{Breathes In...and Exhales}

It has been awhile since I blogged. I know, I know, KWoods is ready to kill me - and may have deactivated his subscription to my blog...sorry bro. Anyway, I need to get away from the whole "gotta have something super interesting to write about" mindset...because quite frankly as you can see that isn't really working out for me.

This past weekend was a breath of fresh air for me. My brother, Sarah and Sarah's best friend from college--Lauren came into town. Lauren was a bit of a surprise - she and I traveled to Arizona a month ago and talked of her trying to come down from NYC for Sarah and Troy's visit - but she was going to be vacationing in Mexico until the Thursday prior and had to come back into work Friday (the day which she would really need to spend traveling to see me). lol. No, Lauren didn't contract the Swine Flu. However, the "Powers That Be" at her firm, decided they didn't want her to come into the office until the following Tuesday, just to be sure.

So...Lauren jumped on Amtrak (shout out to ST) and made her way to the BWI airport where she surprised the crap out of Troy in baggage claim and then hid when Sarah announced via cell phone to me that she had just touched down. It was a great sight to see when Troy and Sarah rolled their suitcases out to the car...got in...and I started to drive away, only to swerve back over to the curb two doors later to a woman dressed in pink racing to the car - LAUREN! Sarah was so surprised...and the trip was off to a good start!

Friday night we got all dressed up, my friend Katie joined us, and we headed to Arlington, VA to eat at the restaurant/Latin Lounge Shawn works at: Guarapo. Yes...a little trouble getting there as the GPS on my phone didn't necessarily take us the fastest way and Katie's irritation, stemming from her starvation, was apparent. But...when we finally DID get there, the food was excellent and had a few nice tasting drinks as well ;)

At this point, Katie dropped the 4 of us off at a nightclub called "The Park" where we headed up to the fourth floor to celebrate my friend/coworker Jessica's birthday. "The Park" is a nice place where celebrities frequent and the DJ always plays good music. We took advantage of the good tunes - and wound up dancing the night away.


My roommate Danielle met us there as well. Funny story: my friend Marcus, who works for the NCAA and was in town for Lacrosse National Championship meetings, was going to meet us there also. He arrived at The Park at the same time as Danielle - we were a bit behind so while on the phone with Marcus, I described Danielle and he then located her outside, and started calling for her. She looked at him, like, "is this guy talking to ME? I have no idea who he is!" haha. And...that is how they met. By the time we got there they were old pals.

Saturday we laid low during the day, headed to the mall to make some returns and for Troy to visit his beloved H&M store. We then headed to Comcast Center (home of the Terrapins!) where there was an event called the "Catwalk Classic" taking place, hosted by a local radio station. Apparently it is a high school fashion show that runs from 5pm - 10pm. However, we were only interested in the first hour or so which was full of performances by the GS Boys, Yung LA and Keri Hilson. Sarah LOVES Keri Hilson so she was really excited for that part. The funny thing is, the event is mainly attended by urban high school kids - so there was a million 14-16 year olds strutting around in outfits they had probably been planning for weeks. I'm talking dresses, suits and hair all piled on top of their heads with feathers and yard sticking out. Meanwhile we threw on whatever we could find. The nice part was that we sat in one of our suites - so we had a comfy seat, good view and were a bit separated from the Mayhem.

After so much fun Friday night, we did briefly discuss if it were possible to have even CLOSE to the same amount of fun on Saturday night. With a different cast of characters, including our dear friend Greg - we decided it could happen. Greg used to work with me at Maryland but moved away last summer after he took a job with the University of Mississippi. We had been begging him for weeks to try to make it up for this weekend - but it just wasn't going to work for him since he came a few weeks prior and would be coming a few weeks later as well. As the stars would align, Greg was selected for an interview at Georgetown the Thursday prior and they agreed to fly him home Sunday (same cost to them!) - so he was here after all! We were so excited. (Better news on Monday was they offered him the job and he's moving back!!!) In addition to Greg, others such as my old boss ("best boss ever") Brett and Shawn and his friends joined us. Destination of choice was the Shadow Room.

Turned out to be another awesome night. Highlights included the DJ randomly playing an older song Troy had been talking about all day, Lauren dancing 3 inches from the ground AND me sweating so much that it started to soak through my dress. I felt gross but was trying not to draw too much attention to myself, so I made a graceful exit to the restroom where I proceeded to hang out and try to let my dress dry. Needless to say, as time was ticking and I was missing out, I wound up going into the stall, removing my dress and cooling off. The whole time I was hoping everyone would be having so much fun they wouldn't notice I was missing...which I think I achieved...UNTIL the DJ started playing Zombie Nation. Note, this is the song we play 23092039 times at our MBB games that anyone who knows me (especially all my friends that were there from work), knows I would be running to the middle of the dance floor upon first hearing. Anyway, as my friends quickly noticed...I was nowhere to be found...as I sat in the bathroom...waiting for the final pieces of my dress to dry. Probably less than a minute later I hear Sarah's voice in the bathroom, "Carrie? Are you in here?"

Busted.

Totally worth it though - as I reappeared a new woman with a brand new dress! lol!

A late night visit to IHOP with the 4 of us, Shawn, and his friend Asanti proved to hit the spot and then it was off to bed. Troy and Lauren headed out of town on Sunday and then Sarah left Monday. I was sad to seem them all go - but happy we had such a great time.

You know, Lauren and I were talking the other day...it is sometimes frustrating that I do not have my closest friends near me here in Maryland. However, sometimes I need to stop and remember that the value of a friend isn't necessarily tied to their zipcode. I am so fortunate to have some really great relationships with such awesome people and while I may not be able to see them every weekend - I know they are always there for me and it just makes me appreciate the time we DO get to spend together that much more :)