A few weeks ago, my friend Monica and I got together for coffee one Friday after work. She needed to vent (desperately) and I was happy to lend an ear. Monica’s life is full of adventures, so it’s always interesting to hear her stories. 😉

By the end of the evening, two other friends had joined us, turning a quick after work coffee visit into a 6 hour long girl’s night out.

A few hours into our coffees we realized we all had food on the brain.

We decided to forgo pastries from the Starbucks counter and head to dinner somewhere. Living in Seminole Heights there are always amazing places right around the corner to try out. Sarah and Liz had never been to Ella’s, so before we could think twice, we were there, putting our names down.

By this point it was close to ten. We were hungry and frustrated by the hour and a half wait for a spot. Ella’s has this awesome outdoor patio area and it was suggested that we sit out there and order from the bar. It was a perfect evening, a little cool from after the rain, so we all agreed that would be the plan.

What happened next, no one could predict. No one.

I had known Liz for a few years. But it’s true what they say: You really don’t know someone, until you realllllly know them.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love Liz. She’s become one of my best friends. She’s extremely smart, funny, kind, and there for her friends no matter what. However, Liz was withholding a little secret from us all this time. And until that fateful evening at Ella’s, we were totally in the dark.

I didn’t realize it at first. I mean, I noticed she had decided to pull up a chair to the outdoor booth, but I didn’t think twice about it. I figured she just didn’t want to take a chance of her pants getting wet from the wooden booth.  As we ordered beers and munched on appetizers, I started to see her get a bit fidgety, but again, no big deal. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary. But then. Suddenly. Out of the blue. Appeared this uncontrollable, irrational, blood-curdling screech making me think there was a Walker behind me ready to tear my face off. Then, we all watched as Liz did this:

Like a frantic crab running along the shore, Liz left our table, ran over to a nearby barstool and began to climb on top of it. It appeared as though she was escaping some unknown force, but we didn’t see a thing! With panic in her voice she screamed “OVER THERE! OVER THERE! ABOVE YOUR HEAD STEPHANIE! OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH IT’S HUGE!”

Well, you can imagine my own fear as I envisioned massive blood thirsty bats hovering over my head, waiting to suck my brains out. I looked around, listening to the laughs of Monica and Sarah, assuring me it was nothing more than a small spider, trapezing through the trees above me, minding her own business in the night. Unfortunately, for Liz, this was doom. Apparently, her biggest, most spine chilling fears are driven by those of the smallest kind: bugs. Here’s a picture of the horrid little creature. It’s blurry, mostly because we were laughing too much to stay still and get a good shot.

Well, after much coaxing, and convincing that little Charlotte wasn’t going to end any lives tonight, Liz came back to the table, just in time to calmly enjoy Ella’s famous bacon and egg pizza.

But then. Just when we thought the rest of the evening would be smooth sailing. They appeared.

By the hundreds.

Creeping and squeezing their little shiny, winged bodies through the cracks in the deck underneath Liz’s feet.

Sorry. I couldn’t bring myself to putting a closeup photograph of a cockroach on my blog. Nope, not gonna happen. We’ve all seen them, so at this point, go ahead and create a mental picture of thousands hundreds about 10 roaches crawling around a wooden deck taunting Liz with their creepy little antennae flailing in the wind as they peeked through the separations in the deck.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Liz developed a bad case of indigestion from trying to eat and Riverdance the roaches away from her feet.

Monica, the logical one, attempted to calm Liz with words of wisdom that just went in one ear and out the other.

I spilled pizza all over my work polo, but the spilled pizza toppings came in handy, as I threw them away from our table in an attempt to distract the roaches.

And Sarah? Well who do you think was brilliant enough to capture this all on film for me to blog about? Genius.

Oh and because I’ve thoroughly disgusted you by this point, here’s a yummy recipe for Pumpkin Spice Crinkle Cookies.

There, now the image of a roach eating an egg is out of your head.

Have you ever been to Ella’s? Be careful if you dine outside! It’s wild kingdom, apparently. 😉

Love you Liz!!! <3 Steph