Summer days down the beach in Manasquan, NJ

So this summer, I joined a frat. Not really, but yeah.

I remember my family’s reaction when I told them I had decided to join a summer beach house down the Jersey Shore (Manasquan, to be precise).

“Isn’t that a crazy TV show?”

Well, yes.

It’s hard to grasp the whole Jersey Shore culture when you are not from the area. Having grown up in Puerto Rico, you have access to beautiful beaches all year round and it’s hard to understand why you would need to take a 2 hour train ride every Friday to go share a house with about 16 other people.

I was dragged into this craziness thanks to my boyfriend who had done the summer house the previous summer and I am so thankful that he insisted that I joined because this summer goes down as one of the best summers in my books (it would be a tie with that summer I went to a camp in Switzerland and then studied in Boston).

Sure, it was an exhausting summer, full of traveling and activities, but man was it nice to wake up and walk less than a minute to the beach and lay there under the sun. Living in the city, you tend to forget the simple pleasures of nature, like the ability to see the stars at night (I saw about three shooting stars this summer!).

As I sit now pondering about the summer while I look out the window and see fall almost at my doorstep, it strikes me again how fast time flies. It’s time for pumpkins, boots and scarves. It’s a bittersweet feeling, but it’s ok, because I can handle bittersweet.

Here’s to summer nights and clear skies

to kiddie pools and inflatable buddies

to summer tans and summer burns

to summer cocktails and fried food

to laying on the sand and dancing on the roof

to burger grilling and breakfast rolls

to wizard sticks and mario kart

Here’s to sunshine and laughs

Summer 2013, thanks for the memories.

My little art creation in the sand