10 Secrets to a Fabulous Night Out

You know how some nights you go out and it ends up being a dud? But sometimes it is amazing-- the guys are hot, the drinks are great (and cheap!) and the music is exactly what you wanted! None of that awkward walking into a dead club with weird music and creepy forty-year-old guys leering at you and wanting to dance.

So! 10 Secret to a Fabulous Night Out is really a series of secrets that probably are not that secret! Yet here they are in a list form, for your enjoyment. You're welcome.

1) Only go out with the girlfriends that want to dance. If one of your friends is feeling tired, or sick, or has a history of going to a club just to sit down and making you feel obliged to sit with her. . . she should stay home. A group of three is perfect for keeping creeps away: You evaluate the guy, pull your friend away if necessary, and wink if he's hot so she knows to keep dancing.

2) Check the clubs website to see if they have a special going on that night. Chances are that if they advertise for College Greek's in free, or mini-dresses in free, there will be more people which means much more fun!

3) For the love of God, get on the guest list. Snag one of the club recruiters and get his number, call around, or go to the website and find it. If you can get in free there is no reason to hand over any money!

4) Wear the tiny dress you aren't sure about but DO NOT wear high heels unless you KNOW you can dance for hours without orthopedic surgery. (Or have amazingly sweet friends who let you borrow their flats.) I recommend wedges.

5) Do not wear thin fabric. You will sweat through it and then be too grossed out to feel sexy.

6) Do wear boy cut underwear, and not a thong. Just trust me.

7) If a guy offers you a free drink, say yes. If he is cute, feel free to stay with him while drinking and possibly dance with him when he asks. If he isn't cute, feel free to go find your friends. You said yes to a drink, not a date.

8) Kick ass whenever necessary. If a guy is getting too handsy and won't take a hint (or even a warning) you are totally within your rights to tell him off. And don't be afraid to say "No, thanks" if you just aren't interested in dancing with a guy right then. Sometimes it is just way easier to dance with your friends.

9) Use the bathroom excuse often and do not be ashamed. You don't want to dance anymore? You need the bathroom. You're too hot? You need the bathroom. You want to squeal over the hot guy that was dancing with you? Better go to the bathroom. You're dripping sweat and need to stick paper towels under your armpits? You know where to go.

10) The best secret to a fabulous night out is simply going out with the intent to have a fabulous time! Loosen up, have a drink or two if it helps, and enjoy being with your girlfriends. The guys will notice and if you look happy you are way more approachable so you will be dancing with them so much more!

(I'm totally going out this Saturday with my best dancing girlfriends and the club is having a Greek night so all the fraternity guys will be there! Wheee!)

Favorites

Things that Katie Loves, Like, A Lot:

1) Burn Notice (TV series with Jeffrey Donovan, about an ex-spy who helps people and is full of awesome.)

2) Diana Gabaldon's series of "Outlander" books. So long, but so worth it. Go Jamie!

3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (chick who slays vampires and gets to hang out with Willow and Xander!)

4) Chocolate.

5) Novels by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes and Tamora Pierce (my favorites when I was younger). Some other faves: Janet Evanovich (Ranger!) and Harry Potter. I do love some Nora Roberts romance as well.

6) Country music: Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Chuck Wicks (hot!), Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, and lots more.

7) Sleeping. Napping. Reading in the sunlight and falling asleep.

8) Nick.

9) Listening to loud music and singing along in the car with the windows down.

10) Lip gloss! Chap sticks! Lip balms!

11) Steaming hot showers that turn me into a "boiled lobster", quoth Nick.

12) Blogs (Amalah and Dooce! Whee!)

13) Snuggling with my cats. Falling asleep with Oz purring next to my feet. Feeling Io do his very quiet purr by touching his throat in the mornings, where he sleeps on "his" pillow.

14) The smell of fresh-cut grass.

15) Driving home. I love the slow, slightly windy road and the tree in the middle of the road, and that I know a lot of my neighbors, and the wildflowers, and the cute houses, and the dogwoods, and the huge trees over the road.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm distracted by my six foster kittens attacking my bare legs with their needle teeth and claws. I'll add more later!

Cruising from China to Alaska

On May 26th, my parents flew off to Beijing, China for three days before beginning a 23 day long cruise that stopped by many places in Japan, Korea, Russia, and Alaska before stopping in Vancouver and then flying home. I like to think that they boarded the plane throwing many a fearful glance back over their shoulder, wondering if their three children (all of us adults) would keep the house standing. They probably ran onto that plane thinking something along the lines of, "Yes! No bills! No work! No yelling at kids to clean up their damn messes! A month of new cultures and cuisine and people!" In reality it was probably a mix of those two plus some missing us.

Though really, if you were standing on the Great Wall of China, would you waste time wishing your lazy kids were there?! (Spoiler: they totally did.)

This is the entrance to the Summer Palace outside Beijing, China. The emperor and empress would come here in the summer to escape the heat. I wish I had a summer house like this.

Mom and Dad on the Qingtao pier in China.

How awesome is this decorative flower statue . . . thing? They paid the equivalent of $3 to enter Laodong Park and walk around. Probably only the red flowers are real and the yellow and pink are silk. This is in Dalian, China.

Beautiful

(On my parents 26-day cruise vacation from Beijing, China to Alaska to celebrate their 30th anniversary!)

This is a view of a beautifully restored ceiling of the Summer Palace, where the Emperor and Empress would retreat to stay cool in the summer as it was by a lake. It is just outside of Beijing, China.

This is the throne room area of the Summer Palace, where the Emperor and Empress would handle business. It was also beautifully restored, in time for the crowds from the Olympics.

This is the Temple of Heaven where the emperor came to pray once a year.

This is the beginning of a theme park-like area of Muroran, Japan. Cats used to be believed to be evil and the theme park is full of scarily funny cats. As everything was in Japanese my parents had a hard time describing the reason cats were so scary to us.

Wonderfully Odd

(On my parents 26-day cruise from Beijing, China to Alaska to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.)

Dad bought some fried gnocchi-like balls from a vendor on the pedestrian way in Dalian, China. There were filled with some kind of meat and apparently tasted good!

Walking up to the entrance of the Beomosa Temple in Busan, Korea. The lanterns carry prayers to the temple and are for the spring celebration coming up in the next few weeks. I love how colorful everything is there!

One of the ferocious looking guards to protect the Beomosa Temple in Busan, Korea. He is made of paper-mache! Isn't he wonderful?

Chillin' in Alaska and Vladistovok

(On my parents 26-day cruise vacation from Beijing, China to Alaska, to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary!)

It poured rain in Vladistovok, Russia, the entire time my parents were there. But the architecture looks amazing! That is the train station, and I saw a picture of a department store that looks like our parliament.

Dad kayaking in Alaska, brr!

Mom and Dad enjoying the view in Alaska, looking happy (and cold.)

Prom 2010

My brothers just had their senior prom. I feel too young to have them almost graduated from high school! Next thing you know I'll be fretting about wrinkles and age spots.

Here's Quentin with his buddies David and Tony, all looking very handsome in their tuxedos. We won't go into how long it took Quentin and I to stand in line to pick up his tux; suffice it to say that I nearly went bald from pulling out my hair in frustration. (We were late for dinner for the foreign exchange program.)


Quentin went with a girl we didn't know from another high school, Sarah. Aren't they cute?!


Troy. Ah, Troy. When he went out to rent a tux (for free, his friend works there) he called me and asked, "What do you think about a tuxedo with a tailcoat and top hat?"

I must say, he pulls it off. Here he is with his date, Anna.


I think that they are quite adorable. Also? I want a top hat.


Three of their friends (including Troy) wore the tailcoats in black, and three wore them in white. They pretended to be mortal enemies; the VonMonocles and the VonPocketwatches.


Both boys had lots of fun and had funny stories to tell. (Apparently someone brought a blow up doll dressed up and it was tossed around the dance floor!) They danced and talked and ate chocolate strawberries. (I'm sure there was more food, but that's the important one right there.)

I'm kind of nostalgic for my proms now! Off to search out my old prom dress. ^_^

Wondering . . .

. . . How often the seats at college lecture halls are cleaned. The "yellow" is actually dirt-encrusted. Yick!

. . . If I should feel guilty for flipping out at Dad and Troy and Quentin for eating the last of the chicken pot pie, and my scones, and snacking on my muffins THAT I MAKE SPECIFICALLY FOR ME AND MY SPECIAL STUPID DIET.

. . . Why I started tearing up and had to bite my lip not to cry when my Micro neighbor told me how they ended up with their foster son.

. . . How sore my arm will be tomorrow from the H1N1 flu shot I got, and whether or not I will get any of the side effects from that and/or the seasonal flu mist I got today.

. . . If my parents will end up going on that 23 day cruise from China to Alaska for their 30th anniversary. I hope so! It sounds fabulous!

Amazing!

I have just discovered something so absolutely on the edge-of-your-seat thrilling that I had to share right away. 

Ready?

My front door key . . . also unlocks the back door!!! 

AAIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!

Okay, wait, don't run away! I have a point! Our front door sticks sometimes--since Troy and I were in middle school/high school we would walk home and sometimes have to break in through a window to get inside because our key wouldn't turn enough in the lock. I just came home from work to discover that my key was again being temperamental. I called Troy, and he told me Dad just told him that we can unlock the back door. 

So! 

I ran to the back door (it's very hot out) and the key worked! Then I groaned. "Troy, it's not gonna work!" 

"Why?" My poor brother was baffled. 

"The filing cabinet door is out, there is a painting leaning on the door, and the treadmill is in the way!"

"Well . . . figure something out!"

So I did. My hand barely fit through the door so I could inch by inch scoot the filing cabinet closed. I pushed the painting over and the treadmill was juuust far enough away that I slowly squeeze (look for BBC update soon) myself through . 

"I DID IT! I DID IT! TROY! IT WORKED!!! Woo-hoo!!!" 

And now you all understand why this bit of news is so amazing. IT GOT ME INTO THE AIR CONDITIONING. ^_-