So, last weekend was a whirlwind adventure. One of my dearest friends, Khabria, turned 25 and we had a blast! We went to Ultrabar on Thursday night and while Khabria’s boyfriend, Lamar, gave her the memo to take off work the next day — I was left out of that correspondence. So, off to work I went.            

Friday evening, I rushed home from work to put on my riding boots and headed to Cadillac Ranch. It’s a nice, spacious restaurant/bar at the National Harbor that features a mechanical bull. Lamar sure wasted his $3 on my ride. I was THEE most pathetic bull-rider of the night. Everyone expected me to ride it like I was in the rodeo, but unlike Shakira — my hips do lie. For one thing, it took me four times to even mount the darn thing. After that? I lasted for a whopping 13 seconds.

You and I will meet again, my friend. I WILL be back.

On Saturday, I woke up excited for the grand production. I packed my bag with everything I needed for the night, had twenty zebra-print balloons filled with helium and headed to Khabria and Lamar’s place in Bowie. Here’s the birthday girl, surrounded by my decor of choice:

After the caterer brought the food in and Lamar showed up with a cake worthy of ooh’s and aah’s, I knew we were going to get Khabria good. Needless to say, her best friends did a good job of keeping her in the dark all day while we set up, because when she came in the door it was obvious that she didn’t have a clue.

I’m glad Khabria got to chat and chew with her closest friends and family members. We all had a great time, enjoyed good food and drink, and watched Alvarez tap Sugar Shane’s tush. I was pretty distraught when Mayweather beat Cotto but after a few minutes, I snapped out of it. Hey, don’t hate the player, right?

On Sunday, we went to Half Note in Bowie. You wanna talk about a brunch to write home about?  Made-to-order omelets, Belgian waffles, crabs, jumbo shrimp and everything in between all in the same room. And, yes, the food is delicious.

Once we were able to walk, the gang took a spontaneous trip down to the Mall and visited a few memorials, with MLK being the highlight. That night? We shone upon Eden’s rooftop party.

Yet again, I missed the “request off from work” memo. On Monday, I yawned my way through the day. Khabria was nowhere to be found. Naturally, I perked up for my final formal evaluation of the year. My kids were well-behaved, engaged in the lesson and really showed what they know. My execution was solid and my questioning was rigorous. Ah, yes, the sweet smell of success.