neko case: star witness (in honor of awesome redheads)
every monday night, i invite a few ladies over for “girlie night,” which involves talking, drinking wine, more talking and usually an episode of a a girlie tv show (or a chick flick). this is a tradition i started after college graduation, when i suddenly missed having ten of my best friends available 24/7 for chats, general vegging and “felicity” viewing.
when i moved to austin, i started girlie nights with meredith (who now lives in houston) and kc. we watched “felicity” and talked about boys and ranted (RANTED) about our office, known in the blogosphere as “craytopia.”
well guess what.
meredith stole kc from me! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT.
by the end of this week, my two original austin girlfriends will BOTH be living in houston, eating at hot bagel shop and jenni’s and hobbit cafe and having all sorts of h-town fun without me.
it’s enough to break my pants.
last night was kc’s last girlie night, so we had to do it up right! erica generously hosted the festivities AND cooked dinner for us!! and it was MAC ‘N’ CHEESE!!! OF COURSE!!!!

the best part? the recipe calls for onions, but she LEFT THEM OUT! cos she knows they are POISON. and also cos she likes me.
selina brought cupcakes, which jessica succeeded in out-cuting.

and kc was her usual, totally adorable self.

FYI xmas tree eeyore is my FAAAAAVORITE kind of tree!!!!
we took a family portrait together, and looking at it makes me feel all squee and squishy inside. I LOVE THESE LADIES!! I AM THE LUCKIEST PERSON ON THE PLANET!

it was a lovely, lovely night, and it made me realize even more how much i will miss kc.
let me now count the ways.
so i met kc when she started working in theatre & dance at UT, in the fall of 2004. i liked her immediately, cos she has red hair and appeared to be sane (a unique quality in our office). once meredith entered the mix, the three of us became inseparable. we hung out in my office all of the time (”working” on “important memos,” obvs) and danced the night away at the whiskey bar on thursdays and basically just loved the crap out of each other. we all had nicknames, and kc’s was “hot ‘n’ fit” pants, cos she is both hot and fit.
here’s one of my favorite pictures of kc and me, from the infamous white boat party:

isn’t she beautiful?!
kc is the kind of person who LOVES LIFE. this girl is involved in so much stuff, it hurts my brain to think about it. in the time that i’ve known her, she has played anarchist soccer (COOL POINTS!) and participated in a supper club and ran a marathon and grown a garden and played in two bands and biked in midnight rides and served as a PR person for a fine arts organization and performed in a dance group and i’m sure i’m leaving out about fifty things here. the best part? we call also call her “enigma pants” cos she is FAMOUS for forgetting to tell us stuff. like, we didn’t know she was in a dance troupe until about three months later. and the band? yeah. didn’t hear about THAT for, oh, four months? five?
here is the kind of face she makes after she realizes she forgot to tell you something important:

i’m a little worried about her enigma pants getting worse now that we don’t live in the same town. hopefully she will update her facebook page more frequently so that i can read any and all status changes, including edits of her favorite bands and quotes.
i’m also really gonna miss kc at dance parties and sing-alongs, cos she totally gets footloose!!! there have actually been times where she has yelled, “I CAN’T CONTROL MY BODY!” while convulsing/jumping up and down/getting freaky in da club.

i LOVE that about her, cos she doesn’t care what people think or if she looks silly or crazy. this is an extremely valuable quality to have in a friend, cos i *know* i will always have a good time when she’s around. especially at elysium.

this characteristic also makes kc an EXTREMELY good sport. and, as many of you know, sometimes i make my friends do weird/cray things. like get totally soaked by eleven year old boys on bumper boats at austin park & pizza.

she’s covered in nasty amusement park water, and yet she’s laughing!!! kc’s having the time of her life!!
which brings me to my favorite all-time photo of kc, which clearly demonstrates all of the qualities i have just mentioned in one amazing, magical and cheese-soaked snapshot:

yep, kc is SO awesome, she was willing to participate in some cheese wrestling for our “nacho libre” alamo pre-show. you guys, you don’t find friends like this every day. kc is like the gold standard (you know, “one is silver and the other gold”). in fact, she’s platinum. i still don’t understand what’s actually so great about platinum, but it’s apparently better than gold, and kc is totally at the TOP level of quality.
with all of that said, i’m incredibly thankful that i’ve had hot ‘n’ fit pants in my life over these past few years. she’s been a true and wonderful friend to me, and her limitless enthusiasm and zest for life (and even her slightly hippie ways) will be sorely missed.
so go ahead, evil meredith. go ahead and steal kc away from me.

cos you know, houston isn’t so terribly far away.
LINKS
apparently, some folks think old school sesame street should be censored. um, i’m gonna go head and side with oscar the grouch by saying, “YOU ARE DUMB.”
the last season of the wire starts in january! i can’t wait to get stressed out and depressed and anxious, i.e. enjoy this amazing show. and then i will cry. not just cos it will be over, but because baltimore is probably gonna implode.
in my continuing horror/fascination with little girl beauty pageants, check out this clip, complete with awesome pageant moms and a little girl who has the fakest smile i’ve ever seen (and blinks like there’s no tomorrow).
video of the day: i can’t believe i didn’t make this video. i really can’t. but i’m glad someone did, cos this is a v. v. important campaign issue that is simply not getting enough attention.

















i’m crying and laughing. kinda like last night, huh? you’re amazing, sarah, and a most spectacular friend. not only to me but to thousands (no exaggeration here) of others. if you’re friends with sarah, you’re a lucky star. i promise i won’t fall off into la la land once i’m in houston. if anything, i’ll be calling you every other day asking for directions or a new restaurant suggestion or something.
and the three of us (meredith, of course) will have many reunions and many drinks and nights of dancing and fun for many years. there’s no doubt about that. i love you, posh pants.
hahaha! kc is moving closer and closer to me (in dc).
Sarah, a few points.
That song is awesome.
I am STILL sore I was invited and then disinvited (and it was disinvited, not uninvited, regardless of what spellcheck thinks) from the wear white on a boat party.
In England (and not Ireland except for my awesome cosmopolitan slang, obvs) hot and fit mean the same thing. Isn’t that cool? This also increased my enjoyment in reading your blog.
I’m starting to think I need to get my ass together and a) become a better friend to you and b) finish my PhD quickly so I have to leave and get an amazing tribute blog of my own.
Finally, I forgot you hated onions. You are a huge weirdo.
And KC, I’m sorry but I must insist we meet, assuming you ever visit from the apparently incredibly fantastic Houston. But until then, good luck!
Score another one for H-town. Yeeeeah.
I love reading about cool new people that aren’t imaginary characters in some book or movie, but are actually real! kc - you seem awesome, and (of course) if Sarah vouches for you, it must be legit.
As for “swift kids for truth,” I laughed pretty hard. The “whitewater” in the middle got me bad.
KC’s mom says “you made me cry, Sarah”. And I feel so lucky that KC has friends like you. She loves you, too. Thank you for being so awesome.
What an amazing tribute to an amazing lady. It was so crazy to move back to Austin and have KC living in the same apartment complex as my best friend and was good friends with other people in my life that I didn’t even know she knew (does that make sense) I remember KC from back in college and I am so glad I got to spend some quality time with you before you move off to Houston. Girlie night will miss you as will I. Keep loving life KC.
Good luck, KC! I still remember going for hot chocolate with you at la Tazza Fresca and commiserating over the craziness in our pasts. Oh, and carving that pumpkin on your balcony, and admiring your flexitarianism and Buddhism skillz. Love you. You will be a sensational hit in Houston. I know it.
Is it possible to beat up an entire city? Because I’m going to have to kick Houston’s ass if this shit keeps happening.
Also, the pic of KC after the nacho cheese reminded me that I should really get my act together and post some video of Sarah thumbwrestling my brother in cheese: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCYCmcif27M. Mmm! Tasty!
Can I embed video on these comments? I thought not and so didn’t risk it…
KC, I am so sad you are leaving! I am glad I got to hang with you at girlie nights before you leave. Its been so great having you around Andrews and knowing you for these many years. I hope I will get to see you in Houston and back in Austin whenever you get sick of all the nutty traffic and mosquitoes in H-town ;). Love you and good luck!
aww, i love you people.
seriously, the distance between houston and austin is like two hours. or less, if i’m driving.
i liked john’s comment about getting out of austin just to get a tribute post.