Saturday Night Fever, aka Laceyfest 2008

Joey and I pre-funking - No beer for him

This Saturday was planned to be Lacey's big going away party. We had big plans for having a bunch of people out at the Homestead Lounge, bowling, dancing, being stupid, etc. You know, typical things, but bigger and with more people. The plan was good, the execution of the evening was even better.

The night started off with Kim and I having dinner at La Mex and getting a couple of Margarita's to begin the night well. One problem with that is La Mex has apparently gone downhill. The Fajitas I had were interestingly flavored, the tortillas they gave me were apparently the junior edition ones (seriously, they were less than half the size of a normal tortilla), and the Margaritas were overly sweet and didn't even seem to have any alcohol in them. It was fun, but the food was kind of eh.

After that, Kim and I went over to Amy's house to join her at the beginning of the house party that was going down that night. Of course, it was only 8 or so, so no one was there yet, but we did get to help Amy organize CD's and play with her and her roommates pets - strangely, that was a ton of fun! I had a great time organizing Amy's CD's with her - so much so I'm about to do the same with mine after I finish this.

Amy, Lacey, and Hannah at the Homie

Up next, Amy, Kim, and I rolled out to meet up with everyone at Garcia's in that country that is connected to mine - Eagle River. As many people have noticed, I rarely leave my "bubble." My "bubble" ranges from as far south as where I work, to as far East as the highway, to the west it extends to the Carrs on Minnesota, and to the north we have 4th Avenue. I essentially never leave this tiny little area, so going out to this foreign land known as "Eagle River" was a heck of a thing. It took quite a bit of effort, but I managed to get us there.

At Garcia's we joined up with the whole crew (there were many, and I apologize if I forget anyone - Lacey, Jason, Jon, Julie, Olena, Nate, Keith, Eric, and then a number of people I didn't actually really meet), had a quick drink and rolled over to what I had heard was the most amazing bar ever - the Homestead Lounge (or the "Homie" as it has been so affectionately titled).

Myself and Jon - Are we having a good time?

So was the Homestead Lounge all it was hyped up to be?

Bowling Alley? Check.

Ridiculous dancing people? Check.

Many gaming tables? Check.

Most bizarre music selection ever made? Check.

Yep. It was pretty much rockin', or to quote Hannah and to summarize the experience in one word - badonk-a-donk.

Amy, me, and Hannah

Eight of us bowled, with two teams of four going against each other - Kim, Lacey, Jason, and I on one team vs. Nate, Jon, Keith, and Eric on the other. First game my side got massacred, but the second game we did WAY better, with all four of us managing to cross into triple digits (we aren't good, and that was pretty much our equivalent of perfect games). I rarely bowl, but whenever I do I have a great time. I'm unsure as to why I don't do that more often...maybe I should look into this.

All this time of course, we're drinking, laughing, and being merry, and Amy is photographing nearly ever movement within seeing distance, which is why I came out with so many great pictures. Of course she also took about 450,000 self-portraits with anyone who came close enough to grab. They turned out pretty much awesome though.

Me and Amy after a few futile attempts at picture taking

After bowling, we all rolled into the bar for a few rounds of "Emasculation by Amy" (aka playing Amy in Fooseball). She's pretty much a cheater at life at that game, and Jon and I's matchup against Amy and Lacey was alternately embarrassing (we had an audience and I was terrible) and very discouraging (did I mention I continue being terrible at Fooseball?).

After that, we traveled over to where everyone else was hanging out - essentially we all sat and watched the insanity that was happening on the dance floor. There was a rotating group of about five people who were dancing and pretty much being either filthy or filthy ridiculous. Of course, after a little while we had to go out and lay down the law, and Lacey, Olena, and myself went to the dance floor and showed them whats up. My moves will be told in tales to anyone who was not there, I promise you that. They were incredible - I'd say some sort of combination of Michael Jackson and Elvis is a pretty accurate representation of what they were like.

Shortly thereafter, Amy, Lacey, Kim, and I departed to go back into town and head to Amy's roommates house party. As we were leaving, Kim and Amy ate it pretty badly. Given what we were doing that night, Amy and Kim falling on the ice should not have been unexpected. Even though it was entirely predictable, it was no less funny. Kim was pretty much hilarious all night, but her and Amy going down was inadvertently the apex of that hilarity. See photographic evidence below of this.

Kim and Amy, pre-spill

Kim and Amy, post-spill

For two people who just ate it, they seemed to be having a pretty great time.

So we went back into town, avoided all fast food restaurants (sorry Kim!) and made it Amy's place. The house party was still going on inside, and I love house parties. Excitingly enough, there was even a bonafide bonfire roaring in the backyard.

Lacey, me, Amy, and Kim at the bonfire

Fun fact: Bonfires are always wonderful. This is pretty much a fact of life. This bonfire was no different, even though at the end of the night it was just Kim, myself, and five other random people I'd never met before. Of course, these were the type of people who quoted Chuck Norris facts constantly and had hidden stashes of seating in the forest. So you know, awesome people.

Kim and Jake - Chuck Norris looks a bit demented

They were all ridiculously great, and the bonfire was a wonderfully chill finish to the evening. Even though every person that actually lived there went to bed, Kim and I still had a great time. Well, until I went home, walked through my gate and slipped on the ice, caving the ice in with my knee and causing a huge bruise and bunches of swelling. Totally sucked, but it was OK. It didn't hamper the night at all, and I feel as if we had a good send off for Lacey even if it was nearly a full week early.

Also, just as a fun addition to the pictures, I included a self-portrait I took with Amy and Hannah. I think its pretty stellar, but it may have been too close...what do you think?