This past weekend, my friends Marie and Chris hosted their Memorial Day party. It was actually on Sunday (so everyone with Monday off could sleep in after being at the party late) but since Mondays are always my day off not matter what, that worked for me.
I had made drunk fruit for 4th of July last year, but made a big mistake in making it. I forgot the margarita mix and all the liquid the fruit soaked in was tequila. So the fruit was a bit too strong then for some people. This year, I decided to find margarita mix that already had the tequila in it, so I couldn’t repeat the mistake. Fortunately, I found some at the grocery store when I went to find watermelon and strawberries so my dish for the party was easy enough to make.
I had leftover margarita mix, so I brought that with me too. And I had drained the margarita mix the fruit was soaking with and that was another drink for the party (that ended up being one of the most delicious drinks!). And since I wanted any kids at the party to be able to enjoy the fruit too, I had some “sober” fruit with me as well.
The party was a pretty classic Marie and Chris party. Most of us were hanging out in the backyard just having fun chatting and being silly. Some people were playing ping-pong or board games, but I pretty much stuck outside talking to my friends who I hadn’t seen since the last Marie and Chris party.
I really enjoyed myself. I did eat a bit too much (and felt that the next morning), but there was so much good food! Of course there were hamburgers and hot dogs but there was also macaroni salad, veggies, grilled corn, banana bread, and chips and dips. I’ve been good with my food lately and I know that sometimes you just can’t focus on eating the right things or the right portions. Hopefully with eating ok the rest of this week I will get back on the track I was with my food. I didn’t end up drinking, but I’m not a huge drinker so having water was perfectly fine with me.
Most of the time I was just hanging out at a table outside chatting with my friends. We got into some really intense debates about politics and healthcare, but it’s because we are such great friends that we can have heated debates and still be cool with each other afterward. And I love that we are all passionate about what we were debating about and everyone was respecting other’s viewpoints even if they differed from their own. That’s a rarity these days so I know how lucky we are that we can have those discussions.
And of course we talked theme parks too. I want to go back to Universal Studios before my pass is blacked out for the summer, so we were trying to figure out when we might be able to do that. And my friend Caroline and I are overdue for another Disneyland adventure so we were trying to compare calendars to figure out when we could both go. I think we are going to be able to make it sometime this summer, but it might have to wait until the fall because we both don’t want to deal with the summer crowds when kids are out of school. I’ve got a bit of time before my Disneyland pass is blacked out too, so I’m hoping we can make it to the parks soon for another fun afternoon!
The thing I love about these parties the most is just the love that is there. I’ve known a lot of those friends since I was 18 so I have known them close to half of my life now. I joke with Marie that she is my college buddy because I was in college when I met her (she loves that because it’s just silly). They’ve all seen me grow up, and I’ve seen many of them get married and have babies (there were so many babies at the party!). I know that I deserve to have friends like this, but sometimes I just have to sit back and be so grateful that they became my friends when I was an annoying underage kid at the theater we all performed at. Most people in their 20’s and 30’s don’t want to befriend an 18-year-old (especially since after shows they loved to hang out at bars and I was underage). But I just happened to get in with the right people who didn’t care that I was the baby of the group.
I stayed at this party later than I do for most of the parties, but I did have to get home early enough since I had my workout the next morning. I think I left around 11pm, so the first part of the party was winding down by then. But the second half of the party that is a lot of the karaoke and jam sessions hadn’t started yet (I’m pretty much never there for that part of the party). But I was there for about 7 hours, so I felt like I had a lot of quality time with my friends and I’m excited for the other upcoming summer parties! I think there might be one each month this summer!
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