Miss Goody-Two-Shoes Hits the Tampa Bar Scene!

There's truly a first time for everything. I went out with my friends last night to celebrate our last day of school, our three-week summer break (no getting up at 5 AM for three weeks--Yay!), and our first year in the court reporting program. We got out at noon, so I followed Amy and Brooke to Amy's house so she could get ready, and so Brooke could drop off her car since she was staying there. Afterward, we went to Melanie's place and ate a yummy lunch that she cooked for us--pulled pork and black beans and rice. Mel is a fantastic cook; it was sooooo good. My mouth is still watering just thinking about it. We hung around for a while waiting for Anna, and when she got there, we went to Rick's on the River, a cool little place on the Hillsborough River.

I'm not much of a drinker, and they all know that, but Brooke made it her personal mission to get me drunk. Her words to me last Tuesday: "I hope you pass out! Ooh, I'd better bring a camera!" Oooookaaaay. Nice friends, eh? I don't think she meant any harm....

Since I don't know what I like, other than margaritas, I made that my drink of the evening. Mel's friend Krista showed up a little after we got there. She's a lot of fun. She just got accepted into law school, and after she had a few, she was arguing with this obnoxious old guy (who kept hitting on each of us in turn) about the integrity of public defenders who are assigned to defend people like the guy who *allegedly* raped and murdered 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford last year. I could see that Krista will make a good attorney :)

My "initiation" (since I hadn't been able to go out with them in the past) was to drink a Jaeger Bomb, which is Red Bull and Jaegermeister. It was nasty--tasted like cough syrup. And it also knocked me on my ass. I stuck with margaritas. Except for the Buttery Nipple that Brooke bought me. It was okay. I'd actually had that before. Our friend Ron, who is in the culinary program at our school, showed up. He's a bit scary-looking when you first see him: Mohawk (although only a *little* one :) , piercings, and tattoos. But he's the nicest guy. Totally harmless. I probably had the best time talking to him last night, despite Brooke trying to set me up with a decent guy we met at the bar. I'm not looking to get "hooked up" or whatever with anyone right now, so I just tried to be nice. I don't know about meeting guys in bars, anyway, since I rarely go. Not really my thing.

I had one more margarita, even though I was already feeling a little buzzed, danced with Ron, Brooke, and Krista (I am SUCH a white girl!), and drunk-dialed a cute guy friend, even though I was not full-on drunk. I didn't say anything embarrassing, which is kinda the definition of drunk-dialing, and I knew he was a safe bet because, A). he's really far away, and B). he gets the whole drunk-dialing thing, at least according to prior conversations we had had :) Mel bought me a Red Bull and kept getting me water to balance stuff out, and I was fine to drive home. Amy had another spare bedroom for me to sleep in if I had overdone it, but I was truly fine. I was actually more impaired from being up for 21 hours than anything. Got home, took a shower (smelled like smoke--Gag!), went to bed, and got up this morning feeling no ill effects.

Final tally: One mini-shot of vodka and lemonade, one Jaeger Bomb, one Buttery Nipple, three margaritas. In nine hours.

So that's my first experience out with the girls. I will now return to my regularly scheduled Goody-Two-Shoes life :)