I intially decided to have a pool party at our neighborhood pool that barely gets any use. I figured, it would be effortless and inexpensive and I hadn't had a pool party in years. The only problem(s) was that the weather was so unpredictable with rain/thunderstorms and the fact that I had been carb loading for weeks, I wasn't exactly "bikini ready" or life ready or bride ready for that matter. At the last minute, I cancelled the pool party and decided to get a group to go to Dave & Buster's, something else I hadn't done in years.
Saturday rolls around, I actually wake up with a stomach ulcer, diagnosed by my Dr/brother-in-law, who says I can't have any spicy food, chocolate or alcohol. Um, excuse me, it's my birthday weekend. So after hours of agony and some OTC meds, I caught a break. Then somehow got tricked into going to the gym with Chazz to watch team training. After the gym we decided to grab lunch, but somehow ended up at the Atlanta Humane Society. I saw the cutest puppy (named Blinkin, seriously?), and of course, had to have her. An hour later, a new puppy was in route home with us and we still hadn't had lunch. Once we got home, I got puppy duty and Chazz went to get us Zaxby's. Kickin' chicken for me please! Although he brought home a regular sandwich since I "can't have spicy food." Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for the night and head out.
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| Meet Leila |
We get to D&B and it's PACKED. 7 of us try to cram into a booth unsuccessfully and our waiter clearly hated his job and possibly his life, and was miserable. Once everyone ate, we headed to the games and almost every single one was broken and we had to wait on a maintenance tech repeatedly. After complaining to the manager (who tried to get a 'tude with me) she credited my game card $10 and we called it a night shortly after.
Sunday rolls around and I go to The Cheesecake Factory with my mom because it's our tradition. We get another crappy server, the manager has to come over three times, my mom doesn't even eat and after waiting far too long and being neglected, she pays the bill, we get free cheesecake (win) and we leave. Sunday night, Chazz pulls me away from the computer and wedding invitations to surprise me with an ice cream cake, roses and both dogs in birthday hats at midnight, insert "Awww" here.
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| awwwww |
Then, it's Monday, my actual birthday! Too bad I don't get to sleep in because I waited until the last minute and I have to get my license renewed. I get up at 6:30, shower, get dressed and pull into the Marietta DDS and soon realize by the lack of people/cars that all locations are closed on Mondays. I guess I should have shared the information with the poor souls standing in line but it was too early and I hadn't had coffee. I return home, and take a long, much needed nap. I woke up feeling like a million bucks and told Chazz I was ready to celebrate and on the agenda was to go to the Atlanta Food Truck Park and then the Georgia Aquarium, two places I had never been. We head toward the Food Truck Park, walk over and whaddya know- they're closed. For no specific reason. Totally bummed/annoyed, we end up at Willy's next door where a burrito and margarita sufficed, but not before I left a piece of my mind on the Atlanta Food Truck's Facebook page.
After eating too much, we head to the aquarium. Fun fact, you get in free on your birthday! We got there just in time to catch the dolphin show. I. Just. Love. Dolphins. In fact, I love them so much that when the show started, I couldn't keep it together. I'm crying hysterically, then I start laughing at myself for crying and Chazz looks over, bewildered at my emotional state and asks how can I be crying at such a cheesy show, and I respond, in between sobs, "I feel bad for the dolphins, they aren't with their families in their natural habitat!" Chazz is hysterically laughing while I'm hysterically crying and it only gets worse with every trick the dolphins perform.
After exploring the aquarium and it's entirety, we decided to finally put our P.F. Chang's gift card to good use and have my birthday dinner there (hey, we are planning a wedding and have a new puppy, we are on a budget). Only problem is, we can't find the gift card and go to plan B. Except there isn't a plan B and Chazz mentioned he wants pizza, and I could use a drink. I take to Yelp to make sure the Mellow Mushroom in Vinings has a full bar, it does, and we head that way. We finally find parking, walk inside to discover.. they DON'T have a full bar. So, Chazz insists we leave to get me that drink and because it's getting late and we have two dogs at home, I suggest Jock & Jill's, a nearby sports bar with decent food but mostly, a bar and convenient location. I figure since there's a baseball game playing, it will be full of sports fans. Well, there were about 5 people, including Chazz and me and it wasn't exciting at all. I order a margarita on the rocks, no salt, the waitress checks my ID, doesn't wish me a happy birthday and brings me my drink with salt. Chazz didn't mention to any one is was my birthday so if there were perks, I didn't get any. Totally not how I wanted to end the day or how I envisioned my birthday dinner. Chazz was a good sport and we did everything I wanted to do with no complaints. I just had some bad karma, I guess.
I guess the point is, I tried to make sure everything was "perfect" and nothing went the way I planned. I should have just enjoyed the aquarium and a (planned) dinner at a fun place and called it a year. I guess this was good practice not to have such high expectations for our wedding and accept that things can go wrong, and life will go on. Now my bachelorette party, that's a different story and it must be perfect!
