Thank God for Girlfriends

I love my husband. I mean, surely that's obvious. Otherwise, why would he be my husband? However, every once in a while, girls need each other to let their hair down, do some girl-talking and just have a night out on the town. I was extra-privileged this week with not one, but two girls nights!


Thursday evening, I joined my friends Ashley and Claire from work at Buca di Beppo for dinner. Since Claire has a new job, we hadn't seen each other since her wedding in March. We had a lot to catch up on, including her new marriage, my semi-new marriage, her new job and both of their new houses. We had a blast and are planning a triple-date so the boys can join in!


Then Friday, the Fab Four reunited in our home away from home -- College Station! Some of you may not know who the Fab Four consists of, so let me explain! When going through a second-degree fast-track nursing school program, things tend to get a little, um, stressful. There are books to read, breath sounds and heart tones to hear, IVs to practice and everything to remember come graduation. So, naturally, we sought out others to study with...and we found each other. We soon began celebrating everyone's birthdays, having study groups and 'rita nights out, and sharing laughter and tears. We have so many fun memories that I will cherish forever!


So, for our reunion, we decided a Murder Mystery Dinner at a Bryan winery (Messina Hof) would be a blast. We made reservations and then later learned that it was a Pirate-themed dinner. So, we donned our best (cheap) costumes and ventured to solve the Mystery Among the Mateys!


Here's Leah, aka Relentless Robbie:




And Lauren, aka Buccaneer Bradshaw:




Shae, aka Amy Bones (Serving Wench):




And myself, aka Calico Shakira something-or-other (lady pirate trying hard to look mean):



The dinner was set up really well. Everyone was assigned a character and given information about him/her prior to the evening. Once we arrived, we were given goals of information to obtain prior to the murder as well as objectives for after the murder. We mingled with the other guests, tried to persuade them towards accusing someone, looked at evidence, etc.

Unfortunately, not many of us had major parts in the actual murder, but we had fun sleuthing around. Actually, Leah and Lauren did the sleuthing. Shae and I decided that because our roles were practically unnoticed, we would participate in thievery to gain as much money as possible (there was a reward, people!).


We had a blast getting to know this couple from Houston (Cap'n Redbeard and the Governer's Daughter in awesome costume!):



None of us solved the murder, but we walked away with two free bottles of wine (one for having the most money)! We are looking forward to our next adventure, wherever that may be! Love you girls!