the weekend rundown

saturday night, my friend rose threw a huge going away party before she leaves d.c., which was convenient for me, seeing as it was my birthday eve, and many of my friends would already be together at a fabulous party, with three excellent djs, great food, and drink specials. all the benefits of a party with none of the hassle of having to plan!

typically, saturdays are easy going for me. i work until 11pm so im rarely in the mood to go out afterwards. my friend a.t. and i decide that we're going to cameo the party for an hour or so, and then head home, like the responsible adults we're supposed to be. but, one thing lead to another (or, in our case, one drink lead to another) and we were out a bit later than planned.

sunday my mom, sister and niece took me to lunch followed by a trip to the zoo. it was my nieces first visit and while she was very excited, i dont think she fully grasped the concept. everything we saw was the zoo. my apartment building was enthusiastically greeted by a two and half year old screaming "the zoo! the zoo!" likewise at the restaurant, the coffee shop we passed, the gas station, and on, and on, and on. until we actually got to the zoo, and she declared with absolute assuredness "this is NOT the zoo!!!" and even then, her favorite part wasnt the baby panda, or the elephant, or the giraffe, or the blob like thing that looked like a turd with ears. no. it was the birds. and i dont mean the pink flamingos or the peacocks; im talking about the pigeons and the little brown birds you see on streets everywhere all across america. nice to know we could have taken her to the backyard, pointed out some birds, told her she was at the zoo, and she would have been just as happy.

to my friends: thank you so much for spending my birthday with me. it was an awesome way to start a new year and it meant so much to me that you were all there.

to my family: i had such a fun time at our girls only lunch. i think we should do them more often!

to the woman at the bar: im sorry i bumped into you. i genuinely know how annoying that can be. and while i appreciate your "reminding me" that you were behind me, i would like to remind you that youre standing at a crowded bar and that you dont have your force field activated which means, unfortunately, people are going to touch you. its a casualty of going out.

to the random hot dude who bought me a shot: where were you later that night when the wild turkey kicked in, and i need someone to hold my hair?!

to my niece: yes, my eyes are brown, however, they work better without your finger jammed in them. and thank you for resisting the urge to rip out my nose ring; i know its shiny and weird and very tempting, but, isnt auntie so much nicer when she isnt curled up in the fetal position, crying, swearing and trying to contain the blood?

to my father: 27 years in a row you have forgotten my birthday. its nice that we can have this little tradition; after all there are so few things in life you can count on. thankfully im old enough that it no longer hurts my feelings; i just expect to be monetarily compensated for your forgetfulness. and this year, when i call to remind you that you forgot, please dont say the same thing as last year: "oh. look at that. you arent even on the calendar!"