survivor

Posted: August 29, 2010 at 6:47 pm

I made it! I survived last night’s shower and bachelorette party. My body may feel hung over today, despite the zero consumption of alcohol, but it sure feels good to check last night off the calendar. It even went better than I anticipated! I laughed hard and “partied” like old times.

The group of eight stayed in a Georgia Game Day condo in Athens (UGA town) for the night. Driving up to town alone left me feeling the old tingling of nostalgia; then staying in a place decorated to the nines in red and black made me downright giddy.

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I will always think fondly of my alma mater, even if some of my roughest years took place during that time.

We got the place all set up for the shower and then let the fun begin. We took a few shots – them from a glass and me from the camera. 😉

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She opened her lingerie gifts. And I had to laugh at her dad sending a special gift for the shower.

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She’ll get more use out of that than any of the other things! 😉

We pinned the “junk on the hunk”. The variety of “junk” options to pin could not have been more hilarious.

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We told old stories and quickly passed the time until going downtown to the bars. Oh, downtown!

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I have an abundance of memories down there. It seemed I had taken a quick spin in the car from Back to the Future. Everything felt and looked exactly the same. Our first stop on the scavenger hunt (oh yes, there was a scavenger hunt for her to complete) even included a drink we partook in many times back in the day. A “Kill Bill”. Don’t worry - I banged a shot of water into a glass of cranberry  juice.

I also had a flashback to party years with a body shot. You read that right. One of the items on her scavenger hunt was to take a body shot. I jokingly volunteered my pregnant belly as the vessel and then, once the idea got in our heads, we knew it had to be done. Simply for the hilarity of it.

I’m not going to share the picture, but I didn’t want to ignore that part of the night either. Why? Because it reminded me not to take life too seriously, as well as spoke to how far I’ve come. I had done body shots before, but always in the sense of trying to get attention in a sexual way, stemmed from a lack of confidence. Last night, I wanted to have fun with my friend on her special night and not have a care in the world what other people thought. All that mattered lay within our little group and creating a memory for us to laugh over in the future.  

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Some people may judge that decision on my part as inappropriate and I don’t mind. I was still the same woman with the same beliefs and values – including the value of living in the moment with a friend that means much to me. So I stayed out with her like old times. I didn’t go to bed until after 3 am. Then, I napped, guzzled water, and smiled over the night I just had today. Worth every moment…including a sticky navel for 1/2 the night. 😉

  • Best part of your weekend?
  • Where did you (or do you) go to school?

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55 Comments to “survivor”
  1. Hey gorgeous – so glad you had such a great evening and that it turned out even better than expected. And body shots??? LOL I soooo can’t think of you doing such things 😉 I love it. Now I want to see a pic of course – most likely b/c you admitted to the fact that there is indeed evidence. Hugs to you and get some rest!

  2. HAHAHAH oh man, that body shot story is priceless! I can only imagine the looks on the coeds faces…!
    I went to Marietta College in southeastern Ohio for one year before transferring to Clark University in Worcester. Clark was MUCH more my speed; I really loved it there.
    The best part of my weekend was making vegan birthday macaroons for my roommate/friend. I can’t wait for her to get home and try them! I’m quite proud of them 😀

  3. Bahahahahah oh my gosh…. love it Tina. How I would just LOVE to see a pic of it! 🙂

  4. Soooo fun!! You are such a good sport to volunteer your tummy like that!

    The best parts of my weekend were the Fame Prom on Friday with friends and my run this morning.

  5. Julianne says:

    Sounds like such an awesome weekend. I love going back to my college town – Rochester, NY.

  6. Oh, the promised land! ATHENS!

    How was it to experience downtown while pregnant? I’ll bet it was still amazing 🙂

    Thanks for bringing back some happy memories (or lack there of ;)) for me!

  7. so glad you had an enjoyable weekend!!

    i definitelly miss Pittsburgh, but hope to visit soon/i’d never live there…

    happy sunday 🙂

  8. Jolene says:

    Ha! that is awesome! I want to see the pic too, but totally respect your reasons not to post it. Sounds like you did just what a best friend does, and that’s awesome. Sounds like a great time!!

    • Tina says:

      I debated doing the pic. It doesn’t show anything inappropriate of course but I would feel like an actual image would not fit well with my blog. I also asked people not to post it on Facebook. It seems too personal in a way. Thanks for understanding!

  9. Julie says:

    Sounds like so much fun. We had a bachelorette party for my best friend when she WAS pregnant and the only one not drinking was her. Poor thing. I can’t believe we did that to her! We made her do a horrific scavenger hunt that you should only have to do when when you ARE drinking. She was a good sport about it, though…well…to a point 😉

    I sure hope no one would judge you for the body shots – that would be ridiculous!! I think it sounds fantastically fun!

  10. Would you believe I’ve never been to a bachelorette party?? Looks like so much fun. I can’t wait until my ladies start getting hitched! 🙂

  11. Heather says:

    looks fun!

    I went to Mississippi college, a small Christian school

  12. Pin the junk on the hunk! I am dying!!!! ….Looks like you had and your girlfriends had a super fun night!
    I went to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Graduated in ’96. I’m old.

  13. Freaking awesome LOL. You are one fun pregnant friend! Glad you were able to have such a fab night 🙂

  14. Oh you are hilarious 🙂 Cute post and thanks for sharing the story!
    I went to school at Virginia Tech and haven’t been back since. I miss it so much! I visioned myself living there at one point, but I put that dream on hold and moved to California.

  15. ashleigh says:

    That is hilarious! It sounds like you ladies had a blast!

  16. Hey, I just found your blog and wanted to let you know that your story is very inspiring! I feel the same way about my college. I had some awful times, but I love my school and the city more than I love most other things.

    I can barely handle a late night (and I’ve yet to experience a body shot!) and I’m a single 22 year old gal. Good for you for having so much fun!

    • Tina says:

      Oh it was rough. I paid for it today. I literally felt hung over all day long from pure exhaustion. I don’t know how I used to go out until 4 am multiple nights a week!

      And thanks for your sweet words. I hope to continue to hear from you on the blog. 🙂

  17. Look like you had a great time…glad you survived!!! Hahah, I LOVE Dad’s gift at the lingerie shower, too funny!

  18. Caitlin says:

    I love your carefree attitude, Tina! You’re killing us all with not showing the photo, but I wouldn’t either! 🙂 Glad you had fun!!

  19. M.E. says:

    you are AWESOME.

    that is all.

  20. Ela says:

    Congrats on surviving! I think it’s awesome that you had fun with your friends like that, all parts of it. I’d never heard of a body shot before, but was able to figure out what it was!

    It’s great when you take such good care of yourself, you can push yourself beyond your comfort zone (stay up really late) just once in a while.

    best part of my weekend – the sun coming out all day today, getting good work done today and good time in the sun.

    love
    Ela

  21. “Some people may judge that decision on my part as inappropriate”–that would be super shallow and lame on their part! If they freak out about that, that’s their prob.. Not yours. Way to go girl, pregnant and confident, that’s awesome!

    • Tina says:

      Agreed! But I know I’ve gotten petty comments for a lot less than body shots from a pregnant chick. Sometimes I feel my faith makes people put these unreasonable standards on me of how I shouldn’t do certain things. I figured I would go ahead and clarify I don’t care what they think and show how ridiculous it would be for them to try to judge me.

  22. Looks like you had a great weekend! I’ve really enjoyed spending some time in the kitchen cooking and baking – so relaxing!

  23. Shannon says:

    What a great night you put together for your friend! I’m glad you had such a good time and got to relive the good old days. I went to Boston College and loved it there. But I was definitely not into the party scene. Now I sort of feel like I missed out on that part of the college experience…but I still enjoyed those years, so maybe I didn’t miss out on anything.

    • Tina says:

      You didn’t miss out on a thing! I don’t mind my party years for the lessons they taught me, but definitely don’t feel like I needed them for the college experience. It was actually only my last 1.5 years that I got crazy. Before that I was (mostly) tame and still love that time too.

  24. Ahahaha- I’m sure the body shot was awesome!

    Glad you had a great night with the girls! 🙂

  25. Good for you lady! So glad you had a great time! Good for you living in the moment and making memories!

  26. The party looks like fun!

    The first part of this post really spoke to me when you said you will look back fondly at your alma mater even though some of your toughest years were spent there. I feel exactly the same way. I’ll always have wonderful memories of Penn State, even though the worst year of my life was spent there. not sure why, but I miss that place every day!

    • Tina says:

      There’s something special about an old stomping grounds. I know I would never want to go back to where I was mentally and emotionally at that time, but it was fun going and visiting with new views on things. I loved it!

  27. Lee says:

    Ha, that’s awesome that you did the body shot.

    I went to school in Vermont. I haven’t been back since but really want to go for a visit.

  28. Tyler says:

    Oh, I remember those Kill Bills! Good for you for participating in the craziness sans alcohol! You are very brave to do a body shot while sober and pregnant. That’s awesome. Glad you had a good time! This post makes me miss Athens so much! I moved back to Atlanta from Athens last December, and I have only visited once! I need to go back while I still have friends who live there…

    • Tina says:

      It was REALLY cool being back. I hadn’t been back up there to go downtown in about 5 years and I had so much fun. I can’t wait to go back up…but with the family just to walk around and maybe go eat at one of my many favorite little eateries. 🙂 Athens does have a special charm, huh?

  29. Tyler says:

    And in case you couldn’t tell from above comment, I also graduated from UGA :). Go Dawgs!!

  30. Bachelorette Parties are such a blast 🙂 Glad you had fun!!

  31. laura dishes says:

    I went to PITT!

    I’m going to follow your lead in two weeks- we’re headed out to Athens (and staying in a Game Day condo) for my friend’s bachelorette. 🙂

  32. Tina I think it is awesome that you were out with your friends celebrating. I bet the pictures are hilarious, but I totally respect your decision to not share that with us. I can still use my imagination 🙂

  33. looks like you guys had a great time! i know that feeling of nostalgia, whenever i visit my home town and see my old friends. it’s a good feeling for sure!

    best part of my weekend was going out for dinner with the hubby. i also got an 8km run in, which felt awesome!

  34. Love it! You’re such a dang trooper – sounds like a blast!

    That is where my in-laws condo is!! Love it there! Even though I went to AU I still support GA (unless they’re playing Auburn that is!). 🙂

    Best part of my weekend was really just seeing old friends and spending time with my college peeps! (similar to you – but with our boys. LOL)

  35. Sarah says:

    Wow, I am SO impressed with how late you stayed up. This non-pregnant body would NOT have made it that far.
    Oh, and that body shot? Not judging here! I think it’s great you had such a great time celebrating life and marriage with your friends!

  36. I love that you offered up your belly for a body shot! Makes you that much more real 🙂

  37. Nichole says:

    You were in Athens too?! You should have come to the race I did in Athens on Sunday, lol. You were probably waking up by the time we were done.

    Isn’t Athens amazing!! The bars and shop are so much better than when I went to school there.

  38. best part of the weekend was camping with my hubby! it was such a fun trip 🙂

    and I went to Texas Tech…Wreck ’em! 🙂

  39. That looks like so much fun!! I’ve never done a scavenger hunt but I have some friends that are *pretty close* (I think) to becoming brides so I’m hoping that there will be one coming up in the near future!

    The best part of my weekend was probably spending lots of time outdoors at the local Busker Festival and enjoying the gorgeous weather. I’m trying not to think about how it was the last weekend of August!! 🙁

  40. hahaha – love the preggo belly body shot!! classic! Your night looked like lots of fun 🙂 Favorite part of my weekend was my friday night dance party where my friend made up a “clean and press” dance move haha. I posted a video but it’s kind of dark 🙁 I am a penn stater and I totally know what you mean about getting hyped up seeing school colors all around 😉 WE ARE!!

  41. Holly says:

    Wow – you definitely are a trooper, I will tell you that!! It sounds like SUCH a fun time. That’s a great idea to go back to your college stomping grounds, too. I went to Indiana University….ah, I miss it sometimes. 🙂

    Best part of my weekend was spending time with my grandma on Saturday. 🙂

  42. Colleen says:

    You are such a great friend and trooper to stay out the whole night with them, and the body shot story is hilarious! I understand why you don’t want to post a picture, but if anyone judged you for that, well, that’s just lame. It’s all in good fun! 🙂

    My husband and I are headed to Athens this weekend – would you recommend anywhere for us to visit? We’ve been a few times (my husband is actually in their MBA program in Buckhead), but we just kind of haphazardly choose places to eat and see.

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