Every year, our friend G hosts a big party for all of our friends at his parents house down at the Jersey Shore (the beautiful part of the shore, where there are gorgeous houses and pristine manicured lawns... not the shore you see on TV). Called H-Fest, we all usually spend the entire weekend reverting back to our old college ways of pigging out, binge drinking, beer pong, etc... Every year there are t-shirts made to commemorate the event and friends come in from all over the eastern seaboard to celebrate.
We woke up on Friday morning to pack and get going (our friends C&L were kind enough to give us a ride from the city... I did NOT want to take the train). When I woke up, I nibbled on a chocolate croissant and immediately ran to the bathroom to throw it up... My two week run of no puking was over... Awesome way to start the weekend.
Since I returned breakfast number 1, we hopped in a cab to meet C&L for brunch before hitting the road to NJ. The car ride to NJ was pretty quick and luckily our friend S had to pee 1/2 way there so we stopped at a rest stop on the way... I didn't even need to ask! I did ask them to turn the air up in the car... way up... so I think I froze everyone out... (I noticed goose bumps and cardigans on all...) But nobody said a word... they were very sympathetic to my ridiculously high body temperature.
When we arrived at G's parents house, we all just hung out and helped them get ready for the main event which takes place on Saturday. Because the weather wasn't very good (crazy rain!) we just hung out and did rainy day activities... It was like camp... Mrs H (G's mom) was a teacher and she had lots of construction paper, colored pencils, etc... So I spent the afternoon drawing pictures like a 15 year old while everyone else moved tables and did manual labor! We ended up going for dinner at a nearby place and I was designated driver.
The next day it was a beautiful day to go to the beach... so what did everyone do? They went to the beach... What did I do? I stayed home with G's parents... I love the beach, but the thought of being out in the sun when I am already so hot all the time just wasn't appealing to me... Also, the bathroom situation leaves much to be desired and so does the bathing suit situation...
It made me think... it can be kinda lonely being the only pregnant gal sometimes... Who would have ever thought that being a party of two, you could feel so alone!
I just can't do all the things I used to do and the last thing I ever want to do is hold others back. The crew was only gone for a few hours so I hung out on the shaded porch and read. Once everyone came back to G's parents, the kegs arrived and the party was on. Most of the afternoon is usually spent in the backyard... bocce, beer pong, etc... Unfortunately for me, it was super hot out and every time I would go outside, I would need to go back inside for at least an hour or two to sufficiently cool down (thank freaking god for air conditioning). So I didn't really hang out with everyone. I spent most of the day in the kitchen with Mrs. H, helping with food prep, etc... And then, once the party was in full swing... all the other pregos and babies started arriving! Finally, I had people to play with!!!! I heard stories about babies starting to walk at 9 months, other babies born 9 pounds a month early, etc... It was nice to have some peeps who would sit in the air conditioning with me and talk baby, commiserate about pregnancy, etc... It was a far cry from previous H-Fests, but fun nonetheless...
While most of our crew stayed up partying until 3 or 4am, I crashed at about 10 and didn't even feel bad about it... It used to reallllly bother me if I ever missed out on all the late night fun when the silly drunken antics typically take place, but it's gotten easier... and frankly, I'm so tired lately that I just don't care! So while this year's H-Fest was definitely a different experience for me. I had a great time!
On Sunday morning I was the first one to rise and asked everyone for a full report on what I missed. We had our typical jersey shore breakfast... Taylor ham, egg and cheese and then were on our way back into the city!
