New Year, New Car
My New Year's Eve was pretty cool.
I decided to go out with my roommate. We started of at Ron Tom's. It's a bar that has no sign, but a guy wearing a helicopter backpack above the door. We shared a beet salad and mushroom dip. Both were very tasty.
We picked up Theresa on the way to the party which was our second destination of the night. The party was ok. The best part was the dance studio. At one point I was having a one person dance party, but most of the time there were other people dancing too.
For some reason I was feeling more anxious than usual. Maybe it was the crowd. Somehow people seemed unapproachable, or maybe I was seeming unapproachable. I decided to have a drink when offered one. It was my first in about 3 months. A sangria. Sadly, it was the worst Sangria I've ever had. They hadn't added any sugar to it, so it was just sour and bitter and tasted mostly like the skin of a grapefruit. Despite the bad taste, I sipped away at my drink. Within 10 minutes my fingers started swelling up noticeably. No more sangria for me. I poured the rest out, which was most of it, and switched to water. I drank some champagne at midnight, straight out of several bottles that were passed around.
One guy hit on me in an odd way. He told me that he thought I was very beautiful, but then asked what guys I was interested in at the party. Was he expecting me to say him? I just kind of deflected by saying that there was no one in particular; that there were a few cute guys, but they seem to have left. He also kept asking me the same questions over and over and over. "Where do you live?" "What do you do?" I politely answered each time, and then he'd feel silly when I did because he'd remember that he already asked me.
He looked a bit like Billy Bob Thorton, and I thought my roommate had told me that she had made out with him before, so that was in my mind the whole time I was talking to him. Turns out that she hadn't made out with him, but one of her friends had. It was funny. He had long hair though, so even without the "my roommate made out with this guy" thought in my head, I probably still wouldn't have been interested.
We rang in the new year a few times and in several different languages. I was the only one calling out numbers for the German countdown.
After the party we dropped people off and Jo and I decided to go to a diner to eat something. We took a wrong turn and ended up by the convention center. The area was pretty much deserted, but there were two people walking by who tried to flag us down. It was really cold and rainy, and they both looked pretty wet and pathetic. They were obviously party goers, and we stopped and gave them a ride to a big warehouse party that was about 6 long blocks down the road.
They were so incredibly grateful for the lift, especially the very drunk girl. When we got to their destination the guy offered to pay for our cover if we wanted to go in the party. Jo and I looked at each other and smiled.
The cover was discounted to $25 since it was well after midnight, but still that's a lot of money! We got in for free though, and it was really fun; the best part of the night. It was a huge space with lots of different areas with different styles of music. The whole inside part was decorated like a 1920's prohibition party. They had all these different displays of old stuff, and even had a still set up in the corner.
The people there were great too. Everyone was dressed up; 1920's style, or 40's, or typical club kid, or goth. I saw a belly dancer, lots of fluffy tulle skirts, corsets and wigs everywhere, and my personal favorite: a guy wearing only a barrel made out of cardboard.
We stayed at the party for a couple hours dancing and people watching. We shared a grilled cheese sandwich which was the best 3am grilled cheese sandwich ever. When we left it was 4:30ish and I went to bed around 5am.
I woke up around 1:30 or 2pm. All I wanted to do was sit around and read, so that's what I did. I went down to the North West Coffee shop and started reading Blink (you were right, drunknmatchmakr, I love it!). At one point the guys that work there started playing this wacky music by Mrs. Miller. It had everyone chuckling. They closed shop at 6pm.
Back at my apartment I tried to rustle up some grub, but couldn't find much more than some odd odds and ends. I decided to go to Trader Joe's, but of course it was closed since it was New Year's Day. It was raining and I'd left my umbrella in Jo's car, but I kept walking and ended up getting a pizza from Pizzicato. Cheese, tomato sauce, and wild mushrooms. Yum.
I've been thinking about getting a car recently, but yesterday I really settled on the idea. I think it will improve my morale, plus it'll make it easier to get around in general and will enable me to expand my job search out to the burbs. It's been a good experience to get used to life without a car. I gave it a shot, like I wanted to, but frankly, I don't like it very much. I think it's great that I live near the essentials and that I can walk to places if I need to, but I also like to drive. I like to go do stuff on weekends and explore new areas, and having my own car will make that possible.
Since my mom's back from Mexico, I thought I'd give her a call to catch up. We talked for a long time. It was great. I mentioned my idea of the car (since at this point I'll need some assistance in buying one), and she was 100% ok with it. She mentioned that when she sold the Jeep she'd earmarked that toward a car for me, so I have about $5,000 to spend!
I started browsing that very night and found a few likely options, and started planning out how I'd go see the cars that are scattered around the area.
Today I put a status message on facebook, "browsing used car options". My friend Amy who lives in the building right next to my house then left me this message:
Hello there, neighbor! Hope your new year is off to a good start. So far, my new year is pretty much mirroring the old one...I'm procrastinating from writing a paper. We should get drinks sometime soon. BTW, I am selling my used car if you're interested.
If I'm interested!? Well heck yeah, I'm interested.
I called her immediately to get the details. It's an older Toyota Camry, a 1996, but the mileage is relatively good for the vintage. She was honest about a couple of accidents--both times she was rear ended and the trunk was once replaced, but no structural damage. One of the windows doesn't roll down which is the "major" problem with the car, but I don't really mind. She said it runs well and has been a very reliable car for her. The best part is the price. I can probably get it for around $2,000! At this point I'd much rather spend $2,000 for a car than $5,000, so I'd be very happy if this works out. I'm going to take it for a spin this afternoon. Talk about instant manifestation!
I decided to go out with my roommate. We started of at Ron Tom's. It's a bar that has no sign, but a guy wearing a helicopter backpack above the door. We shared a beet salad and mushroom dip. Both were very tasty.
We picked up Theresa on the way to the party which was our second destination of the night. The party was ok. The best part was the dance studio. At one point I was having a one person dance party, but most of the time there were other people dancing too.
For some reason I was feeling more anxious than usual. Maybe it was the crowd. Somehow people seemed unapproachable, or maybe I was seeming unapproachable. I decided to have a drink when offered one. It was my first in about 3 months. A sangria. Sadly, it was the worst Sangria I've ever had. They hadn't added any sugar to it, so it was just sour and bitter and tasted mostly like the skin of a grapefruit. Despite the bad taste, I sipped away at my drink. Within 10 minutes my fingers started swelling up noticeably. No more sangria for me. I poured the rest out, which was most of it, and switched to water. I drank some champagne at midnight, straight out of several bottles that were passed around.
One guy hit on me in an odd way. He told me that he thought I was very beautiful, but then asked what guys I was interested in at the party. Was he expecting me to say him? I just kind of deflected by saying that there was no one in particular; that there were a few cute guys, but they seem to have left. He also kept asking me the same questions over and over and over. "Where do you live?" "What do you do?" I politely answered each time, and then he'd feel silly when I did because he'd remember that he already asked me.
He looked a bit like Billy Bob Thorton, and I thought my roommate had told me that she had made out with him before, so that was in my mind the whole time I was talking to him. Turns out that she hadn't made out with him, but one of her friends had. It was funny. He had long hair though, so even without the "my roommate made out with this guy" thought in my head, I probably still wouldn't have been interested.
We rang in the new year a few times and in several different languages. I was the only one calling out numbers for the German countdown.
After the party we dropped people off and Jo and I decided to go to a diner to eat something. We took a wrong turn and ended up by the convention center. The area was pretty much deserted, but there were two people walking by who tried to flag us down. It was really cold and rainy, and they both looked pretty wet and pathetic. They were obviously party goers, and we stopped and gave them a ride to a big warehouse party that was about 6 long blocks down the road.
They were so incredibly grateful for the lift, especially the very drunk girl. When we got to their destination the guy offered to pay for our cover if we wanted to go in the party. Jo and I looked at each other and smiled.
The cover was discounted to $25 since it was well after midnight, but still that's a lot of money! We got in for free though, and it was really fun; the best part of the night. It was a huge space with lots of different areas with different styles of music. The whole inside part was decorated like a 1920's prohibition party. They had all these different displays of old stuff, and even had a still set up in the corner.
The people there were great too. Everyone was dressed up; 1920's style, or 40's, or typical club kid, or goth. I saw a belly dancer, lots of fluffy tulle skirts, corsets and wigs everywhere, and my personal favorite: a guy wearing only a barrel made out of cardboard.
We stayed at the party for a couple hours dancing and people watching. We shared a grilled cheese sandwich which was the best 3am grilled cheese sandwich ever. When we left it was 4:30ish and I went to bed around 5am.
I woke up around 1:30 or 2pm. All I wanted to do was sit around and read, so that's what I did. I went down to the North West Coffee shop and started reading Blink (you were right, drunknmatchmakr, I love it!). At one point the guys that work there started playing this wacky music by Mrs. Miller. It had everyone chuckling. They closed shop at 6pm.
Back at my apartment I tried to rustle up some grub, but couldn't find much more than some odd odds and ends. I decided to go to Trader Joe's, but of course it was closed since it was New Year's Day. It was raining and I'd left my umbrella in Jo's car, but I kept walking and ended up getting a pizza from Pizzicato. Cheese, tomato sauce, and wild mushrooms. Yum.
I've been thinking about getting a car recently, but yesterday I really settled on the idea. I think it will improve my morale, plus it'll make it easier to get around in general and will enable me to expand my job search out to the burbs. It's been a good experience to get used to life without a car. I gave it a shot, like I wanted to, but frankly, I don't like it very much. I think it's great that I live near the essentials and that I can walk to places if I need to, but I also like to drive. I like to go do stuff on weekends and explore new areas, and having my own car will make that possible.
Since my mom's back from Mexico, I thought I'd give her a call to catch up. We talked for a long time. It was great. I mentioned my idea of the car (since at this point I'll need some assistance in buying one), and she was 100% ok with it. She mentioned that when she sold the Jeep she'd earmarked that toward a car for me, so I have about $5,000 to spend!
I started browsing that very night and found a few likely options, and started planning out how I'd go see the cars that are scattered around the area.
Today I put a status message on facebook, "browsing used car options". My friend Amy who lives in the building right next to my house then left me this message:
Hello there, neighbor! Hope your new year is off to a good start. So far, my new year is pretty much mirroring the old one...I'm procrastinating from writing a paper. We should get drinks sometime soon. BTW, I am selling my used car if you're interested.
If I'm interested!? Well heck yeah, I'm interested.
I called her immediately to get the details. It's an older Toyota Camry, a 1996, but the mileage is relatively good for the vintage. She was honest about a couple of accidents--both times she was rear ended and the trunk was once replaced, but no structural damage. One of the windows doesn't roll down which is the "major" problem with the car, but I don't really mind. She said it runs well and has been a very reliable car for her. The best part is the price. I can probably get it for around $2,000! At this point I'd much rather spend $2,000 for a car than $5,000, so I'd be very happy if this works out. I'm going to take it for a spin this afternoon. Talk about instant manifestation!