beachin' all week..

This past week, I spent at the good ole Jersey Shore with my entire family and friends. A lot of people crammed into one house on the beach. It sounds hectic, which it is, but we all wait for this simple vacation all year. Tradition, even though it is the same thing every year, there is still is that excitement and anticipation to just be around everyone for an entire week with no schedules, no work, and the beach right at our feet, literally. Who wouldn't want to wake up to this every morning for a week? 

This week involves a lot of eating (obviously with a greek family; we didn't get these bods from not eating), a lot of sun, dance parties on the deck, and the comfort of being around each other and saying what ever we want without hurting one another's feelings (well most of the time). When I tell people we are going to the Jersey shore for vacation, the immediate reaction (if you did not grow up going there) is a wrinkled nose and an expression as to why we would want to go to that dot on the map that is now infamous thanks to MTV and the extra tan, poofy haired, party-ers. Look, I am not going to lie, I totally have watched more than my share of Jersey shore episodes but that is definitely not the Jersey shore I grew up going to and kinda sorta loving. 

The Jersey shore I know is the OC boardwalk where I have eaten one too many dinners consisting of Manco's pizza and Kohr Brothers ice cream. It is where you can lie on the beach all day, walk back to the house, and enjoy a barbecue with the fam at night, while sitting around a table, cracking up until the early morning hours. It is where we boogie board and surf all day, bury each other in the sand, and complain about sun burn (well some of us).

One of the best things about this beach house is the deck. Our entire vacation is surrounded by this deck. We wake up, have coffee/breakfast while sitting out there, we walk back from the beach and eat our lunch there, and at night we have our dinner there, bring the speakers outside...listen to music, have drinks out there, and break into our dance parties out there. The deck is where we sit and cheer on the kids playing baseball down below in the back yard/sand pit....and duck when flying wiffle balls are coming for your head. The deck is where I outrageously and violently flag down the water ice truck every time it passes by as I run in the house to get my change (like a little kid...i have no shame). The deck is the best part about this place because it brings us all together; laughing and making a ton of memories and of course, you can't beat this view.

Each year, I take my girlies out for a girl's night of shopping, ice cream, and monkey bread eating and a lot of picture taking. My little cousins are the little sisters that I never had to follow me around, borrow my clothes, and have spontaneous dance parties with. My little fashionistas in training, yep.

Oh yeah, did I mention that we eat a lot during this week. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a lot of snacks in between....a lot of snacks. 

all of us, enjoying one of our fat lunches during that week.....delicious fatty lunches. 

This year was filled with a couple rainy days which involved a lot of reading, more eating, shopping, and making fun of each other. 

All in all it was a fun week and I wish it could have lasted the entire summer.