baby i like it.

01/16/2011

i had such a great time last night! we went out to celebrate josh's birthday and it was just a great night.
i'll start at the beginning of the birthday plans. the calgary flames were playing the toronto maple leafs. josh is a die-hard leafs fan [as any true leafs fan is] and his best friend, who lives in winnipeg is a flames fan. the friend was hoping to fly down for the weekend, so he and josh could go to the game. sadly, that plan was kiboshed. so, i was going to take josh to the game. too bad tickets were sold out, and i wasn't prepared to pay scalper prices for a saturday night canadian match-up. i suggested that we invite a few friends out to watch the game at a sport bar. josh was cool with that, and got really excited when i suggested real sports. yeah, i should have done a little research on that one before shooting my mouth off... to reserve a table for last night's game i would have had to call a month ago. which led to our 4th option: the loose moose. it's always a good time at the moose.
i invited a few friends and reserved a table with a good view of the big screen, and we were good to go.
josh worked 12-6:15 yesterday and the game was at 7:30. it wasn't worthwhile for him to come home, then go back downtown, so he met me at union after his shift and headed to the loose moose together. we got our table a bit before the game started, and ordered some food, because we were starving, and we weren't sure how long it would be before the rest of our friends showed up. michelle had texted me that her friend dan was no longer coming, but that she was on her way. taylor [remember taylor? the likely-totally-entirely-obviously-but-wait-is-he-really gay?] texted me too and asked if it was okay if he brought a friend. i said it was fine [the more the merrier, of course!] and asked who the friend was. "just a friend" was his reply. seriously, i was going to meet said friend in an hour, and he still needed to be vague about it? he's maddening, truly.
zuber was the first to arrive. he sat down and zoned in on football. lame. now, going back a bit here, when caitlin and andrew called it quits [june??] i thought about setting him up with michelle. i suggested the set-up, they both seemed receptive, but before it could happen zube became interested in another girl. other girl is now out of the picture, but i didn't want to put pressure on anyone by reminding them of this potential set-up, so i just stayed chill. mich was the next to get there, and zuber's face was priceless as my gorgeous friend came in and sat at our table. his eyes said "wow" while he mouthed "who it THAT?!" to me. i introduced them and we were all just chilling.
i'd very briefly told zuber about taylor. "i'm sure he's gay. but then he says something and i'm not so sure" / "well, has anyone asked him?" / "i think asking him straight out would be awkward, because he's so purposely vague" / "i'll ask him." cue taylor walking in. with his "friend". peter. a quintessential 'mo. it was fantastic! after hugging and cheek-kissing taylor hello, and making the round of intros, i laughed out loud when andrew raised his brow in my direction, saying "as IF you didn't know". i was so happy to have taylor there, with peter [who seems to be a nice guy, we had a fair bit in common]. it was exactly what i wanted. i didn't need taylor to pull me aside and say "ange, i'm gay (or bi)", because it is so obvious, i just want him to be comfortable with me (and himself) and just live it without hiding.
also in attendence were josh's friend adam, who he met when he started this job, and holland, a friend of ours. 8 people made for a great number. we ate and drank and were merry. conversation seemed to flow well between everyone. there was a nice balance between actual conversations, and game-watching, between group talk and private conversations, particularly between michelle and zuber, and taylor and peter. mich and i went to the washroom together once, and on the way past his chair zube stopped me and asked if i was going to talk about him in the bathroom. "maybe. would you like me to?" / "yes!" too funny. sadly however, most of the bathroom talk was about taylor and peter, because, well that was the shock of the night.
after the games were over, and i'd settled our $260 bar tab, we all took off. it wasn't particularly late (12:30?) but it seemed like the night had come to a nice tidy end. michelle had to work at 7 this morning, and the rest of us were just ready to head home. holland lives in our building, so he headed off with us toward the subway. while we were in union, the other 3 boys came in from the other entrance. i asked where michelle was, and they told me she'd taken a cab. she lives a long-ass way from downtown. i guess she just didn't want to spend an hour on ttc transit. zuber, half-jokingly informed that he told her she could stay at his place, and she'd declined.
zuber was the only one taking the university line, the other 5 of us got on the yonge train and headed north. taylor and peter got off at wellesley and i couldn't help but laugh. of course peter would live at church and wellesley! [that's the heart of the gaybourhood, for you out of towners].
michelle sent me texts on her way home. some major routes to her condo were closed, so they had to take alternate routes, and her cab ended up costing her $80. brutal. i told her she should have just stayed in the city [wink wink, nudge nudge], that it should be a lesson learned for next time. i messaged zube to let him know she'd made it home okay and he said to me pretty much what i'd said to her. oh boys, so predictable. he also said that i was welcome to give her his number, as he'd wanted to but "wussed out" because taylor and peter were there as they were saying goodbye.
josh and i made it home around 1:15 and hung out for a bit. i was sober, he was drunkkk. i made him drink water like a good fiancée, and i went to bed around 2:30. by 3 he'd joined me. what an excellent sleep.
so there you have it. a long-winded account of what josh has called his "best birthday in a long time" and his "favourite night out since moving to toronto". i'd have to agree with him, it was a pretty great night.