Guess who was here this weekend?? The one and only Lakshmi!
Haven’t seen this amazing girl since graduation ONE WHOLE YEAR AGO. Unacceptable! Thankfully, she needed a little vacation from her insane NYC life and decided to come to sunny Florida for some R+R. Lucky me! Or lucky her, seeing as my Dad coined her new nickname “Lucky” after he was unable to pronounce her name. Fail, but we like the new name anyways.
To start the weekend off with a bang, Lakshmi and I jumped on some bikes for a tour of St. Petersburg. It seemed like a great idea, get some exercise and enjoy the beautiful weather while sightseeing around the city. However, Lakshmi had not ridden a bike for about 10 years. This kept things interesting as I was required to hold onto her bike each time she mounted the tall seat. It was fun cheering like a maniac as she pedaled off, wobbly but successful. Disaster struck only once as we approached a family walking down the sidewalk. Leading the way, Lakshmi got a bit disoriented and proceeded to run into a 7 year old boy with her bike. I tried to patch things up nicely by making the family laugh, telling the boy he could kick her if he wanted. He didn’t, but I think his mother was considering taking me up on my offer. The rest of the ride was a blast and a good way to introduce her to the strange world that is St. Petersburg, FL.
Friday night we had a delicious meal at Ritchada’s, the restaurant I’ve dined at the most almost by accident. They do have tasty tofu. We then met up with a bunch of my St. Pete friends, kids I went to elementary and middle school with. It has been incredible seeing them all again and recreating our friendship (with drinking).
Saturday we slept in, made a kick-ass brunch, and headed to the gym because it was POURING OUTSIDE. Like, almost hurricane-force storm with black skies, strong winds, and intense flooding. I translated the storm’s fury into a great workout (sorry if you are still sore Lucky!). After I was Lakshmi’s personal trainer, she became my personal shopper at the mall where I tried on some dresses to find my “style”. The dress below is my style winner, but a loser on price. I will have to wait for the perfect dress to find me.
After shopping we popped open a bottle of classy champagne all the way from New York and headed out for the night. We grabbed some tapas and sangria at Ceviches and met friends at an Irish pub. How appropriate for Lucky, the Irish gal (haha). The bar was a fun place to celebrate 23 years of Kirsten with car bombs, breakfast shots, and birthday cake shots. Finally, we ventured into Push, one of the few clubs in town. It was actually so much fun! Good music and dancing. They even had large fans to keep you cool!
Here we are at the beginning of the night. The bottle was harder to open than I thought…
Sunday morning we said farewell with a good breakfast then drove to the airport. Visits from old friends are always the best, they remind you of what has been and what there will be. And thank you everyone for the birthday wishes, I am happy to call you my friends :). I am especially thankful for this incredible b-day gift basket of chocolate goodies. Hopefully they will last longer than a week!
Or not…
Kirsten Captures 
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