What Do Single Girls do, they have fun!

I was lucky enough to have another one of those "Girls need to have fun."

You know how you get used to spending weekends with people or relying on someone for your weekend plans, and then, when that suddenly stops you have to make do on your own. You have to do "you" all of a sudden, and you'd quite forgotten how to do that. You'd lost you and need to get you back. So you have to insist on doing something to get you out of the house because really, how long are you going to keep watching those back to back episodes of Four Weddings. Life is meant to be experienced not observed from a couch. That was me this past weekend. I went into it hoping that things would work out A-okay. That the god of all things singledom would shine upon me and give me a fabulous time and he came through.

Slight Recap:

Friday. 

Did not get that much sleep. Went into work very tired and very angry. So I did just what the doctor ordered for crankiness - I went to Yoga at Noon. It was exceptionally relaxing and just what I needed. I came back from lunch refreshed and ready to face the day. I had plans for the rest of the day so I needed that extra boost of energy to carry me through. After work, I went to get my hair freshened for the weekend close to one of my favorite Latin bars in Atlanta - Loca Luna. The hair was done just in time to take in some happy hour and Salsa, just ahead of the night time crowd. It was a calm relaxing start to the weekend with some mojitos. If I was in the mood for some trouble that night, Loca Luna would have been the place to get into something. But I had to start it slow, it'd been a long day already. 

Saturday.

Went to Exhale Spa at Loews Atlanta for a noon Core Fusion Barre class. Or what I like to call one solid hour of torture. It was just intensely painful especially after all the drinks from the previous night. Showered, got dressed in the heat and headed out to rejoin the heat. Decided to walk, not drive, to Park Tavern for the Jack Honey Summer Swarm Games presented by Thrillist. Whiskey and 90 degree heat, can you tell they do not mix? But they thought they'd make it work. The event was to start at 3pm, smack dab in the middle of the sweltering Saturday. You would think, it's too hot, no one's gonna show up. Black folks were packed to the rafters drinking that whiskey. They had 3 cocktails only and gave us only 2 drink tickets, but we had to stand in a long ass line just to redeem the tickets and that line stayed long, very long. They kept asking us to tweet how awesome the event was, but I was too pissed that I had to spend my Saturday standing in line with some folks (unfriendly strangers) for some watered down Tennessee Honey Whiskey drinks. 

Walked over to Five Napkin Burger for their happy hour entree and Bellinis to cool off from the long walk from Park Tavern to 10th street. I'm sure you're wondering (or you might know) how far this was, but in 90 degree heat and in high heels (I don't know why I didn't just flip flop it like I did in California) half a mile just seems like a hike. You can feel the sweat bands rolling down the side of your body. Summer awesomeness! The Bellini's did their job and by the second one I was chatting it up with my fellow diners. Ended up having an awesome discussion with this couple apartment shopping for their move to Atlanta. I felt like an Atlanta native telling them all the nice spots to visit but avoid at night. It was a nice chat. I hated to but I had to tear myself away from them to catch a showing of the Avengers at the Fox Theater.

Fox Theater. Interesting turnout. A lot of people, kids, families, couples, just people coming to see this movie that's been out for 2 months. I guess we all didn't have anything better to do on a Saturday night. As I stood in line to grab a ticket a gentleman tapped me and asked if I was there solo. I nodded. He quickly handed me his extra ticket and smiled. He simply said, I'm not trying to do nothing, I just had an extra ticket. I kept smiling. That never happens to me - score of a free ticket! So people just hand you stuff for free for no reason. Geez! I thanked him profusely and walked in, free ticket in hand. 

The movie ended at 9.30 pm. I thought, it's too early to go home especially when it's been a good day so far. I was still high from the movie and then taking in the gorgeous (extremely hot) day that I wanted to experience some more of it. I just didn't quite want to call it a night. Translation - I am avoiding my couch. 

My girlfriend and I have always talked about how fun it would be to sit on the Georgian Terrace patio and take in the day. That patio is one of Atlanta's street highlights. It sits beautifully in the corner facing the ins and outs of the Fox Theater and Peachtree Street. Every time we pass people sitting there, we often say, we need to do this one day. And as I passed it that evening I thought, today should be that day. No time like the present. Granted I am by myself, and I cannot get a seat on the patio (yes, everyone had the same idea) but today seems like a good enough day as any to fulfill this fantasy. So instead of the patio, I went up to the bar. 

I ended up having the crudest conversation with this gentleman in between sips of Perrier Jouet Champagne in which we reminisced about the original Avengers with John Steed and Emma Peel, while an 80's band serenaded the wedding party in the hotel lobby.  And for the second time that day, I got to hear myself laugh. It felt good. I remember thinking to myself: Mission Accomplished. When I thought I couldn't take all the awesomeness of the day, who walks to the bar. Michael Fassbender and his fabulous Shame costar (now girlfriend?!) Nicole Beharie to grab a drink. I almost froze in my chair. I tried the darnedest not to turn and stare at them as they waited on their cocktail. But I couldn't help it. They were right there to my right side, at the corner of the bar where I hid and they thought to hide also. His hair was all shaggy and hers was tucked in a newsboy cap. I wonder what they were up to upstairs. Hmm....They looked happy, cuddly, tender and deep in conversation and in themselves. It was most certainly not the time to ask for a picture or side chatter. I just took in the moment, smirked, thanked my lucky stars and let them be. 

After that I took my leave and thanked the insanely crude but generous gentleman for paying for my Champagne - which was delish by the way. 

Sunday.

Took myself to brunch and finished it off with an afternoon of wine tasting, specifically Prosecco Rose, at Capital Grille, Buckhead as part of their Generous Pour 12 wine event. And I can tell you there's nothing better than starting the week with exquisite glasses of Prosecco.

From there I went shopping for dresses at Lenox Mall.

I'd say it was a fabulous single girl's weekend, don't you?

It was the stuff that'd make the solo gals proud and the married folks envious.  ;-)

Deflated

I feel so deflated today.

Whenever a relationship ends it's often sad. For me at least. And more so because I betrayed myself. I made certain affirmations to myself, I even wrote them down so I wouldn't forget. So I'd be reminded of them. But the flesh is so weak. Mine even weaker and my spririt didn't fight through hard enough and in the end this is what I am left with. Disappointment. Deflation. Regret. Good old fashioned regret. You go full circle and come right back to where you were.

I need to be strong to resist the urge to go back.

I said: Goodbye (via text). He said: What does that mean? I later said: I need to tell you goodbye in person. Text seems so classless. Hate that it's the last thing you hear from me. He said: Oh, it won't be the last thing I hear from you.

Why? Because he believes I'd take it back. Succumb to uncertain weakness and revert the goodbye to "hey, how are you?" That the silence would deafen me and have me running back, asking, what gives, stranger?

Yes. There's a possibility of that happening. And there's also a distinct possibility that if I remember how failing my affirmations got me into this, I won't do that to myself. Again. I won't reward the flesh. Not now. Not later.

Do Nothing. Be Still. Listen.

Weekend worth blogging about

I had a weekend worth blogging about.

What qualifies as a weekend worth blogging about, you ask?

Well, I'd say a weekend filled with delectable food, fine wine, loads of laughter and of course, love. A weekend when you can actually hear yourself laugh. A weekend when you're too hung over to work out, but it's still not enough to deter you from drinking some more. A weekend that does not go according to plan but still manages to squeeze in some surprises. A weekend where even though you're broke, you still manage to find enough money to enjoy yourself and do some shopping too. It was just an awesome weekend, and if you follow me on Twitter (@aphy201), you'd figure (1) I am rarely home, and (2) I can be in so many places at once. And if you do, you'd probably be thinking that must make for an exciting life. Well, it does, give or take.

Brief recap of this weekend's awesomeness:

This was Magic Mike Weekend. I had no other plans except to take in the splendor of rock hard bods at a Magic Mike viewing. Simple as that, nothing elaborate, let's just see the movie, have some drinks either before, after or during the movie. Do not disturb this plan. 

That did not happen.

The plan was supposed to be a matinee on Saturday. I woke up late and couldn't quite get myself out of bed. The temperature was a record breaking 106 degrees. Yep, it was a scorcher. It was even hotter on the Friday but I weaved in and out of so many bars that I failed to notice. By the time I got up on Saturday, my pool was packed full of bikini clad blondes sipping frozen drinks - it was barely noon, and I thought I drank early! In between nursing my semi-hangover, I just had this epiphany to clean my home. I just thought, everything is so out of place, dirty dishes in the sink, dry cleaning on the couch, bills on the counter. Clean up, dammit.

That's one of the joys of living alone - you clean your home on your own time, and just because you want to. You can leave everything strewn over your apartment if you want to and no one, except your conscience, can talk you into cleaning. This time my conscience spoke up loudly. After some much needed cleaning and cleansing by burning some sage, I got dressed and attempted to see Magic Mike again.

Then, I ran into traffic and knew there was no way I could bump into the showing with a good seat with only 10 minutes to spare before show time. So I went to the mall instead. But being that this was an exceptionally hot day and the mall stays comfortably, refreshingly cool, the entire Atlanta population was at the mall. Just being there was entertaining enough. Time spent trying to shop, trying to maneuver between the hordes of people colorfully dressed for their weekend shenanigans. A couple of stores later, it was time for the next Magic Mike showing.

So I hopped back into my car and headed to the theater. I should have known when there wasn't a decent place to park that the theater (being comfortably and refreshingly cool as well) would be packed. But I thought, Meh, it's probably just people using the parking lot cos it's free on weekends. No can do. The movie was SOLD OUT and the next showing was not until 11.30PM. My girlfriend, the ever hestistant one, finally arrived and to her glee, the movie was sold out. I say glee because she never really wanted to see it, and being a perpetual soloist, I didn't mind seeing it alone but because it's such a chick flick (and I can be accommodating) I invited her. I had to practically beg her to join me to see the movie and had to sit through dozens of excuses before she succumbed, and now that she had, to her joy, the show was sold out.

So we did what any 2 women would do on a Saturday night: We went to dinner. The nearest restaurant to the theater - because we had uncomfortable shoes - was Bistro Niko, and my was it a perfect choice. Considering I lived in Buckhead for 2 years I was so shocked that this was my first trip to this fine dining treasure. Everything about it was superb, from the moment we walked in the scene, the ambiance just greeted us with its international flair...oh la la! How could we leave?! We ended up sitting down to dinner and popping this bottle of sparkling wine - which I ended up drinking most of as my friend is more of a fine food fan than a fine wine fan. The waiter was so nice that he offered us everything to make our evening a delight - strawberries for the champagne, dessert for the sweet tooth, and even posed for photographs for us bloggers to capture the evening. He scored an A+ in my personality scale.

Popping bottles on a Saturday night, the way every single girl should.

Dinner of duck in orange sauce and scallops. Yum. 

By the end of dinner, a couple of friends asked if we could converge at my place and have drinks and late supper. I agreed. Yes, I blew off Magic Mike again. I thought since the day and now, night was going so well, I was too giddy to go sit in a dark movie theater. We ended up talking, sharing fine wine and arguing about the essence of Ted (the movie) over Magic Mike until the wee hours of the night. Thank goodness I had cleaned up my place. Who knew I would have visitors and finally get a chance to entertain?

But first thing Sunday morning, my sober self finally went to see Magic Mike. And I can say it was not quite how envisioned seeing it, sober, hungry, a tad hungover, but after having my plans blown off for so long, I was just ready to get it over with.

Being solo allows you to shape your life to you, take in unexpected events here and there but inevitably have that freedom to mold to adapt and be spontaneous. So I didn't see the movie when I wanted to see it, but I ended up having an awesome dinner and entertaining friends in my home, which when you're solo means a lot to you. I was able to easily maneuver and that brought an unexpected jolt to my weekend.

Overall, with the waylaid plans, it was a thoroughly awesome weekend for this single gal.