It’s not often that I meet people who can keep up with me in terms of drinking. Going to college gave me a tolerance and living in Chicago gave me the opportunity to turn drinking into a profession. Sure, living in LA got me off of my game but I could still drink most of my friends under the table. Liz and Chris were a different story though. I had met them when they lived in LA before they moved up here and they were the only people I knew who were from southern California who drank like crazy. Most of the people in LA just went to bars to socialize but not these two. I don’t know if that’s the reason they married each other, but I have to think it was at least a factor. The first thing we did when I got into the city was head to a bar so it was pretty clear things hadn’t changed. We drank all night and by the time we headed back to their place I was barely conscious and speaking gibberish. I guess that’s what I get for living in a city where the only shots people talked about are the ones in movies. Luckily the two of them weren’t in much better shape so I didn’t feel weird. I hated being the drunkest guy in the room. Chris had to go to work the next day so Liz and I headed out and she showed me around the city. It seemed pretty low key but the whole place had a very homey feel to
it. You’d be hard pressed to find somewhere that would be cleaner or prettier which I suppose contributed to the fact that it seemed like everyone here was in a relationship or had a kid…or both. Seriously. I saw more people holding hands and pushing strollers than I’ve ever seen in my life. It was all very family…ish. I was just happy to spend time with people that I knew. It was great to meet up with them since I hadn’t seen them since they left LA. You don’t meet many couples where you can have a good time with both of them, since usually one of them was either lame or a jerk. Luckily both individually and collectively they were the polar opposite of such things. It wasn’t just about being able to have a good time though. Being here with them gave me a familiar feeling that I hadn’t had in awhile and was nice to have back. It felt good to be with people who actually knew me. They moved up here for Chris’s work, although they had been a little
bit worried about how they would be able to fit into the area since they were Southern Californians through and through. Once they discovered there were bars and liquor stores up here they felt better about being here but it was still a totally different vibe that they were still adjusting to. They hadn’t been here all that long so they were still exploring the bar scene and I was happy to tag along. Hanging out with them allowed us all to cut loose which was something we all liked to do. We drank and talked and laughed just like we did when we were all living in LA. Chris even had an epiphany and decided my hair style should be named