avoid drinking all damn day (Valentine's Day Weekend)

Readers: I can't say I'm ecstatic about coming back to reality the States, but I'm definitely excited to be back on the wagon with blogging. I've plenty of crazy stories and hot photos to share from Australia, and I'll do my best to get caught up with what happened before I left as quickly as is feasible.

On the Saturday before Valentine’s day, TTT had been invited to a singles-only house party. I figured I’d play along for the night since I really had no other plans and Grrber was busy with Fashion Week stuff. I ended up running into MicHELLe at a deli on the way to TTT’s. Correction: as I was walking into the deli, MicHELLe ambushed me and wrapped her arms around my neck (she’s a good 8” shorter than I), yelling, “YAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSS!” After I snapped my spine back into alignment, we got matching sandwiches and walked down to TTT’s.

I’d been at No Parking the night before (and I can never leave before they close), so I didn’t want to go too hard. We had a pre-game drink at TTTs before walking down to the party, which was hosted by a friend of Ms. W’s that I’d met a few times before. The invite said to feel free to bring your cute friends, and for the most part, people followed directions. I wasn’t necessarily in hunt mode, so MicHELLe and I mostly kee-keed in the kitchen with the other black girls (there were 5 of us!) while sipping our drinks. TTT, on the other hand, surprised us all: not so much by making out with someone at the party, but making out with the guy with the gauged earlobe piercing! This was all going down not too far from where I was standing, and after extracting her tongue from this guy’s mouth, TTT mouthed “HELP!” over his shoulder.

Me: “What?! Bitch, you’s a grown-ass man! You need to handle your business!”

Call me a bad friend, but how the hell am I supposed to 'help' an adult who is willingly making out with another one. Self-help is a book called Turning Your Head: How Not To Lead Him On. Later, she was all up on one of the hosts. And actually got his number. After the host observed and commented on her making out with the Gauged Guy. I could never get away with that (on this continent).

The night ended rather uneventfully at Posh with MicHELLe on a mission to find “DICK!” as she so eloquently put it. Rumor has it she was successful (if waking up next to an old man and telling him, “You gotta go!” could be counted as success). Meanwhile, the only love I got was from the cat in Hampton Deli. He literally jumped into my arms (like TTT on any white guy within a 2-block radius of her apartment).

I was expecting that Grrber would be working the whole weekend, but it turns out his fashion show was on Sunday and not Monday. He texted me that he expected to be done around 3. I was gonna skip anti-Valentine’s day brunch, but I figured if I was going to cut out early to spend some time with Grrber, I could justify it (i.e., avoid drinking all damn day).

When I arrived, TTT was waiting by the bar with Urban Sprawl, who was dressed in all black. When we were finally seated, our very cute waiter (accent included!) started feeding us margaritas. In the ~2 hours we were there, there were no less than 3 birthdays and 2 engagement celebrations, something I’d never seen in my years of brunching at Maracas. MicHELLe joined us about 1.5 hours in to regale us with her aforementioned tale of tail.

I suggested Gym Bar since Pieces has started to bore me on Sundays, but Bottomless Pitt had crawled her way to the Village already. Urban Sprawl went to go meet her there while the rest of us trained it to Chelsea.

Gym Bar was pretty damn packed as usual. A couple of the boys from the night before met us there, and somehow, we got to talking to this couple of muscular guys, one of whom was pretty engaging. I talked to him for a good half hour before TTT and I went to the front of the bar to get a drink.

Me: “That guy is totally hot, but I think that’s his boyfriend.”

TTT: “You mean the guy was making out with the other guy?!”

Me: “Yeah, but that might be their arrangement.”

TTT: “What?! Would you be okay with Grrber making out with someone with you in the same bar?”

Me: “Maybe… if we were both hunting. Anyway, I’d be the one to pick the guy who wants to talk all night. I guess it doesn’t really matter if they’re boyfriends or not, but I don’t think he’s that into me.”

TTT: “Do you think he’d stick around for an hour talking if he weren’t?”

Me: “Well, if his boyfriend’s making out with some random, it’s not like he has anything better to do.”

TTT: “True.”

It was dark outside, and we were starving. We texted the boys in the Village that we wanted to meet up at Tue Thai. As I was leaving, the muscular guy stopped me and asked, “Are you on Facebook or something?” I gave him my card for my blog. I probably should have just given him my number. Then again…

After dinner (TTT bailed at the last minute for some boy), we headed to XES for Karaoke. I was kind of upset that both Mary J. Fly and Peppermint were absent, but it turned out that Mary J. Fly hadn’t made her entrance yet. And enter she did!

We stayed for way too many drinks and ended up going to the New Venus Diner on 8^th ave where I pigged out on breakfast food. I still hadn’t heard from Grrber (happy Valentine’s day to me), but I had his keys. Talk about crashing the party.

Of course, I passed out on the train to BK, but I happened to wake up 2 seconds before the subway doors closed at his stop. Did I mention that I couldn’t find my phone when I woke up? Yeah.

Click here to check out my birthday trip to Vegas (with video).

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Photos borrowed from cafepress.com and gosundayfunday.com