21st in London!!!!! <3

Thursday started out like any other day. Except that it was my 21st birthday and I was excited to spend the evening with some great friends.

I got up as usual, went to shower and came back to my roommate’s very energetic “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” We got ready and went to class. Since she always gets out of her class earlier than I do mine, she had taken the time to come back and put the cards she got me on my computer.

I got back and she said “Open the silver one first! It will make you cry less.” So I did, and it was this GORGEOUS black and white card with beautiful designs (she knows me so well!). I opened the other one after that and almost started to cry immediately. She had gotten me a ‘sister’ card and had written amazing things about how much we had grown up together since freshmen year and how we really have become family and how I was the sister she never had…you get the idea, it was really sweet. So after I hugged her and said “thank you I love you!” I added “but I hate you for making me cry!” We laughed and talked about God only knows what for a few more minutes before I had to leave for my second class of the day.

The rest of the afternoon was busy with booking tickets for stuff in Edinburgh, packing for Edinburgh, etc.

We were getting ready to leave for the night’s festivities and Bridget crowned me with the special 21st birthday tiara that she had bought for me.

My 21st Birthday Tiara!

We had reservations for Ice Bar (this super cool bar made ENTIRELY out of ice! Your chairs, tables, drinking glasses, etc.) for Tara, Bridget and I at 5:45pm but we had gotten a bit lost on the way and since you are only allowed to be in there for 40 minutes (because it is so cold) and we were late, we only would have had like 15-20 left. We decided to just forget about Ice Bar for that night (we are going tomorrow instead!) and go somewhere to have a few drinks before we met the other girls for dinner.

We ended up in Waxy O’Connor’s. Remember? The cool place we tried to go on St. Patty’s Day. We could actually get inside and move this time! There are like 3 or 4 levels with bars in them and we ended up in the church bar. It was really cool. The walls were made out of old stone and there was a pulpit higher up and it was just neat and pretty. We got there just in time as it quickly became packed!

So we had a few rounds, and I got my first drink as a 21 year old, a rum and coke! We sat there talking and what not and then went to meet Katie and Carly at the tube so that we could head to Spaghetti House for dinner.

Rum and Coke! My first drink as a 21 year old!

Dinner was AMAZING! The food was sooo good and there was soo much of it and we were all stuffed! So instead of ordering dessert so they could sing to me, they decided to have me blow out the candles which were sitting on the table as they sang Happy Birthday to me.

After dinner we were headed to T.G.I. Friday’s, but we decided to take a quick detour. Katie and Carly knew where the Ice Bar was so they took us to show us where it was so we could get there next time.

Then it was time for T.G.I. Friday’s! I was super excited for my Long Island Iced Teas!

mmmm...Long Island Iced Teas!

So the wait for a table was a bit but we headed to the bar to order and wait. Bridget and I had pretty much decided not to get too crazy since we had to get up early to catch the train to Edinburgh. When we got our table we debated over desserts for a while since everyone was still mostly full from dinner we didn’t each want to get our own. They all looked a bit too chocolatey for me at first, but we picked one and it turned out to be AMAZING and it helped that some of the chocolate sauce was on the side, not right on top. So Tara ordered and told them it was my 21st birthday and when they brought the dessert they brought me balloons and sang to me. However, she seemed to combine my name and the tiara on my head and sang “Happy Birthday to Tiammy.” That seems to have become my new nickname…haha!

Me and my DELICIOUS birthday cake!!

Since it was a Wednesday the restaurant usually closes at 11, but there were tons of people in there and we heard Happy Birthday being sung at least 3 other times, so it was about 11:20-11:30 when we left. We were considering heading to O’Neill’s to do a bit of dancing, but in the end decided to head back to school, completely sober yet euphoric from a fun night, to prepare for our weekend in Scotland.

It was a really great 21st birthday and was everything I had wanted it to be. I was with great friends, and it was just a lot of talking and joking and laughing and I couldn’t have asked for more! We are going out tomorrow again as almost a “re-celebration” to do Ice Bar and what not since no one has anywhere to go this weekend, we can get a bit crazy! Look out London, here we come! =)

LOVE these girls! The group of us at T.G.I. Friday's!