We don’t need more friends!*

I mentioned on Monday that I was in Madison, Wisconsin over the weekend with some of my favorite humans. Those humans were my girlfriends, and we were on our annual girls’ trip.

Yes, this is the same photo I posted on Monday.

Rachel, Katy, and I drove up together Friday afternoon. We chatted, ate some snacks, and I spilled water all over myself when Katy changed lanes on the expressway. -_-

We were staying at Kara’s apartment; she just moved there a couple weeks ago for her current travel nursing placement. All week I had been very excited about Kara’s pool– I kept telling people, “My friend Kara has a pool on her roof!” (Yep, kept it that way, Sis.) On Monday, though, Kara got this email from her apartment complex:

And the pool was closed all week! (Probably shocking it to get all the pee out. Gross.) We were very concerned that these pee-ers were going to keep us from enjoying this awesome perk.

However, we were all cheering when we walked up because it was open! We went  downstairs to change and headed right back up to enjoy the beautiful weather from the roof. It was fabulous.

Until something horrible happened.

I was just minding my own business, laying in a chair and soaking up some sun, when something wet splattered onto my arm.

No, it wasn’t someone playfully splashing me.

No, I didn’t spill a beverage.

A bird pooped on me.

I, naturally, started shouting. The girls, naturally, started laughing at me. Being the kind friends they are, they all refused to help.

This is what my sister did instead of helping me.

I was trying to get out of the gate, so I could go wash my arm in the bathroom, but I didn’t want to use the arm that was pooped on because I didn’t want it to spread. This made opening the gate difficult. As did the fact that I was trying to open it from the wrong side.

At this point, I was doing a lot of high-pitched shrieking and had accidentally closed my arm and spread the bird poop. I turned around to yell at my unhelpful friends and noticed two guys who were also hanging out by the pool were trying to hide their amusement as well.

“Now even those guys are laughing at me!”** I whined. That set the girls off even harder.

“I’m sorry!” one the laughing men managed to choke out. (I don’t think he was really sorry.)

It was rough. But I eventually made it to the bathroom, cleaned my arm, and carried on with my sun bathing.

A little while later, a girl and her friend also came up to the pool; she was wearing a shirt that had cats riding donuts on it.

  It was kind of like this. Also, if you’re wondering, you can buy me this shirt by clicking the image.

“Oh my God! I love your shirt!” I told her as she walked by us.

“Thanks,” she said.

Then I said more quietly, “Let’s be best friends.” I don’t think she heard me, but Katy, Rachel, and Kara did.

“Becca! That’s weird!”

“We don’t need more friends!”*

I shrugged. “She didn’t even hear me.”

“Or she was ignoring you,” Rachel said.

Either way, we decided not to be her friend, despite her fabulous clothing.

After we had sufficiently sunned ourselves/ splashed about in the pool, we decided to explore Madison. We went to a cute family-owned restaurant for burgers, listened to some live music and people-watched at The Terrace, and went to a bar that used to be a bank. It was a successful evening.

At the Terrace

Being the old lady that I am, I was the first person awake on Saturday morning. I played around on my phone for awhile, but soon got bored. I sat up and looked over at Katy, who was on the couch. She was also on her phone.

“I’m awake,” I announced happily.

“I’m not,” Rachel grumbled from her spot next to me on the air mattress.

“Katy is,” I told her matter-of-factly.

“Not really,” Katy said. “I’m not sleeping, but I’m not ready to be fully awake.”

Eventually we were all fully awake, and Mary arrived. We had mimosas and then headed out for brunch.

We meandered down the block to the conveniently located brunch spot and got a table fairly quickly, sitting outside. Our table was on the end nearest the corner, and it was very windy outside. We asked to put the umbrella up, but were told if they did that, the table might blow away. We decided against it.

Things that blew over/ away were: my water, a napkin, Mary’s chips, another napkin, and my receipt (and I thought my credit card, but it was safe). It was an adventure for sure, but a delicious and delectable one.

I also had one of the most delicious drinks I’ve ever had while we were at brunch: it was a frozen screwdriver with vanilla vodka. It tasted like a Dreamsicle and was so fabulous. I will be making them at home for pool days.

We’re adults.

After brunch we went back to Kara’s to get her car to head over to our cruise on the lake. Mary and I did some cruising of our own while we waited for Kara’s car. (Her apartment has one of those fancy self-parking garages! Very cool, but Kara says it’s infuriatingly slow.)

We got there a little early, so we popped into the bar there for a quick bev. We met a fabulous bartender who gave us some recommendations for the evening, and Rachel talked about her half birthday. (Yes, this was also in the Wake Up Call. Yes, she is 24 and still talks about her half birthday. Yes, she is (mostly) serious.)

We snagged an excellent seat on the boat where we wouldn’t get wet or seasick (we hoped) and got blue beverages called the Betty Lou (same as the boat!). It was still very windy, and thus, difficult to walk, so we mostly sat at our table and hung out with each other, which is our favorite thing to do.

I wish I’d taken some pictures of the lake while we were out there; it was so beautiful! And once we got away from the shore, the wind wasn’t as harsh.

When we got back to shore, the Captain took some photos for us, but it was once again very windy and we struggled a little. We got a normal-ish photo by the end, and we laughed a lot in the process.

Then Mary and I pretended to be Kate and Leo.

Needless to say, we highly enjoyed ourselves.

Later on, we went out for dinner and drinks. And guys, I rode a mechanical bull. It was not pretty, so I will not be sharing a photo.

I do have to say, when I was up there, the first couple seconds I really thought I was going to do well. In my head I was like, “Yeah, I got this. I can totally ride this bull!” Then the next thing I knew, I was on the ground. It was very fun, although I think it may have been more fun for Mary, who was controlling the bull while I was on it.

I mean, this is basically me.

Following this debauchery was more of the usual gallavanting– drinks, laughter, and dancing. And we got some pretty awesome pizza on the way home.

When we got back to Kara’s, we ate more snacks (obv), had some heart-to-hearts, and I spent a lot of time touching Katy’s belly/ talking to the baby. *No shame.* Rae also pointed out that I really love touching people’s pregnant bellies, and she thinks that when I get pregnant I’m going to be extremely disappointed when no one is as excited as I am about touching my belly. So then I tried to make her touch my belly even though I’m not pregnant. It was an interesting moment.

The next morning I was not the first one up. Mary is always the first person awake. We stayed quiet until the others were (somewhat) awake, but I’d had some strange dreams, and I was eager to tell my friends about them (In one of them, I killed a witch by trapping her in a bottle!)

Sadly, our weekend was coming to a close. We packed up and hit the road back home.

I know I’ve said it a thousand times, but I will never stop saying it: I have the best girlfriends. Our weekend was filled with a crazy amount of joy and laughter, and I’m so thankful for it. Although we were missing two of our crew this weekend, it was still a reminder of how lucky I am to have these funny, supportive, goofy, smart, strong, overall wonderful/badass ladies in my life.

*We are not mean or unwelcoming. We are actually very friendly. If you want to be our friend (and, I can’t say I blame you), we will not turn you away. 🙂

**Now even those guys are laughing at me! should probably be the title of my memoir. Keeping it in my back pocket.

How about you? What traditions do you have with your friends?