So today was a lot of fun. I woke up before my alarm clock and still managed to waste a lot of time, hahah. I took a shower and then attempted to do my hair afterwards, but I gave up 3/4ths of the way and just decided to tie it. --; I picked up Chrissy and then we went food shopping together, and then we were on our way to get Diandra until she called and told us she'd be getting there by herself cause she still needed to walk her neighbor's dogs. I turned around and drove in the direction of the park, and there was a bit of a hold up cause of the traffic and the police and staff were directing the line of cars to available parking spaces.


We were directed onto the grass because the parking lots were already full.


The American flags wavin'.
Chrissy and I were just snacking on pretzel sticks and waiting on Diandra, Justin, and Gil. Justin couldn't leave until five because he had to lie to his mom about having class otherwise she wouldn't have let him out. That family is like the strictest I've seen - and to a boy, no less. Justin arrived around five, but we learned that his brother had dropped him off on the other side of the park when I had told him to find us near the cobblestone. To which he replied, "Cobblestone? What's that?" And this is coming from our valedictorian. Amazing, I know. Chrissy had to walk to the other side of the park just to fetch him, and I would've come with but I had to wait on Diandra and Gil.


Chrissy on the phone with Justin whilst showing off the new tattoo she had done in Virginia.


Helicopters!


Chrissy and I emoing while waiting on our friends.
It started to rain so I found shelter in my car and listened to my iPod until Diandra called and told me that she'd arrived at the park. She'd told her dad to drop her off at the entrance though because he probably would've had a hard time getting out of there. She and I met halfway and then walked back to the car. We waited for Chrissy and Justin inside and a lot of people started leaving because the rain was coming down. Chrissy lunged at Diandra's window a few moments later and startled the both of us. She and Justin were soaked.

We ate the fried chicken and potato salad and raspberries that I bought from PathMark, and the rest of them ate cherries but I couldn't because I'm allergic (blasphemous, I know). And then Chrissy hid between my car and another parked next to it to open a coconut with a knife and a hammer, ahaha.


Chrissy: "I feel so primitive!"


Yum-o!
-stabs Rachel Ray with a spork-


Screw materialistic crap - if I ever get stuck on an island, I'll make sure to bring Chrissy with me.


Chrissy and Justin.


Dancing with The Rolling Stones on blast and eating bland pretzels. x)


Diandra's upset cause her doctor told her to take a break from being vegetarian for a while cause she's not healthy enough for it.


Attempting to get them to dance. Note how uninterested they look, hahah.
Justin had to leave shortly afterward, and we were mad cause the fireworks hadn't even started yet and his mom and his brother were telling him to go home already. He left after we hugged him goodbye and then we walked around the area some before moving the car closer to the waterfront. We had just gotten comfortable on the grass (we had laid out a huge beach towel with tarp underneath it) when Justin called my cell phone and asked that I come and get him because he "was in the middle of nowhere and he had no ride."


The girls and I all comfy on our beach-towel-tarp-thing.
I left Diandra and Chrissy in search of Justin, and he asked me to meet him by where I'd parked last because his brother couldn't get into the park. Security had closed it off already cause the fireworks were starting soon. I walked back and forth a lot and then I just decided to stay in one place because the service on my cell phone was fluctuating and I guess the same thing was happening to Justin too because his kept going straight to voicemail. Diandra and Chrissy called a few times to check on me, and they were going to come and meet me because it was starting to rain really hard when suddenly I saw a flash of plaid and two spindly arms smother me. Ahaha, Justin's so funny. He was like, "OH MY GOD, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW HAPPY I AM TO SEE YOU." Thoroughly bewildered and a little startled, I muttered, "Uh, Justin, you're okay." Ahaha.


Diandra and Chrissy attempting to find shelter under the beach towel while lying on the tarp. Don't ask me where that begins to make sense. I was looking for Justin during this. x)

We walked back to the car and took a breather while the rain continued to fall. It started to die down a bit and then the fireworks began to start, so we left the parking lot in search of a better spot. It was really nice, cause it was Justin's first time seeing them in person and it was everyone's first time seeing it with people other than family. Gil called sometime during that and he told us that he was across from us, but we had no way of getting there because the two parks are separated by water and there are no walkways (that we know of, anyway).

These two are the only decent pictures I got of the fireworks.



Our fireworks were actually kind of sad, and we peered over at the fireworks Gil was watching across the water and they were so much better and vibrant than ours. Ahaha, I guess we're going to that spot next year.

Getting out was annoying cause there was bumper to bumper traffic and I hogged one side of the road so that people would stop trying to cut everybody off. It took a little more than fifteen minutes to get out of the park. I got Gil from his aunt's place and then we went to Diandra's to drop her off and also meet her new pet rat, Lorenzo. He's so cute!

I had to drive Justin to Belleville cause his brother was there sleeping over a friend's place, and he had also happened to take his car. Chrissy was kind of feeling bad cause we were so close to her boyfriend and she wanted to see him. I decided to do her a favor and drive her over there after we and Justin parted ways, and she was kinda nervous to ring the door bell so I rang it for her, ahaha. Some middle aged guy who I'm guessing is Eric's father answered the door, and he stared at me with a creepy half-smile while I asked if his son was home. Eric appeared right behind him and he looked confused as hell, hahah. I asked him to come over to my car cause "I needed directions to someplace". As soon as he saw Chrissy around the corner, he went back to his house to put some shoes on, hahah.

I drove them to the park we'd gone to last time, and Chrissy and Eric separated from us as usual and I really had to pee and Gil had to baptize a tree with his own piss before I even considered doing it. I made sure to explore every possible option first - like checking if the Burger King across the street was open (WHICH IT WASN'T) - before literally answering nature's call. It was so awkward and Gil wasn't helping much, considering he kept shouting, "I CAN'T SEE YOU ANYMORE, ERICA! I CAN'T SEE YOU!" every time I approached a tree. And then he had the nerve to make fun of me afterwards and he was talking to Candace on the phone about me peeing in public places. I gave him a good smack in the face for that. :P I dunno, that boy brings out the violent side of me, hahah.

It was starting to pour and a few minutes later, Chrissy and Eric were knocking on my window, soaked to the bone. They climbed into the backseat and then I drove Eric home, and then I drove back to Jersey City and dropped everyone off. I got lucky with parking even though it was past one in the morning. I was surprised.

So today - July 5 - happens to be the day I quit smoking. I made a pact with Candace that we'd both quit by today, and so far I haven't freaked out. Much. Although I am very aware that a cigarette isn't perched between my lips at this very moment, but that's nothing new as I am aware of every waking moment that one isn't.

Wish me luck, and grant me sanity, ahaha.

I need something to preoccupy myself with. :\ And right now, sleep sounds really good. Hopefully I'll be able to fall asleep though, cause normally I can't without a bedtime cigarette. D: