Mini-trip Part I - Martinis & Mary

Thursday afternoon, I realized that I didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day (my meeting was canceled) and I didn't have anything for the next two days until my meeting Saturday evening.

So, I kissed Mike goodbye and drove up to Belmont Abbey College to hang out with the sis. I only ended up staying for one night, but we still had fun!

On my drive up, I stopped by a McDonald's and got something to eat. As soon as I made my first big turn. My drink (which I thought was stable) flew out of the drink holder and all over the floor of my car! Yuck! But oh well.

I made it to Belmont in about an hour and a half and ran through the rain to Mary's dorm. We hung out for a while and I gave her a care package. It had all sorts of cool stuff from the Target 1-spot: a Barbie notepad, Strawberry Shortcake hair clips, a teeny marigold grow kit, a teeny strawberry hanging grow kit, 'grow' capsules that become either dinosaurs or bugs...I forget which, mini drink mixers (lemon drop, mojito, and something blue), and lots of candy! All in a festive Christmas basket. :-)
After that, we started to get ready. I put on my new little black dress and Mary put on a sexy red dress. Unfortunately, my bangs fell all funny for lack of a curling iron, but Mary said in the back it looked "fashionista-chic"...so I can live with that.

We had the option of staying in Belmont or heading out the Charlotte. After heavily weighing our options (a place called Sammies where all the college kids go, or a chic martini bar in the city?) we decided to go to Charlotte.

Mary got online and found what seemed like a really hip place. Loft 1523. It was also half-price martini night! Yay! So we went there. And, oh, when we got there! Ha-ha! It it seemed so way hip that we paused outside the door, nervous to enter! But we did go in and seated ourselves at the bar. The place was way empty. I learned later that Charlotte has a fair-weather bar scene, and so the don't like to venture out into the rain. Russ, the owner, thanked us for coming out, even though it was raining. Ha-ha. Very different from Greenville!

Well, guess what? Right after Mary and I ordered our drinks, I went to give the bartender, Andrea, my card...and it wasn't there. Oh no! I had left it in my jeans from when I went to McDonald's! I had a horrified look on my face and Andrea went, "Oh, no big deal, don't worry about it!"

How nice! Especially since there was no one there. Mary said, "I feel like such a scam artist!" I agreed. Then guess what happened? Russ came over and asked if we would like one more, "it's on me," he said. Okay, I have never been to a place like this. Mary and I said yes, and he made us some yummy martinis.

Eventually, we drove back to Belmont (only about 15 minutes) to get my card and back to Loft 1523 so we could actually pay.

It was a fun night, even though the Red Wings lost and I was sitting right next to some Flames fans.

♥Tiffany♥