Jersey Shore, without the fist pumping

who said you have to subscribe to the hot-mess-of-a-human, GTL, fist pumping shenanigans to have a hella good time “down the shore”?

you definitely don’t. you just need a beautiful beach town like Lavallette, some of your fave girlfriends, some nice days, and beach games. recipe for a fabulous Jersey weekend.

oh, and your fave headband doesn’t hurt, either.

i can’t say that i find anything about the TV-glorified utter craziness Jersey life culture relatable to my life in any way, shape, or form, aside from the fact that i’m beach obsessed — but i had a rockin’ time at the Jersey Shore this past weekend with the girls. like, so, so much fun.

we went to Lavallette, which was gorgeous. think pretty, relaxing Jersey Shore, not Snooki and JWow gone wild. it was lovely. okay, so maybe a littttleeee wild, if a 2am ocean romp counts…

first sight of the beach/ocean

my dream ride

this weekend was alllll about the beach games. have you played Fricket? i hadn’t til Saturday; now i feel like i probably need to play every weekend. for as long as we all shall live. seriously, this game is ridiculously fun and can keep some city-girls-who-wanna-be-beachbum-surfer-girls entertained for hourssss on end. add wine, mix, and watch the silliness know no bounds.

i also scored the world’s saweeetest paddle board set from Urban Outfitters recently, which made for some good cardio in the sand. beaches be crayyyyyy. 🙂

we ate at a really great local seafood restaurant called Crab’s Claw Inn on Friday night, which had great seafood, a laid-back vibe, and a fun live band. i called it after dinner and crashed so i could get up and run along the boardwalk on Saturday morning.

what.a.hard.run. you know how sometimes you set out with optimistic, blue-skies-in-your-eyes expectations for a lovely long jaunt in a beautiful place, and then the sky just falls down around you? that’s what i felt like on Saturday morning. i set out in hopes of running 10-12 miles, and the 8 i managed to do nearly ruined me for running forever. too many late nights last week + not enough good sleep + God only knows what else was going on with me = dragging. i seriously wanted to quit after 4 — and i had no choice but to turn around and run another 4 back to the motel. so tough.

i did run through the heart of Seaside Heights, however, which was definitely tame at 10am, but i can see how the place becomes a nutbox at nights. so much carny-ness everywhereeeee.

oh, and when i said 8, i meant 7+. i walked half of the last mile. yep, it was that bad.

i’m hoping that was just a fluke run and i totally recognize that all runners have off days, and when this happens i just try to remind myself of how fortunate i am to be able to run at all and to enjoy this aspect of my life. not all runs will be amazing.

and really, can’t we insert any word in that sentence: “not all ____ will be amazing”?
not all days. not all smoothies. not all vacations. not all boys. not all ice cream flavors.

such is life, eh? we take the good with the not-so-good and adjust our perspectives, and we hope for better next time. it’s all about what we make it.

and aside from that bummer of a run, well — my weekend was pretty dang fabulous. so much of this was due to our amazing boss who let us use his beachouse as a home base. he and his wife are spectacular and took such amazing care of us…

 

 including the surprise limo back to the city on Sunday night.
Jersey Shore for the win.

Questions:
Tell me something fab about your weekend!
Runners: what do you do to psych yourself back up after a crummy run? i find that spending time with my friends does just the trick. 🙂

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