Time flies when you’re having fun! I spent the weekend in Atlantic City to help Sara celebrate her upcoming wedding by having her bachelorette party in the land of all lands to do so…at least on the east coast! We were able to gather nine girls to party it up all weekend, and we had a fabulous time. Atlantic City is a bit of an odd place and you never quite know what you’re going to get, but with a pack of nine awesome girls you can’t really go wrong!
getting down to business
Since I figured that the activities taking place in AC probably wouldn’t be conducive to a long run, I turned to twitter for some motivation to wake up Friday morning and get it done. Luckily Lindsay was planning on heading out around 7am, which is a nice balance between the “Ah, must run at 6am so I can get to work!” crowd and the “Meh, I’ll wait until 10am…or 3pm” idea. It was a chilly, windy morning, but we met up for a few loops of the reservoir before heading our separate ways. (I’m hoping some of her speed with rub off on me for Boston…) I managed 18 miles for the day, which felt fine, but with the wind I just wanted it to be over. Also happy with the fact that I wasn’t running 7:40’s since pacing is a serious problem for me.
Friday, January 13
18.34 miles in 2:28:07, avg pace of 8:05
painting atlantic city RED…or maybe pink
The theme for the weekend was “Painting Atlantic City RED before Sara is wed,” which is a play on Sara’s name. I took a bus down on Friday afternoon (why the bus needed to stop twice for the 2.5 hour trip is beyond me…) and arrived just before everyone else so I could start some decorating. Sara and her carpool arrived shortly thereafter, with people trickling in as soon as they could.
Nothing says bachelorette party like tons of pink…
Kimmy is super crafty and made this awesome sign.
In pure Sara fashion, the first thing that happened when she walked in the door (after hugs all around, of course) was pulling out dresses to start the decision process for what to wear each night. Some things never change!
Sara’s picks.
Naturally I pulled out mine as well. The dress on the right is a classic.
Since the ladies were going to be arriving at different times throughout the evening, we ordered pizza, turned on some tunes (Lady Gaga station on Pandora, check it out!), and took our time getting ready. Brought me back to the college days with people doing each others hair with party music in the background.
Making the bride super pretty!
Ladies enjoying some pizza.
Yeah, that’s what you think it is…
After some bachelorette games in the room, we finished getting all dressed up and headed out to the Tropicana, home to plenty of fun bars for the evening. We left our coats at home and lived in style as we took cabs four blocks to our destination. Rockstars? Maybe.
Because you only get to wear bride clothing once in your life…
Roomies!
That’s one good looking bridal party…
First up was a karaoke bar, where our request got messed up and we ended up singing the Backstreet Boys’ “I want it that way.” And that DJ told us how horrible we were…that’s what you get for making us sing a slow song…
Singing/picture taking…
After our fill, we headed to a 40’s bar which was more or less just typical bachelorette party fun, complete with dare cards and plenty of dancing. Last stop of the night? A random casino bar with a DJ who loved the fact that nine girls showed up for his little party. I also met a girl who lives about five blocks from in NYC, to which Sara immediately told her, “You know, she’s really quiet when you first meet her, but once you get to know her, she’s really a lot of fun!” Thanks for looking out for me, haha.
More bar fun!
The night concluded around 3am (early by AC standards?) as we relived our college days and inhaled pizza like we’d never see pizza again. Which is more or less just how it should be.
painting AC RED
I have no idea what came over us, but when we woke up on Saturday morning, Kimmy headed outside for a run while the rest of us went to the gym. (I only brought shorts and it was freezing outside.) For the first time in three years, I ran on a treadmill…if you ever want time to come to a standstill, I highly recommend treadmill running. I can run for hours outside, but after about two minutes on the treadmill I wanted to throw in the towel…how do people do this?? I made myself last for half an hour, so that was nice. But seriously.
Post-gym session, we got all cleaned up and put on our cute matching shirts to take on AC in the daytime…walked down the boardwalk, checked out the water show, and stayed far away from the beach. AC in January is not meant for swimming, that’s for sure…
Ladies on the move!
Sara and future sister in law checking out the water…
After filling our bellies with cheap Chinese food (I love you, MSG), we headed to Caesar’s to do some gambling. If you’ve ever gambled with me, you would know that I never come out ahead, unless it’s my first time playing poker and I more than double what I put in. (When you start with $2.00, it’s not nearly that impressive…) Anyway, we started with the slots since I had a dream on Friday night that Jessica won $50,000 playing the quarter slot machines…sadly my dreams did not come true. The penny slots were just plain confusing, so we headed over to the craps table. It was fun while it lasted, but I left $40 poorer. However, I can see how people can easily get addicted to gambling!
You aren’t allowed to take pictures in the casinos, but no one notices when you take a picture of the fact that the purse holder in the bathroom actually serves much better as a coffee holder. Just saying:
I’m so smart.
Pretty sunset on the way back.
After heading back to the hotel and dipping our feet in the pool for awhile, we headed out to Carmine’s, a family style Italian restaurant for dinner. Basically, it’s a carb lovers dream…I haven’t been to a restaurant in a long time that presents you with a bread basket upon sitting down at the table, and I think I need to embrace that this marathon training season. Just saying. We started with some salad and followed up with giant plates of pasta. Carbs, I love you.
Oh. So. DELICIOUS.
Attempting a table picture, thumbs up to Jessica.
Did I mention that we had some matching shirts?? Because nothing screams “Bachelorette Party” quite like nine girls walking around in matching shirts. (Because apparently when the same girls walk around all dressed up with a girl wearing a tiara, boa, and a sash that says “bachelorette,” people think it’s a birthday party. Really??)
Hooray!
We headed back home and spent a longggg time repeating getting ready to head out again, but the glorious part of AC is that it’s never too late! We played a few games, listened to more tunes, and ate tons of these cookies that Kimmy made:
hahhahah love it!
Soon enough we were all gussied up and ready to head out for AC night two…
Evidence?
Pretty. <3
MOHs!
We headed out to “the martini bar,” where I think only one person got a martini, but we managed to stay there for the rest of the night. The music was good and the crowd was…interesting. Many great quotes throughout the night, which I might butcher but here we go…
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After I told someone that I’m a nurse: “You’re only a nurse? Girl, you gotta get on that doctorate!” And then proceeded to tell me how being a nurse isn’t good enough. Excellent.
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Random guy: “What’s your sign?”
Allison: “What does it matter? I don’t believe in that.”
Random guy: “Oh, that’s cool, I’m atheist too.”
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Anyone who found out I live in NYC: “Oh, you live there! I work there!” As if that’s a novelty or something…
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Random guy wearing a tie: “You ladies are just using me…you think I’m rich because I’m wearing a tie.”
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Random people: “How old are you?”
Allison (to everyone): “I’m 45.”
Everyone, to me: “You’re like 18, right?” Oh dear.
Luckily the music was pretty good, so we just danced danced danced all night long…for the record, heels are much more painful than I remember them, and I’m counting five hours of dancing in them to be excellent cross training. My calves and toes definitely agree with that statement. Also, apologizes to anyone who had to witness my dancing, it’s not the prettiest, but I have a good time…
Because I love Meagan in this picture…
After realizing it was 4:30 in the morning, Allison and I decided to head back while Sara and a few other girls wanted to play more craps. (This is just what the casino wants you to do!) Overall I would consider that a successful night…
back to reality
We woke Sunday morning (barely?) with enough time to check out and hit the road. I grabbed the last seat on a bus back to NYC. Luckily the trip back was pretty quick, although I waited twenty minutes for the E train to come before I realized it wasn’t running today…luckily tons of other people were waiting too, so it wasn’t marked well at all.
Despite my toes feeling the pain of the weekend, I knew I needed to get out for a run…I bundled up since the temperature was hanging around 20 degrees and hit the park. As usually, I warmed up within half a mile and had a great run through the park. I’m trying to keep my pace under control on easier runs, which didn’t go as well as planned, but I had hot chocolate waiting for me sooo I might have been speeding up for that. 
Sunday, January 15
8.24 miles in 1:04:49, avg pace of 7:52
happy bachelorette, roomie!!
I like to think this weekend was a good way to show that you can have your cake and eat it to…although this weekend was far, far from the picture of health, I did get my runs in as planned without distracting from the fun of the weekend. It helped to have others in the party who also wanted to run or head to the gym!
Congrats again roomie, and I can’t wait for the wedding and celebrations which will be here before you know it! Also, I can’t believe we’ve known each other for eight years…time flies when you’re having fun! (I like to end posts just as I start them…ha)
