Durty 30

Been the big 3-0 for an entire week now and no signs of angina, incontinence or Alzheimer's.....wait, what was it I just said?

Another seven days from now, I'll be on a plane to Florida for my first "real" vacation in.....hmmm.....I can't remember, must be the Alzheimer's.  This might be the first vaca that is actually creeping up on me since I don't feel the need to say "I really need a vacation" these days.....how out of character for me!  My theory is this:  I still feel like I'm on a perma-vacation here!  Case in point, my birthday.  This birthday was epic (in the most low-key way that something could be "epic").  Here's my abbreviated rundown of the weeks (yes, I'm referring to more that a weeks) worth of activities!

Friday pre-birthday: Party at Chez LL and Nik, Italian themed potluck, cake!, wine, Mojitos and more wine

Saturday pre-birthday: The viewing of many movies (ok, the Twilight series) projected on the living room wall + leftover cake + Five Guys and all it's greasy glory

Sunday pre-birthday: A trip with LL up Carter's Mountain on a beautiful C-ville day to sip hot cider, eat apple donuts and sit on a blanket overlooking the mountains..........like lesbians.  We did something else in the evening, I just can't remember.  Damn Alzheimer's.

Tuesday pre-birthday:  LL brought these home for my birthday enjoyment!  (This was my dinner.  Don't judge me, I'm old)

Birthday: Really didn't do anything besides sit at home and watch Season Premieres.  You don't hear me complaining!

Thursday post-birthday:  Ray LaMontagne was playing at the C-ville Pavilion!  LL and I were just going to hang out on the downtown mall but a friend had an extra ticket and I was the lucky recipient!!!!  Ah-mazing show.  Goosebumps over and over again.

Friday post-birthday: B came down and took me to Bang! (Get your mind out of the gutter)  It's an Asian inspired tapas restaurant in C-ville.  Can't forget to mention the martinis!!! Y-U-M.

Saturday post-birthday: A couple good friends came down to visit and we hit up two vineyards: Afton Mountain and Pollak.  Finished the evening at the Virginia Chili and Blues Festival. Best memory from that festival was not the chili, it was the amazing kettle corn we devoured on our way home afterwards!

Sunday post-birthday: King's Dominion!  Nuff' said.

Tuesday post-birthday (I know, I'm getting annoyed with myself too.  Don't be a hater, you'll give me a bout of angina): I'm official!!!! Woo Hoo!  It's gonna look so pretty on Sexy Blue :)

Happy Birthday to me!  Special thanks to everyone involved in the festivities, wouldn't have been epic (in the most low-key way that something could be "epic") without you ;) Bring on the extended bday celebration in Florida!  Ok, now I'm excited :)

I can't believe I'm going to say this out loud

It's time for me to come out of the closet people...I, Nicole, love the Twilight series.  There, I said it, are you happy?!  What adult in their right mind reads teen novels about vampires?! (I now look at the ground, tail between my legs)  I wouldn't call myself hardcore, or Twitarded, but I like the movies for their mild entertainment value, am totally in love with the soundtracks, have read 2 (and 1/3) of the books and I'm pumped for the 4th movie to come out....oh the humanity!

This humiliating display started a couple years ago when I was staying at the Rindt B&B one weekend.  I think I might've been drinking, or at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, and Ally "forced" me to watch the first two movies. Well who wouldn't fall in love with Taylor Lautner's abs?!?!  Let me go get my dirty laundry, Taylor! She caught me at a week moment and I fell, hook line and sinker.  The teen angst killed me; just go have sex already!!  (Another thing that kills me: The awful dialogue.  I guess one can't expect much from a teen series written by a mom/housewife)  Eclipse was viewed at Amanda's house during a girls night and....well....Jacob hardly wears a shirt in that movie so it won me over again!  I'm such a sucker for a tall, tan, fit guy with fantastic teeth and brooding eyes (who's only 19, has long hair for the first 1 1/2 movies, and phases into a werewolf)

For many years I was doing SO well resisting the peer pressure to read the books. My friends said things like "They are soooo good" and "You won't be able to put them down".  It was all over when I moved in with LL this summer.  She has read the books, seen the movies, read a couple other pieces from Stephanie Meyer regarding the series, follows the blogs, reread the books, reread chapters in the books, downloaded the soundtracks and even knows all about the main actors. (Twitarded much?)  Of course she owns the books and found out I had seen the movies (and enjoyed them....*shudder*) so I bought in to the mania.

Well, I could've put Twilight down (but didn't) and I could've thrown New Moon out a window (Stephanie Meyer is only an okay writer and I found myself literally dying in the first 1/3 of the book).  I completely ignored Eclipse and skipped right to Breaking Dawn; I recently finished it and that one actually had some entertainment value, in my opinion.  The most embarrassing part is, now I can't stop thinking about them!  Remember when Friends ended?  Well, this isn't nearly as significant but you get my point.

Here's how bad its gotten now: LL and I partied a little too hard last Friday and spent all day Saturday doing a Twilight movie marathon using a projector and our living room wall.  So now the two of us are all geared up to see the 4th movie in November and we'll probably have a movie marathon again.  What is wrong with me?!  Robert Pattinson (with his chiseled jaw, musical talent and sexy hair) looks like he's constipated all the time and Kristen Stewart has an obsessive blinking problem.  I think Taylor Lautner steals the show for me. Go Team Jacob!

So now the cat is out of the bag and I don't have to hide anymore.  It feels like a weight has been lifted!  Let's just keep this dirty little secret between you and me, okay?

PS-I also had some trouble embracing the Harry Potter thing but, thanks to LL, I've watched all the movies now (including the last one) and thoroughly enjoyed them!  J.K. Rowling is clearly a MUCH better writer than Stephanie Meyer.  Gotta love those Brits!  I still won't touch the books.  There's too many of them and I have commitment issues.

PSS- Is it November yet?!?!

I love the smell of dugout in the morning

You know when people tell you to go to your happy place?  (I'll be going here next time I have a kidney stone ripping through my urethra.  Sorry, TMI)  Well I recently had such a fantastic time at a Washington Nationals baseball game that I'm pretty sure that its become my new "happy place".  The only thing that could've made that night better would've been a W-I-N, but that wasn't in the cards apparently.  Oh, and if it had been the Twins at Target Field, although they're not really winning either so it's tit for tat.

B got tickets from his boss, the big wig who's airplane hangar fell in the D.C. snow storms in 2009....must be rough to be rich.  The tickets come with rockstar parking in a private lot right across the street from the field.  Suh-weet!  This guy's season tickets are in the first row behind the National's dugout. That's right, the FIRST ROW.  The section is right next to the Diamond Club (Read: Diamond Club: where the cushioned, pleather seats have the Lexus emblem embroidered on them and a complimentary waiter/waitress comes by every 10 minutes) and where the team's owner and the player's beefs (don't ask) watch the game.  Yes, it's amazing.

Look Ma, It's Mr. Lerner!

We (B and I, plus 2) arrived early with buzzing excitement.  There was a ridiculously long line to get in, who were all anticipating being one of the 15,000 to receive a Danny Espinosa bobblehead.  We slipped in the season ticket holder entrance in under 15 seconds, and collected our Dannys.....damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.

After getting our 21+ wristbands, and dropping stuff off at our ridiculous seats, we headed up to partake in the complimentary Diamond Club food and beverages.  That's right, free beer and wine.  Much to my surprise, there was something even more exciting waiting for me in that club.....a dessert table!  Holla!  (I think you're starting to understand why this is my new happy place)

We stuffed our faces, like, Thanksgiving style, double fisted the booze and rolled ourselves back down to our seats.  The game was.....well, a baseball game.....with a little extra fun here and there:

Right next to the "Let's Play Ball" kid

So close you could smell them

Right after Zimmerman threw B a ball!!!

Pudge!  Yeah, I dont' know who that is either.

P-I-M-P style

The new Nationals cheerleaders!  God help us.

The boy and me

After several trips up to the club for more food and drinks, one caught baseball, endless laughs, 4 aching stomachs and a twinkle in our eyes, I stand behind my decision that this is my new happy place.  Makes sitting further back, where the losers sit, SO unappealing ;)  Special thanks to B's rich boss who owns tickets that he never uses.  What do I have to do to get a job working for him???

PS- I sold my Danny bobblhead on Ebay two days later for $27!!  Hell yeah!

PSS- This experience was a close 3rd in my ranking of all time best sporting experiences.  #1 being my birthday last year when my neighbor and I went to a Twins game, drank in excess, hung out with some great Aussies, and the Twinkies won the game to become the 2010 Central Division Champs.  #2 was sitting in the 3rd row at a Wild game with my cousin, where I was so excited I was literally shaking.  Special thanks to all the individuals involved with these moments :)