When The Smokehouse Is A Rockin...

For those of you who keep up with this blog, you probably know that last night was the big event I've made reference to in earlier blog posts - my ten year high school reunion.

Last night's festivities got under way at 7:00 pm at the Marshall Street Smokehouse in downtown Winston-Salem (at first, "Smokehouse" really through me as to what to wear and what to expect, but it turns out that the restaurant was neither filled with smoke nor was a house and was actually pretty cool). The husband and I showed up fashionably late at 7:15, but apparently we could have arrived an hour later as we were only among twenty or so others in attendance at that time. The party steadily swelled as the hours past, and by ten we were in full swing.

We were first greeted by the planners of the event who quickly labeled us with name tags, complete with my senior high school picture on mine (my husband's name tag was graced with a picture of our mascot, the Spartan). Who knew that seeing yourself with bushy eyebrows and sporting a black top and white pearl necklace could bring back so many memories! The journey down memory lane had just begun.

We immediately found our way to the bar, opened a tab, and began scouting out the room ("we" being mostly me, as the husband didn't know a single soul. Such a good sport). We chatted with some folks around us as I waited to see if any of my close friends from high school would show up soon.

For the most part, people looked the same. While ten years is certainly a good length of time, no one seemed to have changed too dramatically (there were a few folks who looked completely different of course, but I wonder if it was that I just didn't really know them during high school, and thus I just thought they looked different). Finally, after about an hour or so, some of my good friends starting shuffling into the bar and the real fun began.

It was great to catch up with everyone. There were a lot of laughs as we reminisced about classmates, places and events. We had the senior class video playing on a continual loop on the televisions at the bar, which was certainly fun to watch (I never made the video - obviously I didn't know the editors that well. It's all about who you know in high school and who you're friends with. Actually, that pretty much applies to life after high school as well).

I found out who had kids and who was recently married. I found out what people did for a living, and in what part of the country they did it in. I found out that our senior class president was black-listed from the invite list because of "troubles with the law" and I found out that one of my classmates had been on Fear Factor (hey, we all have our own goals and ambitions. Mine clearly did not involve eating bugs for money).

It's amazing how quickly you fall back into the high school scene. I noticed that social circles last night pretty much mirrored the social cliques from high school. But I also noticed it was easier to talk with everyone, even the elusive popular crowd, because really that stuff just kind of fades away over time, and you now all have one thing in common - your high school Alma mater.

The night was great, and I have to give mad props to my wonderful husband for sticking it out for four hours while I socialized with my friends. I'm sure ten years down the road I will eagerly look forward to my twenty year reunion. By then I'm sure my senior class picture will seem even more hilarious than it did last night.

Thanks to Erica, Lundon, Laura, Michael, Justin, Julie, Lauren and Sarah - it was great to see you!

Plucked and Ready To Go

One of the things that I love about blogging is that I can go from writing about politics, religion and other important social issues to eyebrow waxing (that's right - I made that leap. Don't judge me).

We are now T minus five days until my ten-year high school reunion and Operation Reunion Ready is in full swing. Move over Tyra Banks, this chic is getting ready for the ultimate runway: walking into a room full of people that you knew ten years ago when you were ten pounds thinnner and ten gray hairs fewer. Fortunately, I dress a little better than I did in high school, but I blame that on the decade (darn you cut off jean shorts and scrunchies! Why were you ever in style?)

In my continuing effort to prepare for the reunion, I have a laundry list of items I need to take care of this week. The first to be crossed off my list is the eyebrow waxing, as seen below.


(Ow! A little painful, and the skin is pretty red, but man...check out those arches, courtsey of Jolie the Day Spa. Fabulous.)

Melanie, why in the world would you post a picture of your face, without makeup, showing off your recent waxing? Don't you realize that the very people you are planning to see on Saturday will read this and know all about said eye brow waxing?

Ah, yes, my dear Watson, but your arguement rests on the presumption that, in fact, people actually read this blog.

Now that my eyebrows has been properly waxed and plucked, the next thing to do is pick out the outfit. I've already crossed this off my list, as I am wearing a dress my mother-in-law gave me (free!) and a pair of Calvin Klein black high heels (I reserve the right to make a wardrobe change at the last minute).

With the outfit carefully selected, it is time to ready the body by eating only this for an entire week:

Being a woman is fun!

And of course no big night out on the town would be complete without a fresh pedicure (I'll spare you the before picture of this, as I do not want to lose my only readership of three). I'm planning to do the pedicure at the Bostic Day Spa, where I can save money and watch the Olympics whilst scrubbing my feet with a pumice stone.

So, there you have it. The plans for the week. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up with old friends. I have fresh batteries for my camera, and I'll be taking lots of mental notes so I can come back to my blog and tell you endless stories about people you don't know.

Stay tuned!