jersey shore, belly dances, and carnie rides

Ugh, Monday again? Pew.

I wasn't ready to start the work week until I opened my inbox this morning and found a photo montage from SuperDad recapping this past weekend's events. Of course, I will share with you.

I randomly (in a most super-last minute kind of way) decided to grab a late night bus on Thursday evening to spend the holiday with my fam. In tow were my roommate, the infamous Seksy Leksy, and KtMac. We grabbed a bus outta Chinatown and headed to the big apple where SuperDad agreed to pick us up. At 2 in the freakin' morning.

Early the next day, we packed the car and drove out to Sandy Hook, NJ. The beach at Sandy Hook is clean and family friendly, and thankfully it doesn't live up to the Jersey Shore stereotype. Surprisingly, the water was warmer than usual (and by warmer, I mean NOT subzero as it usually is year round) so we decided to take advantage of it and get our float on. Always the prepared one, SuperDad packed boogie boards for us. Yep, that's right. Boogie boards.

ktmac and seksy leksy catching a wave

We were really lucky to have beach-friendly weather. On two occasions, sun showers broke through but they were brief and actually quite refreshing. After an absolutely perfect day at the beach. We returned home, but not before hitting up the local Bottle King to pick up wine for the night.

Unfortunately, Zsa zsa had to work on Friday so she was unable to join us at Sandy Hook. But of course, she was more than ready to get the games going once she returned home that evening. KtMac, Seksy Leksy, Zsa zsa and I went one for one on tasty bevs, which of course led to ridiculousness such as:

Zsa zsa lecturing me on my bad life decisions, such as dying my hair awkward colors. She's not a fan of the blond. Oddly, she likes the purple pieces tho. In this photo, I believe she was actually trying to pull the blond out.

I wrapped up my locks and busted a belly dance-meets-walk like an Egyptian move for her. KtMac and Seksy Leksy can attest that my dress actually did go up and my belly did come out for a portion of the dance. Be happy that I won't subject you to those Kodak moments.

The next morning, we hit the local mall (and in NJ, a local mall is 1 of 5 malls all within a fifteen minute drive from your house) and took advantage of holidays sales. Everyone made out like bandits. Brand new Donna Ricco fitted dress for 70% off original price?? Thankyouverymuch!

After our quick shopping adventure, we suited up for a BBQ at my aunt's house. And quite literally, I mean suited up.

uncle sam zsa zsa

And you wonder where my love for costumes and dressing up comes from?

We hung by the pool, BBQ'd, and attempted dare-devil tricks on a trampoline, which for me only resulted in skinned knees and a bruised ego. Before it got too dark, KtMac, Seksy Leksy, and I drove to the nearby college campus for a mini carnival and fireworks display. I generally don't trust carnie rides. They are set up haphazardly and operated by former inmates or social rejects (ouch that was a little harsh, esp to the high schoolers working the event), so you're really putting your life in someone else's hands. But ever the risk-taker, I decided to brave a ride. And of course, Seksy Leksy seconded the motion.

We chose one ride to go on. It's the one I like to call "salt and pepper shakers" which features two steel structures standing parallel to one another. At the base of each structure is a caged compartment where riders are strapped in as they are spun in a circle--like a Ferris wheel, except you are turned upside down at the top.

Make sense? Well if not, no worries. All you need to know is that after the first few spins, we were having fun and looked like this:

but quickly morphed into this:

No bueno.

After spinning ourselves stupid, everyone headed to watch the impressive fireworks display. The explosions were synced with typical American folk songs, which only meant that we were subjected to Seksy Leksy's off-pitched rendition of "Proud to be an American" for hours to come.

Lucky for us, traffic was light on Sunday and we made it back to the district in reasonable time. Hope ya'll had a happy 4th. Next up, Labor Day scheming.