"We're not the same, we're different tonight..."

For someone who considers herself a bit anti-social (or, at least, a bit of an anti-socialite), I've sure been going out a lot lately. Or perhaps it was just last weekend. I've noticed that there's usually one night a month when I do the party rounds, while for the rest of the month, I stay home and veg. The good thing about this is my conversation skills need to be on point for just one evening; the bad thing is, I don't get to spend as much time catching up with people I really wanna catch up with--the perils of being a social moth.

Friday

Friday night had me going to three little events. First, I headed on over to BSA in Makati, this serviced apartment-type place along Legaspi, to meet up with the volleybelles (my first volleyball team in my old office). Upon stepping out of the elevator, I could already hear the noise coming from the suite--a good 15 meters away, behind closed doors! That's what you get for putting about 20 women, videoke, and booze in one room.

Next, I had to rush to Ponti. (It's strange how some people seem to think I'm a gimik girl when, in fact, this was probably only my third or fourth time at Ponti. The fact that I can actually still count the number of times I've been there should tell you something.) It was Cathy's despedida, and BFF Ching and I felt like we were the mama-sans, being the oldest cheerdancers there. Met Carlo, Chingy's *eherm* companion. Didn't stay long, didn't even have a drink. Realized how long it had been since I last went out-out when my eyes started watering after a few minutes of exposure to all that cigarette smoke.

Afterwards, I went to Tim's place for his and Summer's joint birthday bash. This was more my thing--there were only a few guests, head-bobbin' music (but not so loud that we had to yell to have a conversation), and major pig-out food. We actually took our positions around the dining table where we had easy access to the casserole, chicken, rice crispy treats...*drool* Randy and Yeshua told us about their AR audition video, and we got a kick out of telling them about the death-defying Dance Idol number. Also got to see Primero after so long.

And even with three parties, I was home before 2am!

Saturday

Was up bright and early to pull out from a bunch of stores. Was doing a racket for Seventeen, something I totally stressed over (it's a long, boring story so never mind). After getting all the stuff that I needed, I headed to the studio. Walked in in full trapo mode--cut-off shorts, ratty old shirt, hair in a ponytail--and was greeted by a woman who seemed thrilled to see me. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" I asked in as polite a way as possible. I'm really bad with names and faces but I was sure I had never met her before. She laughed and Tito Ocs said, "Magpakilala ka kasi muna!" Her name was Pia and she was styling something for Marie Claire. One of the girls didn't show up and would I please take her place? She seemed nice, and I figured she wouldn't let it go (plus I would get a P3,000+ product), so I agreed. My racket was delayed 'coz I had to get my hair and makeup done; my Seventeen photog Miguel kept sniggering as Ocs took photos. Grr. Couldn't do anything though 'coz I already made him wait, plus he helped me a great deal during the shoot (he's picked up a few styling tips from Issa over the years it seems). Will repay him by setting him up with our beloved EA...

After the shoot, I had to return some of the stuff I pulled out. This is one reason we need a "real" man in our staff--as our stylist would say, "Pagod na akong magbuhat ng sofa!" So I didn't have to carry a major piece of furniture that day, but was tired nonetheless. Got home and tried to take a power nap before my ex came over. Yes, yes, we're friends (di ba? Hehe). He just brought over his copies of Lost (season 2) 'coz I've been missing a lot of episodes lately. (Anyone know when the reruns on AXN are?) We spent a few minutes catching up before I had to get ready for dinner.

Met up with my other BFF M and bronzebeauty P at Cibo in Promenade, and we just talked. No loud music, no alcohol, no anything--just great food and even better conversation, and it was probably the most fun I'd had that weekend.. The two were unloading their boyfriend woes, and I couldn't control my jaw at some points, I felt like it just kept dropping to the floor. It was just a bit strange hearing how complicated other relationships could be. Then they turned to me and asked, "And how are you?" Caught off-guard and slightly embarrassed that I had no complaints to bring to the table, I said, "Um...I'm ok...." It's similar to the times I and a bunch of dancers would complain about what's wrong with our bodies ("I didn't have this back in college!" while pinching a bit of flab or slapping the sides of our thighs) and Summer would look on, munching on a burger, perfectly content with her physique. Or that scene in Mean Girls where Lindsay Lohan says, "Ummm...I have really bad breath in the morning."

Had to leave ahead of the girls to go to a party (*sigh*), and as I beso'd them, they said, "Tell Hamil he's perfect," and "Tell him he's my idol," "and that you're very lucky to have him." Indeed I am.

Much as I wanted to stay with my girl friends, I was quite excited to go to the party, if only to see H. It had been days since we last saw each other, and our relationship was kind of turning into a pseudo-long distance one (I was in Cebu, he was in Galera. Or Silang. Or Baguio). We spent a few minutes outside the party, just talking and catching up and just being together. (I'll spare you the cheese-fest.)

It was our friend's 50th birthday (another long story...), and so the room was filled with people who were practically my dad's age. As some smoke drifted from the 50-somethings' side of the room, Sandy (with her blessedly wide-eyed innocence) asked, "Is that tobacco?" Amused, I looked at her and said, "Guess again." She looked at me with even wider eyes and said, "But they're oldies!" Hahaha. You can't help but love that girl.

Exhausted, I left early (surprise, surprise), went home, and finally went to bed. And got about 10 hours' sleep. Aaahhh.