Pep Talks

I think we all could agree: sometimes your friends come up with the most inventive ways to explain a situation. These Pep Talks only become keener with the addition of alcohol. The lovely Lauren Dz was in town this weekend from Tallahassee. Lauren luckily comes as part of a two-some: her sister Rachel is just as witty and a blast to hang out with. It was Rachel’s birthday, and since Lauren and I like to spend the Saturdays that she’s in town at the more-bang-for-your-buck establishment Big Belly Brewery on Church Street for Power Hour, it seemed like a win-win. Who doesn’t like 3-4-1’s?

Little did we know that Chillers offered 3-4-1’s until 10:30p, which is when Power Hour starts at Big Belly. I can’t get over how much the bar at Chillers smells like a used diaper. If I could, I’d hand a gold medal to each and every bartender that works there for their enduring efforts. But I don’t, so I opt to hand an extra dollar to my bartender when she brings me the round I’m splitting with Lauren and Rachel. I also couldn’t get over what a sausage fest it seemed to be. We felt badly for the guys, but in our favor the majority of the crowd looked good enough for us to at least entertain the thought of hooking up with some of them.

Scanning the pack, we comment on who we find appealing. “That guy is not your type,” Lauren says when I ask about a fellow propped against the opposite end of the bar from us. Rachel concurs on the basis that he’s not bad-ass enough for me. “You like guys that have facial hair and look like they’d beat the shit out of a guy for ordering anything but Gentleman Jack.” I nod. I do tend to go for colored folk (a.k.a boys with tattoos), and attitude problems. “Hey, if they look like might have just been released from the Pen and won’t call after we sleep together, that pretty much puts him in the Keeper category for me!”

I do find one guy who is standing remarkably close to me to be somewhat of a fox. We’re about 3 inches apart, though there is no need for it, and he has his back only slightly turned to me so he can get a good view of the basketball that is on the TV above. He’s with a disproportionate group of guys to girls, so my chances of talking to him are very good. “If its not the Pistons, I don’t care,” Lauren says while I make glances at the TV, the guy, and back to the TV. He’s wearing a long-sleeve shirt, so I can’t see if he’s sporting ink. He looks clean-cut but his build hints at fisticuffs. He looks like a cross between John Cena and a young Brett Favre.

We hear one of the three girls amongst the John Favre group get a birthday shout out, and me being the person who always likes to make situations uncomfortable for others, I get the bright idea to run up to the DJ booth. Obviously, the 2 rounds the girls and I have split by now are kicking in. I’m beaming with delight as I make my way back from upstairs. Oh, sneaky-sneaky… (Not really.)

After numerous attempts to get the cahones to “bump” into him or strike up a conversation about the basketball, I see him chatting with Birthday Girl. I’m reading far too deeply into the body language, and I express my dismay as I interpret that they are getting familiar. Cue the Pep Talk. Rachel kicks things into gear with the standard opener, “You are so much prettier than her!” Lauren, with her unabashed sarcasm, sums up the girl in four words: “She’s hot in Iowa.” Rachel and I nearly spit out our drinks and wait with bated breath for Lauren to elaborate. “I mean, look at her. She’s wearing a jacket that I wore in 8th grade for Christ’s sake! She has Midwest written all over her!” I’m feeling my confidence growing with each and every word and sip from my vodka and tonic. “Besides, they totally are having a conversation about being exes and how it’s not going to be weird for them to hang out with the same group of people at the same bar.”

The MC booms over the Top 40 bar music. “We’ve got another birthday shout out! This one goes out to Lauren, from her two bad ass friends! GIVE IT UP FOR LAUREN!”

I’m excited as the bar erupts with cheers and woos. I have the same look on my face as George Dubya when he heard Saddam was caught. Lauren and Rachel look at me, choking back their laughter. “Heather, did you pregame before we came out,” Rachel giggles. “Seriously, dude, what drugs are you on?!” Realizing what I had done, I scramble for a witty way to twist the situation. “I just got so excited that we were all together! I drew a blank from all of the endorphins!” I didn’t have to wait long before the MC came over and corrected the situation for me. “Free shots for the birthday girl! Which one is it?” Rachel reaches for a shot and explains, “Its mine, but my name is Rachel.”

As my Pep Talk falls flat on its face, the MC pauses with a look of confusion so Lauren can finish up with, “Our friend here told the DJ the wrong name.” I’m turning about at red as the cranberry and vodka in Lauren’s hand and I’m trying to laugh off the situation. Assessing the situation in his head, he then says into the microphone, “Since your friend is a bit of a flake, here’s what we’re gonna do!” He hands me a shot in a test tube, and while still on the mic he instructs me to nestle it down into my cleavage. “Lower. Lower. A little lower. OK! Now Rachel! GO GET THAT SHOT!”

Before I can wipe the look of remorse for not only what I did but also what was about to happen, out of the corner of my eye I see John Favre watch with light amusement as Rachel takes a shot from my cleavage. Lauren snaps a photo, catching my penitence. We head up to Big Belly Brewery, where every round washes down my embarrassment.

New Digs!

Thank God for Twitter!! The past few weeks have been non-stop craziness and if it wasn’t for my ability to update the world on my antics through 140-character blurbs then I would be denying everyone of awesome cheap things to do around Orlando. And that’s just selfish!

So anyways, I’m sitting here on the couch in my brand new apartment with a fresh cup of coffee. Yes, its almost 2:30p but I’m still enjoying breakfast (eaten long after noon…). Last night was great and I’m sure I’ll see photos of me all over SmileForCamera.com in a day or two. Independent Bar was great last night- can’t beat free cover till 1 and $3 mixed drinks till midnight, and the DJ that plays all my favorite indie rock songs!

Yes, I did say new apartment, and its positively bad ass! I have a new game plan for Year 2 of living in the real world. Last year I lived with Eric, my boyfriend at the time. We had our shabby-chic apartment in Casselberry, complete with roof leaks and all! Not sure if I posted it or not, but Eric lost his job at Circuit City. Add that with the fact that he never really grew to like living in Orlando, so he decided when our lease was up in mid-June he would move back to Ormond Beach with his family. Totally understandable J However, it left me in a predicament because I couldn’t exactly afford living on my own on top of paying things like student loans and not have a cozy corner on South OBT… So, around April I crafted the new plan of action:

All the cool kids seem to be doing it- Going back to school to defer their student loans! Whether you’re going for your Masters, a second bachelors, or just screwing around on the community college level, taking part-time classes (usually 6 credit hours a semester) will qualify your loans for an education deferment. For me, since I’d like to put my 4 years of French in high school to good use (and because one day working for Conde Nast would be pretty cool, so this might be a requisite), I’m studying French at Valencia Community College. I chose the 2^nd level beginning class since its been a little while since I’ve used vocabulary outside of a gastronomical context (i.e. fois gras, crème brulée, etc…). So far, I’m having fun with it! I’m also making A’s on pretty much anything, so even when I’m having a bad week at work I can still say that I have something boosting my ego. My second class is Abnormal Psych- something that I wanted to take in college but I never got the chance to after I completed my required Intro class. I just had my first class the other day, and I really think I’m going to like it. Only problem is that the class is over in 6 weeks, so I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was spread out over a full semester and not condensed over the summer, and also its going to make things pretty stressful. It’ll be fun, none the less!

So with an extra $600-something dollars in my bank account every month due to not having to make the loans payments, I can finally start to chip away at my credit card debt. Granted, putting your loans into deferment is going to make the payments go up significantly since you’re just earning more and more interest rather than paying things off, but for right now its what I have to do. Besides, the credit card carries something like 30% interest where as none of my loans are over 10%... Which would you pay of first??

Secondly, I moved! I met up with a really fantastic UCF student name Chris and we really hit it off. He was looking for someone mid-June, which was right when I needed to move out. The new place is ten times nicer than my last place, and still about $200 cheaper to live here than to stay in my old place. I do live all the way out by UCF now, so I have about an extra 20 minutes tacked on to anywhere I drive. It really doesn’t bother me, though, except on Fridays when I just want to get home but I have to deal with the brake-slamming traffic on Aloma between Semoran and Chapman. That gets old quick!

But aside from saving lots of money by living with another person (other than a significant other), I’m also making a new friend and meeting new people. We have a lot in common and one of those things is hitting the various parties around town. Chris and I went to the Good Look party held at The Beacon in Thornton Park a week or two ago- It sadly might be the last Good Look party, since The Beacon is slated to close soon. We got our photos taken by SmileForCamera.com, and hung out with Ricky Diamond (who I’m hoping is reading this right now and smiling, since he was supposed to look this blog up because he loved the name!) Last night, a group of us went to IBar for College Indie Night, which is always a blast! They also played a good bit of Michael Jackson in honor of the King of Pop’s passing. Tonight I think it will be Back Booth for Midnight Mass- No cover till for those of us who are 21 and up, and there is free beer till the keg floats! I’m not a beer drinker myself, so I’ll be sure to pregame it at Big Belly Brewery with Lauren from French class. BBB has a great deal from 10:30p-11:30p, so get there early!! Its 3-4-1’s on your basic mixed drinks. However, I took out my friend Eric M. for his 21^st the other week and taught him how to order at the bar. Tips I gave him included sticking to 1 bartender if at all possible, tipping well to establish report and a heavy hand, and letting them know, ‘Hey! I just turned 21!’ Although Eric M. was reluctant at first, it served him well and he got 7 Jaeger-amaretto-cokes (tastes like Dr. Pepper!!) all for the low, low price of 2 drinks J Yes, count them- 7 DRINKS! And Jaeger is usually not on that list of liquors that you can do 3-4-1 with.

Got any bar tips?? Post them!! Happy weekending!!!