Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Weekend with my Favorite Sister

A blog I forgot to post... this one goes out to my man Adam Hauch!


Dearest Adam,

I just got back from an impulsive weekend trip to DC to visit Natasha. the week prior she called me at least twice a day to convince me to fly up and visit her - and you know me - it doesn't take too much work to convince me. Anyways, I flew in Friday night and went pretty much straight to drinking. She bought a handle of rum and had a handful of different beers waiting for me - a truly amazing sister! Too bad I was still hung over from the night before. (We had organized a drinking fundraiser at Lotus Lounge on Thursday night. A dollar from every drink went straight to help rebuild New Orleans. Hunter, my roommate, works for Patron and was able to set up Patron specials all night.) Anyways, regardless of how I was feeling, I had to bring my "A" game, Natasha had talked me up as a mix between Van Wilder and Superman. We met up with some of her friends at their apt and shot-gunned beers (I obv. put them to shame) and smoked some hookah. One of the guys had bought a table at a brand new club called Current, so we decided to make an appearance.

Adam, this place was ridiculous. Compared to this place, clubs in Chicago are ok and Dallas doesn't even come close. The bathroom doors were see through, but when you locked them, there was something in the glass that made them opaque. I could describe the club - but you really don't care too much. So I'll get to the point - the place was talented. Coming from Dallas, I really didn't expect much-but I was happily surprised. In fact, I met a girl. She was the bottle service waitress. Gorgeous! I'd move people out of her way while she was trying to get by in the crowded club and while she was passing by - we'd share a dance. Anyways, by the end of the night she slipped me her number and I asked her to dinner for the following night.

Woke up on my sister's friends couch. Not really sure how that happened because Quinette (the girl from the night before) kept feeding me Long Islands all night :) Anyways, walked back to Natasha's apt -watched the UT /OU game, tried to sneak into the student gym, but we got kicked out b/c I wasn't a student, so we ended up strolling around the charming Georgetown area. Finally got some good brother / sister time.

Dinner: Since I was only in town for one more night I decided to take Natasha, her friend, AND Quinette to dinner. We decided on a small Italian restaurant that Natasha loves. We walked in and immediately met the owner, oh who is also a magician. We quickly befriended him and he spent the next 30 minutes at our table dazzling us with card tricks. After getting to know him a little better he revealed to me that he also a recruiter and judge for the Miss USA pagaent and that I needed to convince my sister and Quinette to compete... weird. ... After dinner Quinette had to go back to Current for work and I took Natasha and her roommate, Ivy, salsa dancing. Adam, I'm not sure if you know, but both Natasha and Ivy are on the ballroom team at college - they are incredible dancers. After dancing nonstop for about 3 hours - seriously nonstop - they wouldn't let me take a break, Natasha and Ivy headed home and I decided to head back to Current. I ended up dancing even more with Quinette as her night was winding down and then she offered to drive me to the airport at 4 am after work (because my flight was at 5:30 am).

It's always a pleasure to hang out with my sister, she's coming down for a while next month, but it was nice to finally met a normal fun girl who's not A) a bitch and/or B) flaky.

Anyways.... Chicago! Two Days!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Crazy Craziness

Jon!

It's Monday night and I'm still exhausted from the craziness of this past weekend. So lets start from Friday, shall we?. (Because for the first time in a long time I didn't go out on Thursday night)

Friday night:

Threw a party at the club down the street - Joyce- my favorite place in Dallas. We had about 60 people from The Room come and had a roped off section by the bar. We also had a drink special with the club - buy one get one free - and my bar tab was STILL $150! I hope that gives you an idea of the night. By the end of the night the general manager and VIP host both came up to me and heartily thanked us for coming. :)

Saturday:

I decided to throw an "end of the summer" pool party at my Arlington house. About 30ish people made it out, we drank, jumped into the hot tub and then decided to one up it and head out to Pier 121 for a midnight booze cruise! We boarded a 2 story boat and headed out to Party Cove at Lake Lewisville for some debauchery. When we made it out the the middle of the lake we met up with 7 other giant boats tied together and partied until God knows when. I woke up the next morning... still on the boat. This boat was NOT the boat I had started out on, we were NOT docked at the same dock and I was NOT sober... Whoops!

Sunday:

I somehow had made friends with two girls on that boat that night and they offered to take me back to my car but we all agreed to meet back at the boat in a couple hours to spend Sunday Funday back out at Party Cove and enjoy that last official day of summer. So the girls and I had an amazing brunch and headed over to one of their apartments to drink more, shower, freshen up.... oh yeah.... and TRY ON BIKINI'S!! I forgot to mention that these girls are gorgeous btw. Anyways, after we were all ready we headed back to the boat for another beautiful day on the lake. I had no idea what I was about to get into. Jon, do you remember Cancun? Ok, so it was like Cancun on Lake Lewisville. Again 7 boats were tied together and the craziness that ensued was ridiculous. Even for me. Wow. Most of the day was a blur. But I do remember clothing was optional - there were lots of body shots - there was a stripper pole on the back of one of the boats - I tossed a girl over the side of the boat - then got throw over the side myself by one of her friends. By the end of the day they somehow trusted me to captain the ship on the way back for a bit.

Needless to say I was a WRECK when I finally got back to my apartment Sunday night.

Jon, this past weekend was CRAZY!! I'm still exhausted and it's Monday night. ugh! I'm looking forward to a week of no drinking (but you know how that usually goes - We are having roomate night at a beer garden just down the street)

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

God Bless Patron

Sunday 8/17

Here starts the second half of my trip. Patron Tequila is having a charity fundraiser for New Orleans and is rewarding people who raise the most money for the cause. My friends and I raised almost 900 dollars and won an all expense paid trip. So here begins the Patron - Music in Motion Tour. Patron flew me and 3 of my buddies to Chicago to board the Patron Express. If you have been to the Foundation Room at the House of Blues, well, this is the crown jewel of the Foundation Rooms. We received a 20 minute story on the rich history of the train, but to keep this short, I'll just briefly describe the train. The walls are lined with intricate wooden carvings and the floors, furniture and ceilings are covered in beautiful tapestries all from India. Words can not describe the ambience of this cart. On board we met Chris, the keeper of this bad ass train – who is also a treasure hunter! He gave us the rich history of the train as well as told us crazy stories from his life. Anyways, we pulled out of the Roosevelt yard lounging on the back of the train, sipping on Margaritas and smoking cigars just as the sun was setting over Chicago. Amazing!

So we spent the next 8 hours on board drinking an endless supply of Patron, smoking cigars and sharing stories. We refused to go to bed, we all of us except Warren - he needed a little 2 hour nap. We arrived in Cleveland around 3 am went straight to the hotel and slept like babies!


Monday 8/18:
I had no weddings or flights today - Thank God! We all slept until about 1:00 pm. One of the most satisfying nights of sleep I've ever had. After a late lunch we headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a couple beers on the patio and took in the beautiful weather and view of Lake Erie. For dinner we headed to the local brewery and we all had the beer sampler, which ended up being a wonderful idea. :) After talking with a couple locals, they pointed us to the Monday night hot spot in Cleveland. Liquid Lounge! One truth about the Cleveland - it is dead. It's nice that it's right up against the Lake, but the city is so small and boring that I feel bad for the residents of Cleveland. Never going back!

Tuesday 8 /19:

Slept in again. I guess inspired by the Rock and Roll hall of fame and seeing how these guys lived life to the edge, Ben, Warren and I threw on our bathrobes and headed to the mall adjacent to our hotel to grab lunch. Some people laughed, some people avoided us and some people hid their children from us - I guess they thought we were going to flash people (even though we were fully clothed under the robes) Anyways, after making a scene, we headed back to our hotel to shower and get ready for the concert. Oh yeah, the reason we were in Cleveland was to see the Projekt Revolution Tour - Linkin Park was headlining.

The concert was literally in the middle of nowhere - about an hour drive out of Cleveland. At 2:00 on a Tuesday the crowd was interesting to say the least it was mostly gothic / topless / drugged up people. After downing 2 Sparks (alcoholic energy drinks) we headed to the main stage for the big acts. When we walked over we realized that we actually had seats - and not any seats. When patron hooks you up, they go all out. Third Row, dead center! People around us caught picks and drumsticks the bands were throwing into the crowd; I got drenched by the water bottles they threw. Whatever, I'll take it. The concert was honestly one of the most energy packed shows I have seen. Awesome!

Wednesday 8/20:

Flew back to Dallas - took the rest of the day off work.

Jon – I’m sorry you couldn’t make the trip – it really was an AMAZING experience!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Wedding Season

Dearest Jon (....and anyone else reading this blog...),

I just had one of the craziest weekends / week ever. So lets start at the very beginning shall we?

Thursday 8/14:

Knowing that I have an early flight to Chicago on Friday, in true OJ tradition, I decided to start the weekend a little early and go out with some friends...HARD. The night started at Lotus Lounge, it's a place just down the street from my apartment. Next, we walked next door to Aura, a higher energy club - but finally settled at Joyce, a brand new club that opened near downtown. I ended up getting smashed, closing out the bar, and staying up until about 3 am.

Friday 8/15:

I jolt awake to the sound of the doorbell. 7:00 am! I had forgotten my mom was taking me to the airport. I climb out of bed.. wow.... I'm still drunk, (Thank god I packed the night before!). I jumped into the car, handled a quick delivery, and am on my way to the airport. After being 2 hours delayed, I arrived in Evanston in shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals 10 minutes before the wedding. A quick change in the bathroom of a bar and I'm ready for the ceremony. It was a beautiful wedding...and a beautiful reception, Cafe Brauer at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

The Air and Water show was taking place at the same time, so we had fly by's from jets and a gorgeous view of the Chicago skyline with perfect weather. 2 hours later we're “cheers-ing” Pat Pelling on an amazing Best Man's speech with shots of Makers Mark while I had the garter belt wrapped around my head (classy, I know). I ended up dancing the night away with the Gentlemen of Sigma Phi Epsilon-the most fun dancers I know. I know it sounds gay, but I tore up the dance floor with Charlie, Steve and Ben Woo. Don't get me wrong, I whirled several moms around the dance floor, but I had the most fun with my boys.

Seeing as I had a 7am flight the next morning out to Detriot, (again in OJ tradition) I planned on not staying at a hotel and partying all night long, which is exactly what I did. After the reception, with my luggage in hand, we headed to a bar down the street for some additional shots – obviously 5 hours of open bar wasn’t enough. I stashed my luggage with the door guy and proceeded to loose memories. Poured a glass on red wine off a balcony at one of my friends but ended up nailing a giant guy in a white t-shirt. Whoops! Clearly good decisions were not made. Luckily, I made it to 5:00 am! I remembered my luggage, jumped into a cab and headed to the airport. I had a little time to burn before my flight so I grabbed some breakfast from McDonald's, sat down right in front of the gate door, took a bite of my hash browns and closed my eyes for a second.

Saturday 8/16:

I opened my eyes and BAM it's an hour and a half later!! Everyone had boarded the flight at 7 and left me in Chicago!! I scarfed down the rest of my hash browns - and headed straight to the next flight to Detriot. I found out that the next flight has 4 open seats left, but there are 11 people ahead of me on standby. After pleading with AA, I’m shocked to discover that it'll cost $420 dollars to guarantee a seat. Wow! Ok, so I can be a little late to the wedding. I decided to take my chances, and by some sort of luck, I got the last seat on the plane! I arrived in Detriot with 2 hours before the ceremony. So I rushed to the rental car company and ended up wasting an hour in line. No joke, one hour! When I finally get to the agent, guess what? My driver’s license is expired!! I can't rent a car. I'm an hour drive away from the ceremony and an hour until the wedding starts. What do I do? Cab!

I jump into the nearest cab and head straight to the hotel to meet up with everyone. Luckily the driver knew where the hotel was. When I finally pulled up to the hotel, the driver turns around and asks for $100 dollars. Wow, ok. I paid for the overpriced ride and stepped inside the hotel. BAM - I'm caught in a whirlwind of hugs and kisses from all my friends. They instantly turned me right around and we jumped into cars and head straight to the Church. For the record, I'm still wearing the exact suit I had on the night before and am still carrying around all of my luggage, I'm so late I don't even have time to set it upstairs. When we get to the church, I change in the parking lot, and head into the Chapel for wedding #2.

We've got 20 minutes before the wedding, just enough time to sound check the songs we'd be singing for the service and, oh yes, comb my hair. Another beautiful ceremony filled with oodles and bunches of mushy mushy love....I almooooost cried.

After the wedding, I had just enough time to brush my teeth, take a quick shower, and lay down on my bed for 30 minutes (the first time since Thursday night). At the reception I was seated at a table with 3 guys and 8 girls - my kind of ratio!! After about an hour, I realized the girls at the table are either married or gay. What is this? Some kind of joke? I quickily realize, however, I'm sitting at a table with some of the most fun girls I have ever met. We all tore up the dance floor! All the F15 guys all got up on the stage and sang a couple songs for everyone. We ended the night at Champps drinking beers and telling stories. It was great catching up with these guys.

Ok, this was just a quick little recap of the weekend. Jon, I still have the Patron Music in Motion Tour to tell you about… that’ll be on the next post! See you in LA in a couple weeks.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Hired Help

Isn't having an office manager supposed to make your life easier?

You would think so! Today... not so much. He decided, on his own, to reschedule a deliver that was supposed to go out today - to Friday. It was a sample delivery, meaning it didn't reach our normal delivery minimum, but apparently, he didn't get the memo. You would think that he would at least ask before doing it. He was gone for a month and things ran smoothly; he's back for two days and I'm already getting frustrated...

....at least the weekend is almost here...

Monday, August 4, 2008

Step One

So, This is blogging huh?

Well then, I'm going to take a moment to thank Jon Jordan. Yes Jon, you've inspired me to start my own blog. I know you're dieing to hear all about the craziness that is my life in Dallas. And since we see each other only a couple times a year, I hope this will keep bridge the gaps between our hearts.

I'm at work right now and not very familiar with this program yet, but I'll write something for you soon. Oh yeah, anyone else is more than welcome to read along and add comments if you've got em.

HFF,
OJ