Sometimes You Just Need To...

The number one question I hear on Monday's is, "How was your weekend Sarah?"

I almost always respond "it was good" as I re-play my weekend in my head searching for some details that are appropriate to share with my co-workers or the person who is wondering.  I don't live a super crazy life, but telling the people I work with that I spent the weekend drinking or partying doesn't seem like the most appropriate answer to share with people at a middle school. 

I guess I have already developed a bit of a reputation (by my secretary that is) of being a "party girl".  I think that's a bit of an over-exaggeration, but I do like to partake in the variety of special events that this city has to offer.  Wine Walk?  I'm there!  A "crawl" downtown?  You bet, I like most of them (Santa, Zombie, Pirate, etc).  A night out on the town? Count me in! Honestly, I really don't need much of a reason to go out and have a good time.  A good time will follow where ever I'm at. 

So when people at work asked me today how my weekend was, they were surprised to hear that my relaxing weekend consisted of me spending time at home.  Yes, you read that right.  I spent the majority of my weekend at home!

Now don't get me wrong, I had plenty of invites to do things.  My wine-tasting group had our monthly "meeting" and the theme was champagne (my fav!).  I was invited to play cards and games with some of my Besties.  And performing artist (singer) Mickey Avalon was in town and normally I would have loved to see his show.  Surprisingly enough, I declined all invites.

Why?  I decided that for once, I needed a little ME time!  I couldn't remember the last time I spent a Saturday night at home.  The idea of spending the day in my yoga-pants and tshirt actually excited me!  When my friends asked if I was ok, I realized that I was just fine.  As I tried to make excuses for why I didn't want to go out, I came to the conclusion that there was absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to have a low-key weekend to myself.  The next few weekends are going to be jam-packed with a variety of events ranging from a Superbowl Party, bday celebrations (mine and others), and an Engagement Party in El Lay for my brother and his fiance.  A weekend to myself was exactly what I needed to recharge my system.

I spent my Saturday night kitty-sitting my mom's cat and watching old movies my mom had saved on her DVR.  I watched a wonderfully inaccurate Western called "Virginia City" and while the love-story held up, I laughed at the scenery.  Since when does Northern Nevada look like the Grand Canyon?  I was in bed by 10:30 and asleep by 11. 

I woke up Sunday morning to missed calls and texts from the night before from several of my friends wondering what I was up to and if I would come out and "play".  I was happy to wake up rejuvenated, well-rested, and most importantly NOT hungover!  (CLICK HERE TO READ WHY I'VE STOPPED DRINKING)

The lesson I learned this past weekend was it's not only OK to take some "me time" it's also desperately important to do so.  Most of us spend our lives running from one place to another.  We work hard to make sure that others are taken care of and that other people's needs are met.  I'm glad that I was able to put myself first and take a time-out just for ME!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner: The Final Score of the Nevada vs UNLV game!

Well...I'm back!  After a long weekend in Vegas and two insanely busy days of school and work, I am back on my blog and couldn't be happier.  It's amazing how in these few short weeks I've really become addicted to writing on this darned thing! I was actually going through withdrawls from lack of writing.

The reason for this trip to Vegas was for the annual North (Nevada) versus South (UNLV) football game.  The location switches locations every year and this year it was in Sin City. (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE RIVALRY) I went on the trip with a group of my closest and bestest friends.  We all know each other through years of work at a local youth service agency in town.  Most of these ladies I've known for over six years, and honestly they're more like sisters than just friends. 

Vegas was a whirl-wind of fun, laughter, craziness, relaxing, dancing, recuperating, drinking, sleeping, eating, football-watching, and an endless supply of mayhem and foolishness.

Our t-shirt design!

 The football game was amazing!  Arriving to the game hours in advance we had plenty of time to get some tail-gating time in.  The jello shots? Outstanding, as was the blue electric lemonade.  And we all looked super cute wearing the matching tshrits we made.  Our boys played a great game, and even though we knew we were going to win it didn't stop us from shouting louder then any of the Rebel fans that we were surrounded by. 

Blue Electric Lemonade

Pack Blue Jello Shots

One woman sitting in front of us asked me to quiet down a bit.  I remember just rolling my eyes at her.  She then asked if she gave me some of her Red Vines if it would quiet me down.  I told her I didn't like Red Vines.  She then asked if some of her peanuts would quiet me down.  I told her I didn't want her peanuts.  Then she asked if a beer would do the trick.  By this time I realized she had a good sense of humor, and rather then being bitchy (which I initially thought) she was really just feeding into all the craziness my girls and I were bringing.  I told her beer wasn't really my thing and declined.  She then upped the anti and offered all of us a round of shots if we all settled down a bit.  Of course we accepted THAT offer, and in a mere minutes she was back with Jager (my FAVORITE) for all of us! After the round of sweet, licoricey nectar we all became great friends and it didn't matter that we were in Pack Blue and they were in Rebel Red.

Like I said, we (obviously) won the game.  That makes Nevada UNDEFEATED so far this season!!!  (IS IT NEVADA OR UNR? CLICK HERE) It also means that we get to keep the Fremont Cannon (a cannon that is used as the game trophy) in Reno. Since 1969 (when the first rivalry game was played) the cannon has changed hands twelve times with the current holder being Nevada, following Saturday's 44-26 victory. This was the SIXTH STRAIGHT YEAR in a row that we have won, leaving us with an overall record of winning 21 out of the 36 games played between the two teams.  

The Fremont Cannon stays in Reno!

Besides the football, Vegas didn't let me down at all.  This will be the third time I've been down south since May (and I'll be back next week for a conference).  I've realized that I have really come to enjoy Nevada's largest city.  So much to do, so much to see, SO much bigger than Reno.  I've also realized that as much as I like it there, I could never live in Vegas.  Great for a vacay, but after a great trip I enjoy returning back to reality.

And after such a FANTASTIC blur of a weekend, reality hit HARD yesterday.  We didn't get home until after 1am (I guess that happens when we didn't get on the road until after 5pm).  We stopped at the Goldfield Hotel again to find ghosts. (CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE HOTEL) One of my girls swears she saw something (it could be possible?) while all my other girls thinks she was seeing things.  It drizzled, rained, and monsooned almost the whole way home and when we got back to Reno I was happy that I had left a sweatshirt in my car.  We left with it feeling like summer and arrived home to a full-blown Fall!!! 

We LOVE our Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn!!!

I'm sad that this vacation had to end.  I rediscovered how much I love my friends and how fortunate I am to have this amazing group of women in my life.  I mentioned earlier that it feels more like we're sisters and this trip just reaffirmed this.  Seeing what we packed was just validation enough...we had multiples of IDENTICAL items. Of course we all need deodorant, but that almost all of us used the exact same kind?  Silly!!!  And it didn't stop there: same (newly bought) shirts, white cheddar popcorn, shaving cream, razors, hair spray, etc.  And the stories and inside just were endless.  I will never think of pepper jack cheese without laughing.  Whenever I hear the song "Toot It and Boot It" I'm going to smile.  And if for some reason I lose an arm or a leg I will make sure I keep it in a pickle jar in case the Messiah comes or in case my other limbs have separation anxiety and need to talk to the one that's detached (of course you won't understand this unless you came on this trip). 

As I return back the craziness that is my week, I'm left with nothing but amazingly priceless memories that will no doubt last me a lifetime.  Now it's time to give my liver a break, return back to reality, refocus....and leave me dreaming of my next adventure....