Space Girls are Easy

I went to Portland this past weekend for my sister’s boyfriend’s birthday party. Well, I really I went to see her and help her with the party. I was meeting the boyfriend for the very first time. Brian came with me as far as Dallas. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Dallas is a small town 30 miles east of Salem. One of Brian’s very best friends, Jim Smith, lives there with his family. Brian and I spent the night there Friday and I got up early Saturday morning and headed the rest of the way to Portland to see my sister. Brian stayed in Dallas to play with Jim for the weekend.

When I got to Davina’s, she had just gotten dressed. First thing, we headed to Starbucks for coffee. I sat and chatted with her and Shadoe for about an hour. He’s pretty much great. He’s sweet and funny and D just seems to adore him and likewise.

After coffee, Davina and I pretty much spent the whole afternoon running errands, getting party supplies and then decorating the house and making snacks for the party. Somewhere in the middle of all that I called Zack to see if he still wanted to be my date to D’s party. He agreed but told me he’d have to bus it over as his car was in the shop. I assured him it would be no trouble for me to come get him so I headed over to SE to snatch him up. When I got there Janika answered the door. (Zack’s older sister) I’d forgotten she would probably be there. She looked great. Tall and beautiful as always. I gave her a big hug and then Zack swept me up in one of his world famous hugs (Seriously, they’re the best) and then took me on a tour of the house. He and Janika had purchased it together a year or two ago. It’s totally cute, wood floors and rustic charm. They even have a garden. (I’m so jealous)

So my sister’s party was actually a Scifi theme party and Zack had done his best to find an outfit but had given up and gone with a very vintage looking suit and hat. I actually thought it made him look rather steampunk. He asked me if I thought it would work for the party and I assured him he looked very dashing. So we headed back to my sister’s, stopping at an ever so cute coffee shop in SE for a macchiato. Zack proceeded to tell me all about the third wave coffee movement and the local barista competition. I can’t wait to live in Portland.
When we arrived at my sisters, Zack jumped right into helping with prepping the snacks and hourdurves while I ran off to put on my costume. Nothing too elaborate but just space girl enough to get by. I must say, I was pretty damn cute. My sister's costume was not unlike a futuristic flight attendant and she was adorable. Her Boyfriend, Shadoe had put together this crazy, futuristic bounty hunter outfit. Something about it reminded me of tank Girl meets Mad max. Such a creative pair, those two.

They had a whole kareoke set up and I sang a song or two but mostly I tried to avoid getting too hammered and chatted with either Zack or my sister. Davina had tried her hand at making Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters.

* The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster was invented by Zaphod Beeblebrox, a major character in Douglas Adams' novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The effect of a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon, wrapped 'round a large gold brick. It has also been described in the novel as the alcoholic equivalent to a mugging; expensive and bad for the head.*

My sister version of the drink consisted of two parts Goldschloger, one part citrus vodka, one part Everclear, topped off with a cherry that had been soaking in Everclear for a week. Although not quite the same as getting hit in the head with a brick, it was pretty kick you in the chest awful. I pride myself on being able to take just about any shot without so much as a flinch, but this stuff. Wow.

Despite all the Everclear and other drinks I managed to not get too hammered. It could be the rather large plate of pasta I had at the beginning of the evening or the fairly long intervals in-between drinks. Either way, I didn’t puke and woke up in the morning feeling fairly together. I got up, took a shower and then Davina, Shadoe and I all headed downtown Portland, for breakfast at the Roxy.

I hadn’t been to the Roxy in years. It used to be one of my absolute favorite places to hang out in Portland. It’s a little all night café with all kinds of movie paraphernalia and other interesting tid-bits decorating the walls. I found myself wondering if the new smoking ban was hurting their business. After staring at the menu for a few minutes I settled on some big ass biscuits and gravy and a diet coke. Perfect hang over food.

After breakfast we headed back to the house and looked at the pictures we’d taken from the night before (see my facebook). I then I packed it up, said my farewell’s and headed for Dallas to pick up my cookie (Mr. Johnson) for the ride home.

It only took me about an hour to get to Dallas from my sister’s. I got a little lost and had to call Cookie to direct me the last few blocks. When I arrived I thanked Jim for taking good care of Brian, it seems they too had a blast, and then we were back on the road, headed for home. The drive back sure felt a lot quicker. It helped that it wasn’t pouring rain like it had been on Friday night. I was glad to be home in my comfy bed with my snuggle kitties and my cookie. Don’t worry Portland, I’ll see you again soon!