woodbridge | Maicurls

22nd November 10:00 am. I was picked up after Qais’s last course and onward we went to the train station, headed to Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport direction MIAMI!!!

Upon checking-in what else was there to do but drink and eat. Now that we both were on holiday it was time to reallllly let loose. I was still suffering from jet lag, time difference, sore arms from lugging around my extremely heavy hand luggage the day before but no matter!

We picked a Japanese restaurant to have lunch and obviously were hungry because A LOT of food was ordered! The next move was onto a bar to have (a few more) drinks after lunch since we had time to kill. After two drinks we went through the security check (I hate airports by the way in case you hadn’t noticed in my two previous posts)!

Fast forward to me sitting on the plane and not next to Qais. Now enter me talking in my sleep AGAIN. I had finally drifted off to sleep and suddenly jolted awake to find the guy sitting next to me looking with this smile/smirk/attempting not to laugh look. I immediately knew buying Christmas presents was not just part of my dream but I had yet again shared…this time with a stranger!!! I apparently went on and on about the gifts I was getting my dad, mum and sister according to random guy (just kill me now)! I apologized and literally pulled up my turtleneck to cover my lips in the hopes that it would keep me quite for the rest of the flight!

After we landed we went to rent a car which was an ordeal and a half with a mix up of credit cards….1.5 hours later we finally got our car and were headed to Brickell, Miami. Now finding our apartment hotel was yet again another ordeal with road construction etc. We eventually found the place and when I say he made an awesome choice I mean he made an AWESOME choice! The apartment was perfect! Clean, nicely decorated, free WiFi, HUGE bedroom with the most amazingly soft huge bed I have EVER slept in, HUGE bathroom, BEAUTIFUL view.

View from the balcony on the night we arrived 22nd Nov

First morning in Miami

View from the balcony on the night we arrived 22nd Nov

First morning in Miami

View from the balcony on the night we arrived 22nd Nov

First morning in Miami

So as you probably can tell, this trip was one of over doing the partying. There is no need to delve too deeply into what we ate and drank since the list would be long (will share a little about it). Qais took me to see “touristy spots”, the beach and A LOT OF BARS and I met some of his old collage mates over the 4 nights in Miami, all of whom were so much fun! I also got to practice my French with the wife of one of his friends (I am so rusty but she was super polite and kept telling me I spoke it “perfectly” and with a French accent). *Buffing my nails* 😉

Aside from being extremely beautiful, Miami is party central, artistic and so diverse in what it offers. We went to a trash bar (trash music). I will say that the bathrooms in that place were trash too….I have never and hope will never see anything like it. As we walked to the entrance one of the women outside yelled “No bathrooms…no bathrooms” we brushed her off as being drunk; I mean how can a bar not have a bathroom right? She was trying to warn us and we quickly understood what she meant. The men’s toilet.was.out.of.this.world (and not in a good way)! Both were one stall each, right next to one another and I wanted to see if their toilet would be cleaner than ours (BIG MISTAKE). Okay I will stop about the state of the toilets but for the life of me I will never understand how certain “things” were splashed/dropped EVERYWHERE!!!

On our third night night we went to a bar decorated as a “beach bar” literally with sand in it (it was not near the beach). I tasted raspberry flavored beer in a Belgium Bar (I am not a beer drinker but this stuff was delicious), and was recommended by the super friendly bar guy. An Irish and English bar was also visited along with a Mexican Restaurant where they prepared fresh guacamole in front of us at the table.

My first Thanksgiving was also spent in Miami. Qais and I ended up sharing a “Thanksgiving for two” at a super fancy Italian Restaurant and when I say I was stuffed, I was stuffed! It was a three course meal that of course included super succulent Turkey with Rosti, Brussle Sprouts and a whole heap more as the main course; followed by pumpkin pie for desert. (I don’t know how I forgot to take pictures since I took photos of everything but trust me when I say I was extremely happy)! Again he made a good choice!

On our last night in Miami we bar hopped (surprise surprise). By this time my body was so confused about everything from my first 5 days in the States that I actually feel asleep in the taxi while we were moving from place to place. I am happy to say I did not talk in my sleep however, there is photo evidence that Qais took (has yet to be destroyed…shall never be seen in public EVER)!

Part of our bar-hop-marathon included an outdoors bar/lounge. I LOVED it! It had both indoor and outdoor bar service areas (two outdoors), a huge dance floor, beanbags to chill on, benches and tables to kickback with friends. I really loved it but can not for the life of me remember the name. When I am back in the States and on my next trip to Miami (I foresee a few trips) it shall definitely be revisited!

Our trip back to Woodbridge, Virginia was uneventful; we ate and drank at the airport (again surprise surprise), arrived without a hitch, (I froze again) and got back to the same hotel I first stayed in. Qais took me out for dinner and then I prepared for a train trip to Baltimore, Maryland to meet someone I consider my twin. I can tell you I was exhausted but super excited to finally meet her after what seemed like forever!

To be continued…

Picking up from where I left off…

Woodbridge Virginia

3:00pm 21s November – Qais had wanted to pick me up from the airport but had training he couldn’t get out of it so I looked around for a taxi, no taxi in sight. I headed back into the airport and noticed that I walked past 2 shuttle service desks with guys screaming about their services when I first walked outside (I was oblivious to them before). I quickly found out that my hotel did not offer shuttle services so I had to book one. This is where I got my first “Where are you from? You have a lovely accent” compliment in the States (this came up a few times during my holiday).

After 20 minutes my shuttle number came up and out I skipped. 10 minutes of waiting outside and no sign of the shuttle, I waited, I froze and still no shuttle. 3:30pm I spot my shuttle. A guy walked up with his luggage and handed the driver the paper with his drop off address as I stopped to hand in mine. Immediately, I notice that the driver’s attitude of “Good Afternoon Ma’am” has changed and he seemed….for lack of a better word pissed off. I brush it off waiting for him to carry my luggage to the back, instead he scoffs “bring your trolley closer”! Once on the shuttle I quickly pull out my phone, ready to capture whatever I can when all of a sudden the other passenger and I are flung into our seats. Mr Driver must have had his foot on the asphalt because we went from 0 – 60 kilometers per hour really quickly he didn’t even get a chance to put on his seat belt. The grumpy driver was crossing lanes, speeding (at least in my mind), mumbling stuff to himself…very obviously upset about something.

What should have taken me 30 – 45 minutes maximum ended up taking 2 freaking hours! I later found out the problem was that the guys that arranged the shuttle shouldn’t have put the other passenger and I in the same vehicle since we basically were staying at opposite ends and Mr. Driver was not pleased. He explained of all this after having dropped the passenger off, apologized for being pissed off and made small talk (he actually was nice when not pissed off).

So I FINALLY checked into my hotel and was literally given 20 minutes before Qais arrived to pick me up for dinner and drinks…and then to meet a group of his friends to celebrate the birthday of their friend. Keep in mind I went through a 17 hour flight; Qais does not comprehend the words “take it easy” or “I need sleep”.

Enter Vodka tonics, GINORMOUS Margaritas (the above was a “small” drink) and copious amounts of food. P.S. my to my US readers, how on earth can everything in the US be so ginormous?!?! Your roads, your airports, your food, your drinks everything!

Anyways, back to my first night. Overall it was a really enjoyable evening with a lot of laughs, I really can not believe some of the guys I met were actually doing training (they are all a little insane LOL). So on the drive back I was trying to explain to Qais about my shuttle bus ordeal when all of a sudden I hear him ask me “What??? What does eyebrow lady have to do with the shuttle bus guy”? I literally had fallen asleep while talking to him, started dreaming about going to an eyebrow shop and started telling him about my dream mid shuttle bus story…all while sleeping! (I talk in my sleep when I am extremely extremely tired). I was exhausted LOL. (This incident shall be repeated again…more in my next post).

22nd November 2016 – After 3 hours of sleep (yes 3 was my magic sleeping number) I had breakfast and decided to walk around while waiting for Qais to finish his training to head to the airport for Thanksgiving break, MIAMI was calling us!

P.S. I returned back to Virginia after my Miami trip so the return will be posted below and Miami will be kept in a separate post.

26th November 9:00pm – I rechecked back into the same hotel I arrived in after our trip to Miami. Other than grabbing dinner and drinks with Qais practically every single night (it became our ritual), nothing much happened on my second visit in Woodbridge. I will point out that the type of cold weather I experienced was incredible! I mean I froze every.single.time I stepped outside!

And oh no I lie, I kind of went shopping while in Woodbridge! And by “kind of” I mean I went all out! My first trip was to the strip mall less than 5 minutes away from my hotel. I had heard all about this amazingly huge shopping mall and was told it was close to my hotel, so when I saw the shops from the car I thought this was the big mall. At the time I didn’t realize that a. this was called a strip mall and b. there was no other stores behind the ones facing the road. So I went hair product hunting and found a stash I wanted to try which, was exciting but I kept thinking how can Body Bath and Beyond and a few other stores be that amazing that “people all around head over here to visit”. Little did I know that this wasn’t the ridiculously humongous mall my friend K, Qais and my taxi guy was talking about. When I realized I was at the wrong place, I jumped into a taxi and was taken 7 minutes away from my hotel to the monstrous mall! SHOPPING HEAVEN! So aside from the hair products and tiny bit of makeup I picked up I also bought shoes (by shoes I mean 3 boots and a pair of “girly” shoes), a bag to go with the “girly” shoes, two skirts, a top and body lotion. I also picked up shoes for my mother and a dress for my sister.

My last night in Virginia was surprise surprise spent with Qais filled with laughs, reminiscing over the trip, things back home all the while stuffing our faces with food and drink. I ate like no other on this trip…then again I eat like no other in general but push it when I am on holiday.