Grown-up? Me?

I’ve realized lately that Tim spends his days doing grown-up things like working and collaborating and getting deadlines, whereas I spend my days going to the park and the pool, attending toddler storytimes and music classes, and repeatedly saying things like, “Weston, where’s your belly button?” and “Weston, do you see the BIG truck?!” and “Weston, did you toot?”

Every morning when I drop Tim off at the gas station for work (I drop him off there because it’s right next to the train station, but sometimes I catch myself telling Weston that we’re “going to the gas station to take Daddy to work”), I kiss him and wish him well, and simultaneously say goodbye to adult conversation for the rest of the day. (That is, unless I’m lucky enough to see a girlfriend or two that day, in which case my adult brain is able to resume function temporarily.)

So, it was very nice to not only have a date night with Timmy last night, but also to have a date night where we went to an adult location and engaged in adult conversation with other adults. I think the slumbering grown-up inside me was awakened, because I was so excited about the evening, and I ended up having a really nice time (and realizing how much I miss hanging out with other grown-ups).

Admittedly, I was mostly excited about the fancy free food and beverages. Tim’s company had booked a swanky restaurant for its wrap party for the Transformers 2 video game, and luckily for us, Tim and I were invited to attend, even though he had joined the team at the very end of the project, and plus is an intern and not a regular employee.

(Even though the party was in celebration of the recent release of the game, Tim and I pretended that it was actually Tim’s farewell party, since he only has one more week of work before the end of this internship. While we were at the party, we decided that we probably should have brought a giant “WE’LL MISS YOU, TIM!” banner to hang up above the bar.)

Anyway, I readied for the evening by taking my typical prep routine to extreme measures: blow-drying my hair, applying foundation, and applying lipstick. (WHOA.) The last time I blow-dried my hair was probably four months ago, and the last time I wore foundation was a year ago for my friend’s wedding. Awesome.

The party was held at the West restaurant, which is on the top floor of the Hotel Angeleno in Brentwood. Like all trendy nightspots these days, the restaurant had only low lights and was therefore very dark; it had hip music thumping the entire time; and it had rectangular plates at the hors-d’oeuvres buffet. (Circle plates are SO last year, you guys. Haha!) Plus, almost everyone there was wearing black. So, it was very hard to see people. And hard to hear them. I guess a nightspot is only chic if you can’t see or hear the people you’re with.

Haha, I make fun. But the place was awesome – like I said, there was a lovely hors-d’oeuvres buffet (with things like seared ahi tuna on crispy wontons with pico de gallo, mini crab cakes with spicy chile aioli, truffled macaroni and cheese, and grilled marinated vegetables). Guess what Tim’s favorite item was? The French fries. (He was totally justified, though; they were very unique, yummy fries.) Plus, there was also an open bar (with specialty drinks like Megatron’s Kiss and Cybertron Sunrise in honor of the occasion). Of course, Tim and I didn’t partake of the alcoholic options, but we did drink more than our fair share of Shirley Temples and Diet Cokes.

We spent most of the time chatting with Tim’s coworkers, only some of whom I’ve met before. For the second half of the party, we sat with Tim’s boss and his wife in a cozy section of the lounge. It turns out that Tim’s boss is uproariously funny, especially when he’s telling stories about (A) his immense geekdom, which is slightly incongruous with his super muscular physique – not your typical video game nerd; and (B) his very bizarre experiences in his life drawing classes at art school. Haha!

But really, it was great to get to know so many great people, and to have an actual “adult” evening. They are few and far between these days!! It was also really fun to see what normal, trendy people do on the weekend. Usually Tim and I celebrate weekend nights by going to Souplantation or King Taco and then watching a movie, reading, or going on the computer after Weston goes to bed. (SO exciting, right??) But apparently, there’s this whole, fascinating world of bar-lounges, where people just sit in the dark on comfy chairs and pillows, sip their beverages, and strain to hear and see one another. It’s awesome. I WANT TO GO AGAIN.

In the way of a photo recap... there isn't much of one. It was so dark in there that it made picture-taking very difficult and very awkward. Here are a couple photos of the restaurant from its website (the lights must have been turned all the way up in these pictures, because it was WAY darker when we were there):

And here is the only picture that I have of Tim and me at the party (featuring my irksome perpetual slouch):

Tim also snapped this photo of me (below). For some reason, in the midst of all the booths and stools, there was this humongous chair. When no one was looking, I sat (well, lay) in it really quickly for a photo, but then started giggling when it took Tim forever to take the picture: