Friendship Fiesta 2013 - Montauk Style

Earlier this year, my husband took a well deserved "Mancation" to Miami with his friends for a weekend.  I took that as an excuse to visit my parents, and I also took that as a credit to have a "girls weekend" on a to-be-determined date. We've also started quite a little tradition between us girls - and last year's trip to Orlando would be hard to top.  After what felt like 5 months of debate on where our adventure would take us - we all agreed on Montauk.  I was very thankful because my sweet friends were gracious enough to choose a destination that saved me a flight - which was a huge plus given all the travel Mike and I have been doing lately for fun & for work!

After a night in the city where we dined at the famed NY restaurant, the 21 Club (along with George Lucas & Martin Scorsese - no big deal), we were Montauk bound by train the next day along with our luggage and station mixed mimosas! At the end of our breezy three hour trip (I had to meet the ladies after a jam-packed day of work), we were reunited at the Montauk Yacht Club to kick off the 2013 Friendship Fiesta with a little seafood dinner - and our favorite nightly routine - s'mores!

On our first night, we had an adorable little waiter, Juan Carlos, who accommodated our music request and served us the best seafood bake I've had in a really long time.  But the best part about our first evening at the Yacht Club, was when Juan Carlos surprised us with a delicious s'mores spread that would keep us quite entertained for the remainder of the evening.  We retired to our cozy (albeit noisy...caution travelers, the Yacht Club does not have sound-proof walls, try to avoid weekends of bachelorette parties) room a bit early the first night, but after cracking open a bottle of champagne, and taking a trip down memory lane and reminiscing about the 11-year friendship we have had - we called it a night.  

 You will probably not be shocked to hear that the weather was not great the weekend we were in Montauk - after it rained during our trip to Paris, our weekend in the Hamptons, the start of our 4th of July weekend, and again during my weekend with the girls.  While it's always a bummer when beach weekends aren't spent in bikinis and cover-ups, the skies stayed clear enough for us to visit the village for a quick bite and a 2-hour sail around Montauk.

I had a magnum of champagne at my desk for a few weeks, and I could think of no better occasion to pop that bad boy open than a sailing trip with my besties.  The magnum made the trip from the city to the beach to provide us just the perfect amount of refreshment for the sailing trip.  We stocked up on provisions from the market and outfitted ourselves with a myriad of nautical attire.  We took in the nautical sights and passed by Montauk landmarks  while sipping on Veuve and snacking on cheese and crackers.  It was absolutely delightful.

A few of the other highlights from the weekend included a delicious visit to Rushmeyer's where we had our first lobster rolls of the weekend, 2 more nights of girly "getting ready" time, Randi stealing a disgusting bottle of liquor from a promotional party on Friday night, paying $30 for a smores kit to enjoy late night treats in the rain, a post party photo shoot with the three of us in one bed, a rainy trip to Gossman's for a little seafood and shopping, 4 failed attempts at a dinner destination on our last night together, a laughable table at one of the restaurants that actually had some room, an eerily foggy final night, our cranky senior courtesy shuttle drivers from the Yacht Club, playing cards on our sweet patio in Adirondack chairs, discovering treasures in a Montauk thrift shop, a few self-timer photo shoots, buying matching shirts for said photo shoot, a few bottles of our Whispering Angel rose, a minor contact emergency, advances from 17 year old boys, helping Kendal study on the train back from Montauk, and talking ourselves to sleep late at night. 

But my favorite memories from the trip did not come from any of our excursions.  Each night, as we primped for dinner and our evenings out, and as we traded accessories and lipstick recommendations or did each others hair - I was reminded of the early days of our 11 year friendship.  We have all grown up and we may have traded fraternity parties for quiet dinners at a Yacht club, but we all pick up where we left off and act like our 18-year old selves, no matter how often we see each other. 

I treasure these girls trips every year and I'm so thankful that we have the discipline and desire to organize these getaways.  Maintaining these amazing friendships through college, careers, marriages and distance is one of the things I'm most proud of in my life.  Every trip, we brainstorm the possibilities and discuss where our next bestie's adventure is going to be.  These trips keep me sane and give me something to look forward to, and it makes my heart happy to know that our friendship is forever and we have a lifetime of "Friendship Fiestas" in our future.  Like the end of every girl's weekend, I get a little choked up leaving the girls and not knowing when we'll all be reunited again - and this year was no different.  Ladies, thank you so much for making the trip out to the East Coast - and thank you to the amazing men in our lives who give us the patience and freedom to do this every year.  Here's to Friendship Fiesta 2014!  Love, love, LOVE these girls!