5/25/05

Okay, so I think it’s quasi-required that I write about my 21st birthday, so here goes…

First of all, thank you to everyone that made me feel so loved – Max and Amber and Katy and Eric and my brother and Kourt and my parents…all the people that called me and left messages and sang to me and bought me drinks.  It definitely was the best birthday I’ve ever had.

I’m a lucky girl, because I actually got to start it on Monday night – Max spoils me WAY too much.  He got me a notebook web cam (Amber and I acted like the biggest dorks that night, her in Madison and me here, making our stuffed animals kiss the screens!), ice cream (!!), the MOST delicious strawberries, and…Oregon Trail!  I’m still trying to figure out how he knew how much I love that game!  And I haven’t been able to play it in forever, since the only version my family has is on a floppy disk, and my laptop doesn’t have a floppy disk drive. 

So we went grocery shopping and made dinner (YUMMY burritos!) and watched "Super Troopers".  Then we went out at midnight to The Downstairs for some beer and a birthday shot.  I saw Dave – I’m not sure if he recognized me with my hair cut and in clothes other than jeans and a t-shirt.  🙂  Came home, and then crashed around 2:30.

Max and I got up around 11, had our usual breakfast ;), then got ready and went to see the kittens!  They were excited to see their Daddy for the first time!  Kiara and Kiley are doing beautifully – they’re already off the bottle and eating wet food.  ::sniffle::  They grow up so fast!  We stayed there for over an hour, and I even showed Max all the older cats.  Lily, the 3 and 1/2 legged cat definitely took a liking to Max!  He fell in love with her, too.  😉 

After that, it was lunch, getting ready to go to Madison, and watching "Orange County" ("You’re my same height…that’s neat!").  A really nice drive up to Madtown with lots of sun and good music.  Ended up parking over by Betsy’s on Main St….I think she was a little surprised to see us!  And I met her boyfriend, Gideon (sp?).  He seemed nice!  🙂  We went to the Embassy, picked up Amber, and went out to get my birthday present from her – a cowboy hat from Sacred Feather!!  We’re going to look so hot at Kenny Chesney 😉  Then we wandered around in Urban for a while, pointing out ugly clothes and gaping over the prices.  And looking at the drug and sex books, because what would a trip to Urban be without THAT?!  After a quick stop at Steep ‘n’ Brew to see if Mitch was working, our little trio went to the Gritty to reserve a table, then walked around for a bit until people showed up.  Then I got my birthday mug and balloon, and we went to sit down.  We got to eat out on the patio, it was so nice!  And it was actually a little warmer out there, since there weren’t fans going.  The dinner crowd was me, Max, Jenna, Michael, Colin, Katy, Caroline, Alex, Kelly, Eric, and Amber – talk about a CHS reunion!!  Katy got me a cute cake (with a sparkler!) and everyone sang to me – that hasn’t happened for a few years!  There was a hilarious/obscene phone call to Rob in Maryland, lots of goofiness on Alex’s part, and drooling over the pictures of the kittens on Max’s phone.  I had a really good combination of Honey Weiss and Berry Weiss (from Leinie’s) that the bartender recommended – yum!  Then it was time to hit the bars.  🙂

Max had to leave then, though, because he had a long drive and it was getting later and he had to work at 8 today.  🙁  So that made me sad, because I miss him terribly whenever he goes away.  But the other kids helped me keep my mind off of it.  We started off at Wando’s, where Katy bought a green fishbowl.  There are some HILARIOUS pictures from that drink!  And the Jack Daniels sculpture in there cracked me up.  Amber and I decided that the motorcycle that’s on the ledge by the 2nd story window is actually Hagrid’s flying one from Harry Potter (which was actually Sirius Black’s). 

Then we moved on to Brats, where I kissed the buffalo (I THINK it’s a buffalo!!) and got my birthday shot (mmm, Jolly Rancher!).  Amber bought me an amaretto sour, and we won the coin flip, so it was actually super cheap!  After some sticky seats and an argument over whether Katy’s drink actually WAS Spotted Cow (it was), it was time to leave. 

Our next stop was Stillwaters, which was a cute little Irish pub!  We sat in this wooden booth that felt like a cave and had dozens of names, dates, and initials scratched into it everywhere.  Amber and I added our names using our keys – that took a long time!!  Alex decided it was his turn to treat me to a drink, and I told him I wanted something Irish, so he got me a Harp with lime.  Yum, that was good!  Kourt had joined us at this point, and I think she knew the bartender…anyway, he was super nice and poured me my first Irish car bomb.  Everyone thought it was going to be so horrible, but I really liked how it tasted! 

Next was Paul’s Club, which was WAY too crowded, so I did a shot of Jameson and then we left.  We decided to class it up a bit and walked all the way down to Opus – what an awesome place!  It was a bit more expensive, but VERY nice and had some great drinks.  I had something called Kana’s Sunrise, a tropical-tasting drink with Malibu and pineapple juice and cream.  It had 2 tiny straws, one HUGE purple straw (like the one they give you in a Bubble Tea), and 2 cherries.  🙂  Yummy!  Although I never did figure out the point of all the straws.  😉  Hilarious…Katy, Amber, and Kourt got martinis, Alex got a PBR (honestly, who goes to a martini lounge and orders a beer?!), Colin got saki (I never knew it was served in a little wooden box!), and Caroline didn’t get a drink, but this yummy appetizer called edame, which are hot, salted soybeans in the pod.

Yes, Max, I know you’re gagging as you read that.  😉  But it really was good, I swear!  It tasted kind of like the roasted pumpkin seeds I love to make at Halloween.

We split up after that, everyone heading to their respective homes except for Amber, Kourt, and me.  We went to Genna’s, where a guy named Txi (pronounced "tie") bought us shots of Grey Goose.  Yuck, I remembered why I’m not a big fan of straight vodka shots!  Txi was a little, uh…friendly, but the co-workers he was with rescued us.  😉  There was a quick stop for a huge cheese slice at Pizza di Roma, meeting up with some old friends, and an amazing discovery…

ENTAMOLOGY BOY HAS A NAME!  🙂  And it’s Craig!  After SO much time spent "stalking" and wondering and obsessing, Amber finally knows his name!!  Gotta love random moments like that. 

Bedtime came around 2:30, cuddled up in a ball on the couch at 901.  It was a great night…and I love that I remember it all!

You guys are amazing – thank you for an incredible night and the making of some awesome memori

es!  I love you all.  🙂