It happens in 3's

I'd like to start by saying I am cursed but on the bright side, if you believe that bad things happen in 3's then I am all set for a long time.

The short story is my dad accidentally hit my car while trying to do a K-turn out of our driveway during a snowstorm. He felt awful. It's all cosmetic. I'm actually really complacent about the whole thing because I figure that I've cared so much up to this point and it's done nothing but make me feel awful. Plus the moment I get my car fixed I'm 94.79% sure that it'll just get hit again. That's just how my luck's been. And really, it's just a car. The fact of the matter is that it's not anything special. It's not a person whom I care about. It's not even in a color I like. So really, why continue thinking about it?

Back to life.

I got together with the girls (plus Trevor and Vinnie) for New Year's Eve. A.) We needed to exchange gifts still from the holiday and B.) I didn't really want to be a loser with no plans for NYE and who better to spend my time with than some of my favorite people? Especially since they wanted to stay local.

We went to Union Street Tavern in town. It's...okay. The food was so-so. It was not epically disgusting and poisonous. (How's that for being slightly nicer than usual in '09, huh?) If we went to like TGIFridays I actually feel like the food would have been better. We had off and on service from our waitress who clearly could have worked on her social skills. Although to her credit we were a handful and I'm not sure how well I'd handle joking comments from customers either. But really, how can you miss a table where everyone is flailing their arms trying to flag you down? Literally 12 arms flailing around. Not just one arm being annoying but the whole table. I swear she was purposefully trying to ignore us. In short, don't go to there to eat actual food and expect it to be amazing but if you just want a few beverages from the bar you won't be overwhelmingly disappointed at their ability to pour beer.

I'm totally awesome at this "being nice" thing so far.

Alexis & Amanda are going on a school sponsored trip to Egypt so they were very excited about it coming up. I pulled Alexis's name for our gift exchange so I got her a little travel bag with TSA acceptable toiletry items from Victoria's Secret and then after feeling like it might be too small of a gift added a small bottle of perfume and a full size tube of mascara. I got a gift certificate to a local restaurant from Amanda who admitted she ran out of creative juices but knew I'd at least appreciate being able to eat out. Does she know me, or what? Kim got Amanda a (not totally authentic) wedding ring set because she had mentioned that it was recommended to have a wedding band on while in Egypt to avoid being harassed by overzealous locals. But it was really pretty and fit perfectly. Alexis got Kim a few different little things like a coffee mug and cup with mix. I remember it was a large bag and the mug had reindeer antlers in it made of cookies.

It had snowed earlier that day so not wanting anyone to travel too far had them come over to our home and ring in the New Year within the confines of a safe local place where everyone was welcome to crash if need be. Many awful unflattering pictures were taken and many ridiculous jokes were made but everyone got home safe and I don't think they experienced any hangovers.

Today we just got back from being in NYC to visit our friend Tyler for his birthday. It was quite a drive into and out of the city which I'd rather not do again but perhaps I'm excruciatingly sensitive because of my recent car...issues. Usually I take the train because I refuse to drive myself and risk A.) getting lost B.) paying for parking. It is too much stress to drive around and around in a place you're unfamiliar with but Trevor is much more gung ho than I am and we drove. Also, if you want to take the train you really need to schedule it way in advance and know the times. Fiscally speaking it was cheaper for the two of us to drive and just pay for gas and parking than to buy a pair of tickets on the train and then buy tickets for the subway...so that's what we did. Plus I was not forced to drive or else we'd likely still be in NYC because I drive very very very cautiously now. Old ladies have nothing on me.

Ty was really nice and let us crash at his place which was really nice for a NYC apartment. I was quite jealous of his granite countertops and kitchen cabinetry that closed all the way. But it was a good time; his friends were very kind. I couldn't sleep to save my life even though I was tired. All the other times I've crashed in NYC at Emily's it was the dead of summer and the AC was blasting so I didn't notice any noise at all over the white noise of the rumbling machine. I'm just glad it wasn't snowing because I don't know if I could tolerate the stress of the city plus the toil of sliding around in the snow.

It was an...interesting night. One of Tyler's friends got kicked out of the bar we were at because she kind of started an altercation with a bouncer and then everyone inside was left trying to figure out where the heck she put her coat. In the meantime the poor dear is outside freezing with NO COAT. I'm sure she was three sheets to the wind but it was honestly freezing cold outside, it must have been at least 30 degrees out. I had jeans, boots, a turtleneck and a wool peacoat on outside and I was still shivering.

Other than that I really felt old. Not because I was surrounded by annoying young 21 year olds; in fact I was likely among the youngest people there, but because I felt very un-party-like. I am increasingly lame as I get older. Example A.) I wear turtlenecks. What hip young socialite would ever wear a turtleneck, let alone to a bar? I might as well bust out my sweatervest and pocket protector while I'm at it. Then start conversations about long division. Also the bar was very hip. Hip in a way that CT bars are not. This bar's theme was 70's pornography playing on the tvs. As though to say "we're cool...we're sexy...and hairy 70's pornography is artistic and so retro."

Tyler seemed to have fun at his big b'day bash. Unfortunately he was already sick before-hand so I'm sure starting off the evening with cold medicine didn't really mix too well with all the alcoholic beverages that were purchased for him. He looked miserable the next morning but after filling him with food and ginger ale he looked slightly less green around the gills by the time we left. Poor guy. We'll have to visit him again under healthier circumstances. I'll bring more cookies.

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