Girl Traditions

Crystal whisked me away to Chicago with a few of her girlfriends (acquaintances really) for a late birthday present last year. We ended up ditching the other girls and had a really good time. This year the two of us went solo and it was even better.

It wasn't supposed to be another birthday celebration for me but being the giving girl that Crystal is, it turned out that way. She surprised me with a blissful spa day...mani, pedi, AND massage. It was a wonderful surprise and I enjoyed every minute of the bonding time. However, it didn't leave much room for shopping. We had to race to American Girl Doll. The girls at the salon told us it would be closing in an hour so I was a little stressed. I HAD to shop there...that was the main reason of the trip for me (girl time was a bonus). After getting a little lost we hopped in a taxi and got there in enough time for me to get some heavy "Molly" shopping done :).

On the walk back to our hotel we gave in to my shoe temptation...I bought three pairs of heels. One pair is very loud and I can't wait to break them in...they are very sparkly. The other two are very classy and remind me of dirty dancing shoes. I was able to talk Crystal into a pair of heels with "color". She only wears the normal black and browns. She opted for red and they are HOT. Surprisingly, I don't even have a pair of red yet. I feel a future purchase coming soon ;).

I could just do what normal girls do and share shoes with my girlfriends...umm NO. I am a freak about sharing my clothes AND my shoes. Some shoes are okay to do that with but NOT heels. Just because you're an 8 doesn't mean our feet are going to fit the shoe the same. I had a pair of cute heels ruined (well ruined for me) after I let a girlfriend borrow them. They just kinda stretched to her feet and weren't snug on me anymore. Same holds true for shirts. I have had to many shirts stretched out because the girl that wore it was a little more busty then me.

Anyway, back to Chicago :). We pretty much closed down the shoe store. By the time we walked back to the room and got ready all the "real" restaurants were closed too. I was pretty bummed I didn't get my CPK fix :(. We settled for bar food (our only choice really) that was in walking distance. We ended up meeting a cool cat at the bar (so he seemed) and had a really good time. One of the highlights at "that" location was the ugly sweater party that was going on. I don't get embarrassed by my friends often but Crystal succeeded...she can just be so blunt.

There was this guy there in this awful sweater and when he came up to the bar to order a drink she commented on it and told him, "Sorry, I didn't get the "ugly sweater memo". I was completely embarrassed. Thankfully, he just played along with her. After he left the bartender confirmed that there actually was an ugly sweater party going on. Honestly, I never knew such a thing really existed. Some of the other guys came up after that and I felt a little better about giving them a hard time once I knew it was intentional. However, I still wasn't too comfortable making fun of a stranger to his face.

The bar was cool and all but it didn't have any dancing space. The cool cat that we met at the bar asked if he could accompany us to our next destination. He hadn't flirted with us at all so we thought it wouldn't be a problem...we had just been talking sports and stuff with him. He took us to this martini bar that had a line of people out the door waiting to get it. I literally almost fell on my ass on some slick ice when I got out of the taxi, BUT I didn't ;)...I sure am graceful in heels lol. Having him with us was a disadvantage because they were not letting any guys in. I wasn't feeling mean enough to ditch him.

We ended up meeting a small group of girls in line. They were in Chicago for a Weight Watchers conference or something so Crystal immediately hit it off with them. We decided to give up on the "cool" bar and piled into a taxi...I'm surprised the driver let all seven of us in. We ended up finding a fun bar with good music and a dance floor. I could tell Crystal was feeling the alcohol so I decided to let up. After all, that's the rule...girls watch out for each other ;). There always has to be at least ONE who has her wits about her ;).

Unfortunately I DON'T dance sober so I quickly became a bystander. People watching at a bar doesn't get boring ;). I had to throw the dukes up every once in a while when I thought a guy was getting too far in Crystal's space. Our "cool cat" started to become "uncool" as I sobered up. He just started coming on to me out of no where...ugh the awkwardness had begun. When I couldn't take anymore and felt like he just WASN'T getting it I told Crystal to come to the bathroom. We decided to pretend she was sick and had to go...NOW.

We called it a night and headed back to the room. I wish that loser hadn't gotten under my skin. I probably had another hour of fun in me. I just don't get guys sometimes. I told him I was married with three kids. Is the challenge that enticing??? I just want to be blunt and say, "Look, do you really think I am going to throw my whole life away for YOU???"

Crystal didn't feel so hot when I woke her up this morning. We had to get moving early so I could be back by noon because Marc had a meeting. She didn't get sick but she sure could have used some extra sleep. I think the fun and quality of friendship we shared during our 24 hours together really brought us closer. I already can't wait for part three :). I'm really looking forward to the days when we can run off with our girls together...there is so much fun to be had.