Hot [Me] in the City...

...and suburbia.

First off, let me say that, beyond having this song pop into my head as a post title, and beyond the connection that I just survived driving in one of the biggest and busiest cities in the Southeast, this song (which you can listen to here) does not have anything to do with me or my life. Also, I should add that I really am not conceited. I told Brad (who called me while I was hauling booty back home yesterday) I was going to make this my blog post title and, once again, he laughed and said, "You sure are conceited." I'm really not. But it fit, and it made me smile, so I thought I'd do it ;).

It was a cold and overcast morning when I awoke from my slumber and... Haha, totally kidding. It was cold Saturday morning. It was overcast as well. But really, who says slumber? (Other than in connection with "slumber party.") Okay, so I got on the road around 8:15 Saturday morning. I had to stop for gas, but other than that, I was just cruisin'. You know you're getting close to Atlanta when you start seeing a bunch of lanes on the Interstate. Once I hit 4 lanes, I knew I was getting close. I was nervous, I must admit. I've been to Atlanta before, but have never driven in Atlanta. I was always a passenger. I really like driving into downtown Atlanta and seeing the huge buildings. It's just so cool to me. So, I attempted to take pictures while driving, but it turns out I only got one (yeah, probably steer clear of me, since I am clearly pre-occupied with picture-taking while driving in an unfamiliar city in the middle of lots of traffic!). But here it is:
And that wasn't even the really crazy part! This picture actually makes it look tame. And, since it was a Saturday, it was probably much more tame than during the week. But shortly after I took this picture, this Interstate (which was already two: I-20 and I-85), merged with another major Interstate in the South: I-75. Man that was stressful. You're in the middle of 8 or so lanes just praying you don't miss your sign, and that, when you see it, you are able to get over to where you need to be to exit! At least that's what I was doing :). Man, there was some TRAFFIC. I was tense. But, I have to say I think I did well. I mean, I didn't get honked at, didn't hit anyone, didn't get hit by anyone, and I arrived at my destination in one piece. I think that spells success all the way around. So, I am woman, hear me roar! I've conquered Atlanta. And, I only missed one turn, but was able to figure it all out with the help of Emily's directions and Google maps.

So, I find Emily's apartment complex. It is nice. It is a gated community and she has given me directions for how to get into her complex. Well, turns out the directions are slightly different than she thought, so I ended up calling her and she came out and met me. Her first statement: "Oh my gosh! I can't believe you're here!" It was great. Ten years have not changed Emily much (I wonder how much they have changed me!). She still looks like Emily. I will say this (and sorry Emily, you will have to forgive me, but this was too funny)... I said to Emily, "Well, not to point out something sad, but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with a bunch of gray streaking through my hair!" And she laughed and said, "I know, right?" So, then we got in front of the mirror and started comparing gray streaks. Great stuff. And Emily cooked brunch (notice: a combo of breakfast and lunch, which means it's lunch, not dinner, and it also means it gives more credence to dinner, not supper, which means it's linner) and we sat down to scrambled eggs with cheese, orange juice, and pancakes. So, here's a then-and-now:
We look the same, just older :(. We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting and laughing and looking through pictures. It was great! Ten years (oh, have I mentioned that I had not seen Emily in almost 10 years!) is a long time on which to catch up!

So, Emily's roommate (Brittany) was house/pet-sitting for someone with whom they both (Em and Brittany) work. And Brittany had asked the homeowners if it was okay for her to have several of the teachers from the school (they all work at a private school in Atlanta) over for dinner, and the homeowners said it was no problem. So Emily and I went. Oh my goodness. Talk about gorgeous houses! Three-stories, lake out back, two-story windows in the living room that overlook the lake. Just beautiful. Emily says, "Welcome to suburbia." Sounds like a movie line (and I'm almost positive it is one). So these are just a few pictures of Emily and me in this house. In some of them, we are on the third story looking down into the living room where one of Emily's friends is taking our pictures.
And here's another picture of Emily and me up-close. I think this is a great picture of us!
So after dinner, the whole group of us went downstairs to play games. Before getting started, and while waiting on some who played the piano before going downstairs, though, we sat around and watched Brittany's new little puppy play. So here are a few of us sitting around.So from L to R is James, Kaden (the puppy), Brittany, Megan, and me. There were 6 others there who weren't in this picture: Greg, Lacy, Emily, Kendra Sue, Damon, and Joseph. They area all teachers at the school and they do a lot of hanging out together. We ended up playing Tabboo. Okay, usually I play Tabboo Jr. with Julie and Alysha. Regular Tabboo is HARD! Very hard! After this game, Emily and I left and headed home. Good-bye suburbia.

Oh oh! Side note: did you know they don't have Dunkin' Donuts in Alabama? So, I was excited about the Dunkin Donuts. So Emily and I did get some. We got the midgets :):Yes, I know they are actually called Munchkins. I did that for Julie's benefit. The first DD we went to was sold out of munchkins. How do you sell out? Just make some more! Haha. So says me :). Although, I do hae to make a confession. That box above is the 2nd box. I bought that one to bring home with me. The first box? Well, Emily and I hammered that sucker. Within 5 minutes, it looked like this (and this picture is authentic):
Worth it? Oh yes. Every single calorie.

So, back at Emily's, we got into our jammies and hunkered down on the couches in preparation for a very exciting event.The event? Kristin, you're going to love this one... Because no Nilla day is complete without something 80s. And because Emily is totally cool and actually owns these:

That's right. Jem. We watched 3 episodes of Jem. Because Jem is truly outrageous. Truly, truly, truly outrageous. Plus, her music is contagious :). And because "me and my friends are Jem girls!" I do believe these will be future acquistions of mine. Just so you know :).

I was so sad to have to leave on Sunday. 24 hours is not sufficient time to catch up on 10 years. But it was so great. I had a Primary inservice meeting to get back to (for church), and I thought it was at 4:30. So I was doing good (hauling booty home). I had called my roomie to get her to take my black heels and a black skirt to the church for me, since I was cutting it close and knew I would need to go straight to the church. So Stefanie calls to tell me she got my message and I told her I'd be there right on time, maybe 5 minutes late, and I told her where I was. She was like, "Um, Hila. I think it starts at 4." Shoot! I had it in my mind the whole time that it started at 4:30! Well, so I was about 30 minutes late, but they ended up starting 20 minutes late, so I didn't miss much. So that was good. And we had a delicious dinner afterwards. Oh, and I bribed Stefanie with Dunkin' Donuts midgets (munchkins) for bringing me church clothes ;). Oh, and on the way home, I had to stop for gas. And when I was leaving the shopping center with the Wal-Mart and everything else, I had to stop at a 3-way Stop. Had the 3-way Stop sign and everything. Would have taken a picture if my camera hadn't been in my backpack. Haha. So funny. Ever seen one of those?

So, it was a wonderful weekend. Lots of fun, lots of laughs, lots of memories. Fears conquered, experience gained, calories galore consumed (but they didn't count, since they were all shared with friends :)), and lots of new memories created. The quote of the day is so true. There is just something wonderful about connecting with old friends and bridging those gaps. Although for some of us, there might not be a present connection, there is something wonderful about meeting up with people who share a common past and reminiscing. That said, I am seriously considering going to the Panama reunion this upcoming summer. I've never been to one, but think I should go. Something to ponder... So, hope you have enjoyed this! And don't lie. You know you were singing along to the Jem song if you are between the ages of 25 and 32.

*Update: Elka has guessed the movie quote correctly.*