Saturday in SoNo

In an attempt to avoid the perpetual pitfalls and high school reunions that occur during any evening out in New England's Rising Star, I have become a “nomad partier,” one who packs a bag every weekend to travel an hour or more in search of something fun to do. This weekend lead me and fellow Squad members Durk and the Midge to exotic SoNo to spend the night with Sarah and Dave.

Our afternoon pre-game consisted of gossip, Laguna's, watching TiVo-ed episodes of Laguna, and completing our third re-cast of our Laguna personas. The Midge, Dave and Bri also got involved in a heated game of Yathzee Texas Hold'em.

Dave was supposed to come out with us but decided last minute that the idea of spending the night out with the girls was not all together that appealing. He did redeem himself though by offering to drop us off and pick us up.

We ended up going to a chill Irish pub instead of the very trendy club we usually end up at. We were greeted by the clichéd “scratching record” upon entering. Seriously, everyone turned to stare at us. I like to believe it is because we are so ridiculously beautiful that people couldn’t help but gawk. However, I think it had more to do with the fact that we were about 15 years younger then most patrons and our dressed down "casual" going out clothes were a little too much in comparison.

This bar was perfect for one of my favorite pastimes...people watching. If you are anti making fun of random people or think it is really mean, you may not want to read any further. I will just give you a sampling of my favorite people:

• “The Leather Bum” – We saw this guy driving up to the bar and Sarah identified him at a SoNo bum. Dave disagreed. According to him “bums don’t wear leather.” This guy looked like the missing member of ZZ Top.
  
• “The Umbro Jacket guy” – There is nothing I can add to this one. There was no soccer ball in sight.
  
• “Kevin James” - If you haven’t seen Hitch, you may not know what I am talking about. This guy not only looked like Kevin James, he also busted out all of the dance moves that Will Smith slapped him for.
  
• “Mom Jeans” – She was my favorite by far. Mom Jeans refers to the SNL commercial for Mom Jeans, basically any unflattering high waisted, tapered leg jeans. Mom Jeans was at the bar in the flesh. It got even better when she picked up a guy and they rocked out on the dance floor with some serious 80's moves.

We ended up having a good time despite the mass amounts of KC & the Sunshine Band, Marvin Gaye and other 70's jams from the band. I got asked to dance by a youngster with the pick up line, “you look good for your age." Hmmm....

Upon arrival back in the car, Dave (who always makes fun of the mass quantities of food we consume after the bar) had bought us each goodies tailored to our individual likes. He brought the Midge Ramen noodles, Durk chips and me Cheetos. Now that man is a keeper.

We packed up and headed out first thing in the morning, but not before a stop at Wendy’s of course. Durk had control of the iPod so we got to listen to the soothing sounds of punk rock instead of the hard core rap the Midge played on the way down. I arrived home and promptly fell asleep.

I do not plan to pack a bag this weekend, but you never know what is going to come up. And if it is something fun, you have to be ready...