I am NOT 23 anymore...

This was a terribly frightening thing to discover this last Wednesday morning, when I woke up in my car, with it running, with the heat on...I know, I know what you're thinking. I'm not proud of this and actually quite embarrassed, but I thought I would share it anyways...part of growing up I guess...

A group of us went to karaoke, something that I would do nightly when I actually was 23. When I was 23 (and yes, it's weird to think that it was 6 years ago) my buddy AK and I would go to a different bar each night just for the karaoke, the summer after I graduated. Mostly to drink, we often sang, and find an after-party (usually one that we organized)...nightly. This, though it was extremely fun, was me probably at my absolute lowest point in life...I attribute this to being young, dumb and scared. This is a summer that I only remember when people remind me of a situation...this was a summer where I could drink an entire box of Franzia in one night, by myself...yeah.

So, something was triggered in my brain, to make me drink far too much too fast, dance obscenely on a stripper pole (clothes on, thank god)...maybe it was the terrible singing, or the "i'll buy this round, you buy the next round" but I just got ridiculous. Did I have fun, yes. Did it end in embarrassment, YES. Have I grown up, yes...barely.

When I was 23, the night usually ended around 5am, in tears, stumbling home soaking wet from swimming in some apartment pool until the sun began to rise. This last Wednesday, I am unclear of exactly when my night ended, due to an after "hang" (I only say hang because 4 people were present) but after checking the 76 odd texts I sent and received through my sunglasses then next morning, with probably the worst hangover I've ever had...I can almost piece together my evening...