Fourth of July

I LOVE the 4th of July holiday. I think what I love most about it is summertime, and how it's just sort of the epitome of everything that summertime stands for. Originally I didn't have any plans really other than to relax and try to get in the sun, and maybe take my bike out. (I bought a beach cruiser off craigslist from a guy in Staten Island and took the ferry out there Friday afternoon when I had a half day and it was a perfectly beautiful warm, sunny and breezy day and I was excited to ride the bike in weather like that around Central Park!) But at the last minute, my old worker Joe invited me and Jayna and Jamie out to the Hamptons to his friends place. Ummm... yes please??

An early train ride out from Penn Station to the Bridgehampton stop, Joe picked us up at the platform, and took us to our Hamptons abode. Unbelievable. More than being so beautiful and lush, I'm not sure I've ever been in a place so serene, quiet, and still... like, meditation style.


This was part of the backyard, the pool, and you can see the top of the tennis net in the distance.


Jayna tanning poolside

Talk about being in heaven! This place had everything you could ever want. And add in that all of Joe's friends were pretty awesome and cool, and the weekend was magical. Over the course of the weekend it was an endless stream of beers and burgers and hot dogs. We had music going 24/7 outside under the veranda and entertained ourselves by swimming in the pool, playing tennis, whiffleball, badminton, and trips to the beach. We went to a residents-only beach in East Hampton, so it wasn't even too crowded. We stayed up until the sunrise, either in the basement shooting pool, playing the drum set or pinball machine, having a dance party in the one of the living rooms, or nightswimming in the pool. There was this awesome disco ball for the pool we threw in and had all the rest of the lights off that created a pretty awesome ambience.



I couldn't get over how relaxing it was!! We hung out and grilled burgers and ate until we were too hot and then we jumped in the pool and swimmed up to the deck and drank our beers, dried off by playing tennis, lit some fireworks and repeated. My favorite part of the weekend I think was the nightswimming. It was like 2 in the morning, perfectly warm summer night, the disco ball going, music blasting to the likes of Modest Mouse and Weezer, and I even caught a shooting star at one point, although no one believed me.

Sleeping in, waking up to everyone making breakfast and brewing coffee, and then taking it all outside to tan and read... this is the life







Lord knows I'll probably never make it out to the Hamptons again, like, ever, so I'm happy to say that I really took advantage of it all on my trip out there. Jamie and I took the train back together and caught firework shows in the distance as we hummed along Long Island back to the city.



Perfect Fourth of July!