Fried Food, Football and Friends

I'm back from my brief encounter with Texas, and I can say with certainty that that's the best time I've ever had in Dallas, hands down. I love my friends.

We started our weekend on Thursday, driving down late in the evening to go to a birthday dinner that our roommate Brittany's family had planned for her. And while it was fun, we've all decided that turning twenty-two seems rather anti-climatic after all the much-celebrated, highly-anticipated birthdays of the past.

Think about it... Every birthday until you are six is awesome because it's really easy to shop for you and Mom throws a huge party because she's one year closer to getting you out of diapers or out of the house for half-day preschool. Ten is the bomb because you're officially double digits (and for me, the "golden birthday" that's supposed to mean something but doesn't really), and fifteen in Montana means you get your drivers license (or at least, it used to). Sweet Sixteen comes next-- the best birthday party I've ever had (think Capture the Flag and s'mores). And then, of course, comes your two biggest birthdays -- Eighteen (legally an adult) and Twenty-One (socially an adult). All the big ones.

After that, the celebrations get smaller and smaller. Less and less people come out for your party. And if it weren't for Facebook, people wouldn't even know it was your special day. Sometimes, my parents wouldn't even remember how old they were turning. Now that's depressing.

Anyway... to tie that tangent in, Brittany had a lovely 22nd celebration with family, good Mexican food, and delicious ice-cream cake.

The next morning (Friday), we slept in, didn't do any of the homework we told ourselves we'd do, and headed into downtown Dallas around one, hitting some serious traffic on the way in. To be expected, though we definitely (thankfully) missed the masses that came later that afternoon.

Friday evening, we got ourselves all gussied up and headed to the West End, an area of downtown Dallas that is traditionally full of OU and UT fans on the night before the big game. It's a sea of orange and red, and everyone shouts and taunts each other (all in good fun, but there are lots of policemen around, just in case it gets out of hand-- apparently they made 52 arrests there that night). The most popular cheer from the OU camp was "U-C-L-A! U-C-L-A!" (because UT lost to UCLA the weekend before). It's a fun, rowdy atmosphere, and it was all the more fun because you're constantly seeing people you know.

Saturday was a beautiful day. We took our time getting ready in the morning and then we joined the mass of students leaving our hotel and hopping on the DART (Hooray for public transportation!). We got off the DART at the West End, where Valerie and Brittany, proud owners of tickets to the game, split off to grab a quick bite to eat before heading to the fairgrounds (where the football stadium is). Tess and I, however, did not have tickets.

And so we set off to find a fun place to watch the game, which turned into an adventure (to be continued)...