Hello all,
Surprisingly, I am up before 2 in the afternoon by a few hours. This is pretty substantial considering I can't remember the last time I woke up on my own at nine in the morning. These extra hours have given me some time to reflect on the past few weeks and all that has happened during them. Over my piece of toast, blackberries, and coffee from my new Keurig (Thanks Daddy!) I have been looking back at a Saturday. As a matter of fact, it was two Saturdays ago. This was no ordinary Saturday though. This was the day I turned 21 years old.
Now, I didn't always want to have a huge 21st birthday party. I thought to myself, nobody will drive two hours to come out to Tallahassee for this, let alone people around here. I am not sure why I was being so pessimistic, it's not like I don't have friends. To be honest, I did not want to be responsible for all the people at my house or have to clean up the gigantic mess it was sure to be (and was). It is safe to say that I am not a party thrower. I would much rather attend them than plan one myself. I just wasn't in the mood I guess.
Cassie and Chelsey were not having it though. They said how ridiculous I was being and told me it was a big deal and that I absolutely had to go out and do something. I reluctantly gave in to the idea of a waltz. What is a waltz you may ask? Well, a waltz could be for anyone I suppose, but it is what you do when you celebrate your twenty first birthday while in college. You pick a theme and have everyone dress the part. Then you pick a place to go out and celebrate at. Your friends make you a sign that goes along with the theme of your party that will hang boldly around your neck to let everyone and their cousin know that you were born on this day 21 years ago. This sign has twenty one rules on it that the birthday girl or boy must attempt to do. The last rule on the sign is that you have to officially get inducted into adulthood by ceremoniously swimming in the legendary Westcott fountain on campus. I'm not sure how other colleges do it since Westcott fountain is native only to FSU. I am sure there are other fountains though. I mean, UF has this swamp they are always bragging about, I am sure they could swim in that (crack at Tyler). I have heard that this is just a Southern thing to do and that not everyone does a waltz. I think everyone should do them, it is truly an event to live through.
So, I decided on the waltz. I was either doing nothing or going all out. You see,I like to go to the extreme ends of things, and if I was celebrating, I was going to throw down hard. Anyone want to take a gamble at what the theme of my waltz was? If you guessed anything to do with lightening bolt scars or Hogwarts, you are absolutely right. Of course, I chose Harry Potter as my theme. I wasn't having it any other way. It was so me and fit perfectly. Cassie thought we could ask everyone to wear black and then make badges for the four houses. She's so creative. Then I got super nerdy and said, "THEN WE CAN SORT THEM INTO THEIR HOUSES!!!!!". Obviously I wasn't about to break out the sorting hat, but I had an idea.
Side note- I will admit here that when I took my very first tour of FSU, I decided I was going to go to school here one way or another because our dining hall was modeled after the Great Hall in Harry Potter. It doesn't have the trademark long tables but the ceilings and wooden beams are enough to make anyone think that Dumbledore could walk in at any moment. It saddens me to think that I have not been back to the Suwanee Room since orientation, but the food got old real quick and I haven't had a taste for cafeteria pizza since.
Back to the birthday shenanigans, I had picked my theme. Now I just needed some friends. Since high school, I have pruned the rose bush of friendship drastically. I have about a handful of real friends and I am completely okay with that. I think it is better to have a few that you are 100% positive will bail you out of jail rather than a circus you can't rely on. I was worried I wouldn't be able to think of anyone else, but I have met numerous people in the land of the Seminole and I decided to invite everyone I had said hi to since moving out here. Turns out that all together that is about 25 people, which is great because that's about all I can handle.
The guest list included myself and Cassie, my two fabulosome (fabulous + awesome= fabulosome?) roommates Chelsey and Jess, my friend Chelsea and her friend Sandy who I will be spending my spring break with on Panama City Beach, my little brother Tyler, the infamous Taytum and Sierra, Chelsey's bf Jacob Mark, Dest the Best and CoCo, Kimbo Slice and David, Lew and Hunter, Matt and his friend Mike, Will aka "Stranger Danger," Austin (the guy who saved me from getting thrown out of a bar called Ken's Tavern for puking on the floor on the night of Cassie's 21st. Thanks Austin), and several other FSU male cheerleaders. These boys are like wolves and travel in packs, so if you invite one you invite all. Perks of being roommates and besties with a girl cheerleader is that you get to meet all big armed, strong bodied guys. I feel like I am forgetting someone or maybe a few and I am sorry if I have left you out. It was a really good group of people.
So I had the list, now I had to invite everyone. Thank the Lord for Facebook. I created an event page and here is what the invitation said:
"Cara is FINALLY turning 21! Her obsession of Harry Potter is about to take over Tallahassee as she and all of her friends invade Coliseum on Saturday the 16th of February. No need to wear a robe or carry a wand, but please dress in black and we will sort you into your houses. Bring your own poison of choice so we can keep the goblets full and the birthday girl smitten. The night will end with the traditional FSU fountain swim, but the fun doesn't have to end there. Feel free to join us back at the hotel room for her favorite birthday must, blowing out the birthday candles. So jump on your broomsticks and fly on over to our apartment at 9 pm. Prepare to get wickedly wasted and celebrate a night of magical proportions."
I wrote this with the help of Chelsey. She's really good for feedback and we wrote the one for Cassie's birthday together. So the bait was set and now I just had to wait for Saturday the 16th to get here.
Well, it came. Taytum and Sierra got here two days early to hang out and help make stuff for the party. Then Tyler came the night before to make sure I took my birthday shot at midnight. I went to the liquor store at midnight to make my first legal purchase (my only purchase because I was always too scared to do it before). While there, I am pretty sure the guy who rang me up asked me on a date. I don't know where that came into the conversation, but at the very end he said he would see me Tuesday at seven.... I must have zoned way out to Nova Scotia when I agreed to this night out. I never went though, I never gave him my phone number either, so there is no way he could have found me. I would have went though, just to see what dating was like. I have never actually dated around, just had boyfriends. Maybe that is what is wrong with me.
Tyler poured the birthday shots for everyone at midnight in the new shot glasses Cassie bought me for my birthday. We all toasted and threw them back to set off the start of a completely unforgettable weekend.
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