We went to a wine bar. I'm not much of a drinker, so this was completely new for me. We went to a little place in a neighboring city called Viva! il Vino. I did a google translate and it said it meant, "Alive! Wine." And let me tell you - we were alive.
Six ladies piled into my car with me. I did not know I could fit seven adults in my car, but I sure did. We were without kids (who ranged in age from 11 months to 12 years old). We were without husbands. We squished in that car and headed out for fun!
We headed to Anderson, which is "the big city" compared to where we live. We started off at The Mellow Mushroom (a gourmet pizza place, if you don't have the luxury of having one). We all ordered pizza and I would say that the conversation started to flow - but that would be a lie. The conversation started with I picked up the first 4 ladies in my car (we went on to pick up two more).
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| Our group at Mellow Mushroom |
The neat thing with this group of 7 is that they were all friends with me, and all knew at least one other person, but did not know everyone. Myself aside, each woman there met someone for the first time last night.
After we ate we went to the wine bar, Viva! il Vino. Now, if you noticed above I said 1) I'm not really a drinker and 2) I drove all these lovely ladies in my car. So while everyone else ordered their Chianti and Muscato I got a glass of ice water. (Now, I could have done sparkling water or a non-alcoholic drink, but when we got there we realized they were cash or local check only and I had no cash and had taken all extras out of my bag - checkbook included.)
So between the six others there was a glass of Chianti, 2 bottles of Muscato and 2 glasses of the prettiest sparkling pink wine called Bellini.
Of course, thanks to my bestest friend Michelle, I had a few sips of the Muscato (which I love and could have probably drank a glass), and a sip or two of the pretty Bellini (which was also very, very yummy).
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| Michelle with the Bellini bottle |
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| Christa's glass... isn't it pretty? |
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| I had a sip of the Bellini. Amanda had Muscato and Sian had Chianti |
But more than a night out and more than wine, that evening was about laughing. I have not laughed so much in ages. We were loud - as only 7 women can be - and we laughed. Deep belly laughs and chuckles and giggles... and these women who had just met each other were instantly best friends. It was as if they had known each other for years and not just hours. I sat back at one point and just marveled at how a few common denominators (like young children and a desire to laugh) could bond these ladies so instantly.
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| The ladies thought my glass of water was hilarious. I did, too. |
After six hours together, I dropped the ladies off and headed home. Refreshed. Tired. Thrilled at having girlfriends. We all promised to have the No Kids Allowed Mom's Club meet again next month. Maybe we'll try that jazz club we passed last night...
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| Viva! il Vino |
