All My Friends Say...

Oh Luke Bryan. I do love that song. I love even more weekends home with my girls. I recognize that I use pictures of the SATC ladies often, but if you'll notice it's always in reference to these fabulous hometown women in my life. It was so wonderful to be around, be lazy, and be out with them this weekend. Nothing too exciting aside from a giant shoe clearance and a night downtown with all of us able to be together again. Three new pairs of heels and a slight blip in the diet plan later, it was a pretty fantastic weekend indeed. 

It's amazing how some friendships stay exactly the same even when the individuals are changing and evolving in their own rights. The four of us, I think, have changed and grown so entirely in the past few years. Even from Christmas to this past weekend. Is that possible? Maybe it's just the individual goals and priorities that we've changed for ourselves, both individually and together. The dinner conversations were hilarious. Still a lot of the same, but definitely more of the diet, fitness, working out, let's be healthy mentality going on over our chips and salsa... and maybe a margarita or two... It's so nice to all be trying together though. You know when you're the only friend dieting or maybe it's another one in the group and it's all they can talk about? You know it's a big deal if you're the one working so hard, but to the rest of the group you just can't shut up? It wasn't like that at all with us this weekend. We were all so excited and so motivated. I think we all helped one another. Just like we usually do. Anyway, a very positive weekend. Put me back in the place I needed to be. It had just been too long without them. 

Monday sucked. That's nothing unusual. But we're pretty much at Wednesday now, so another weekend is right around the corner, right? Right. 

Home Sick

I miss my girls. A lot. I'm having major withdrawal lately from being without my hometown ladies. It's been since Christmas since I've been home with all of them. Some might say that's only a month and a week now, but it seems like so much longer. We're all trying this new health kick thing and I've been trying to keep up with all of them for updates and progress reports, but I've found it makes it that much harder. I just miss their company. And the conversation. It's never dull when we're all together. Sure there are some that I miss more than others.. cough.. Roxie.. cough, but some of my very favorite times back home lately have been when we've all been out together. We seem to have too much fun. 

I have really been blessed to find such good friends here in the city. Most of whom pretty much fell into my lap via Mr. Perfect's already-made friendships. They've really turned out to be great friends though. Always entertaining. I've also been blessed to have best friends from college come to visit often and that is most definitely perfection. I've spent many a fantastic Saturday night showing off the city to them.  There's nothing like home when you need it, however. My hometown ladies and our favorite hang outs are all calling my name. It's past time for a reunion. I've communicated these feelings to Mr. Perfect and he agrees. It's time for a trip home. Two weeks from today, I'll be back with my girls. Begin said countdown... now. 

Not Used to This Life Quite Yet..

Yes, I'm a fan. A big fan of music. A big fan of country music. A big fan of local bands who are on the brink of hitting it big. A big fan of members from hit bands of my past conjoining with local bands on the brink of hitting it big. This was my night last night.

Isn't he beautiful? I think so. There were many more pictures like this one taken. Don't you worry. This is the lead singer of a not very well known, but soon to be very well known, KingBilly. I was asked yesterday afternoon to attend their show with one of my city girls who had seen them before and was also excited to see Mr. Richard Marx along with the lead singer of Vertical Horizon perform in the same show. Of course my answer was, sure, live music? Perfect.

Matt Scannell (from Vertical Horizon) took me back to a very special place in my life. The late 90s. Although in the late 90s, the Captain and Cokes that I was inhaling while listening to some old favorites were not a part of my agenda. Richard Marx also performed some of his own and some that he had written and others had made famous such as Keith Urban's "Better Life." I was more than satisfied with this show before KingBilly ever took the stage. So the picture you see above was just icing on the cake. And what a cake it was. It's so exciting to see these shows and these people you never thought you'd be less than ten feet from. Turns out, they're right in my back yard now. And. I. Love. It.

Not too shabby for a Friday night. Good entertainment was needed in order to keep me going. I'm so ready for my Christmas at home. Especially since it's about this time that I'm used to being able to head home for the holidays after exams are over. Oh winter break... Not this year, unfortunately. Although, I am blessed to have a week off at Christmas. It's not quite the month I'm used to in between semesters. Life goes on I suppose. I'm still adapting. Still not used to it just quite yet...

Labor Day Fireworks

"Ain't no rhyme or reason, no complicated meaning. Ain't no need to over think it, let go, laughing. Life don't go quite like you planned it, we try so hard to understand it. But the irrefutable, indisputable fact is: it happens."

Such profound words from such a simple song. 

This weekend was filled with many different fireworks. A wedding of two of my college colleagues that I had so been looking forward to, was, well.. awkward to say the least. Apparently, drama never ceases even when you remove yourself from everyone possibly involved for over four months. Basically, I traveled quite a ways to be ignored by some, talked to by some, talked about by some, and aggravated by most. A select few of my favorite people from the past kept me at least smiling and entertained for the evening, but I would be lying if I said my strong front wasn't pierced by the time I left for the night. 

The following evening, real fireworks were enjoyed in mass quantity in celebration of Labor Day weekend. A night out with my favorite hometown girls once again raised my spirits and my alcohol tolerance. With some wild karaoke and some fantastic drink specials, the ladies were right on target for an enjoyable evening. They never let me down. I'm so glad things do not change between those that mean the most. 

Meanwhile, words were exchanged between Rico and I that I wish I could forget. Fireworks indeed. I'm not sure what sparked it, but spark is what it did. With the way the wedding went for my self-esteem on Saturday and the way this short fuse blew out of control with Rico, along with a bit of bad family news, needless to say my relaxing long weekend wasn't as planned. However, the past is the past. As far as the wedding drama goes, I'm removed from them once again (thank God), words have been retracted and forgiven from Rico, and it basically comes down to: Shit happens. 

As the song above goes on, she sings about feeling sorry for yourself, wallowing in self-pity when things don't go as planned or as you wish they had. Unfortunately, this does no one any good. It doesn't change things, so we might as well focus on the hilarity of it all. Find the fun. And my fun stemmed from my favorite island girl keeping my focus elsewhere at the wedding and Roxie never disappointing and always entertaining me on a vacation back home for the weekend. 

Getting my act back together is what this week's goal is. Let's get on that...