Having originally planned to head home before I experienced my carpe diem epiphany. I immediately changed gears and instead of taking the train to my apartment, I decided to visit my boyfriend, Ro, at work on the harbor. I had some built in faculties for starting my summer vacation with some excitement, so jumping aboard the "high speed thrill boat" that Ro acted on seemed like a no-brainer.
The first step of shirking responsibility and acting my age would require a small costume change. I was currently sporting a black flippy skirt, a gray sleeveless turtlekneck, a black sweater, a pair of heels, and my glasses. My giant curly hair was being kept captive by a large hairclip and about 4 bobby pins. While nothing could really be done about most of the outfit, I realized the key to letting loose a little would be the accessories. Now that I was free, I could finally get to my mile long to-do list that I'm never energized enough to tackle during the schoolyear. It was finally time for the first thrilling task of filling my contact lense prescription so I could buy a pair of sunglasses.
One stop at Pearle Vision and a little wheel greasing later and I walked out sporting a free pair of "trial" contact lenses in addition to ordering a few boxes that would arrive the next day. Glasses were slipped into my purse and a quick dash into Urban Outfitters had me in a huge pair of psuedo-celebrity sunglasses. It might not have been the perfect look, but it was at least a start. Off came the sweater and out came the hair clips and bobby pins and my reflection in the mirror gave me back about 4 years of my youth.
Of course, these pit stops meant that I was now running late for the boat's departure time and waiting a full hour would really put a hamper on my new found free spirit. Clearly it was time to make like a female officer on a crime show and sprint in my heels across the city. I made it to the dock mere seconds before the boat was leaving and C, my former college friend and Ro's fellow crew member told me to hop on. Some dirty looks from tourists who paid $25 for the privilege of the thrill ride and a quick skip up the aisle of the boat and I was secured in the second row, the most foremost passenger on the vessle.
My boyfriend and C started their speil and off we went, leaving the city skyline behind us. As the head of the ship, the feeling of freedom I'd been feeling in theory gave way to some serious calm as the whole of the Atlantic ocean stretched a head of me. As the boat added knot after knot onto its speed, I felt myself literally and figuretively moving further and further away from the school I had spent the last 189 days tied to. I could barely pay attention to Ro and C going through their act as I become mezmerized by the openness of the ocean and the pattern of the waves. I gave myself a little smirk when I realized it was OK if I'd missed some of it - I still had about about 300 boat rides that Ro would be acting on that summer, and I'd be welcome on any of them as long as the boat wasn't packed. So once again, I forced relaxation and just enjoyed the cool salt air blasting against my face, the beautiful sun in the sky and 1496 hours I had in front of me to enjoy.
With that peace of mind still intact, I jumped off the boat, yelled some goodbyes and practically ran home to prepare for an evening out in the trendy part of the city with my good friend and class act, Mr. Drinkwater.
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