22: The Taylor Swift year.
After turning 21 last year, I have become wiser — more mature, if you will. Some say they can’t wait to reach their drinking year, but it’s no match for your Taylor Swift year.
You may be curious as to how I spent my 22nd birthday compared to my fabulous 21st birthday last year. Don’t worry, I documented this one too.
Saturday, 7 p.m.
I have plans to go out with two of my friends around nine. Thankfully, my brother-in-law offers to drive us and pick us up after we decide we can’t stay out any longer. I start to get ready and for once, I choose to curl my hair and that takes time. So yes, I am getting ready two hours in advance.
I also hear my sister and brother-in-law discussing how I am going out soon and I’m still sober. I didn’t understand what the issue was until I realized, oh… I’m a broke college student so I should probably pre-game and save money. Who knew that at 26 you’ll become even wiser? It’s crazy.
Saturday, 9 p.m.
Everyone is picked up and we are dropped off at C.O.A.T.I. The plan is to start here and then go to a couple of other places. I discovered my favorite drink from C.O.A.T.I.: the pineapple express. The perfect drink if you like something fruity and a bit sweet. I had three of those….
Saturday, 10 p.m.
We decide to walk over to Blondies, a club on Tejon that’s only open on Friday and Saturday night. I had this drink there once and I never actually knew the name of it or what was in it. Thankfully Jacinda, the bartender, knew exactly what it was and it’s my new favorite drink. I had two of those…
Saturday, 11 p.m.
Time for a new place. We walk over to Supernova, an arcade bar with this amazing drink that tastes like Fruit Loops. Of course, the old-school arcade games are cool too, but that drink trumps everything. Oh, and they have good mini corn dogs and onion rings.
At this point, I am feeling those drinks and no, I didn’t order the fruit loops drink, I had water. I am wiser now, so I know my limits. We went ahead and called for our ride as we realized we are adults and can’t stay out as late as we used to. Good thing too, because this random guy tried to make conversation with us, and it didn’t go very far when I said, “sorry, our ride is here,” and we quickly left. Good times.
This concluded the early birthday celebration of Saturday night. Nothing eventful happened on Sunday, so I’ll fast forward.
Monday, 8 a.m.
I’m looking forward to waking up this early on my actual birthday, but I have an exam, so I have no choice. I do well on it too, so that’s a plus, I guess. I have a good morning and then go to the Scribe office and work on editing photos, but I do get a lot of birthday wishes from everyone.
Monday, 2 p.m.
Of course, whenever I make plans for something, it can never go right. I get a call from my sister that my nephew is sick, so I pick him up from daycare. I spend the rest of the day babysitting… what fun.
Monday, 7 p.m.
My boyfriend comes down and we go out to dinner. Usually we go to Texas Roadhouse, but we decided to try somewhere new and go to Cheddar’s. They have a really good margarita. I don’t remember what’s in it, except for kiwi.
Clearly the waiter doesn’t know what day it is because he doesn’t even acknowledge that it’s my birthday, so we have to actually pay for our dessert. I would’ve preferred it to be free, but whatever.
The actual birthday isn’t as eventful, especially with having to watch my nephew on Tuesday and Wednesday as well. On Thursday, however, we have another friend come to celebrate
Wednesday, 9 p.m.
We pre-game and play Mario Party on the Nintendo Switch. All three of us already have two drinks so we think we are set to go out. My brother-in-law drops us off at C.O.A.T.I. at about 9:30. They are supposed to be open until midnight, so we order drinks, and he says everything is closing at 10 p.m. except for shots and beers on tap… they should put that in their hours.
Wednesday, 10 p.m.
We go back to Supernova. I think these are the only bars I’ve been to in Colorado Springs. We ordered some food and the delicious fruit loops drink. The funny thing is, we are realizing just how old we are getting because we are tired and aren’t going to last long out here.
Wednesday, 11 p.m.
We Uber back to the house. On the way there, I realize I don’t have a house key… it’s on my car keys that my brother-in-law has. No one is answering their phones either. We get into the garage, but the door to the inside is locked too. Then, when it’s 30 degrees outside, someone answers the door, and we finish watching this scary movie called “Us.”
The rest of the week consisted of watching my nephew and then getting his cold. What a fun week.
After turning 21, you realize that because you can drink whenever, you don’t have to stay out as late every weekend and you will learn that you don’t even want to. The occasional drink is good enough, and by 22, you are out of your prime and drinking too much and staying out late is no fun.
Cheers to my Taylor Swift year!
This is Supernova, an arcade bar that serves a great drink that tastes like Fruit Loops. Photo from onlyinyourstate.com.