Getting drunk with my Mom, Ralphie, keg party, "Rent," etc.

Thankgiving break was a very welcomed break, although it didn't last long enough. While I love being in Santa Barbara and having my life here, I always miss my separate life at home. There are people I get to see at home, and things I get to do, that aren't available here. Like getting a full night of sleep consistently through my stay. And eating meals that aren't mass-produced by the cafeteria crew. And seeing all the people whom I miss so much when I can't be with them. The trip home was relaxing, fun, and eventful...

TUESDAY: Drove home with Aaron, Landau, and their friend Eli. The trip took five hours for us to make, but I was so grateful to be going home I didn't even care much.

WEDNESDAY: Slept in (wonderful sleep, how much I missed it). Hung out at home and then, that night, went to In Cahoots with my Mom, my aunt Karyn, my cousin Jenni, my other cousin's wife Samar, and Samar's siblings, Tamar and Ramzi. I promised myself I wouldn't get smashed since I was with older family members, but that plan didn't work too well. My Mom kept buying me gin and tonics and Samar kept giving me Jagerblasters. Very fun, very blurry night.



I need to teach my Mom to drink like a real woman. Smirnoff Ice was only acceptable drinking material in, like, middle school. But then again, she's a Mom. The funniest moment of the night was when my Mom was talking to one of Samar's friends when she pointed out I was her daughter...he said, "Oh wow, drinking with your daughter," and my Mom reasoned that I was a "good kid." The guy was like, "So, you're a virgin then..." (Perverted thing to ask, but whatever.) And instead of saying whatever, my Mom started cracking up laughing and shaking her head. Wow. My own Mom can't even pretend. Ha ha.

THURSDAY: Woke up with a pounding hangover. I rarely get hangovers, but Wednesday night I had like three gin and tonics, a 7 & 7, three Jagerblasters, two Alabama slammers, and a couple of tequila shots. That's a lot of alcohol even for me, especially considering how strong they make their mixed drinks at that bar. Anyway, just helped my Mom around the house, then our whole family came over for Thanksgiving dinner. It was nice to spend some time with everyone...I forget how much I adore my extended family until I spend time with them.

FRIDAY: Aaron and I adopted our bunny! Finally. We adopted him from Pet Emporium over by SOMA...he's a four-month old miniature Rex, orange-ish in color with white and black specks. We named him Ralphie, like the little kid in "A Christmas Story." I looooove him...



Then that night I hung out at Autumn's for a little bit and saw my beloved Jacquie, then went to a keg party with Addison and his friend Emily (whom I played lacrosse with in high school). There were so many random ass people at that party, people whom I rarely talked to in high school and haven't seen since graduation (i.e., Jenna Hudson, Jamie Kylstad, Crystal Navarro, Jesse Schoenberger, etc.) I was extremely tired and lazy-drunk, so we left kind of early. The nice thing is that people made comments on how cute I look. :) Yay. But in high school I was all pissed off and wore black all the time, including men's Dickies and spike belts, and I had braces. So I'd like to think I'm cuter now.

SATURDAY: Saw "Rent" with my madre. Loved it. I've never seen the Broadway production, as I am not much of a theater person, but I totally loved every minute of the movie. It made me cry soooo hard. She then bought me some more bunny supplies for Ralphie's cage, and then we went home. I hung out at home all day and had a pizza dinner with my family. Then that night, I went to hang out at April's townhouse in La Jolla with her, Addison, Autumn, Jared, and Hunter. Played a little bit of poker but gave up on it, and had some nice red wine. Funny thing is, I had about three bottles of hard alcohol (including vodka) at my fingertips, but I didn't drink much of anything, and I didn't get remotely drunk. Addison was extremely proud. I guess with reason; my drinking habits have become exceptionally normal compared to the near-alcoholism that defined my summer. Anyway, it was awesome to spend so much time with my friends, I miss them so freaking much. Especially April, considering we rarely get to see each other.

SUNDAY: Hung out at home and re-packed my stuff, had lunch with Addison, and then drove back to Santa Barbara with Aaron, Landau, and Eli. We left around 2:30 PM, and there was little traffic, so we got to Santa Barbara around 6:00 PM.

Now I'm off to get a headstart on studying for finals.