Bonus Undies, Country ChaCha, and Magical Fish

I was invited to a girl's night out with Kelli, Jess, Kristen, and Lar to celebrate Kelli's 20th birthday. They advised me to bring the remainder of my savings account (25 bucks or so) and not to forget. Mind you, this was over two weeks ago. Between roughly last sunday and last friday, I hadn't heard anything from them.

When Lar calls from campus on Friday, believing that she was still supposed to pick me up from class, I was out having a Grandma Day at Gravois Bluffs. (Gram and I haven't been able to spend as much time togeather as we used to, so we get togeather about once a year for Christmas Spree, Birthday Spree, and I-can't-believe-it's-not-Back-to-School shopping.) After exchanging multiple apologies with Lar, we made arrangements for her to pick me up at three. That gave me just enough time for lunch and one more store with Gram.

I greeted Lar and JR in a velveteen cowboy hat. After all, us girls would be headed to Wild Country before the night was over- and it just happened to be in the store- and fit... (Yeah, I know. That's no excuse.) JR, driving on a permit under the watchful gaze of Lar, dropped Gram off at Freindship Village and took me by their house so us girls could change. JR was planning on a boy's night out, arranged by his roommate.

After about half an hour of hanging out I pulled out a new tee and pair of jeans from my bag to change into. Now, if there was anything I noticed from shopping, it was that several of the brand name lables seem to have an incentive program with their items. Out of the multiple items I bought, three of them came with an accessory of some sort. The jeans, for example, came with a package marked "Bonus Undies". After sending Lar for some scissors, we sliced it open and out tumbled a pair of bright pink scortch-your-eyes undies. Now I don't know about anyone else, but those seemed a little too odd not to hang on to. I left the remaining portion of the tag hanging on. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it.

Lar and JR were having some trouble finding a babysitter for Brooke, not to mention family problems with JR's mom, Sandi. They dropped me off at Jess' house and more or less drove away in hopes of getting everything on their end squared away. Jess and I chit-chatted a bit, I showed off my new stuff, and all was good. The two of us eventually ended up over at Kristen's, with Kelli and a cousin of Kristen's (that, Lord forgive me, I just can't remember the name of).

The agenda for the evening was more or less to hit a dinner joint for some raucous speech and random filling-in, as well as Wild Country- a country line dancing bar. (Yes, one third of my friends really do enjoy the strains of Tim McGraw and Big and Rich.) And, to prepare for Wild Country, Kristen went through her entire underwear drawer for the perfect pair... you see, there was going to be a Thong-a-thon that night. The person who looked best in a thong, or the best thong (not sure what the standards of judging were) would win one hundred dollars and have their photo up on the videotron.

I still say that it's a pity that she chickened out.

Lar met the five of us at Pasta House for dinner. Being that Jess, Lar, and I all
had very limited funds, we looked into splitting an entree while Kristen, Kelli, and Cuz each paid for their own. After perusing the menu, I saw nothing that I wanted more than the Grouper entree, and I knew that I couldn't eat anything that came with it. Jess bought something for herself, but agreed that she would eat part of my pasta, and Lar had the other side dish- Italian potatoes. However Grouper, as Drac says, is a magical fish. It melts in your mouth, and you can't help but want more. It was a beautiful thing.

From there, we crossed the river with the van blaring music from 92 WIL, and whatever mix CD Kristen had. Dusty (Kristen's mom) sent us off with a big wave and "Have Fun!"

Wild Country looks a helluvalot smaller on the outside. You have to be willing to let them search your purse, and you have to have an ID to get in. Club rules, I believe. Dollar longnecks, eighteen to get in, you get the picture. Almost immediately after grabbing ourselves a table on the balcony, Kelli, Kristen, and Cuz were gone. After the DJ belted out "This next one's gonna be a Cha-cha", there was a puff of smoke where they were standing. (Then again, it could have been from all the cigarettes around us.)

The dance floor is about the size of a medium-small stage. There are two balconies along the longer sides, and a stage at one end for the house band. Above the dance floor is a massive disco ball, which would appear to have been broken a few times. The two video screens loom over the sides with various images- everything from the music video to the song that everyone's dancing to, right down to nascar racing. Why Nascar? I have no idea.

About two hours into the festivities, after they had gotten me down there for one of their normal, club dance breaks (where they play a few recent hip hop songs and whatnot) all of a sudden, there is a scratch effect. The loudspeaker kicks up the refrain to "Kiss Him Goodbye" (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye) and everyone starts singing along as the DJ basically embarasses the hell out of some poor kid trying to get a drink. As the Security escorts him out with flashlights shining on him, everyone more or less stand around watching the boy walk through the double doors.

DJ: All right everyone, let's give him the right sendoff. 1... 2... 3...
Everybody: GET THE F*** OUT!

Now, they did that for at least five other kids, and four of them were within three songs. They actually had to stop one of the songs TWICE!

Overall, though, it was great. I actually did the original electric slide twice, and really got down during "Footloose". (No way I was gonna miss that one.) I know that during the slow songs Jess and I were both missing our men, and it didn't help when JR showed up later with his roommate. Kelli was upset that nobody was hitting on her, and Kristen had to basically calm her down... it's not exactly a pickup joint. As the night went on, I think the atmosphere just sort of let my inhibitions melt away. Or maybe it was the company. Hell, for all I know it was the hat.

Eventually, Kristen might arrange another girl's night there. I'm looking forward to it already.