Drum Roll Please...

Thanks for all the helpful comments!
Going with the Light Silver, which works out perfectly since it's partially the theme of the party.
Next decisions include, what shoes, hairstyle, and jewelry....but each of those are hardly worth their own entries so you'll just have to catch pics on twitter as I put it all together. Having the dress makes it officially birthday season, so I'm excited. Oh and nail color, have to pic that out too.

Thanks again for playing along, I'll post birthday pics and of course I'll be tweeting the night away!

The Great Debate

We start the birthday season off with a rather important decision.
What dress to wear?
It's the dress, the one that will be in all the pics, the on that everyone will comment on, the one that once I pick it out - all of my girlfriends will base their choices off...for this year at least. Sound crazy? It is. Woman are crazy yes, but we are a separate breed of runs-on-coffee-eastcoast-stressed-crazy. What may be even scarier is that we wear it proudly.

About three months in advance people start asking what I'm planning for my party, while I don't celebrate anything much during the year my birthday is IT. The big event, requires serious planning, serious self preparation, serious drinking and above all serious dancing is a must!
The rough-draft plan this year?
Small group of my best girls out on a boat all day for a little sun bathing and tubing action. While the guys check us into the hotel, and get our bags moved ::yes, we're spoiled:: We're dropped off from the boat right next to our hotel. Change and meet up with a slightly larger group of my besties for a casual dinner. We all move to a small lounge I've picked, this year the expected guests list will fill a large portion of the lounge. Which I love, every where you turn you know someone, that is fun to me.
Bringing me to the next component of the night...a dress.
Past years it has been easy to pick my dress, this year it's gotten a little harder. I've already tried on more than a few dresses and have narrowed it down to two. With a side note that I have one more store I need to visit. My girlfriends are split down the middle which is really strange, but none of them will go shopping until I pick a dress. I know, I know ...we're crazy.
There are all kinds of other things I could go on about, but I'll get to the point of this post.
Help me decide! Vote at the poll or send pics of another dress you think would be worthy!
-n

Big Girl Boots

We're squeezed into an over crowded bar, dead center with people packed in like ground meat in a casing all around us. Our group has taken up a fair share of the bar, so in my efforts to get a drink, I have to alternate with hugs and kiss hellos. Oh and it's hot as hell, if hell was sitting in the kitchen with my mother as she attempted to cook.

Good thing I'm not wearing much! We get to the bar where a branch of our group has secured a window, currently they are ordering shots of Grand Manier ::burns so good:: A couple of guys eye us up and hand us shots.

"Don't waste these."
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle it, a smirk reaches the corner of my lips.

We take the shots, that were really like double shots, without even a little wince. The original guy looks to me and says

"Whoa! You took that like a big girl"
Uh huh.
I narrow my eyes at him to gauge his doubt, while he sizes me up. My outfit tonight is pretty casual, layered tank tops, (Black and White) black tights and black knee high boots. His eyes get to my boots and widen...

"No wonder! Look at those boots!"
Yup, my big girl boots.
"Damn! Just tell me what's the cut and color you want?"

C and I catch eyes across the crowded bar, both knowing it's time to move on. This is our second stop of the night, we started at Mate in Georgetown for Organic Cucumber Mojitos in honor of Earth Hour. This small bar appearance was for a birthday, moving across town to see another birthday girl, this particular party is a green party. Finally making our way out of the bar, we run into more friends outside, I give them a outline of the night ahead and we hop into the car.

We arrive at Senso, Senso...not my fav place on 18th street. It always has the strangest smell...like day old-dirty recliner-sex ::come on, you know the smell:: As we walk through the door my eyes go to the back balcony, of which I see the girls dangling from. We make our way through another crowded room and climb the stairs into a very warm loft, filled with girls in green, a couple large fans, a small bar with the worlds slowest bartender...ever. As this is our third stop of the night we jump right in to the dance party. Round of birthday shot, a few photo ops, and a we're putting our jackets on again. This time the expected right up the street party has moved a few blocks away.
Once outside we're trying to map out the best way to pick up a couple more girls and make it to the next stop in a timely manner. All this planning is broken up when I here my name being screamed across six lanes of traffic. Followed by a flurry of text, friends at a club across the street are outside and want in. I make a mad dash, while sending my text , by the time I get across the street, they are being ushered inside and geared up with bracelets. I'm tempted to come in for a quick drink and say hi, but we've got a tight schedule as it is. Just when I'm hugging hellos, the car pulls up friends already inside and we're off the 14th street.
We make it to The Park and the party is in full force by this point the birthday boy is dancing all over the place, pouring Champagne on everyone and buying round after round of shots. I've danced so much tonight, there is no need for exercise for another couple of days! But I find myself and C three drinks in and dancing our asses off! Per our usual I'm fighting guys off of her and telling them that she is my bitch, we laugh as the walk away utterly confused wondering if we really are lesbians ::ftr I like boys::
The DJ plays every song I love, so I've just got no other option than to dance until my legs are jelly. We're laughing at how tired we are by the end of the night and amazed that we are still able to have a conversation after the night we'd just had.
Our night ends like so many good one, C and I are walking down the sidewalk linked arm in arm, laughing uncontrollably. We're also content. That alone makes the night, to see all these people, go so many places and be utterly content at the end of the night.
I love this city.
-n

All for the Birthday Girl

What would you do for the 'Birthday Girl'?

Give gifts, dress up, sing, entertain her by being entertained with her plans, the possibilities are endless...

Never wanting to step out of my new Micheal Kors, I opted out of strange smelling shoe rental and chose to watch instead. Lucky Strike may be a step up from your neighborhood bowling alley, price bracket wise at least, but the spray that dust all the shoes after hours of ware just never seems enough. ::Lets not talk about the finger holes in the balls::

The group made it there before me, hence my arrival on my own, leaving me open for the door guy to give a sad attempt at hitting on me, and the guy who checked my i.d. to give an even sadder attempt by commenting on my hair. Note to all the guys complimenting hair is great, when the creepy I want to keep some of it for my collection vibe doesn't come through.

Big screen tvs, leather couches, cocktail waitress wearing black mini skirts, fishnet stockings, and tall black boots, all add to the experience of the longest set of frames this lane has ever seen.

A big hug from the glowing Birthday Girl, I feed her fetish for hoop earrings along with a traditional slinky under garment, it started years ago and kept going.

Extra iced down drinks are served all around, accompanied by a 'fry-all' buffet that reminds me of the stand at the Carnival that will batter and fry anything you bring, but taste no where near as good as a fried snickers ::don't knock it until you've tried it:: The cocktail waitress was gracious and understanding to all the birthday girls request, 'scooby snacks shooters pleeeease'. The joy of knowing you are the Birthday Girl and no one better say no to you, les they face the angry mob that was once the happy party goers always seems to make inhibitions go right out the window. Prices on par with the mid-level bar in the city, don't forget we are here to bowl. Right?

The Penn Quarter is a plethora of venues for any type of group, which makes it a great place to hop around. Zengo was our next stop, a Asian-Latin infusion restaurant where fresh infused cocktails are never to far away. My choice Yuzu Fresa or go for a true infusion of Sake Sangria, fun Lasian assortment of beer round out your choices.

By this stop the group had picked up a few late comers and grown, the lounge area with tables by the window was able to accommodate us with ease. The bar/lounge is all open seating so come and leave as you like. One round was all the Birthday Girl could handle, she had a need to dance. Moving the group this time was a little more challenging, a few more people, a few more drinks, and throw in some rain you have the first elementary field trip you had of dc confusion.

LEFT...RIGHT...CROSS...CROSS...DON'T STOP KEEP CROSSING...
Destination Dance at last. Ladies first, hair is puffing, losing curl, and just getting wet.

The normal dance i.d.s out, stamp the wrist, cover. Cover?! For girls?!
'Yes, but all ladies drink free tonight'.
Guys as usual get the shaft, pay double at the door and good luck getting that bartenders attention when your ready to pay just as much for your drink. An end result of my liking, all the ladies in our group free, guys pay half of asking and we still got our free drinks.

Indebleu is the end of a great restaurant era, a great concept pushed to the back by the many new concepts that seem to pop up all the time in the Penn Quarter. What once was prestige and a Wizards favorite hang out has moved to free drinks with bracelets. At an attempt to revitalize and pull new business drinks specials are very good. The Music is a mix of top twenty and house, perfect for inebriated dancing. The group is an older mix which is nice, but it's not a club unless the guy who likes to dance on girls when they least expect it is there. On our particular night her wore a Red turtleneck sweater. 'Sir, please stop touching the girls, I need you to back away'. A bouncer that does his job is always nice. We dance, we sing, we bounce and groove the Birthday Girl is making out in the corner, all is well with the night. It ends at Indebleu with hugs, kisses and well wishes.

Another birthday into the history books, a tame one for us no doubt but birthdays do mean we're getting older.

-n