YOTO! "You Only Turn Thirty Once!"

The girls before we walked to the Boat

I have to say, I have the best friends that a girl could ask for. My 30th birthday was on the 14th. My friend Michelle (who is the best!) thought it would be fun to celebrate by going to the Riverboats on a dinner cruise. I thought it sounded fun (but of course, my instinct is to worry about being comfortable while there, but she insisted). So she planned everything, including getting a hotel room so we could stay in Newport for the night. Michelle would not let me pay for any of it. We booked the Admiral's Dinner Cruise for 8/19, the weekend after my birthday. I worked on my birthday and didn't have any plans. Before I took lunch that day, one of the managers in our office came over with a big box. I thought she was giving me a side job to do, as she sometimes does. So when she smiled and said happy birthday I kind of chuckled and said thanks. She laughed and assured me it wasn't work and said the package had just been delivered for me. I was shocked! I had no clue what it might be, or who would have sent it. At that point a couple of coworkers were gathered around to check it out. I opened the box and found the card and instantly started crying! Michelle, Lisa, and Anna (and the rest of their family) had sent me chocolate covered strawberries and cake pops for my birthday! I had not expected that at all, especially since they were paying for our trip coming up! It absolutely made my day! All day I kept looking at the note and it just made me feel so good. I don't think they will ever know how much that really meant to me.After work I did end up going to Frickers for dinner with my sister and Michelle. It was such a nice day!

My birthday surprise deliver!

Saturday morning I had to run to the DMV to get my registration for my new car switched over. I tried to get everything ready during the week because I wanted to relax as much as I could and take my time getting ready. (I always get hot when doing my hair and I was nervous and excited so I knew that it would be worse.) Luckily I didn't have to wait inline at the DMV so it didn't take more than 10 minutes. I got home and finished packing for the night. I planned on wearing my dress down there since it was comfortable and the less I had to pack the better. We had to take a few cars so I picked up Michelle and Anna and we met Sam and Molly at Molly's house. Ciara and Lisa were driving down together, Ciara was not staying the night. Molly and Sam drove separate, but we wanted to leave together so we would hopefully get there around the same time. When we got to the hotel everyone got ready and it was just about time to head to the boat. It was really nice because the boat was in walking distance of the hotel. Once we got on the dock they were taking everyone's picture. I was hot and had started to sweat a little bit, so I really didn't want my picture taken. But I am so glad that they took the pictures because it turned out really good! (My friends ended up taking my purse away from me, and paying for the picture and drinks that I had on the boat. I was completely spoiled!) Once we found our table (where there were birthday balloons to surprise me!) and got settled we decided to go up on deck to watch the boat take off. It was really cool. I don't think I have ever been on a boat, not even a small one. Once we started moving it felt a little strange, but I got used to it quickly. We got back to our seats and it was time for dinner. The food was great! They had salad, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, roasted veggies, carved turkey and steak. And they had cheese cake for dessert. I had a few drinks, one was a lemon one, Ciara had decided to try it too. I can't remember what it was called but it was really good. After dinner we went back upstairs to the top deck where there was a band playing. We just hung out there for the rest of the ride. It turned out to be perfect weather for being on the water.

On board for the Admiral's Dinner Cruise 

The Bengals Stadium (They had a game going on)

Cincinnati was so pretty all lit up! 

I was obsessed with this bridge. It was so pretty all lit up!

Free pics with the Polka Player
My Brother Tony would be proud

After the boat cruise my friends asked what I wanted to do next. In all honesty I probably would have been ok with just going back to the hotel. I am just so uncomfortable going out. They mentioned going to The Hofbrauhaus and I have always enjoyed myself there so I said that sounded great. We got there and there were not nearly as many people there as normal. It is usually packed. Once we got there I was really glad that we didn't just go back to the hotel. I decided to not worry about how I looked, and if I got sweaty. I was having such a great night and so thankful for my friends. The Hofbrauhaus is a German resturaunt/bar. It is modeled after the Hofbrauhaus in Germany. They brew their own beer there onsite and it is great. They have live polka music, people get up on their seats and dance. There was another big group there the night we went and the guys were going around dancing with everyone. They kept coming over to our table and dancing with us. One of the girls told them it was my birthday so he said he owed me a dance. I of course was hesitant because I was pretty hot and somewhat uncomfortable but I went for it and it was so fun! Ciara Lisa and I danced pretty much the whole time we were there. Lisa and Michelle wanted to do a shotski (Everyone takes a shot off of a long wooden board). So we ordered the lemon drop shots and when they brought it out, instead of bringing it to the front of our table the band called us up front since it was my birthday to do it in front of everyone. By the looks of the pictures I looked terrified to take the shot lol. It wasn't bad but it was a really big shot and took a few gulps to get it down. It was so fun because the whole place was cheering us on while we did the shot.

Enjoying some Dunkel

Ciara and I. I was so glad she came!

My face in this picture is awesome! I look terrified! 

Shotski!

Taking the Shotski like champs!

Thank goodness Lisa got us some relief!

We stayed there until the place closed and some of the girls were ready to go back to the hotel but Lisa, Ciara and Anna wanted to go out to Arnie's (a club right down the street). I NEVER want to go dancing, ever. I repeat NEVER. It isn't because I don't like to, I just am not comfortable with myself to go out there and dance. But I was having so much fun (and had plenty to drink, which I am sure helped) so I decided to go. Ciara drove us over there, since she was not staying the night she would be going home from the club. When we got there it was packed and it was really hot in there. We started dancing and just had a really good time. There were a few guys who were dancing with us off and on and then out of nowhere one guy came up behind me and started dancing. I went with it and we danced for a long time, almost the whole time we were there. It was really hard to hear in there so I couldn't hear anything he said. I can honestly say I have never really danced like that with a guy before. It was getting a little hot and heavy, if you catch my drift ;) We stayed at Arnies until they closed and Ciara drove us back to our hotel. She dropped us off and while we were walking in a group of guys were heading in and came over and started talking to us. It turned out that Anna knew one of them. He was friends with her ex. They said they had a few rooms and invited us to come up and hang out. At this point I was too drunk to care so we went up with them. There were tons of people in their room. I guess they were there for a bachelor party. (My friends were not trashed and I completely trusted their judgement.) It was a lot of fun hanging out with them. We had a few more drinks and just hung out. One of the guys was very fond of Lisa, she enjoyed it but was a good girl! I didn't have any idea what time it was but we decided we needed to head to our rooms and get to bed. As we were walking down the hall the security guard walked down the hall and said it was 4 in the morning and we need to get to our rooms. I made it back to my room and kicked off my shoes and went to bed. I didn't bother changing or anything lol. I woke up around 8 and Sam and Molly were about to head down to check out the free breakfast. I got up and showered and by then we were all ready to head home. Michelle really wanted to stop at IHOP on the way home since we don't have one around our house. I felt miserable but agreed to go. The place was packed and we had to wait almost 30 minutes for a table. While we waited, Lisa walked next door to Walgreen's and got Anna and I some Aleve. We had the worse service for breakfast and I was so glad when we hit the road to get home. As soon as I dropped everyone off I went straight home, carried my bag in and slept the rest of the day. I had such a great night, a little hangover was totally worth it! I can't remember the last time I had as much fun as I did that night.  It was not a typical night for my friends and I, we don't go out partying and drinking all of the time, but it was such a fantastic night! Once I decided I wouldn't care what others thought, I had the time of my life.