I turned 21 on September 17th this year and it was pretty magical to say the least. I had grandiose plans of going to Vegas, but you know that green paper stuff that you trade for goods like gas and food and stuff? Well, I was running low on that. No biggie, I’ve been to Vegas a handful of times and it’s not that magical anymore. But I still wonder what it looks like through drunk eyes…
Instead I decided to make the trip back home for my birthday. I was completely happy to have a nice dinner with my parents where I would legally order an alcoholic beverage for the first time, followed by a night of bar hopping with a few of my close friends.
The dinner was excellent. Tahoe Joe’s. I got a steak and some kind of Peachy martini thing. It was pretty good. And my mom got me a cupcake birthday cake in the shape of the Little Mermaid (my favorite Disney movie as a kid).
So awesome!
The bar hopping was more like bar plopping. We got to one bar and we stayed there for the rest of the night. It was just me and 4 of the best friends I’ve ever had (Megan, Brittany, April, and Dominic). I was wearing a 21st birthday tiara courtesy of April, so I didn’t have to pay for any drinks. By the way, Long Island Ice Teas are the best and they fuck you up pretty quickly. So does a shot of patron, which was seriously the smoothest tequila I’ve ever tasted. No wonder rappers like it so much.
Britt, Me, April, & Meg
On the car ride home, I piled in the back of Britt’s car with April, Meg, and Dom. I was suuuuper drunk by this point, as were we all, and things got a little emotional for me. My friends proceeded to tell me how proud they were of me for chasing my dream, and being so independent, etc. I don’t remember what I said out loud, but I remember thinking, “Well… I’m gonna have to have a good cry when we get back to Meg’s." So that’s what I did.
I got back to Meg’s, changed into my pjs, told Ashole that I needed 5 minutes on the back porch by myself. Then and only then could Megan come check on me. So I went outside with a cup of water and just bawled my eyes out. I wasn’t sad. Nothing dramatic happened that made me sad. I just had a lot on my mind (see previous posts to get an idea.) On top of the family concerns in my life, I was thinking about how this is my last year in college, and all the other scary thoughts that go along with being an adult. Sometimes you just need a good cry.
It didn’t look like the waterworks were going to stop anytime soon, so my friends said goodbye and everyone got home safe thanks to Britt and Bruce (thanks for driving us Bruseph! And thanks, Britt, for providing the car aka Oprah). I stayed at Meg’s and she kind of listened to me talk/cry/slobber all over her couch. Even in a drunk-ass state, Meg really knows the heartfelt things I need to hear to make me feel better.
All in all, I’d say it was a successful 21st birthday. I was surrounded by some of the most important people in my life and that’s really all I could ask for. Crying sucks, but that’s just the way things work sometimes. The next time I go drinking I’ll remember to cry before I get really drunk.
**Side note: Ashole is only 19, so she couldn’t go to the bar with us. :/
