Baby mama drama

Hi, guys! I had sooooo planned to write this post sooner.

It was gonna be about my drink cheating on Friday nite.

With a recap of my sister's baby shower on Sunday to boot.

But that all got thrown for a loop when my sissy (the same one we had a shower for the day before) got in a crazy bad car accident on Monday afternoon. The accident wasn't her fault, but she ended up getting hit by cars from two different directions, all the airbags in her car went off and the car was totaled.

But the baby (and soon-to-be new little man in my life) is okay. And so is she.

Phew. (And now that I know she's okay... would it have been soooooo much to ask for a cute doctor to be doing rounds while I was at the hospital? Geez.)

See? I wasn't lying with the title of this post.

So, I'll probably write more about the shower later. (Including the cake. Ahh-maaaa-zing.) But for now, I just wanted to remind all of you to be thankful every day for your sisters and girlfriends.

Because no matter whether you have a guy in your life (we all know where I fall on that spectrum right now), you will always have your sisters and friends.

And that's pretty good too. :)

Buuuuut before I go... I do have some other exciting news. (Drumroll, please.) Auntie AAB is going to be an auntie times two! That's right, folks. My other sissy is pregs too. Congrats, sis! I'm so happy for you!!! :)

So, to recap:

• Sissy one is due in October.

• Sissy two is due in February.

• And sissy three (me) is due. For a date. Real soon.

Lonely hearts club = Sunday brunch date

Well, it turns out that having a GNO on Valentine's Day is actually pretty fun. The girls and I had a tasty dinner at Light Bistro (although our server had about as much personality as your keyboard) and followed that up with some cocktails at Bier Markt.

I thought it might be an interesting nite when we walked into Bier Markt and it appeared to be Sausage Fest '09. As in, I literally thought it might be gay nite there. But it wasn't. Yeah for us!

After we were at the bar for about an hour, I locked eyes with a guy across the bar, and he immediately came over to talk to us. Enter our newest blog fodder: Val. (See what I did there? For Valentin... oh, forget it.)

Anyhow, Val and I chatted for the rest of the nite. He was funny, cute, charming and confident. Score! (I even looked past the fact that he wasn't wearing a watch.) About halfway through our conversation, he asked if he could see me on Sunday because he was having such a good time.

Old AAB probably would have played coy so as to make it seem she wasn't so available. But *new* AAB said that sounded fun. (See? I told you I have turned over a new dating leaf this year.)

(Sidenote: I was apparently so caught up in my conversation with Val that I entirely missed the scene of my friend helping some woman who had puked on herself in the bar. Like, ALL OVER herself. On the couches in the front of the bar, not in the bathroom. Now that's what I call "love sick.")

But back to the story. Since I had lots going on later in the day on Sunday, Val and I met for brunch at Touch Supper Club. I walked in to find him sitting at the bar with a mimosa, and he looked just as cute in his Under Armour zip-up as he did in his button down and blazer the nite before.

We chatted, ate and shared embarrassing drinking stories for a couple of hours before I had to leave. I genuinely enjoyed our conversation, though I was a bit taken aback that both the bartender and the DJ knew Val by name. Party much? I actually called him out on it after a third person came in and knew him. He told me he just knows a lot of people. Hmmm...

(Another sidenote: Val took out his iPhone and Facebook friended me while we were at brunch, so now that I've been able to look at his profile... he does have quite a few bar pics in there. OK, a LOT of bar pics.)

Beyond the whole question of whether he parties too much, my only other hesitation with Val is that he just got divorced. (I swear, I have a knack for finding guys who are either in the middle of or just out of a divorce. Awesome timing, AAB.) She cheated and he kicked her out.

(Though this is now the third recently divorced guy who has given me this story... is that how they teach guys to get back into the dating scene in Divorce School?)

But I also learned that Val likes to cook, owns his own business (and works A LOT), likes to travel and has the same birthday as blogdad. (I found that last tidbit somewhat creepy.)

After a couple of hours, Val walked me to my car (I ALWAYS drive myself to a first date as an insurance policy/get-away plan), gave me a peck on the lips and referenced taking me out again this coming weekend.

So I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

But at least now I can say I had a date over Valentine's weekend. :)

Today is totally S.A.D.

Singles Awareness Day, that is!

OK, ok. So it's also Valentine's Day. And, really, I'm not all that upset about it. (My attitude has changed significantly in the past week. No use being crabville, right?)

I have fun plans for tonite with three other girlfriends (we added to the party since I last wrote). And I already received sweet cards and treats from some friends and family. (Including a gift for "Aunt Juicy" (me) from my friends' kids, complete with Malley's gummi bears -- my FAVE!.)

So I know I'm loved.

Even if I'm single.

And it's actually sort of nice to not be stressing about what to wear, what the plans are, and whether he'll like my gift (though I hardly ever worried about the gift part... that's one of my best GF traits, if I do say so myself).

In fact, going out with a group of girls meant I didn't have to make ANY plans. For once. (We girls are good like that, no?)

On the agenda for tonite? Cocktails and dinner at Light Bistro. After-dinner drinks at Bier Markt. Lots of chatting with boys (who are most likely single if they are out on Valentine's Day). And hopefully a blog story or two. :)

Happy Heart Day!

Those darn Golden Girls had it right all along

For those of you who read this blog fairly regularly, you are well aware of my dating sitch right now. Or lack thereof.

Lucky for me, I have some amazing friends and family to keep me smiling throughout this dating drought. They are the Hall to my Oates. The gin to my juice. The peanut butter to my... well, see for yourself:

CASE IN POINT #1

I arrived home this week to find a bouquet of flowers sitting outside of my condo door. My mind immediately rushed to thinking they were belated birthday flowers, most likely from The Murse. (Which immediately made my stomach turn.) They were, indeed, birthday flowers. But they were from my very dear friend Ali and the card attached, it said, thank you for bein' a friend. (Did you read that sung to the theme song of The Golden Girls?) Truth be told, Ali and I used to spoon on my Mickey Mouse comforter in college while eating Pringles and watching the good ol' GGs. No wonder I looked like a house by the end of freshman year.

CASE IN POINT #2

I got an email today from my sissy's friend (who has now become my friend too) asking if I wanted to join her and another friend for a Valentine's Day dinner in Tremont. Umm... YES, PLEASE! I love fine dining and haven't had a lot of opportunities to go out without... well... a date to go with. So I am very much looking forward to my Valentine's Day threesome now. Wait, that sounded wrong...

CASE IN POINT #3

My sissies are amazingly funny and I love spending time with them. (Nowadays, that is. We hated each other when we were younger.) We just made plans to go see He's Just Not That into You this weekend (which I am super excited for), then grab din-din at a fine establishment at Crocker Park. (Too bad MAC doesn't serve food.) In addition to being fun to hang out with, my sissies just generally make me laugh on a daily basis. Take, for instance, the email I just received from my middle sissy: I officially have the best haircut ever and you should go to my girl. I am wearing my hair curly today and I look like a movie star. I mean, I seriously look like I could be one of those moms in a JIF commercial, or maybe even Swiffer Duster or Totino's Pizza Rolls. It's awesome!!!

(I especially enjoyed how sissy said she looked like a movie star, then cast herself in a series of commercials.)

So, ladies... consider this a charge: do something nice for one (or more) of your girlfriends today. Send a little cookie basket. (Though that would be mean if your friend is on a diet.) Drop her a little note telling her something awesome about herself. Take her for a manicure. Give her a coupon for one of those fat-melting wraps. (Tread carefully with that one.)

And remember to tell her... thank you for bein' a friend.

Counting my blessings (but not my bad dates)

This is a great time of year to reflect on all of the wonderful things in your life: your friends and family, your health, your ability to eat Melt on a regular basis without gaining weight. (I'm blessed with the first two, but definitely not the last.)

I was honored to share in the special days of two of my very best friends this year. Two more bridesmaid notches under my belt, two more incredibly happily married friends.

We were able to start the wedding season festivities by doing the robot at Carrie's bachelorette party:


And having a ton of fun on her wedding day (this is one of our fancy shots of the day):


Then came Molly's bachelorette party (featuring penis straws, as modeled by me here):


And her awesomely wonderful wedding day:


And sprinkled in between all of my bridesmaid duties were vacations with my college friends (who are now spread out all over the Midwest and East Coast):


Any my family (not pictured, but also on vacay: blogdad, my brothers-in-law and Brissy):


And while I celebrated all of these occasions without a significant other to share them with, I still never lost sight of the wonderful people who are in my life each and every day.

(Plus, I just thought it was really funny to post this many pictures with people's faces blacked out.)

So I guess I just want to say thank you to all of my holla-awesome friends and family (and readers! I think you rock too!), and wish everyone an even happier, more joyful and blessed 2009.

And, please, for the love of all things holy... keep working on that finders' fee! :)

Much happiness in the New Year -




Always a Bridesmaid


P.S. See? I did listen to all you guys about how I should wear my hair for Molly's wedding. (That's where this pic is from.)

P.P.S. I'm heading to Philly for a few days to celebrate NYE with a couple of the college roomies pictured above. Blog to you in '09!