The start of this adventure must be prefaced with an explanation of Christie; she is my best friend, the Monica to my Rachel, the Oprah to my Gayle, the Nicole Richie to my Paris Hilton…hmm, maybe not that last one. We met in high school and have grown closer through these past eight years of friendship. When it came to picking colleges, Christie picked the smallest, most far away, coldest temperature school (Bucknell University). Christie does have plans to come back to Phoenix after graduation to work as an accountant. We are the best of friends, and our adventures usually begin with a plan, followed by a calamity, and end with a giggle fest that leaves our abs sore in the morning. It is no surprise that this summer night followed that template.
It all started with my summer internship where I won two VIP tickets to see Lisa Lampanelli at the Dodge Theater (http://tinyurl.com/l5fk4m).  And with the best friend being in town from her East Coast college I asked her to come along for the evening. We had been downtown together for the occasional baseball game or concert, but this would be our first adventure in the city as 21 year olds!
The plan was to start at 1130, a bar in the Arizona Center that advertised $5 cosmos and $3 wines, go to the show and laugh, and then go to whatever bar looked fun. After getting lost with the one way streets of downtown (always take the light rail to avoid mass hysteria and confusion), Christie reading the tickets stated, “Oh, that’s weird. The tickets say the show is on Saturday.” This was especially weird because it was Thursday. After a laugh attack and calling Dodge Theater to confirm our error, we decided to head forth with the plan minus Lisa Lampanelli.
We walked into a very estrogen filled 1130. We ordered drinks and the appetizer special but to our dismay there weren’t many men in the restaurant to buy our drinks (coming into adulthood in the peak of Sex in The City’s success had filled our heads with silly ideas of bar life). Christie, now 2 and three-fourths cosmos deep, recommended we wander over to the AMC at the Arizona Center to see what was playing. Fortunately, Thursday nights are Student Discount Nights! This includes a discounted price on all movie tickets for students. Our “staving student” budgets were getting us pretty far for the swanky downtown lifestyle we were experiencing.
On our way out of the movie, we saw two horse cops who let us pet their horses for about 15 minutes. We learned that one must always ask and, most importantly, receive permission before touching an animal of the law. You could be arrested if the officer thinks you mean harm to him or the horse. The two officers were so kind and told us that the Phoenix Police Department is looking for volunteers to care for the horses at the stable. If you are interested, you can contact the police department for more details.
On our way back to the parking garage, we met a Downtown Phoenix Ambassador who told us funny “on the job” stories while escorting us back to our car. The escort wasn’t entirely necessary because we didn’t feel one bit frightened.
Another night planned out perfectly, where something went very wrong, but turned into a great time in a beautiful city!