One Last Hurrah..

...before I am officially in my late 20's!

Friday night was the night.  I set the date no more than a week prior... the anticipation set in instantly.  I didn't want to make a big spectacle of the night (if you believe that for a second, you don't know me at all!).. in all honesty, I wanted to keep it low key.  My friends told me other wise, so I set myself up for a night that turned out to be more special than I ever thought it could.

If you've read the updated hair journal, you know how my night began... hair disappointment.  It's not often that you find me crabby over a hairstyle gone bad; Friday was no exception to that.  I fixed it up, cause I knew I looked good either way, and went on my merry way.
Back up a few hours... Kelley had called me earlier in the day to tell me she was off work at 8:00 and she was going to come over before, since we weren't going out until 9:00pm.  I figured I would just ride there with her and catch a ride with any random hottie (or maybe one in particular) at the end of the night.  Well, Kelley missed my exit and ended up right by the bar, so she opted to just stay there.. and I can't blame her, she had no idea she was going to be my ride!
Fast forward back to me driving myself to the bar, looking hella fantastic, I might add.  I get there and see Kelley, Erin, Phiengtavanh, and Steve sitting at the table.  YAY... so far, so good!  I give my hugs, have a seat and order a dirty Grey Goose Martini with 3 olives.  I was only planning on having one then switching up to beer (more on that later).  All of the sudden I hear Shannon's voice and come to realize her and Michelle had been there sitting at a different table the whole time!  Then more people arrive... and our table is full; Pam, Nick, Stoner, Tim, Jess, Jeff, Linnea, Jenny, Joe... we decide it's probably best to change locations to make room for all the people!  As we are changing... a person walks through the door whom I did not expect to see... Rich!!  We had been texting earlier in the day and he said he would see what he could do, but I didn't expect he'd actually show up!  I was so very happy!

After we change tables a few more people show up: Morgan, Tonya,, Brian, Mark, my Mom, and my cousin Jeff too!  God, I hope I didn't forget anybody!!  Brian decides to buy me a drink... so the next thing I know I have another martini sitting in front of me!  yikes... there goes my first shot at beer.  We all continue to talk and I make my way around the table to make sure and try to talk to everyone, Jeff gets the bright idea that shots are in order; tequila shots x 4 (Myself, Jeff, my mom, and Tim).  Pictures are being taken, drinks are flying, conversation is lively ... I'm looking around thinking to myself Ang, you are one lucky girl to have this many people come out for you tonight!  I wish so badly that I would have thought to get a group picture... but people started to leave and I understood... people have lives, it was a Friday night, 'nuff said!  I managed to get pictures with most people either throughout the night or as they were leaving.

To wrap this up, because things start to get foggy after that shot... I remember playing Big Buck Hunter (as best as I possibly could!), I remember making everyone I took a picture with stand on the lower stair so I would look as tall if not taller, and I remember some other random thing that I need to ask Pam about!
I got a ride at the end of the night... and apparently made several trips to the bathroom once out of the bar to try and bring those martinis back up!
Saturday was hell.  Woke up at 8am, after going to bed around 2:30am (I'm told)... finally made my way to my house around noon, slept for 2 hours, laid on the couch all day wanting to vomit, fell asleep around 8pm and slept horribly all night until 10am on Sunday.  What a birthday!
To those wanting to ask... NO, I did not fall off any barstool nor did I rap any Eminem!

I will leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from the night (ok, maybe more than a few):

with Erin (my BFF):

with Michelle and Shannon (my cousins):

with Mark:

with Morgan:

with Kelley:

with Rich:

and last but not least, with Steve:

Thank you to ALL of you who came out!  It was a wonderful birthday celebration and it wouldn't have been the same if any of you were missing!