¡Fiesta!

by theadventuresofbeka

My favorite way to spend Friday night is curled up on the couch with a good book, sorbet, and nowhere to be on Saturday morning. This is not because I have no friends nor is it because I am miserable with my relationship status. I don’t understand society’s obsession with partying in general and I especially don’t  understand the desire to party/go out/do anything remotely social when exhausted after a long, stressful week. This does not sound at all relaxing to me. I would much rather turn off my cell phone and live in a fantasy world while fueling myself with sugary and salty organic snacks. On Friday morning, if I know I have an evening in ahead of me, I have a level of excitement that is similar to what I used to experience before my birthday. This perfect evening is best paired with an afternoon of homework and grocery shopping, so that I have a fresh supply of snackage and no guilt about being extremely lazy.

This stuff is amazing. Sadly, sorbet is much cheaper (and dairy free) so I buy it instead.

Occasionally, I forgo my Friday night ritual because there is something else I want to do or someone has convinced me that they need my presence at their Friday night event to make them happy. For example, last Friday night the lead singer of Sea Wolf was playing in Atlanta, and he was playing at one of my favorite venues (in other words, a place where people are told they have to shut up and listen to the musician). Of course, he just had to play at 10PM on Friday. My life is one long list of first world problems.

I have learned from experience that in order to enjoy myself until 1 or 2AM on Saturday morning, I need to prepare extensively. If I don’t, I end up just being grumpy and complaining about how tired I am which ruins the evening for myself and those around me. I have to ensure that I am home from school well before the time that I have to leave in order to fully prepare. On a normal Friday, I will stay in the library for a few hours after class to get work done, but not when I’m going out. I don’t have the time, because I must take at least a two-hour nap. (I love studying at the library on Friday afternoons, because it is actually quiet with lots of available computers). After arriving home, I waste an hour or so on the computer thinking about sleeping and looking at important things like http://jabbathehuttwithhair.tumblr.com/. I finally nap, setting an alarm for an hour before I have to leave. Inevitably, I ignore my alarm and sleep at least another thirty minutes. I’ll admit, sometimes  most of the time I sleep until fifteen minutes before I’m supposed to leave.

Eventually, I realize that I really need to get up if I’m going to arrive anywhere near on time. I grab whatever clothing is easily available. I used to be able to dress myself without putting any thought to it – dress, shoes, done. Now that I live in a place with winter, I have to consider, will I be warm enough? This is a serious question. I hate being cold almost as much as I hate being tired. All my winter clothing is some variation of a neutral color, so I don’t have to worry about matching. I then turn my attention to my hair. If it is greasy/lumpy/fuzzy (I had perpetually fuzzy hair until I moved to Georgia) I French braid it or put it up in an “elegant” bun. Sometimes, I chastise myself for never learning how to use a curling iron. Most of the time I just grumble about the fact that I haven’t shaved my head yet. At this point, I’m ready to go. I look longingly at the couch and my current novel as I head out. If I am short on time, I simply move faster in dressing myself and I put up my hair at a stoplight. I never cut my nap short. The nap is the most important part of my preparation. It allows me to be cheerful past 11PM.

I would say this last Friday was a successful night out. I managed to do some homework and take a nice long nap beforehand. The company was great. Nobody near me got drunk. There was only one obnoxious couple behind me, and they kept their conversation to a minimum during the songs. Sea Wolf was fantastic as expected. I was not cold, and I didn’t get tired halfway through. I would almost consider going out again some Friday in the near future.

Note: I’ve been wearing braids since way before Katniss Everdeen even existed. Now I just look trendy doing it. In a few years, I will look like I didn’t realize that braids were so 2013.

Pictures are not mine and clicking on them will take you to the websites where I found them.