moronic pieces of shit. So Dio and I bought flashlights and I packed in the semi-dark. I'll leave it at this... I came home a bit tense. I left home very relaxed and happy. And I still have the smile on my face.
Dio took me to Sandy's around 10:30 and then raced up to Scumberg to meet up with his friend. She was out and about but left me her key so I wouldn't have to sleep in a apartment with no power. I read, washed my hair and watched some VH1. I made sure to stay up to see Trent on Best Week Ever. I love that guy. Sandy did not roll in until 4:30am. And we had plans to leave Chicago at 10am Saturday morning. I don't know how that girl does it. But I was 23 once too. Sleep was not as necessary as it is currently.
Around 6:30am, the radio in the bathroom started blaring. I stumbled back there to turn it off. 5 minutes later, it started up again. I turned off the second alarm, pretty perturbed at this point. Another 5 minutes passes and the alarm next to her bed starts shrilling. I think to myself, are you fucking joking me? I yell over to her to turn it off and she complies. But not 5 minutes later it goes off again. I inform her if she doesn't turn the thing off, I will jump off her balcony. Finally after the alarm goes of at least 4 more times, it stops and I fall back into a fitful sleep.
9am rolls around and my cell phone alarm goes off. I moan. Sandy sits straight up in bed and brightly announces, "Ok, let me just hop in the shower!" All bright eyed and bushy tailed and shit. Ugh.
Ooops, I forgot to mention that Sandy and I had plans to go down to my Alma Mater, the almighty Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana for some football. Even though neither one of us had tickets. But who cares? Tailgating is where it's at!
My friend Dustin and his friend Storm (yes, his real name, how bad ass is that?) come to pick us up, only an hour late. So glad I rushed around getting ready. We make it down to Purdue in fairly decent time. The trip was made faster by Storm's pimp-my-ride DVD player. We watched THIS. I have to say I was a bit let down. It was not as funny as any episode I've ever seen. I only laughed out loud once. I'd have to say that Seth McFarlane dropped the ball on this one.
We met up at Wabash Yacht Club AKA Stack's to down a couple of Strong Islands and meet up with two of my dearest college pals. Only when I went to take a picture with a guy dressed like Inspector Gadget did I realize my camera was not with me. OH THE HUMANITY! I then flashed back to the night before and distinctly remember hearing something heavy fall off the bed when I was... er... nevermind. I was really upset at the moment, knowing I was going to miss some key photo opportunities, but hell, it was worth it.
Kick-off wasn't until 6:45. We hung out and tailgated. Drank a bit. Walked around a bit. Met up with sista and my dad. I walked with Sandy to go get some smokes and she flipped out when she saw the guy at the counter had her name tattooed on his arm. You would have thought it was the second coming. I bet she is telling the story right now. She even took a camera phone picture and used it as her wallpaper.
We decided to walk over to The Best Damn College Bar In America. I opened up a tab and got a few Green Dragon's, a drink known to kick you squaw in the nuts. But I was pacing myself. I was good. Sandy was good. Good and entertaining. Both her and I fancy tall men and she reeled in a 7 footer. While they got cozy, Dustin, Storm and my sister all made their way to Harry's. It was such a great time. It feels good to be able to go back there and relive my amazing college days. Since 2001, I've grown up a tiny bit, but to be able to go back there and let loose is amazing.
Sandy moved on to some other fella. I believe they were dancing or something. Anyway, they both tripped and the guy bashed his head on the corner of the table. And it didn't even faze him. He only had eyes for my pretty blond friend. With blood dripping down his forehead and Sandy stopping the bleeding with a dirty bar towel, she sat on his lap and they made out. DAMN IT! WHERE IS MY CAMERA?!?!?
We eventually made our way over to Where Else to dance. We met up with my sister's friends. Pacing myself finally caught up with me in one frenetic burst of dancing. The thermal tee came off and moves were busted. My calves are burning today and my throat has never been more sore, but hell, was it ever worth it. Dustin, who has tried out to be a backup dance for N*Snyc said I am the best girl dancer he has ever seen. Easy Trigger. Thanks. I knew I had it in there somewhere deep down inside of me, just laying dormant until the opportunity arose to let it loose. And did I. if I danced as energetically everyday for a month, I'd probably be in the best shape of my life.
We closed out that bar and ventured over to Jimmy John's. We decided that eating it in the median of State Street would be a fabulous idea. At this point, I am glad my camera was under my bed. I am sure I was not looking too pretty. We walked down the hill to try and find a hotel, but everything in walking distance was all booked up. So we went back to Storm's car to try another motel just off campus. And that is where we woke up at 6am the next day. In it's parking lot. Talk about a stiff neck. Oy vey! We got some beverages for rehydration and decided to head back to Chicago. Napoleon Dynamite went on the DVD and after Tina got her ham, I passed out again.
I awoke right in front of McCormick Place. Miraculously, we all got home unscathed. I slept for three more hours. Mo and H invited me to go watch football at Duffy's with them. I was so hungry that I got ready and went, not planning on drinking a drop... but since Mo works at Duffy's we got all kinds of shots and drinks free. So who am I to fight that?
Cutie pies.
Our fun group. Daddy and the Divas.
Daddy is the only nerd I know who would order a VIRGIN bloody mary. Ick.
I got a nice little buzz. I was in a great mood. All the roomies were present and got to see the real Bethany, not the depressed/sad/angry Bethany. I missed her. Welcome back.
NEW UPDATE!!!
My sister's friend Jamie (hey guuuuuuurl!) just emailed me some pictures from Saturday. Not my finest hour. Remember how I said I was totally on fire dancing the night away? Does it look like it in these photos????
I have never looked more white.
Don't look at me...
My cute sista and her cute friends.