Who, Me? I've Been Here All Along!

Oh, uh... hi there.

I feel a little sheepish because somehow I managed to let more than 10 days pass before I posted again. I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I have excuses, would you like to hear them? See, first there was finishing grad school applications, and then there was all this work for my job, and then there was the worst cold I've ever had in my life, and then there was more work for my job, and things have just been SERIOUS, OK? But it's all finally calming down a little, and I'm back to update you.

The dress-up-and-socialize thing I was talking about ("law prom," if you like), was a total success, I have to say. I woke up sick and overwhelmed that morning and decided to skip work and stay in bed. Then I got up and got my car inspected and bought pantyhose. And then I drove to Chapel Hill. Lee and I and argued for 45 minutes about who had to choose where to eat dinner, until someone finally decided that we would go eat at China Buffet. Because nothing says "Later tonight I'll be getting dressed up and socializing" like all-you-can-eat asian cuisine.

Then we returned to Lee's apartment and whined about how much trouble it was to change clothes. (This was pretty ridiculous, actually, because the one of us doing most of the whining was not the one that was going to have to apply makeup and pantyhose.) (I'm pretty sure he was just trying to delay the socializing. He is not a super social creature.) Anyway, law prom was supposed to run from 8 to midnight, and we finally starting getting dressed around 8:30. I wore a 'deep magenta'-colored satin sleeveless knee-length dress with a bit of an open back. While we got dressed, we took a couple of shots each of vodka, in order to get our social graces turned up to 11. My throat, which had been sore all day, was not entirely pleased with the liquor, but my throat was just going to have to MAN UP. After the shots and some extended fussing with my hair, I pronounced myself foxy and demanded that Lee let me take some pictures of us before we left so that I'd have proof of my foxiness to share with others.

We finally arrived at law prom around 9:45. It was being held in some fairly swanky building on campus, and I was pleased that there were a lot of people there for me to blend into in case I started feeling anxious, and that only 60% of the girls there were wearing little black dresses. I assume this is because those people were law students and the experience of law school has long ago robbed them of all creativity and zest for life. Later on, I spotted a girl wearing a very low-cut halter dress who was just one sneeze away from showing off a nipple, and after that I felt totally secure in my wardrobe decisions.

I had a couple more drinks once we got there (and indeed, they were overpriced), and met a couple of Lee's friends, who seemed very nice. If they hated me, they either didn't show it, or I didn't notice because I was Advanced Tipsy at that point. Once, I looked across the room and thought I spotted someone from my high school who, to my knowledge, does not attend law school. So, I walked over to him and said, "Mike? Is that you? That's you, right?" (Luckily, it was.) We talked for a little while about how he's still in undergrad and will be going abroad next year, and how his tie perfectly matched my dress for some reason, and then he sort of edged away to eat some food. Oh, by the way! There were little ham sandwiches! And probably other food, too, but I couldn't see because there were a lot of people crowded around it being drunk. But those little ham sandwiches were delicious.

When I wasn't trying to make a good impression or harassing old high school classmates, I was driving Lee crazy. The problem with Lee being a foot taller than me is that he can ignore me with very little effort, so while I was chattering away to his tie with drunken enthusiasm, he was calmly surveying the room over my head. An excerpt from our conversation follows:

Me: "Oh my gosh did you see that girl? Her boob is about to pop out! Did you see?? Lee, did you see?? She's at your 3'o'clock! Look!! Lee! Are you listening to me?!?"
Lee: "YES. I'M LISTENING."

I'm awesome.

Once I realized that I had reached the point where additional alcohol would only make me more annoying rather than more charming, I decided we might as well go home. They had just started announcing the raffle winners, so the party was almost over anyway. We called the little shuttle bus and rode back to his apartment, high-fived each other, and went to sleep.

So, to recap: we looked hot, we drank, we had a good time, and no one was arrested.* All in all, a success. My only regret is that we never did attempt dancing together, since we spent the whole 2 1/2 hours socializing and drinking. I guess that question will have to be answered another day.

*Actually, that's not true. When I visited the bathroom, I found out from the other girls in there that someone had actually been caught with cocaine and had to be chased down by security guards. So there you have it. Law students party like rock stars, apparently.