As I mentioned, two weekends ago I was in Boston/Newport for one of my best friend's bachelorette parties! I have written about these girls many times before, but in case you forgot, I have four amazing best friends who have been by my side since around kindergarten. They are the most beautiful, ambitious, amazing group of girls I know and I love them to pieces. We've lived across the country for years now, except for the past two years when three of the five were in Boston and now we're back to being in all different cities throughout the U.S. Last year, the first of our group, E, got married to her husband James, whom I love, and they had the 4 of us at her sides as bridesmaids. The shower, bachelorette, and wedding were all wonderful days in my memory.
This year, Meaggie is the next to tie the knot to her wonderful fiance Jon. We celebrated with her shower earlier this spring and her bachelorette party at the end of August. As her four bridesmaids, we planned the weekend and it was a little more challenging to throw all living remotely, but it worked out wonderfully and was a ton of fun.
The weekend started in Boston where we met up at Meaggie's place and then drove out to Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, for Countryfest. It was my first country concert ever and featured Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney and I had no idea what I was in store for.
Anybody who knows me knows that I am not a person who is very good at sitting still. You may have picked up on that as well from just reading this blog and hearing about my schedule most of the time. So, I'm a beachgoer who does not do a whole lot of just laying in the sand. We went for a walk, spent time swimming, diving into the waves, and getting sand completely and utterly everywhere.
The day at the beach was so amazing as I haven't been to the Rhode Island beaches in quite a while and as I mentioned, I have a lot of memories there!
The rest of the night turned out to be such a great time. I loved that the bachelorette party was so very different from E's bachelorette the year before, but also equally wonderful and meaningful. We laughed, danced, learned more about each other, got to know her friends better, and celebrated all the wonderful things about the bride-to-be. The night included lots of games, a delicious dinner with a few extra guests, a comedy show that actually brought Meaggie on to the stage and worked her into some of the skits, and a dance party with lots of complete strangers.
It was a wonderful weekend with some of my best friends in the world and I cannot wait to celebrate again with all these amazing people in just ONE WEEK!! Let the countdown begin :)
This year, Meaggie is the next to tie the knot to her wonderful fiance Jon. We celebrated with her shower earlier this spring and her bachelorette party at the end of August. As her four bridesmaids, we planned the weekend and it was a little more challenging to throw all living remotely, but it worked out wonderfully and was a ton of fun.
The weekend started in Boston where we met up at Meaggie's place and then drove out to Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, for Countryfest. It was my first country concert ever and featured Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney and I had no idea what I was in store for.
We had a really good time and I was thoroughly amused by all the really drunk people, cowboy hats, and crazy antics that I saw! And there were SO MANY people there!! I had no idea that there were this many country music fans in New England. The more you learn, I guess!
The concert only actually had 4 of us there (including the bride to be) but afterwards we went and picked up little miss KO, who came in from NYC.
The five of us had a low key night, catching up, and actually getting some exciting news that we were going to be doing the bridesmaid thing again next summer when Teenie marries her fiance Ryan! It was a great night and by the time I fell asleep on the couch, I was totally wiped and passed right out. I had come right from Orlando and gone back to back to back with things going on and I was ready for sleep. Especially since I had to get up in the morning to get a run in.
Saturday morning I head out from Meaggie's place to get in 12-miles along the Charles River in Boston. It is a route I have run a number of times while visiting my friends in Boston and it is gorgeous. I've actually done it in the dead of winter while training for Paris Marathon as well as in the summer while training for other races. It was memorable to think back to running the same route in various phases of my training. The route goes along the river on the Boston side, crosses over to Cambridge, and all the way back over various bridges. I had a great pace and felt like I could have kept going. It was a wonderful way to start the morning! I rarely do this, but I stopped midrun for a selfie with the scenery (do it for the 'gram!)
Following the run we met up with the rest of the bachelorette party crew and all caravanned off to Newport, Rhode Island to spend the day at the beach! Newport is a really special place for us as it is where we used to go often with Girl Scouts. When we were younger we used to go to a summer camp where we would bike all around the island throughout the week and go to various destinations. It was home to our favorite camp to visit as a troop and we know parts of that island like the back of our hands. As we got older it continued to be a place we would go together. A favorite photo of the five of us is from a trip to the beach and a phrase we often use together that means something special to just us is "the beach will always be there." Newport memories...
Additionally, I actually remember one of the most painful days of my life the summer between high school and college and a trip to Newport with these friends where we sat on a lifeguard chair at the beach and they comforted me while I cried. BUT ANYWAYS, I digress... moral of the story... I always think of this group of friends when I think of Newport.
Trying to recreate that one picture up above...
The whole group was also there, it wasn't just the five of us! And it was so awesome to get to know some of Meaggie's other friends better and spend the day with this group.
The day at the beach was so amazing as I haven't been to the Rhode Island beaches in quite a while and as I mentioned, I have a lot of memories there!
The rest of the night turned out to be such a great time. I loved that the bachelorette party was so very different from E's bachelorette the year before, but also equally wonderful and meaningful. We laughed, danced, learned more about each other, got to know her friends better, and celebrated all the wonderful things about the bride-to-be. The night included lots of games, a delicious dinner with a few extra guests, a comedy show that actually brought Meaggie on to the stage and worked her into some of the skits, and a dance party with lots of complete strangers.
It was a wonderful weekend with some of my best friends in the world and I cannot wait to celebrate again with all these amazing people in just ONE WEEK!! Let the countdown begin :)
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