Sunglasses Always Fit

My middle name is “Danger.” At one point in my life, it could have been “Party.” I LOVED going out and all that it entailed. But with a fulltime job and going back to school. I am a little bit turning into a hermit…after teaching all day, sometimes you just want to starfish on the couch, unbutton your pants, put a funnel into your mouth, pour the wine in, and let one of these hotties ease you into oblivion. Yee-haw Friday. Maybe a trip to fro-yo, just to really let loose.

BUT I just got my first grade back from grad school, and it was exemplary. Literally. I guess grown ups don’t get letter grades (?! I want a shiny A to hang on my fridge!) So my grade was “Exemplary.” Which is great! So despite the mounds of work I should be doing, I is going outs tonight! Conveniently, two of my darling besties are having a joint bday bash in the city. I get to reunite, celebrate, get out of my sweatpants and my cave, and conquer the world, one high heeled sashay at a time.

10. Anticipation– As soon as I made the bold move to

click “yes” on my Facebook invite, I began the time of anticipation…planning my escape from school Friday afternoon…mapquesting my route….mentally rifling through my closet to decide on outfits (wishing I was Cher from Clueless), and taking lots of joy in telling people what I was doing this weekend whenever they asked. “Oh, me? I’m going to a super fun dinner and drinks with the girls in the city….I know! It WILL be fun! Yes I totally deserve a fun night out! Omg I’m so excited.”

9. Shoes! For my job I have to wear all kinds of sensible. My cleavage is tucked away into nowhere, my hemline is practically Amish, and my shoes are flat and dull. But for a night on the town, I like them heels stacked HIGH. And its always fun to look at everyone else’s shoes and talk about where we bought them, if they’re comfortable. Its porn for women. Shoes and clothes are fantastic. Remember, the higher the heel, the closer to God.

8. Hair and Makeup and Music while getting ready – Getting ready for any occasion of the evening requires a seriously bumpin playlist. The lighting should be just right, your roommates should tell you how cute you look, and all electric outlets pumping with irons of all kinds. And you need TUNES. There should be limited message in these songs beyond “you need to shake your what to this.” Tonight’s necessary jams include: Dancing in September – EW&F, Bounce – Kelis and Calvin Harris, Electric Feel – MGMT, Ridin Solo – Jason deRulo, Beautiful, Dirty, Rich – the gaga, Who’s that Chick? – Rihanna, Every teardrop is a waterfall – Coldplay, Damn Girl – JT

7. Deliciousness – I love trying new restaurants and picking out something that I can’t even pronounce to eat. Until I was about 15, I only ordered chicken fingers at restaurants. Seriously. Off kids menus. But in recent years, traveling especially have forced me to be more adventurous, and now I LOVE trying the weird, and taking a picture to upload it to Yelp.

6. The Potential – Where will the night lead you?

Will you go dancing? Will you karaoke? Will you get hooked up with free food or drinks? Will you get blisters from those hot shoes? Will you end up watching the sunrise on a beach? Will you meet a new best friend? Your future husband? SO MUCH TO DISCOVER!!!

5. Reunions! I love the squeal and run into each other’s arms whenever I see friends again after a long absence. This is usually followed by a long, rocking hug with ” I MISS youuuuu!!! ” and a laugh that you can’t explain except that its the sound that feeling good is. Then you have to tell a story from the last time you hung out and catch up on everyone’s bid-nes and hold hands and skip through the streets.

4. Holding a drink – there is something about holding a fabulous cocktail in your hand and giggling with your gal pals that makes you feel like a million bucks. I’m a vino kind of gal, I save beer for the ballpark, but when I’m having a Girl’s Night Out, its all out some crazy concoction with fruity liqueurs and sugar rims, flowers, orange peels, and it glows in the dark. I also have a weird way of holding drinks with my right hand up, drink cocked into my shoulder. Trace and Ry make fun of me, but it feels fantastic. And I protect my beverage from potential thieves.

3. Taking pictures of yourself – hanging out recently

with one of my besties, we were taking pictures and she said “look good, I’m in the market for a new profile pic.” Girls LOVE to take pictures of themselves. Especially when we’re going out. There are all kinds of configurations for a great profile pic. And its always good to have one with an aforementioned fabulous cocktail, your reunited friends, in a dark place, but with just enough flash, hugging each other, mouths open with laughter. Those are the things we hold on to long after the real memories of the night have faded.

2. Status Update – Everyone knows that everyone else should know how much fun you are having. So that they can be jealous. This is normally me at home on Friday nights…plowing through corrections or readings, taking breaks to scroll through my newsfeed and pout over all the glam check-ins you guys have. This brings up another question…what kind of status updater will I be tonight?!

1. Reliving the Night. Somehow everything is funnier the day after. It is totally necessary to engage in facebooking and texting memories from the night to recap each mundane detail, which are now hilarious with nostalgia. This is also important in case someone can’t exactly remember what happened, or disappeared at one point in the night. I loved college, waking up with my best friends after a big night out, and we’d all snuggle together and relive our versions of the evening’s events, laughing until we cried over the late-night stop at McDonald’s, or charming the cabbie into a lower rate, or how someone fell off the barstool/cage/table. These are the things we do or don’t remember for the rest of our lives.

Here’s to Mula and Jen for turning another year older, for a fabulous night, for making memories.

Viva las chicas.