Well Played, Sir...

Last weekend my good friend Marcos visited us on his loooooong drive from San Diego to Rhode Island. He arrived on Friday while I was on my lunch break, and although I unfortunately had to finish out my day at work, Jonathan had the afternoon at home so I wasn't too worried about making sure he could get comfortable.

I busted my ass that afternoon at work getting boxes from the JNM so that we could get started on a new Nike shipment, and it was so hot and uncomfortable outside that I was a mess by the time I returned home. I had to get to Jamie's house by 6:30 that evening, so I immediately hopped in the shower when I did get home. In the meantime, I was getting fairly frequent (and very funny) texts from Jonathan. He and Marcos had headed over to the Worst Bar in Columbus to have an icebreaker and get to know each other a bit. Jamie and I had made plans earlier this month to take Nikki out for her 28th birthday. We tried to go to BJ's, but after deciding that a 70 minute wait was quite a bit too long, we went across the street to the Cheesecake Factory and got sat right away. After a delicious meal and some wonderful desserts and coffee, we decided to head to my apartment, so that I could show it off to Nikki. On a quick side note, here are a couple of pictures of our new place:

This is a view of our kitchen. As you can see, Simon is quite comfortable in the new digs.

This is our gorgeous kitchen table and chairs. There is storage room in the table base for about 12-15 bottles of wine, and as you can see here we use the other side for glasses and other wine accesories. This was a huge accomplishment for Jonathan - putting the table together. There was a bit of cursing involved, but in the end it is wonderful and he did a fantastic job on it.
And here is a view of our living room and entryway from the kitchen. Here, Jonathan is enjoying some much deserved R&R on the new couch.

Back to Friday, Nikki and I arrived first and Jamie followed. Jonathan and Marcos had just returned from the bar, and I immediately knew they were pretty well lit. I guess an icebreaker had turned into about 8 a piece. Jonathan's eyes had a lovely pink hue developing, and Marc was insistent on opening up another bottle of wine. I could tell Nikki felt a wee bit uncomfortable meeting this person for the first time - especially drunk, but I tried to make her feel better by giving her a tour of the place and hooking her up with a glass of water. After Jamie arrived, the drinking and conversing continued until Nikki had to go. Then Jonathan passed out and went to bed, so that left Jamie, myself and Marc. Jamie left around 12:30 or 1, and Marc finally passed out on the couch. I went to bed, but got up later to find Marc still crashed in the living room, phone up to his ear, and radio and light on. I sort of giggled because Marc has this innocent little habit of calling people when inebriated. It's nice to know I have friends who even when they change, some things still stay the same. I threw a blanket over him and went back to bed.

Saturday morning we all woke up feeling a bit groggy. Jonathan and I went to Marysville for a little while to celebrate my grandpa - a ballfield in town has been named Rowland Seymour Field in honor of all his dedication and community service. Later we returned, had some brunch, and Mom stopped by to say hello and to drop off a couple more odds and ends I'd left at her house. Jamie and our friend Meredith came over and we spent some time at the pool. After making a dinner reservation at R.J. Snapper for dinner, we went back to the apartment and got ready for a night on the town. Unfortunately it took us a lot longer to get ready and pick Jamie up, so we had to miss out on stopping by Shauna's for her barbecue. We drove straight to the Short North, parked, and since we still had a little bit of time before dinner, headed to Vino 100 for a few wine tastings. We had some really good wine, and also bumped into two of my other friends - Leigh, who I worked with at Gap for a while, and my old high school friend Courtney!!! I of course introduced Marc and Jonathan, and after sampling 6 different wines, we headed back up the street to the restaurant. Dinner was fantastic. The four of us shared 2 bottles of wine and appetizers, followed by a delicious meal. Conversation wove its way through all topics and we found ourselves all warm and giggly with the wine. After dinner we walked north again. Jonathan really wanted to see if Camelot was still open so we could check on our own developing wine. By the time we made it down the street they had closed, so we turned around and went back toward the car so we could continue our night out. It was then that I nearly lost my balance and came dangerously close to falling into a large flower planter outside of the cellars!!! Jonathan wanted to stop at UDF on the way to pick up an energy drink, so Jamie, Marc and I waited outside. Now, I knew I was tipsy, but I didn't know just how much until I tried to put Jamie's lip gloss on for her. I held the brush in my hand and tried to be as careful as possible, but at that moment something (who knows what??) struck me as funny - and I couldn't hold that brush still to save my life from laughing so hard. I subsequently could not put makeup on Jamie.

Ok, so I said I was tipsy - by the time we got back to the car, (oh, 5 minutes later) Jamie and Marc had decided they'd walk to Spice, and Jonathan and I would move the car. I discovered then that I was absolutely drunk. I giggled the entire two block drive to find parking (of course Jonathan was driving), and then walking to Spice Bar. Jamie had let me know that she and Marc were already in and there was no cover. Well, I was pretty pissed when the scrawny little bouncer told us we'd have to pay. I told him, "My friends just got her 2 minutes ago and they got in for free. What gives?" He said that it was before 11 when they got there. Weeeeeeeeeeeeell, ok buddy. We'll see about that. After several unanswered phone calls and texts, I finally got them on the phone, told them the situation and Marc had to come up front to tell the bouncer to shut up and let us in. Marc got bottle service!!! This is a concept that up until last weekend I had never heard of. Tells you how much I know, eh? We were ushered to a booth in the very back of the building that had curtains, squishy benches, and a couple dance floors next to a bar. Marc had already been given a bottle of Grey Goose, a carafe of cranberry, a carafe of OJ, and a carafe of water, plus limes, straws, glasses and Red Bull.

Whoa... what a night. I've been informed that I texted nearly everyone in my address book that I was "Drunker than I'd ever been before!". ...oops... Well, ok. I think I was... I don't really remember how we got from Spice to the Worst Bar again, although I remember meeting the bartender there and that her name was Jen. I remember Marc attempting to hit on Jamie and both of us swatting him off. I don't remember dropping Jamie off, and I definitely don't remember crawling into bed after arriving home.

I do remember waking up the next morning around 11, rolling out of bed, and immediately regretting the act. I drank Powerade, took more Aleve, and decided it would be better for me if I just went back to bed. I don't think I fully recovered until midday Monday. :)

So, Marcos, Jamie, and Jonathan, THANK YOU for showing me such a great time, and giving me a renewed confidence in what Columbus has to offer in the way of night life for my out of town guests. We can't wait to hang out with you again. Best of luck in Rhode Island!!!