Ocean City Love

Brown Eyed Girl has quickly become one of my favorite bloggers. She's honest, she's funny, she's genuine and I adore her. After talking to her for a few weeks, I decided to join Weight Watchers. So b.e.g., in a way, I have you to thank for my already 14 pound weight loss! You should definitely go & show her some love!

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While Mrs. Potts is gone, enjoying fruity beverages with tiny, pink umbrellas with her Mr. Potts, I’ll try and recreate that vacation-y feel on her blog! You know, because I’m super-jealous that she’s enjoying sun and libations and I’m enjoying spending time doing schoolwork!

Back in 2004, my husband and I had just started dating. I call him Dimples, because he’s got a sweet dimple on the right-hand side of his face! We were both undergraduates at a private school in upstate New York. Dimples had gone home for the summer and was three hours south in Centre County, PA. I was working at an outpatient facility for my co-op in upstate New York. We were smitten with the puppy love bug something awful! I would drive down to see him every other weekend, and he’d be up to see me every other weekend. I got three speeding tickets during that summer…if you’ve ever driven route 15 or the NY State Thruway, you understand how it is.

So back to us. We were puppy-dog smitten, head-over-heels enamored with one another and decided to take a vacation to the beach! Dimples had a long-standing tradition with his friends of going to Ocean City, MD during the summer. So, as any level-headed, clear-thinking, puppy-dog smitten twenty-one year old in looooove would do, Dimples ditched his friends and planned a long weekend in Ocean City for the two of us!

It was our first trip together, and we totally clicked. We stayed at the Shoreham Hotel, a house converted into a hotel with an Irish restaurant on the main floor, overlooking the ocean. Our room was tiny, with two beds and a dorm-style shower. The shower was so small, it was a stand-alone, one-person stall, we referred to it as the “rocket shower” because it was in a cylinder shape and SO small! Mind you, Dimples is 6’4 and this shower was barely large enough for him to maneuver around, much less get his head under the shower head!

We spent our days lying in the sand, sunglasses on, people-watching, and pointing out interesting-looking people to one another! We had dinners at Shenanigans Irish Pub & Café, where I had, literally, a crab cake at each meal!

We walked the boardwalk every night, popping into shops and trying on the ridiculous tourist merchandise, admiring sand sculptures, and being ridiculous at the carnival! We brought a bottle of Jack Daniels with us, Dimple’s favorite, and purchased two liters of Coke. We had mini bathroom cups and took shot after shot after shot of Jack & Coke, laughing hysterically as only tipsy people can!

On the last day there, Dimples and I decided to get henna tattoos together. We had been talking about doing it all week and decided to go for it on the last day. I got a tattoo on my left hand, such beautiful, intricate design work. Dimples got his henna inked on his forearm and bicep. I drove home, not knowing that this would become a tradition: when we leave in the mornings, I drive. If we leave at night, he drives. And I drove his SUV, which is actually a small one (CR-V), but it was SOO big to me at the time.

Everything was so new, so fun, so exciting, and done on a small budget, but with big dreams. We’ve been married five months and there’s lots more memories to be made!

Happy Anniversary, Mr. & Mrs. Potts – thank you for inviting me onto your blog, hopefully your readers enjoyed this, and you had a great trip!

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Thanks b.e.g. for sharing the love & your memories!!