Pretty much anybody who is anybody (except for me) in New York City has a summer home in the Hamptons.  This past weekend, I got my first taste of the Hamptons when I rented a cottage for a few nights with three of my friends.  In the spirit of the trip, which was scattered with games, games, and more games, in my post today I tried to think of something for each letter of the alphabet that related to the weekend.  Yes, some of them are stretching…by a lot.  Enjoy!

A – Air comma fresh – The fresh air of Southampton was all I needed this weekend.  Don’t get me wrong, I clearly LOVE New York City, but in 100-degree weather, the subway smells like a bathroom, and any garbage bags left on the sidewalk stink up entire blocks due to their rapid decomposition.  It was great to be outdoors and by the ocean.  Coastal air is really refreshing.  Probably because it reminds me of home.

B – Beach – Our cottage was closest to Cooper’s Beach.  On Saturday, it was pretty foggy but we went to the beach anyway.  It was a little chilly and not sunny but it was still nice and relaxing.  On Sunday, it was beautiful out, and turned out to be a perfect beach day.

C – Charades – On Friday night after dinner, we engaged in a ton of different games.  One was playing Electronic Catchphrase as having to demonstrate the word with actions and motions a la Charades rather than having to explain the word a la traditional Catchphrase rules.  The funniest moment was when Lesley spent ten minutes trying to act out “TriBeCa” – think about it, what would you have done?!

D – Driver’s Seat – On Saturday night, we went to this restaurant in town mainly because they had a bread basket (I kid you not).  All I wanted the whole trip was seafood, so I got the lump crab cakes on a salad.  They were delish!

E – ErFer – my name in Words with Friends and what Lesley referred to me as the entire trip.  She and I had been playing for a few months and she was constantly beating me by at least 100 points.  I told her it was on my bucket list to beat her and I ended up winning the game that we started over the weekend, although only by 5 points.  I still think she was taking it easy on me.

F – Fire – We had so much trouble on Friday night trying to get the grill to work to make our cheeseburgers that Lesley, our resident pyrotechnic, was lighting random items on fire and throwing them in and sticking her hands completely in the heating elements of the grill.  I’m not sure what worked in the end because I took a step back and covered my eyes in anticipation of an explosion, but somehow our burgers were a success.

G – Gelato – After dinner on Saturday, we went into the Sant Ambroeus “pasticceria and confetteria” to get gelato.  I ordered coconut and passion fruit.  The coconut was just like a piña colada and fabulously refreshing but the passion fruit was way too tart for my tastes.  Tracy was the definite winner (as in all the games) with her pistachio order.

H – Hunger Games – the book series that I am reading and Lesley has already finished.  She asked me every two pages what part I was on while I was reading “Catching Fire”, the second book in the series.  If you haven’t read these yet, you probably should.  They are excellent!  Hoping to read the third book this weekend.

I – Intermix – Just one of the crazy expensive designer stores on the main strip in Southampton.  It’s basically like every Fifth Avenue store’s “Summer Collection”.

J – Jamaica – Our train from Penn Station on the way out stopped in Jamaica and we had to transfer.  Almost everyone on our train was going to the Hamptons, I think they should have a direct train at least in the summer.  On the way back, our train from Jamaica to Penn Station was cancelled and we had to hop on the subway instead which was kind of annoying, but more crowded than anything.

K – Kebbler Elf Cookies – I haven’t had one of these in about nine years but I have been craving one since last week when someone mentioned them at work.  When I saw them in the grocery store I threw them in our cart immediately.  I may have shared three or four with the other girls, but I basically devoured the whole package myself.

L – Logan – The nice gentleman at the grocery store who sliced our meat for us.  He gave us samples of the turkey and salami and totally disregarded the fact that Caitlin had shoved 40 packets of ketchup and mustard in her bag from the deli counter.

M – Moses – One of our games was “Celebrities” in which you go around and the first person says a celebrity’s name and then the next person has to say another celebrity’s name whose first name starts with the first letter of the prior person’s last name (Tom Hanks => Heather Locklear => Laura Bush).  We had a fit of laughter when Caitlin called out “Moses”.

N – Nature – There were quite a few bugs in the house, which were all normal for any beach house, but who we still didn’t want as guests.  I had to show a lot of these guys who was boss.

O – Obnoxious Hat – There’s really only one way to describe my new sun hat and that is “obnoxious” but I’m trying to own it.  Point blank, I need to protect my face / shoulders / chest better after tons of severe burns I’ve gotten over the years.  This hat totally does it, even though it’s a pain to carry around and I look pretty silly in it.

P – Physical Fitness – I thought I walked a lot in NYC, but I walked a ton more in Southampton, or maybe it just seems a lot further since it is suburbia instead of blocks.  We walked at least 3 miles a day, and Tracy and I actually cabbed back a few times when Lesley and Caitlin wanted to walk instead.

Q – Qatar – This is a stretch, but on the way to Southampton, we all did the New York Magazine crossword puzzle, Caitlin and I using her copy of the magazine and Tracy and Lesley using my copy.  It turned into the first competition of the weekend and Caitlin and I got completely dominated.  One of the clues was “capital of Qatar” – the answer is obviously Doha.

R – Red – Our driver for the weekend.  Not our personal driver, per se, but the taxi driver we used a few times.  He claimed he had no idea where our street was but then when he pulled up to the cottage where we were staying said, “Oh, my aunt lives right there” and pointed next door.

S – S’mores – We made lots of S’mores over the weekend, not in the fire pit thing that came with the house, but rather on the burner of the gas stove.  We used sticks though, so it was close enough to the real thing.  They were magnificent!

T – Tate’s – This famous bakery in town where we went multiple times.  I’ve had their cookies at Whole Foods before and I wanted to eat everything I saw but I only ending up buying cheese danishes.  Mostly because this is what Peeta made for Katniss in “Catching Fire”.  I also got a Vanilla Chai Iced Latte on Saturday and sipped it up on our walk to the beach.

U – Unashamed – that we listened to songs from Glee the entire weekend.  My favorite: “Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen (via Noah Puckerman).

V – Vodka – Tracy brought a fabulous cherry flavored vodka for us to mix up with seltzer and Sprite.  Unfortunately, there was some leakage in transit and she ended up with some vodka-smelling items in her suitcase.

W – Water – The ocean was way too cold to run into and play in the waves, but it was good enough to stand in to cool off a little bit while we were roasting in the sun on Sunday.

X – X chromosome – This is the biggest stretch.  X chromosome because it was a girls’ weekend?  Yea?  Does that work?

Y – Yearly – I would love to go again on a trip like this and hopefully we can make it a yearly event.

Z – Zarin, Jill – I thought it would be a good idea to each pick a “Real Housewife of New York City” and be her for the weekend, since they are always in the Hamptons.  I wanted to be LuAnn so I could wear my obnoxious hat and say “Dahhhhling” all the time and Lesley said she would be Jill.  Unfortunately it didn’t quite catch on.

Maybe in about 10 years, when I am on the Real Housewives myself and have my own house in the Hamptons, people will be wanting to imitate me!

xx