Tag: girlfriends

Utah Diary

How do I sum up an awesome 5 days in Park City, Utah? With pictures of course! I took over 500 photos but I’ll spare you unless, of course, you’re my facebook friend.

We got in Thursday evening and had a low key night of beers, wine, and appetizers so that we could rest up and wake early for snowboarding the next day.

Friday morning, we geared up and headed to Park City. It was snowing a bit in the morning which made it hard to see and sometimes it was pelting our faces which hurt a bit (and made our faces red later), but it cleared up by the end of the day.

Friday evening, we got dressed at headed to Star Bar, an old favorite of ours for the dollar drinks (say what?) and shameless dancing.

We ran into a Polar Bear (who’s also a bachelor!) on our way to the next bar.

Saturday morning we needed to rally, shake off our hangovers, get dressed in costumes and head to the Canyons for a Pond Skimming contest. We had no idea what Pond Skimming is and none of us bothered to ask. We figured if we got to be in costumes and hang on the mountain it’s gotta be a good time. (I love any excuse to bring out my Party Penguin costume). We were dancing around the house while getting dressed and realized it wasn’t even 10AM yet. We are rockstars.

It’s always a party when there’s a Penguin and Pirate around. Is it weird that I really wish my BFF would wear a beard all the time?

Going bananas! Costumes seriously make me so happy.

Spectators lined up to watch the Pond Skimming (which we learned is people dressed up in random costumes barreling down the mountain on skis and snowboards, trying to “skim” across the pond at the bottom of the hill. Best costume and ability to cross the pond wins prizes).

The gang.

We were absolutely wiped after the Pond Skimming and headed home for a nap which turned into staying in. Our friend Shiv made an awesome chicken dinner with rice and collard greens and we were content eating that and going to bed.

Sunday, we got up for another day of snowboarding on a different mountain, the Canyons. This one didn’t have as many Green trails so I (the most inexperienced one) was stuck trying to get down a lot of Blues. I did OK by my standards but I was absolutely exhausted at the end.

Sunday night was our last night out since some of the girls were leaving on Monday. We went to O’Shucks for burgers and beers. Shucks is also another one of our favorite bars, found accidentally last year when we were just looking for a place that didn’t have a crowd. It’s a low key dive bar where people can play arcade games or eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor. We decide, like last year, to have a dance party instead. Shucks is not a dancing bar by any means which is why we chose to do so there, we were deprived of attention as children.

After Shucks, we followed some new friends to Cicero’s. We heard mixed reviews on it but were promised a dance party. Oh did we get one. The DJ was playing house music and everyone was going wild to it. I definitely never expected to be at what was essentially a rave until last call. Oh, Utah, how I love you.

We spent Monday walking around town and buying souvenirs since some of the girls were leaving that afternoon and my flight was early the following morning. I’m neglecting so many awesome details of this trip by just posting a photo diary but I don’t have the energy and I hate to torture you with all the inside jokes. I’ve known many of these girls since middle school and high school and if you asked me then if I thought we’d be traveling together and sitting around the table talking about our changing, near 30, bodies, I’d have said no. I am so blessed to have them in my life for the talks, laughs, and endless adventures.

PS: Thank you, Jen, for being the most gracious host ever and putting up with our noise and mess!

PPS: Carebears, we thought of you the entire time and you were missed (tons!).

Author name:

High School Reunion

This past weekend I attended my 10 year high school reunion in Jersey. A lot of people said to me, “Wow, I can’t believe you went. I didn’t go to mine.” It had never crossed my mind not to go. Ever since I graduated I just assumed we’d all see each other again at the reunion. I went off to college as a Psychology major, hoping to become a psychologist. I definitely never could have imagined the life I have now at 28. I changed my major 3 times, my career twice, moved 6 times… It’s definitely been a journey with lots of detours and side streets.

So I hopped on the train and headed over with my best friends JWow, Carebears, and Carebear’s husband. It was awkward from the entrance where I walked into the banquet room and scanned the faces and realized I didn’t actually have anything to say to anyone. I was stuck in a lot of uncomfortable conversations where there would be some awkward silences. After the standard, “How are you, where do you live, what do you do?” there was not much else to say. I felt like I would have had a buffer if I had a spouse with me. Like I could’ve turned to my husband and said, “Honey, did you say you wanted to try the salmon?” and politely excuse ourselves. Instead, I would say, “I’m gonna, um, grab another drink.” Which is why I got very, very drunk.

At some points I remembered thinking, “Why did I come to this?” But as the night went on, I was having a blast hanging out with my girlfriends who I’m still friends with anyway.

We danced to some songs from our high school days like Britney Spears, BackStreet Boys, and Sisqo. Gotta love the thong song!

There were so many hilarious quotes from the night. There were people who wouldn’t say hi at the reunion but they’re friends with me on facebook. I was like, “Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize we’re only friends on the internet and that I have to be subjected to your pictures of your children and your posts about childrearing but we’re not friends who say hi when they see each other.” And then there were the girls who threatened to beat me up every single day of high school to the point where I didn’t want to go to school anymore. My friend Jwow asked me, “Did you ask them if they remember threatening you everyday?” No, I answered. “Well, I think you should,” she said. Wouldn’t that have been funny?  Then there was the girl who is the mother of my ex’s child. I was so drunk and I told my girlfriend, “She impregnated my boyfriend when we were dating.” Haha. Then we were on the dance floor and I turned to Carebears to comment, “I feel like we’re at prom.” At the same time she turned to me and said, “This feels like a 40 year reunion.” I was feeling like I was 18 and she felt we were 60.

I drank so much…too much. I definitely didn’t look like a changed at all. Overall, I had fun but it just felt so…high school. I woke up and said, “I wanna hide under a rock for a year,” after my drunken behavior of the night. Carebears turned to me and said, “Yeah? How about 10.” Yikes. I don’t think I’ll be attending the 20 year.

Here’s a picture of me and my Romy. We never ask what the other person is wearing and we always end up wearing similar outfits. We seriously share a brain.

Perhaps the best part of the night, aside from hanging out with my best friends was our end of the night stop for a Crave Pack at White Castle. I felt disgusting the following morning but it was oh so good when I was eating it. And that’s all it’s really about right? Living in the moment.

And purging later.

Just kidding. Don’t do that. It ruins your teeth.

Author name:

seaport dinner

The temperature finally dropped (15 degrees) here in NYC, a perfect day for my best friend to be visiting. I met her down at South St. Seaport, and being a Monday, it wasn’t too crowded with tourists or people taking advantage of the beautiful day. I also randomly ran into Wifey so we all got caught up over pina coladas at an outdoor bar. Then Kate and I had more wine (2 for 1!) over dinner. Kate justified another glass by saying, “It’s free.” It was such a lovely al fresco dinner, I wish we could meet up every week. Or maybe she’ll just move to NYC. : )

Author name:

It’s Complicated

I was so looking forward to escaping from the city this weekend (sometimes you just need a break) that I pushed and pummeled everyone in my path, on my way to Penn Station. I am slightly ashamed of the obscenities that I yelled but I was a girl on a mission; catching the train on time and transporting myself to the shore.

I met my girlfriends for a low key BBQ Saturday night. I had been in need of girl time for so long and it was comforting to see their beautiful faces. But to be honest, when I got back to my friend’s apartment at the end of the night, I felt more depressed than ever and just wanted to cry. We had spent a majority of the night talking about boyfriends, husbands, mortgages, and job promotions. I thought to myself, “This is not helping at all!” I was looking for an escape and only found myself being reminded of how far behind I am in life. I thought of the scene from Julie & Julia where Julie met her girlfriend’s for lunch and everyone was just going on and on about how busy they were and Julie felt like she couldn’t relate at all. I sat there listening to them over Cream Pie Martinis (mmm) feeling like the loser of the bunch.

We woke up early on Sunday morning and it was the most gorgeous day of the year I think. We spent the day at the beach with an extended group of friends. I even went in the water (!) which I never do until at least August. It was painfully cold freezing yet it felt so refreshing. Around 3, when we had enough sun (and my back was seared), we headed over to Ocean Place hotel to meet a friend who was celebrating his 50th birthday. The setting was so absolutely fantastic, palm trees, lounge chairs, reggae band, and tiki bar. We felt like we had escaped to a resort on an island. We sucked down some refreshing pina coladas and sat in the sun, listening to music. My mood was lifting already.

Early in the evening we got showered up and headed to Sallie T’s for a seafood/sushi dinner. While the food was skeptical (read: the. fucking. worst) I still had a great time with my girls. We had gotten the talks of real life that I’m not included in out of the way the night before. Now we were ready to hang out, make fun of each other, and have a good time. We drank pitchers of sangria at the Tiki Bar until they kicked us out, literally by removing all of the chairs and boarding up the bar.

Monday morning, we picked up some wraps and spent the day on the beach again. I didn’t get much sleep the night before so I was mostly in and out of sleep on my beach towel. We got pizzas for dinner and finished out the night drinking wine and watching It’s Complicated (so cute! LOVE John Krasinski).

I took a train early this morning, rejuvenated and ready to get back to the big bad city. I realized, with my girlfriends, that we’re all quite different and we’ve taken very different paths in our lives, and there will be times where we can’t relate to one another, but even still, we’re always there for each other. After spending a weekend with them, basking in their love and support, I always leave feeling like there’s nothing I can’t accomplish. My former boss used to tell me to “keep your eyes on your own paper,” meaning don’t worry about what other people are doing and just worry about yourself. I’m just the slow kid trying to graduate from the special needs class.

Author name:

my weekend

I feel like I haven’t slept since last Wednesday. I was having an early drink with Little One on Saturday when Miss Brit texted me that she was a friend’s band’s show and there were people dressed as unicorns. I rushed from East Village to Astoria because who doesn’t love hanging out with unicorns? LO and I were pretty drunk when we arrived but there definitely were unicorns and robots at the bar. I mean…what the? It was the funniest, most random thing I’ve ever seen. People were wearing unicorn horns made of aluminum foil and robot outfits. Sober or not, we could not figure out the association with the two. But who cares, right? I stole someone’s horn that was laying on the table and danced around with it until I broke it. Miss Brit broke the horn apart and then suddenly starting stuffing its contents in my mouth. Turns out the horns were stuffed with rice krispies treats. What a nice surprise! And then later somehow a random can of whipped cream appeared next to me. Unicorns, robots, and whipped cream. And of course, because I wasn’t planning on going out, I didn’t have my camera on me. I assure you, it was funny.

On Sunday I went to Jersey to see some of my girlfriends. It was also Thai New Year so we all went to dinner at a Thai restaurant I used to work at when I was in high school. I haven’t eaten such good food since my mom moved back to Thailand! After dinner we all went to a local martini bar for the usual, dirty martinis. We were having a great time talking and catching up and were ready to wrap up the night around 12PM since it was Sunday and all. But then suddenly my arm was ripped out of its socket by a man asking forcing me onto the dance floor. And that’s when the night went from “just a few drinks” to “I don’t know how many martinis I had.” Girlfriends, good food, martinis, unicorns, and total randomness are a good combination.

Author name:
Older entries