This weekend, though having a blast, I felt fully the impact of not being in my 20's anymore. This was the first year in 7 years (!) that I did not spend 4th of July at the beach. I remember thinking in years past that there was simply no other way to spend the holdiay. I remember telling the rest of my family (who all go to Utah for the 4th) that there was NO WAY I'd pass up the beach for anything else.
This year, however, I found myself thinking only of 2 things: the crowds at the beach (2 hours just to drive the 10 miles home), and the new ban on alcohol at the beach--and I'm not spending the 4th in a completely sober state. Also, the thought of strutting around in a bikini in front of 700,000 other people (no, those aren't extra 0's) this year didn't entice me. Partly that is because I've put on 8 pounds since last year, but mostly because I knew I wouldn't have the alcohol which makes me brave enough and, indeed, happy enough to do this. Instead of the beach, we went to a house party, which was okay if you consider the fact that we (Scott and I) didn't really know anyone and there was no pool.
We did go to a pool party yesterday, however, and I realized once again how much I'm not in my 20's anymore. A male friend of ours brought a female friend to the party with him. I immediately judged this woman, because she brought no bathing suit (to a pool party!) and wore heels (again, to a pool party!). In the past, I would have embarassed a sailor by how much I swore that I would never get along with a woman who wears heels to a pool party, but I found myself making an effort to be nice to her. In my former life, I never would have done this. I would have been too busy talking trash about high maintanance chicks. I must have matured a lot in my 30's, though, because I didn't talk trash. Not once. I am growing up, and it scares me just a little.
