Nina and Steph

Nina and Stephanie came to visit this weekend!

Quick background- Nina has been one of my best friends since we were 15. I met Rachel (my female soulmate who lives here in Phoenix) through her in high school. Nina and I do not always get along. We're in a good phase right now, I think because we have some space from each other. Also, Nina just seems happier lately. Anyway, I think this girl is the closest thing to a sister I'll experience. Sometimes we love each other, sometimes we hate each other, but like it or not, we're connected and probably will be for the rest of our lives. We've been through some crazy stuff together. And there's an unspoken agreement that no matter how we're feeling about each other at the moment, if something bad happens, we put aside our differences and support each other. Sometimes it's just healthier for both of us to not be around each other.

Stephanie and Rachel were friends in high school, and Stephanie and Nina became really close after college when they both moved to Chicago. Stephanie and I have never been best friends, but we do hang out occasionally and she's really cool.

This trip worked out perfectly because Rachel and I kind of shared the girls. They split their time between both of our houses, which was great since Rachel and I have both had to work.

Nina arrived Friday night. Stephanie flew into Tucson (she'd always wanted to see it), then drove up to Phoenix Friday night. As soon as I saw Stephanie's car, I knew we were in for a good time.

She rented a Mustang convertible.

Saturday was the perfect day. We drove around Phoenix with the top down, listening to oldies. I took the girls to Frances, my favorite Phoenix boutique. Then we checked out Made Art Boutique in the downtown arts district, where Stephanie bought the funniest book ever.

Attached to Made was a gallery with a really cool exhibit. It was the artist's "forest of fears." On one wall, there were happy trees surrounded by hundreds of little pictures of creepy bugs.





She also had the ABC's of her fears. I think my favorite was "Rape Van."

A mural in the arts district.

Nina remembered an amazing coffee shop down the street (can't remember the name) where they had the most delicious homemade cookies. We then ate lunch out on the patio at The Paisley Violin, where Stephanie declared her sandwich to be the best she'd had in a long time. Finally, we stopped by The Pink House co-op in Glendale, which had cool stuff but just wasn't our style.

Stephanie enjoyed the hats at the coffee shop and the sunglasses at Made.

We headed home and got ready to go out that night. I'd been planning for this night all week. I had to figure out the cheapest, most calorie efficient way to get drunk. The boys at work had fun helping me with this. Their consensus was that I should just go out and "tear it up," eating and drinking whatever I wanted because then I'd just throw it up. Brian suggested that "Puke and Rally" be the theme of the evening. I ended up downing a 6-pack of MGD 64 right before we left the house. This ended up being the perfect plan. I needed to be drunk when we got there. Otherwise, I don't dance. Since I'm broke, I couldn't afford to dance at the bar, which gave me all that time to sober up so I could drive home. I was pretty proud of our logistics.

We went to Bar Smith, a really cool bar downtown where they have a DJ up on the roof and you can dance under the stars. The only problem is that they spin house music, which I strongly dislike. But the DJ downstairs was spinning hip hop, so it was nice to go back and forth. I actually danced a lot and had soooo much fun.

Reunion!

The best part of the night was when some guy came up and tried to dance in our circle. He couldn't get in, and he said, "Is this like, a circle that can't be broken?" And I said, "Yup," and thought about what a beautiful metaphor that was.

Another highlight of the evening was when I got into a conversation with a guy in a Steelers jersey. After a year of watching them with Ryan, I cheer for them (unless they're playing the Bears). Things were going well until he told me he'd bet against the Bears in Sunday's game. I then became... belligerent and/or irate. There may have been some cursing and name-calling. A little while later, Nina and I walked by him and I was like, "There's the a-hole who bet against the Bears." Nina and I formulated a plan, and it was just like the old days. Rather than throwing a drink, she flipped his hat off and took off, while I stayed behind to curse him out again. Luckily he thought we were funny and wanted to buy us drinks. I was definitely laughing at him when the Bears destroyed the Seahawks on Sunday.

All in all, it was the perfect day.