A big piece of home is keeping me company

Let me tell you a little story…

In anticipation for one of my life-long friends arriving today, I was at the grocery store yesterday and I tried to convince Tony to let me splurge and buy champagne so Angela and I could make mimosas for breakfast when she arrived. Somehow he talked me out of it (I’m pretty sure by reminding me that champagne always gives me a headache), but I was certain champagne was a good idea.

When Angela arrived this morning – at 7:27 a.m. mind you – the first thing she says to me after hello is, “We should go buy champagne and make mimosas!”

Let’s just say my heart was smiling in a big way.

Angela’s arrival here is pretty much the best thing ever since Tony getting here. It’s the most amazing feeling to meet up with someone and not have to explain all of your old stories, and have to validate your alcoholic tendencies. Angela even trumps Tony because I don’t have to spend time trying to convince her that I used to be a crazy Mormon who never swore or drank alcohol. She can fully attest to these facts and even add to the horrificness of these stories.

Angela and I have had our rough patches in the past, but we’ve grown up together and we’ve grown through all of that bullshit together, which, really, only makes us better friends.

Her being here though really makes me look forward to coming home even more. Why? Because I’ll have all of my friends that I won’t have to explain my life story to. I won’t have to tell them I was once married and try not to look nervous as they secretly judge me. They were there. Shit, some of them were in the wedding. I don’t have to tell the story of how Tony and I met. And I can say no to a night out and not worry that they’ll never invite me out again. I could go on, but let’s just say I miss you guys.

As for the mimosas: Once the grocery store opened we bought three bottles of champagne and blood oranges to make fresh-squeezed mimosas. We then went to the Eiffel Tower. Stopped at a bar to get a beer. Went to McDo and got beer with our extra value meals. Came home, slept it off a bit. Went to La Fee Verte and had absenthe (me, wine). And now we’re headed for bed.

A day that starts with alcohol at 9 a.m. is pretty much an amazing day. It’s been months since I’ve done that (in fact, I do believe the last time was with Angela as well). It was nice, although I did get a bit belligerent with a couple of gypsies on the Champs Elysees a few times. I’ll have to get more sleep tonight otherwise I’ll be a mean drunk again tomorrow.

 

Put your party hats on!

So basically, I have two weeks off here pretty soon. And, well, I was planning on going to England to get my brit-speak on. BUT then I started thinking about how much it would really cost. You know, it’s only about 80 euros to fly there and back. But then with the cost of the youth hostel for a week, plus all the souvenirs I’d buy, and food of course…well it started to add up to more like 400 euros. SO I thought, why not just fly to the U.S.? Especially with this fab low-fare offer I saw this morning on American Airlines.

What’s that you say? Did Rebecca really just say she’s coming to America?

Oh, yes, it’s true my dear friends. And what makes this package even better? Well, I’ll tell you: I’m going to be in Sacramento at the same time as M-Doll!!!

So put your party hats on and get ready to enjoy 4 fab days with yours truly. See you all Nov. 2!!!!

Let the countdown begin!

 

Goodbyes should always be fun

Last night at Sophia’s was fun as always. And it was even better than usual because even more people I love came out to wish Sof and I well on our trip.

But it was sadder than I thought it would be because I found out my good friend Jimmy (the goofy one on the far left in the below picture ) is moving away to Connecticut while I’m gone in Costa Rica. It’s gonna be sad to see him go BUT it gives me an excuse to take a trip to the East Coast VERY SOON!

Best of luck to Jimmy!

And cheers to new beginnings and setting off on adventures.

PS All goodbyes should look as fun as this picture. Nobody likes a sad goodbye.

 

Bachelorettes and Karaoke

Although most of the night was a blur….

I thought I’d indulge you all in a little photo essay to explain my American Idol-esque profile photo.

No, I don’t know what Michelle was doing in the background. I’m guessing she was dancing to my oh-so-wonderful crooning. Haha.

Soooooo….here we go.

We were all out celebrating Michelle’s soon-to-be-wedding. The bride-to-be:

It started, as many bachelorette parties do, with us putting on beads (to be won by men throughout the evening for doing our bidding), and drinking from penis-shaped straws:

Then we picked up the bride, where we were given sashes with our names on them. They also had sayings on the back, mine says “Take my picture and buy me a drink.” <—-anyone who knows me, knows this is fitting….

To stay true to my sash, some random guy at the bar began taking pictures of us, then of just me until Michelle came over and said, “You’re not America’s Next Top Model, let’s go.” <—-appparently they had been waiting for me.

Here’s one of my top model shots:

Here’s the group with our sashes, already at the bar:

Then our limo finally arrived. 45 minutes late, driver tried to gyp us and charge us twice as much, and the limo had already been used for the night. It was completely littered with empty drink cans and champagne bottles. Still worth showing up in though

Once we finally got to sing Karaoke, the real fun began….

Obviously Michelle and I didn’t know the words at this point.

Neither did anyone else:

We still had a good time dancing on stage though.

These pictures were mostly all taken by some random guy at the bar, who we thought was from partypics or some other online bar photo site. Nope, just a random photographer out on a Saturday night practicing his shots. We gave him our emails anyway so we could re-live the night, especially since most of us forgot exactly what went on.

What I do remember, and the highlights of my night, were 1) being molested by a woman at the bar, who not only felt me up but flashed me her boobs as well, and 2) Being asked by some guy if I’d buy him a drink. He asked me the second I walked in the bar. Not the best pick up line. He later messed up a picture I was taking of my friends while they were taking shots and I yelled at him, nearly starting a bar fight. Never happens, I swear.

All in all, it was a great night. I know there are more pictures floating around out there, but I haven’t gotten them yet so you’ll just have to enjoy the few I do have. These are plenty anyway, yes?

PS I still don’t know exactly what I was doing here:

I wasn’t singing Karaoke so I have no idea what I was looking at….

Okay, bye for now!

 

Best foot forward?

When I was younger and my family was going to have people over for dinner, or for pretty much anything, my mom would always make us clean the house. It was a huge undertaking because there was the debris of 9 children scattered about every inch of the house. Add to that the dander of four dogs and you can just imagine how much work this was. I was thinking about this today because I catch myself doing the same thing now. I try to declutter my space when I know somebody new will be coming to my house. I also put on my best behavior.

First impressions do mean a lot I suppose, but is it really so bad to be ourselves? Whoever it is will figure out sooner or later that we’re really not as clean/polite/nice/fun/whatever as we first present ourselves to be. I think being our best selves is stressful. I wish I could be my best self all the time though. I’ve been trying to keep my room pretty clean and my bed made so my roomie doesn’t think I’m a giant slob and I really like the way it feels to come home to a clean house/room. I suppose it’s like anything though, we have to do it consistently to make it a habit. I still don’t know if I can manage to be “best behavior becca” all the time though.

Last night, I again made a bad impression somehow. I went to meet up with some friends and drove them home from a bar since I was the only sober one. I also took home the non-girlfriend of one of my friends and at first I was SO the taxi driver. She didn’t want to sit in the front seat even though nobody else was in the car. I thought it was weird but decided she was drunk and drunk people do weird things. Nope, turns out she thought I was mean at first and was afraid to sit up front.

She actually said “Maybe I’ll sit up front after all. I thought you were going to be mean or a bitch so I didn’t want to sit up there but it turns out you’re really nice.”

Ouch. I know this is basically the same thing I wrote about yesterday but I’ve been getting this from people a lot lately. People tell me their first impression of me is that I’m pretentious, snobby or mean. I don’t know where they get that from. It may be from my facial expressions and from them not knowing me well, but I’d think as soon as they talked to me or even gave me a chance they’d realize I really am friendly.

I don’t understand what it is I’m doing to make people think I’m so unfriendly/unapproachable. I always thought I was really accepting of people when I first meet them. In my group of friends I feel like I’m one of the most talkative, outgoing ones, especially around new friends. Plus, I was really nice to this girl because I know my friend is into her so I just don’t get it. Not only that, but I offered her a ride home TO ROCKLIN and I don’t even know her.

 

On Being Selfish

I know everybody is on me to get the pictures posted from last night, but it may not be until tomorrow because I have to choose the best ones and try to be witty when I post my blog. That’s a lot of work for me. However, I did want to post this one picture because it really got me thinking about group dynamics.

Here’s a picture of me and a group of my friends from last night:

We’re all smiling and laughing, but as I look at this picture I realize how much we really hide from one another. In a big group we can hide and pretend everything is going fabulously in our lives, but if you separate us out, look at our lives on an individual basis things look oh-so different. Because many of the people in this picture are close to me I know what is going on in their lives and I can almost put little thought bubbles above each of their heads as to what they were really thinking when this photo was taken.

Each of us is struggling with either relationships, insecurities, eating disorders, self-image, family life or any number of other things. I know we all struggle with these things every day, but it was just so profound for me to look at this picture and see all of those things merging together right in front of me. We were all having a great time last night, not realizing that some of us were struggling with things much bigger than we thought.

As I watch my life and the lives of those around me unfold I see that real life can be every bit as dramatic as any TV show or movie. It’s unfortunate, but it’s life. But what I hate most is that so many people in my life are going through difficult times in their lives right now when I feel like I can’t be there for them like I normally would be because my own life is so scattered and uncertain right now.

Lately I feel like I’m just the “fun” friend, I’m not a friend people can count on and it sucks. I’ve always been the responsible one. I was the oldest girl in my family. I helped raise seven children. I’ve watched many of my friends face very difficult times in their lives and I’ve tried to always be there for them. Then somehow a few years ago I just gave up on everyone else and decided to worry about me for awhile. Unfortunately it’s become a bit of a habit – to the point that 64 percent of people now agree that I’m selfish. I am selfish. I admit it. But I think there comes a point in people’s lives when they deserve to be selfish and that time in my life is now. I just hope it doesn’t mean I’m going to lose the close friends I’ve made over the years and I hope they know I’m trying and I’m here for them as much as I can be.

Wow, this blog turned into super self-analysis and it wasn’t intended to go that way. I always feel weird about posting blogs like this on here, but I’m going to do it anyway. Sorry for being a little too emo.

 

Books, Wine and Friends

I’m sure there are those people out there who would run for the hills at the mention of a book club meeting. In fact, I tried to start a book club a few years back and nobody was interested. But with the help of some great friends, we were able to start a book club and have had two successful meetings so far. This time around it’s definitely feeling like a success.

See, the thing about book clubs is that it’s not just about the books. It’s a reason to get together with just the girls to laugh and act silly on the premise of being educated. It’s just another way to connect.

Last month the book chosen was “Rules of Attraction” by Brett Easton Ellis. I’m told it was a great book. I was lame and didn’t actually read it. It didn’t matter though because everyone else did and they all were able to give a pretty good summary of the book with some interesting insights. In addition we watched the movie, so I got the gyst. Granted, I’m a huge stickler for reading the book instead of the movie but for this book I made an exception. Ellis’ writing isn’t really my cup of tea.

Anyway, the book club got a little out of hand after the seven of us finished off four bottles of wine. Once the movie ended we were all a bit loopy and SO happy to be hanging out. We laughed hysterically at everything. Some of us cried. And I left sincerely excited about our next meeting. I haven’t had that much fun with a group of just girls in a long, long time. I seriously don’t think I could ask for a better group of friends.

We could decide on one book this month so next month we’re all going to read a book of our choosing. Then we’ll bring the book to the meeting and review it so others can see if they want to borrow it. Hopefully, more people will show up this way because they don’t have to worry about buying a new book just for our meeting *nudge, nudge, wink wink* We’d love to see more ladies show up to the meetings.

Check out the group site in the next few days for details of our next meeting.

 

Group Dining: Why you should carry cash

I love going out in big groups, except for one thing. It seems like every time there is a big group, someone always ends up paying a much larger portion of the bill than everyone else. It’s usually the person who touched the check first OR one of the people paying with a card. Why is it that whenever people go out in big groups for dinner they always come up short for the bill? It doesn’t matter if you’re with good friends or acquaintances, it always happens. How is it that so many people forget about tax/tip when they’re adding up what they owe? I’m sure everyone has felt gypped before when they got stuck paying WAY more than their share with the bill. I’ve felt like that on a few occasions in the past BUT it’s my own fault because I always use my ATM card.

The problem is that I’m always hoping things won’t go through until my next paycheck comes so I use my card knowing it will take two or three days for the transaction to clear. I’ve decided to change my ways though. I’ve recently begun keeping a $20 bill in my wallet just in case I get stuck in a dining experience with friends, but I still remember to add in the tax/tip when I pay my share. It’s just bad manners not to.

So next time you go out to dinner with friends don’t be sheisty and try to skip out on part of the bill. OR if you are short on cash you could at least acknowledge that the person is paying extra and say, “thanks, I’ll get you back next time,” instead of pretending you don’t know they’re getting shafted. I’m sure most people won’t care as long as they know you feel guilty for not paying. Remember, very few people have extra money to spare even if it is only a few dollars for tip/tax.

That is all.

 

My First Turkey…

Last night was my inaugural “Friend Feast” and I think it was pretty successful. Me, Pagino and Sofia spent the whole day cooking delicious food and I’m sure everyone else was pretty busy in the kitchen too because I have never seen so much delicious food in my life!

I made my first turkey EVER and it actually turned out. I was really stressed at first because it seems like everyone makes a huge deal about how difficult turkey is to make well, but seriously all I did was put some apples and onions inside and rub it down with some butter before stuffing it in the oven. Then three hours later: Voila! I think my saving grace was Reynold’s Oven Bags. I’m their biggest advocate now.

The grossest part about making a turkey though is that it’s a turkey. Gross! I know I don’t look grossed out in the above picture because this is well after I got over it. Luckily I had my roommate, Justin, and Pagino there to watch me squirm when I had to touch it. I think Justin thought it was pretty hilarious that I was grossed out by it. But thanks to him I knew what to do with it. If he hadn’t been there I probably would have been standing at the sink all day staring at the bird wondering where to start.

Thanks to everyone who made it (aka didn’t flake). I’m going to be eating leftover turkey dinner for at least the next week and I couldn’t be more excited about it! I’m especially excited about the squash and sweet potato casserole – thanks Steph and Sofia.

PS Beth made real apple pie! How amazing is that?

PPS Here’s some more pics:

See, look how much food there was!

Before stuffing themselves full of food:

After:

This turned into a real American meal, TV and all:

Michelle and Jabin. Michelle’s going to be making her first turkey this week too so wish her luck!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

Capitola – NOT a great place to visit

Last night me and Steph slept in her car.  Yep, that’s right, in her car.  We drove all the way down to Capitola (just below Santa Cruz) to see some old friends, most of which we hadn’t seen since we were 12 years old.  We were supposed to stay with our “friend” Anne who lives there.  Nope, she ended up leaving with one of our other long lost buddies.  I think they must have been getting it on.  But whatever, that’s not the point.  The point is: Who invites you to come stay at their house and then leaves you at a bar, at midnight, in a city four hours from home, where you don’t even know how to get back to the freeway?  Oh, Anne does.

Then our other friends, who also live slightly nearby (half an hour is def closer than four hours) all had to work in the morning and weren’t willing to take us home and bring us back before work to get our car.  So we slept in Steph’s car. And I, for the first time in my life, peed on the side of a building.  And I didn’t pee on my shoes!

Other reasons to hate Capitola:

- Some guy will dance with you at the bar and then when you leave to go buy yourself a drink he follows you and asks you to buy him a drink too.  When you look at him like he’s a complete ass, which he is, he says, “What, you’re too good to buy me a drink.”  And you just continue to stare in disbelief until he walks away pissed off because not only is he not getting any action, he’s not getting his damn drink.  Plus, you are forced to point at him and tell everyone in the bar what a jerk he is.

- Some other guy will come up to you while you’re buying pizza and talk you up because you’re stranded with no friends and no shoes then offer to let you stay at his place…if you can give him a ride home.  What is it with Capitola and moochers?

- Some guy you’ve known for twelve years will leave the bar saying he could give a shit about what happens to you because your married and he only worries about single women.  Yeah, me and that guy, we’re not friends anymore.

- You miss your big sis’ birthday, which is in Santa Cruz because you drove home at 5 a.m. since you were sleeping in your car and it was freezing.  Then you fell asleep when you got home instead of calling her to hitch a ride.  Sorry big sis!  Happy Birthday anyway!

I’m sure there’s more, but I can’t think of any right now.  Maybe Steph can think of some for me?

Needless to say this was an adventure that will not be soon forgotten.