Saturday

I haven’t posted since I’ve been home from school.  Things have generally been pretty crazy around here.  But somehow, my 21st birthday, Christmas, New Year’s, and my trip to Florida have all come and gone.

My birthday kicked off the holiday season.  Since it’s the day before Christmas, I was going to celebrate a day early at midnight with some of my close friends.  But before I could get to that, I had to get through a friend’s alternative holiday celebration.  I managed to escape fairly early with D and was then super-excited I was about to be 21.  But the night had some other plans for me.  The first place we tried to go (I had even made a reservation) had closed early because they hadn’t had enough business on the 23rd.  It was a Irish pub and would have been the perfect atmosphere for me to have my first drink out.  Alas, it was not to be.  So we ventured to BWWs, which couldn’t serve me, even at midnight.  I don’t think it’s a law, but some places have their own regulations about serving people turning 21 the night of their birthday – it seems silly to me.  It makes sense to not let new 21-year-olds get super-trashed at bars, but it’s illegal to serve someone who appears intoxicated, anyway – so I would think that restriction would cover it.  But I guess not.  To top it off, one of my friends was not answering his phone, and the roads were super-icy.  Eventually we got ahold of him and he was fine, but we were all worried there for a few minutes.  Since two plans in a row had failed, I was getting pretty defeated at this point.  So I drove with D to buy some alcohol.  Since the liquor stores were already closed, I went to a drugstore and loaded up on tequila, margarita mix, spiced rum, and champagne.  I was so happy that the woman let me buy it the night of my birthday, I barely even minded that she talked my ear off and took what felt like 5 hours to ring me up.  And of course I forgot a mixer for the rum, so we stopped at the grocery to grab that.  Then we headed to my friend’s apartment.  What we had could hardly be called a party, since it was only 5 of us, and only D and I were drinking – kind of pathetic, actually.  But I didn’t know what else to do because I am back in my hometown and I only have a few friends here.  So we got kind of drunk off margaritas and rum and then my friend drove us back to my house, where we hung out for awhile before D headed home.  I hope that when I get back to school I can actually go out to the bars with a couple friends there.  (Not that my social life is going to really be hopping since several of my friends are off-campus next semester.  Guess that will just give me more incentive to make new ones.)

Christmas was pretty standard.  My brother woke me up around 10 or 11 and then we had this breakfast casserole thing after opening some presents.  My favorite presents from both Christmas and my birthday were my new red pea coat, a Coach bag, and my grandma’s gold bracelet.  (I’m really bad at remembering presents I received.)  I got a camera case, which was really needed, a digital picture frame, and Season 1 of the Hills.  I also got a good amount of cash, which was nice, and will hopefully let me buy the things that I didn’t get that were on my list – dance shoes, more dance clothes, a subscription to Glamour.  I also wanted a massage but knowing how expensive those are I might not get one .. ah well, what can you do.  Later in the day D came over for Christmas dinner.  We had these little hens, which were really yummy but difficult to eat.  That night, most of the family and D watched Elf, which is super-cute.

On the 27th, we all left for Florida (including D), and just got back today.  It was fun overall but there was definitely family drama mixed in.  It was really nice being able to drink at restaurants, and I took advantage of all the island frozen fruity drinks available.  I did get carded every time, though – I think I look young for my age, which doesn’t help.  Wine was also a standard beverage, and Mike’s.  I am kind of a girl .. haha.  We spent our days relaxing on the beach and by the pool, swimming, reading, and just hanging out.  We played tennis a few times, went on a boat ride, and went to see a movie.  Overall it was a fairly chill vacation, and I was really glad to have D along to give me a little space from the family.  It’s nice that we can spend a whole week together and not get tired of each other.  And I am halfway through a 500-page book, which doesn’t sound like much but it’s more than I’ve accomplished in awhile.  It’s really hard to get reading done at school – since I have so much reading for my classes, it’s hard to justify reading for fun.  Anyway, today we had to wake up at 6 a.m. to catch our flight, and that was brutal after not sleeping until midnight.  So when I finally arrived home I slept for like 3 hours and then had pizza and watched TLC.

New Year’s eve was pretty uneventful.  I went to Benjamin Button with D and my mom, and afterwards D and I took a long walk on the beach.  We had our own New Year’s, the way we wanted it to be, at 8 p.m.  It was really sweet and romantic to spend time together on the beach and by the pool.  After that, we just cuddled in his bed and watched the New Year’s eve shows with my dad and brother.  My favorite part of the whole thing was probably Kelly Pickler – she was down asking people there questions, and her discussion of the “traditional New Year’s Eve glasses” was pretty priceless.  And she kept saying, “I just want to get in your suitcase and go with you!” to people who were planning on vacationing.  And she talked to Taylor Swift about how they had hung out last New Year’s and made cakes .. what’s poor Taylor supposed to say about that other than “thumbs up!”?  Haha.  By the time the new year rolled around, I had consumed only 1 Mike’s, had made no resolutions, and was more than ready to go to bed.  At 21 I am already a lame old person .. oh well.  I did receive several of the cursory New Year’s phone calls and texts, which was nice, but overall I wasn’t really in the spirit.  It kind of sucks that I have to get used to both a new age and a new year within about a week.

I guess if I did have any resolutions they wouldn’t be about typical things like weight loss or doing better in school.  (Because my grades came out and I did really well, yay!)  They would probably be more about my creative ventures, like dancing and writing.  I really want to choreograph a dance, so maybe that should be my resolution this year.  But if I only make 1 resolution and fail, that’s worse than making 12 and failing at half .. hmm.

I only have about a week more left before school starts back up.  I already have a ton to do even the day before classes start.  This semester is bound to be crazier than ever with leadership roles in four organizations (it’s all on my ass, whoop whoop).  Although it will be stressful, it will also keep me busy and look good on the ole resume.  This week I’m sure I will spend a lot of time with D.  A lot of good movies are out that we want to see, too.  Also, I think my gram is going to be visiting sometime soon.  I’ll keep you updated!

Em