Does it really take an out of town friend to bring everyone together?  Guess so.  There is a handful that live close enough to meet up, but it rarely happens.  Usually it is because of our working schedule.  And we’ve all got significant others that we hardly get to spend time with so I assume when our own schedule is free, we’d like to spend it with our loved ones.

The past weekend, my old Berkeley buddy, Sarah, came for a visit from Portland, OR after finishing her residency.  She passed through town on her way down to Southern California but stopped by again on the way back – by car, mind you!  Unfortunately, the other times she did visit earlier in the year, it was hard to meet up.  Finally…a day that her and I were free – all day!  And Anneliese was free, too, another Berkeley bud.  And to my surprise, another 2 were going to join their work.  Hooray!  It’s been over a year since I’ve seen them.

So our day started when I met up with Sarah and Anneliese for lunch.  First stop.  Asian Ghetto (a food court mostly with Asian fast food restaurants that undergrads frequent, also known as Durant Square).  I told the mister I might be going there and he was soooooooo jealous.  I don’t know why he would be – but he absolutely loves the food there – it is quick, cheap, and tasty.  I also had to have some donut holes at King Pin Donut.  It would’ve been better at midnight when they make fresh batches and they are warm with goodness – but since I can’t do that, having it now is better than nothing.  Another stop…Sweethearts for BOBA!  I swear everyone in my class had boba from this place.

Now that our bellies were full, Sarah, Anneliese and I headed off toward Tilden Park.  It was a gorgeous day to hike.  There was a little animal farm that we visited in the park.  I had to see this infamous goat that was putting it’s leg to it’s horn – I didn’t think they were physically capable of doing that.  Later, we found out it was a ram and I actually saw the ram use it’s hind leg and put it through it’s own horn.  The farm had other farm-type animals.  A few cows with a baby calf, some chickens, a rooster, a turkey, a pig, goats, and sheep.

After the farm, we set off to hike on a fire trail.  All three of us got to catch up on our lives and such. We hiked almost 5 miles total before we headed out to dinner.  Place of choice – Crepevine.  The mister would be doubly jealous if he found out.  All 3 of us were so full from lunch that we split the large entree 3 ways.  Our other 2 friends came to join.  It was too bad this place didn’t serve wine or any other type of alcohol – I think we all wanted one. We caught up on a year’s worth of gossip and had a few laughs.

Before we knew it, darkness fell and we all parted our separate ways.  I truly enjoyed hanging out with them.  I guess we’ll get together the next time Sarah rolls through town again, whenever that may be.  Or when some of them get married – a-hem you know who you are

Last weekend, I went to a Bachelorette party in Palo Alto.  It was a last minute party as the evite was sent less than 1 week before the event took place.

Of course, I knew absolutely no one on the list but decided to go anyway because the bride-to-be went to my bridal shower/bachelorette party.  And she didn’t know any of my friends, either.  Such a good sport!

Anyway, I met up with the group of girls at Miyake’s in downtown PA.  I arrived fashionably late and sat right next to the bride-to-be.  It was hard to miss her as she was decked out with a crown, sash, and lighted plastic diamond ring.

As soon as I sat down, they immediately served me a sake bomb.  Oy.  I forgot my Pepcid AC to reduce my Asian glow…but…down the hatch!  Not bad.  I’m a cheap date so I felt the effects pretty quickly.  I scarfed down my Bento Box dinner so I didn’t have to drink more alcohol on an empty stomach.

The eating and drinking continued.  There were embarrasing questions we had to ask the bride-to-be such as…”Which position do you like?” or “Do you like giving blowjobs?”  or “Do you use condoms?”  I found this quite strange that these questions were asked in a public restaurant AND there was a table of little kids sitting right behind us.

For games, there were bachelorette lottery tickets that tell us what we have to do.  My ticket was a tic-tac-toe game with the bride-to-be (BTB).  Whoever won has to down a ‘Screaming orgasm’.  I was trying to avoid winning which I successfully did.  So now, I owed the BTB a ‘Screaming Orgasm’.

I met the BTB’s mom.  She looked absolutely amazing for a MOTB (mother of the bride).  She seemed like a hip chick because she commented on how great my raunchy lingerie gift was to the BTB.  And my gift was REALLY skimpy.  At the end, the MOTB pulled out a huge cucumber for her daughter to carry around and to demonstrate how to give a blow job.  The BTB’s aunt was also wild.  She showed us her naughty trick of the evening – jamming her whole fist in her mouth!  My jaw dropped as did every guy in the restaurant.

After dinner, we were off to The Rose and Crown for beer.  Didn’t stay for long.  Then we went dancing over at Melt.   It was perfect because the lower level was playing 80′s music, which the BTB loved.  Here, I bought the BTB her ‘Screaming Orgasm’ and we danced away.  The BTB danced the entire evening, sometimes, by herself.  Way to go!

I had to cut out early as I had a bit of a drive ahead of me.  This was my first non-Vegas bachelorette party I had attended (besides my own) and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the BTB and her entourage.

I forgot my camera so I was only able to take a few pics with my iphone.  Click here for your viewing pleasure.