every time someone goes away i never realize just how much i miss them until i'm standing next to them upon their return with the goofiest smile pasted on my face for hours on end. bonus points are administered when that person wraps you in their arms when you (wearing aforementioned grin) pick them up at the airport and tells you that your hair smells good.
he flew home on the red eye so we were back at his apartment before noon. the atrocious mess he had vowed to clean (mostly just piles of clothes sporadically placed about the room and one moldy piece of bread underneath the bed) was pushed aside for a few hours in favor of showers and naps and wedding crashers. i'll be honest - i had missed his notre dame fleece blanket, too.
after recharging the batteries for a bit and checking out the inside of our eyelids, we caught up with jay for awhile, chatting it up about vegas (he just got back last night) and his winnings (hooray! finally someone who can afford the other coldplay ticket! someone uber chill!).
extra xmas money burning a hole in his pocket, we decided to go to the mall and shop around for a fabulous new shirt, ultimately deciding on a lovely blue number from banana republic. i realized that i genuinely love shopping, even when it's not for myself!
returning back to cunningham we rounded out the evening with a bet that pete wouldnt eat an entire beef stick (1330 calories, 267% daily allowance of sodium, and 114 grams of fat) in a mere 7 bites (damnit, he did). the twenty bucks shelled out by steve and sibley was well worth it though, as now i forever have the image of pete deep throating a beef stick (mailed by his girlfriends mom, of all people....!) ingrained on my mind. yes. hilarious.
cotter and rachel joined in the fun, and silly string and bubbles later reeked havoc on deadwood (with the rose bowl in the background, naturally). good times all around.
now i am home and must do some serious packing...
i shall be in california in 8 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(p.s. i'm bringing along alice's adventures in wonderland and through the looking glass by lewis carroll for the plane ride - i've wanted to read it for years now...)