ft. lauderdale - capital of the world

Went out last night with some of my housemates... actually, I went out alone first -- drove to Waxy's to get some food. I would have walked, but there are creepy guys at the end of my road who hit on and proposition any woman walking by, so I felt safer in my fiberglass shell. Anyway, as I was chowing down on some fantastic chicken curry (especially for an Irish pub!), some Dutch guys came over and one started talking to me... Honestly, sometimes I wonder what vibes I give out. I'm too nice, I swear. Anyway, Dima was his name and he was very nice. Apparently, he is a yacht transporter and he lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. He bought me two drinks. I drank one and left the other... I had told him that I didn't want the second drink! Anyway, I politely excused myself to the ladies room and when I returned, I told him that my friends were at the Village Well waiting for me. It wasn't a COMPLETE lie... yes, Tac and Phil were at the Well, but they weren't exactly waiting on me to join them! Hehehehe...

So, off I trot across the parking lot -- literally! -- to the Well, a smokey, cavernous hole-in-the-wall dive where all the lighting comes from TVs and neon signs. Two pool tables are tucked against the back wall, and dart boards dominate the front corner. high-top tables and bar stools litter the concrete floor in between. Before any of the creepy guys at the bar can corner me, I spot the boys playing pool with a few more members -- Jane, Ashley, Brooke, Brett, Rolf, and Guy. Jane is a really cool Kiwi who is also getting started in the business. Ashley and Brooke are from Bermuda (but they have VERY mid-western accents... suspicious...), Brett's from Tennessee, Rolf is a South African who sports a faux-hawk and tight jeans, and Guy is a Beastie Boy look-alike from South Africa... I bought my beer and started sipping, chatting with Tac and Phil. Phil introduced me to a VERY cool new drink -- Jager and cranberry -- it tastes almost like a non-carbonated Dr. Pepper... spicy and refreshing!

I didn't even get half-way through my beer before everyone decided to head to Waxy's to watch the Australia / New Zealand rugby game. A sense of foreboding clouds my mind, but I shush it away because I'm protected by the group, right? WRONG! Dima the Dutch Dude finds me within two minutes of my arrival and starts pestering me about how I'm nothing like typical American girls; I'm beautiful and giving and blah blah blah... We go back and forth for a while, and secretly I hope that if I just give him my number, he'll go AWAY... I don't have to answer it, right? Well, his phone number is international and it isn't working on my phone... so finally, I give him one of my business cards and tell him that I really want to spend some time with my friends. It was nice talking to him, but he should really go. And then he's gone... WHEW!

I get myself another Heineken and start to mingle with the group... we talk about how rugby is a real man's sport, and Jane tells me about how the NZ team playing is only made of Maori descendants. After we've had enough of Waxy's honey-colored goodness (around 2 am), most of the group is hungry. I'm not ABOUT to walk home by myself at this time of night, so we crowd into the 24-hour Denny's up the road from our houses. We cram into a crescent booth and quote silly movie lines from Zoolander and Office Space -- you'd be at home, HL. After my chicken curry only hours before, I am not hungry, but I've been craving pancakes for days... so... well, you know the rest.

We stumble home dizzy from the evening's adventures, full of some greasy groceries, and exhausted. The entire house slept until after 11 today... except me. I was up at 10 walking to Waxy's to fetch my car. The short walk in the morning heat helped sweat the rest of the alcohol out of my system and I was ready for the day once I made it back with my car. Kim and I went to the beach for a couple hours... I'm getting quite a tan and my hair is lightening... I came home from the beach with wild hair that Molly said looked like a mermaid... I thought it looked more like Medusa, but mermaids are seductive and mysterious, so I'll take that over deadly Medusa any day! After I'd showered up and gotten comfortable, Molly comes bouncing through the house, "We're going to the Embassy to swim! Get your suits on!" Confounded, I plop on my bed... my HAIR was still dripping and I smell like Japanese Cherry Blossom lotion... YUMMY! Maybe I'll head down there to hang out but I won't swim... or maybe I'll throw on my skirted black polka-dot bathing frock and take a dip... I dunno. I'm an independent woman.