Birthday Weekend

Oh where to begin...
So as many of you may know by now, my weekends begin every Thursday at 5pm. This is when my last class for the week ends and I am free to frolic and do as I please for the following 3 days. This past Thursday was no different, excepting the fact that it was my birthday weekend!

So Thursday night, not much happened. I was the only one interested in really doing anything. So I hung my streams and blew up my balloons from Becca, then I passed out the lollipops that were included also much to my building's pleasure of course. I went to the liquor store with Caitlin and Arti and managed to get a 10 pack of Stella Artois bottles for only 10 euro, I'm that good. Then I watched as Morgan prepared the jello shots for the next night, filling one large bowl with strawberry and a pie plate with raspberry. Those sat in the fridge which from that point on smelt highly of vodka...not that I'm complaining. So after that and some dinner, I had a couple of beers and chillaxed, harassed the boys downstairs for awhile which is always fun, chatting with the girls upstairs and just generally waited for everyone to be more excited. We saw Morgan get a reduction of her balloon boobs which was of course entertaining. I waited around until midnight refusing to sleep until it was officially my birthday. I kept checking the clock and people began filtering up to our room. Kyle began looking over Shannon's shoulder at the clock on her computer and shouted Happy Birthday at me the first second it turned midnight (props). Then I got a chorus of Happy Birthday from all who were there which put a smile on my face before adjourning to my bed.

Friday morning came and I refused to not sleep in, it's my birthday after all. I stumbled out of bed around 10:30am. I wanted to call my grandmother back in the States but I wasn't sure if I could. Instead I emailed my mom who said that she would surprise Grammy with a Skype call later that night ;) Most excellent. So I made myself a birthday breaky of toast and eggs then gave my last two eggs to Morgan to make brownies with, yum! The plan was to have a birthday lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe where I could order an appletini. But a few people were gone so we waited around. I invited the boys but none of them wanted to come. Shannon ended up going out with her family to lunch so it was me, Morgan, Kara, Caitlin, Katie, Arti, and Lexi who made the adventure to get my first "legal in every country" beverage.

We made it to the Hard Rock around 1:30pm and ended up seated in a corner section all to ourselves. Easily the smallest Hard Rock I've ever been in. But it was nice inside and of course, always interesting. The menu was a little more pricey than I expected but they had a great deal going. Certain drinks (including my appletini) were all 5euro all day every day and then there was a 2 courses for 15euro. So obviously I had to get that. I ordered the appetizer which was chicken wings and onion rings. Followed by my entree which was a huge cheeseburger with pickles and onions and lettuce, ketchup and mustard, with a nice big side of fries. The martini came and it was delicious. It was like drinking a nice sour apple, in a great way. We had our meal and chatted, obviously. My awesome roommates wouldn't let me pay even though I wanted to, they insisted. They were great and I'm still thankful.

After lunch we took a bunch of pics outside the restaurant and then did some shopping in Temple. I bought a present for my friend Mae from back home which I'm pretty sure she will lovvvvvve. We were supposed go to the Guinness Factory after lunch but Lexi had to get back for an interview, so we postponed it. Maybe I will get to go over study week or during exams...

No one did much for the rest of the afternoon. I went out on the deck and had a beer and just relaxed. The martini was way stronger than I had anticipated. The day whiled away into night and by 7pm, I was ready for some jello. So I grabbed Morgan and headed upstairs with my two dishes of jello to share with the girls upstairs. Everyone did a round (or a few) and then it was time to start getting ready for going out. I wanted to leave by 11 and knowing this group, that probably would mean midnight. I showered and put on my birthday outfit which I had been waiting to wear since I left home. I applied my make-up before attempting to consume more jello. I checked the status of everyone else and by 9pm everyone had at least showered.

Mom was scheduled to call me around 9pm from home with Grammy, but there was some sort of misunderstanding according to Sara...but I'm not sure. But just after 9:30, my Skype went off and already having a buzz, I answered. I got to see my grandmother for the first time in months and of course the day before she left for her cruise with some other members of the family. She sang to me in English and then in French which is probably my favorite thing about my birthday. (Luckily no one was around to put butter on my nose like they do at home.) After the singing we caught up some, both she and my mom. I would have harassed my sister but she was busy eating with Rickles upstairs :-P After a bit, I needed to get everyone in gear to leave, so I said my goodbyes and went to continue with the other enjoyments of the night.

Shannon got back from the rugby match around 10:30 with her brother and his girlfriend in two, both of whom are a lot of fun and very nice people. I kept popping upstairs to make sure the girls up there were getting ready and the girls on my floor were surely trucking along. I ended up sitting down upstairs for awhile and polishing off my pie plate of jello which was a very proud accomplishment for me...it contained about a pint of vodka...yum! By 11ish, we had a large group upstairs who wanted to play drinking games. The guys had gone to a party/BBQ at their friend Ryan's house with Kara and they came back later in the night. We played two games that I am now in love with, one is called "Thumper" and the other is called "F*ck me."

Thumper: everyone starts pounding on the table, one person starts by saying "What's the name of the game" to which the response is "Thumper." The person then asks "And why do we play?" to which the response is "to get f*cked up." Basically everyone picks either a dance move or an animal pose or sound and everyone has to memorize everyone else's. The person who begins after the opening then does their move followed by the move of another person. That person does their move followed by the move of another person but it can't go back to the person who gave it to you. If you mess up a move or miss your turn, you drink. Quite simple and of course entertaining. I would attempt to explain the dance moves but they would definitely get lost in translation so I won't bother.

F*ck me: the beat begins two pounds on the table followed by two claps, repeat. It continues throughout while people are talking. Everyone picks a type of "f*ck" that they want to be. Whether it's Shannon who was "sloppy f*ck," Caitlin who was "titty f*ck" or Kyle who was "skull f*ck." One person starts with the beat followed by the words, "f*ck me, what's the name of this f*cking game, it's called f*ck me" then they say their own type of f*ck twice followed by I want a followed by someone else's type of f*ck. For instance, if Shannon started, she would say "sloppy f*ck, sloppy f*ck, I wanna skull f*ck." and then Kyle would have to keep up the beat and then pass it over to someone else, but not back to Shannon. It's essentially the same as Thumper but with different words and the constant beat.

Those were two games which carried us for a good 40 minutes or so. During which I had switched over to drinking Stella and Kyle had managed to finish my second bowl of jello without me. At this point, we decided it was time to leave. I grabbed my heels and headed out with everyone else. Armed with my usual, keys, cell phone, ID, camera, and a little bit of money. We made our way to one of the favorite haunts in the city which is a bar called Flannery's. (I almost got hit by a car when Katie pulled me into the road but no worries.) A nice two story place that was also the location for Lexi's birthday bash. We took over a little indoor balcony type area that was slightly raised above the second floor.

and I at the behest and heckling of the others were the first ones to start the dancing after everyone's got drinks and settled in. I of course had my birthday hat on which caused many people to stop me and wish me a Happy Birthday, a surprising number of girls did this, but then again the Irish girls are genuinely nice at the bars which is odd in itself. So we obviously all spent the night drinking and having a good time dancing. Morgan requested that my birthday we announced by the DJ, which was awesome, thanks again!

The guys showed up after about an hour with a few extra people in tow, but Ireland is all about the more, the merrier. I was immediately singled out for lap dances by all of the guys that I live with, sometimes two at once. I was picked up until I touched the ceiling which I was not impressed with and then we were yelled at by one of the floor managers. Everyone made out on the dance floor afterwards. Doug bought me some Jack Daniels on the rocks...much love! and we drank those together. I was continuously danced on by everyone and had a grand old time of it. At least until Staropoli decided it was okay to pick me up and spin me around in a circle while I was on his shoulder, wearing a skirt. All I can say is thank God for tights and a strong stomach. I tried to hit him when he put me down but couldn't manage to connect. All night, Kyle was attempting to steal my awesome hat which I let him wear at one point so he would stop bugging me.

I'm not sure what time it was, I think around 3am, when everyone decided it was about time to leave. I walked home with Caitlin which was pleasant though we somehow missed out on getting noddles from WAK IN, a great little place around the corner from our apartment. I changed out of my heels and dress clothes to something more comfortable. I sat down on the couch too exhausted to do much more than that. A little while later, everyone brought up a cake and sang to me which was so sweet and highly appreciated. It was a 6 inch chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and a light raspberry filling with yellow icing which said Happy Birthday. I had some before going to bed (and I'm informed that many people had some for breaky the next day.) I fell asleep happy and exhausted and sore. It was well worth it though.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make my 21st a day/night to remember, you guys are awesome!
(pic creds to Caitlin, Katie, and Arti)

(see post about Beer Olympics for more weekend fun!)