The Ultimate 30th Birthday Party

Saturday I had the best birthday party ever! Four of my best girlfriends and I spent almost 12 hours together. We left at 3pm and drove to Madison. After a little over an hour we arrived at a bowling alley and bowled one game. Amy and Cynthia kicked the rest of our butts! I bowled a seriously lousy game but we had a grand time.



Here are our scores. I was going to try to claim Amy's score as my own but alas it isn't possible! I started the game out with a gutter ball and then hitting one lousy pin! That should tell you all you need to know about my bowling expertise. I'm not sure why I like to bowl so much.


After our bowling game we headed to Applebees for dinner. We enjoyed yummy food and great conversation. These ladies are so fun to be around. I felt like we constantly had something to laugh about.



After dinner it was time to head to the gig. We drove about 30 minutes to a little town called Stoughton. The gig was in a lounge type of place called Stella's Speakeasy. It was actually pretty nice. There was no smoking inside and it was tastefully decorated. We got there an hour early and got seats front and center! But what to do for an hour?


I had the idea of bringing cards so we would have something to do while we waited so I taught the ladies how to play Slapjack. I am sure the other people there were wondering what the heck we were doing! And that would only be the first time they would wonder that through the rest of the evening. :)



The band started playing at 9pm. They played for an hour and then took a half hour break. We got a picture with the lead singer of the band. I must have sounded like a ten year old when I asked him if he would come get in a picture because we drove a ways to get here and it was my birthday party! HA! He asked me if I wanted him to sing Happy Birthday to me and I said, "OH, NO THANK YOU!" :)

It was so fun to see Cynthia, DeAnn, and Katie hear the music for the first time. They all really enjoyed the music which of course makes it that much more fun. It was at that first break that we saw a sign up that said the gig goes until 12:30am! WHAT?? We are too old to stay that late! We didn't intend to stay for the whole time but we did! We left closer to 1am and got home at 2:30am. I have never stayed out that late with girlfriends. It was so much fun. We also found out that the band is coming to Milwaukee in January and March! We told the band we would be there! That is really exciting. We are already planning those nights.

Here are some absolutely hilarious moments of the night:

1. We decided to order some hot chocolate. The waitress asks us, "Do you want me to doctor it?" She received five blank stares. She then says, "Do you want it flavored with anything?" Katie asks the waitress if she has any mint flavors and the waitress says no. Then Cynthia says, "What does doctor it mean?" At this point the waitress looks a little flummoxed and we tell her just a regular hot chocolate is fine. As she starts to walk away I touch her arm and say, "It's not you, it's us." She look relieved and said, "Oh, good. I thought I was going crazy."

2. The drummer of the band came up to our little table when they took a break and said he wanted to see us get and dance when they start playing again. He then takes a look around our table and says, "Oh, you have waters all around. Well, that's good. You'll stay hydrated then."

3. At the end of the gig I went to talk to one of the guitar players. He is so talented. He plays the violin too and he rocks both instruments. I wanted to know how long he had been playing, etc. So as I am talking the other ladies wander up and then Lucas (I feel we are on a first name basis now) wanders up and we mention that we have to drive back to Milwaukee now. They both look at us like we are crazy. Then DeAnn says, "We have to get back to our kids!" To which we get more crazy stares and "you all have kids?"

I am sure we made quite an impression and I can't wait until we all walk in to the bar they play in in January. They will have the best mormon, non drinking, tons of kids lady groupies around!

I had so much fun and I am grateful for these special ladies that helped me celebrate a big birthday. I can't wait for our next outing. Although maybe we will have to end it sooner and get an appropriate amount of sleep. I was incoherent at church today. I had to conduct Relief Society and I couldn't remember what things were called. I could see Cynthia and Amy snickering in the back because they knew why I was so dang tired! I did come home and nap for four hours!

Lastly and most importantly, thanks to Ben for supporting and sending me out with my friends. He is truly a wonderful husband and I love him so much! Also, a big thanks to my girlfriends husbands for also sending them out with me! Sorry I kept them out so late! It won't happen again (well, it might)!