just looking for some inspiration: “Get up and dance, get up and smile, get up and drink to the days that are gone in the shortest while.”

Ahooyyyy there friends.

Oh, the adventures of a 21st birthday. I'd say mine was as tame as you could get, but I still had a great time.

So, the reason I had to wake up at 5:45 yesterday morning (I felt like a zombie) was that Chris and Amy flew in for my birthday! Nobody knew except Paul and Sarah, because I had to make sure it was okay for them to stay with me.

AND DEAREST HUNGARIAN SIDE OF THE FAMILY: Let's keep this hush hush, shall we? We all know Nagymama would not be pleased to hear he was here without seeing her. And if any of you upset her and make her mad at me....we will have words. And then YOU get to find me a new place to live!

So anyway. Their flight got in at 8:30. Ah, the adventures of getting to JFK from Jersey. I took the 6:51 train to Secaucus, the 7:15 train to Penn Station, the 7:45 LIRR to Jamaica, and by the grace of God managed to successfully board the AirTrain to JFK. That place is MASSIVE. After circling Terminal 5 for what seemed like forever, I finally came to the actual terminal. (The rest were moving walkways on your expedition to the flight area.) As I made my way to baggage claim, I was met by Chris and Amy. Huzzah!

They both looked dead tired because SURPRISE! they hadn't slept. At all. Oh dear. So I bought them both coffee and we began our trek to Brooklyn. That was fun. AirTrain to Jamaica. LIRR from Jamaica to Atlantic Terminal Brooklyn. Then the R aaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way to Prospect Ave. What a journey.

We put our stuff down in Paul's apartment, then went in search of breakfast. We ended up at a market/grocery store and got sandwich stuff. Paul and Sarah left me a bottle of champagne (awww. :) ) so we got some orange juice to go with it. We got back and made sammies and mimosas. Yay! After that, I let them sleep for two hours. I tried to sleep, but my brain was not having it. Finally at 2, I woke them up and said LET'S GO!

We took the R to 23rd Street and trekked over to the High Line. They aren't used to walking so much, and they hadn't slept much, so that was an adventure in itself. We finally made it, walked about 3 blocks on the High Line, realized it was WAY too crowded, so we walked 10 blocks to 30th and 10th, where The Lot/The Lot on Tap/Rainbow City are. We walked around Rainbow City for a bit, then made our way to The Lot on Tap. Got wristbands and a Happy Birthday from the drink ticket lady, and got our tickets for $7 beer. Which seems really excessive. But whatever, it's about the experience.

We got....Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold, which I thought tasted peppery, which is weird. A Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55. That one was my favorite. Sehr Crisp Pilsner by Sixpoint Craft Ales, which was alright. (Please keep in mind that I don't drink beer...heh)

(Yes, I did just google all of those. Shhhh)

Anywho. I was a little hungry, so I got some really yummy dumplings from the Rickshaw Truck. And he wished me a happy birthday (Because by this point I was wearing my crown... pictures below..). So we found some chairs and sat for a while. I ALMOST finished the entire beer...it was large and I don't like beer..

Amber came to meet us and we all hung out there until around 5:45, at which point we started the journey to The Bourgeois Pig. We walked to 33rd and 6th and took the F from inside Manhattan Mall. Did anyone know that was there? I didn't...

So we got the F to 2nd Ave, got above ground, and had no idea where the hell we were. We walked two blocks, I checked my phone and realized we were going in the wrong direction. Whoops. So we walked back the other way about 10 or so blocks and 2 avenues and finally found it, though it isn't well marked at all. We stood outside waiting for other people, then we decided to try to get a table. There was a dude standing in the doorway, who we assumed would move when we went to walk in, but then we found out he worked there. Oooookay. So we told him we had 8 people coming, he went inside to see, and then came back out to seat us. We were seated at big squishy couches around a coffee table. I thought it was the waiting area....it was not. It was our table. For 8 people. Oh dear.

The place was suuuuper dark with red velvety chairs everywhere and medieval-esque decor. It was...strange. But cute. I liked it. We ordered a veggie plate and a punch bowl. Ohhhh the punch bowl. It had raspberries, lime, some sort of sherry, and champagne. And it was literally served in a silver punch bowl. They even brought us punch cups. Chris and Amy hated it, so it was up to Amber and I to drink it. Hehe.

Heather, Brittany, Prescella, and Alanna showed up, and we decided what to order. Alanna was the only other one who was 21, and she didn't want the punch, so now it was up to Amber and I to finish it.

Good thing it was delicious.

We decided to order a 10 cheese variety cheese board and a mushroom cheese fondue. Portions were alright I guess. Definitely could have been bigger. Our waitress wasn't exactly attentive, but she wasn't awful. The food was delicious. The punch bowl was better. Haha. It said it would serve 2-4 people, but with just two people sharing it I got a little woozy. Ha. I chugged some water and sat for a minute before attempting to stand. But I did it. I went to the creepy all black, dimly lit Victorian style bathroom. So creepy. And the toilet was black. Uh, what? It's like hide and go seek with the freaking toilet.

Anyway. I think Amy and Chris were hating being there, but they were good sports about it. We opted not to get dessert fondue, paid the bill, and headed out. We said good bye to the under-21 gang and Chris, Amy, Amber, Alanna and I headed in search of ice cream. We went to Lula's, then I decided I wasn't really feeling ice cream. We walked around some more, then decided to go to Nice Guy Eddie's. They had Kiss painted on the side of the building, so really, how could we pass it up? Plus, I needed a gentle segue into the world of bars.

With a solid "B" sanitation grade (Chris says that means the glasses are clean but don't eat the food...heh) Alanna was totally horrified to be there, but I was so much more comfortable than if we had gone to say, the lounge across the street. I promised Alanna I would go to some bars in Meatpacking with her soon though. :)

Chris told the bartender it was my 21st and she asked what I wanted. We narrowed it down to something fruity, so she said she would make me sangria. She asked white or red, I said surprise me. What she made was delicious fruity gold. I now know I enjoy white sangria from divey bars. Ha. So I got that and a glass of water and we grabbed a high top. As any good sketch bar should, Eddie's had a jukebox. Chris and I picked out some tunes and jammed the night away. After I finished my sangria, Chris and Amy schemed and ordered me an orange cremesicle shot? I think that's what it was. It tasted like cough syrup with vanilla extract. Mmmm? Either way I drank it successfully. Heh. Then I got another sangria and we jammed some more.

After that, Amber and Alanna parted ways and Chris, Amy and I went in search of some food for them since the fondue wasn't really their thing. We ended up at Rocket Joe's, a sketchy little pizza place off Delancey. We ordered a cheese pie and garlic knots and sat on the stools outside. All of our feet were in great pain. We ate the garlic knots but the pizza was too hot, so we decided to bring it back to Brooklyn with us.

And thus began our adventure in hailing a cab in the wrong part of town.

Every cab that passed was full. Some of the black cabs pulled up, but I've always been told to only take a YellowCab so I said 'No thanks!' After probably at least 15 minutes of failure, we walked over to...Allen Street, I think? I don't know, it was in front of Congee Village and finally got one to stop. We made our way back to Brooklyn, ate pizza, and passed out.

This morning, I had to wake up at 7. Not happy Theresa. Very tired Theresa. I cleaned up the apartment, made sure Chris and Amy got into the car to the airport, said bye, then went back to make sure everything was clean. Eventually, I headed to the subway and took the R aaaaaaall the way to 34th. I walked to Penn Station and got on the train to Secaucus. When I got to Secaucus it was an hour and a half until the next train to Passaic. Oy. I got coffee and some breakfast and headed outside to wait. Luckily, it was really nice out this morning. I helped some people find their trains, and got back here a little before noon.

I walked in to the living room to find flowers and a balloon waiting for me from my sister. Awwwww. :) That was the perfect thing to come back to. I also came upstairs to find Nagymama had cleaned my room. Oh boy. =P

Anyway. Now I need to do laundry, figure out how to get myself to CVS, and go to sleep eeeeearly. Nagymama went off to the party at Vicki's house. I would have liked to go, but I need to rest. I'm so tired.

Now, after my overly long winded blog, I would like to say THANK YOU! to all of my amazing friends and family that helped to make my 21st birthday so wonderful and so memorable. I love you all so very very much. :)

AND NOW IT'S PICTURE TIME.

My outfit: (looks familiar, right?)