Wow, what a night on Saturday. I was planning on making a Jesse and Sarah joke right now but I tested it out on Mitch earlier and he seemed confused. Either that or he was trying to decide which one of my arms he was going to break. But seriously, it was a lot of fun and we all have DJ Hassan to thank for the great evening. I know I need to thank him especially for relieving me of my DJ duties. I was off my game towards the end of the night, and in retrospect, I realize that Enrique Iglesias’s “Escape” was a bit of a stretch. I’m also going to overlook the fact that the party was dead by 1:00 and I was in bed by 1:30. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Between the Blue Ribbon dinner and the dancing and Joe Farina Tweeting during You Got Served, I think it’s fair to conclude that this was one of the better parties we have had in a while. So that got me thinking, what are some of the other great parties we have had:
2008 New Years at Barre
The first ever Barre. What is still considered today to be the standard of partying. I’m actually getting a little emotional just thinking about. 9:00 at the Newton Marriott. A “45 minute drive” through the snow. The excitement of walking into that room for the first time. The countdown. Brenny hooking up with Sara (call me Brooke if you want to talk about it). Dave Robb and that chair. Just an incredible night overall.
When you look back it, it makes perfect sense that it happened on New Years during our freshman year of college. It was like all the stars were aligned that night. We were all so excited to hang out with each other after a semester at school. This doesn’t really apply to the girls, but being a freshman guy wasn’t all gumdrops and sugar plums. It was kinda rough at times, and I think we were all ready to let loose. You know how they say an NBA player is at his absolute peak at age 28, when he maximizes the combination of both his physical abilities and his understanding of the game? I felt like were all 28-year old studs that night. Every single one of us was in our absolute prime and ready to drink like never before. Throw in the fact that it was New Year’s Eve, and it’s easy to see why this makes the cut.
2007 New Years at J-Kap’s
For those of you that weren’t there from 9:00-11:00, let me just say that those were two of the most miserable hours of my life. There were like 8 of us there, and Danny, Brandon and I were just fighting nonstop with the girls about what we should do and I legitimately wanted to shoot myself in the head. But then one by one people start to trickle in and it eventually we reach the tipping point where Jessie’s becomes the place to be for New Year’s ’07. Shout out to Jesse for pissing his pants that night and then almost fathering an illegitimate child. This was also the night I started the tradition of sprinting home on New Year’s. I enjoyed it that night, but I did not feel the same way two years later when it was -30 degrees and I ran home from Rachel’s.
Barre summer 08
Coming off a phenomenal New Year’s at Barre earlier that year, the summer version at Barre easily has to be the most anticipated party we have ever had. Like there was nothing on this earth that would have caused us to miss out on that party. Maybe the death of one of our friends, but even in that scenario I think we talk ourselves into celebrating his life through drinking. “Dave Robb would have wanted us to have this party, guys!”
This was also the night that Truth or Dare went down in the hot tub. Jesse, I’m sorry I stripped down and humped Penelope. It was a Dare, I had no choice. It’s like the Unbreakable Vow in Harry Potter. You don’t mess with that shit. Supposedly that night was our downfall and the reason we haven’t done Barre properly since. Allegedly, Brenny or I left the grill on or something and Izzy got all pissed. But honestly those chicken fingers were so good that it was well worth it.
Dave Robb junior prom
Ahh, the junior prom I never had. Thanks again Carly and Dana for going back to the car for that one last drink. And thanks to Billy for parking the Escalade right in front of the entrance. Smart decisions all around on that one…Personally this party meant a lot to me. I was so excited I even put up Christmas lights in Dave’s basement beforehand. This party also occurred a few days after Michael Jackson’s death, and the highlight of the party may have been the late-night dance session to all his music.
I know there are a lot more that I could write about, but Mad Men isn’t going to watch itself tonight. Here are some others to remember: Jesse’s Sophomore Police Party, Farmer/Olympic/Morning After parties at Jesse’s, Tom’s 21st Birthday when he invited everyone and his parents rolled with it, Glory Week (including Brandon’s lobster incident), Seth’s cape house, Jill’s house, New Year’s Eve at Dyers, that random ass night at Sam’s Natick house, Izzy’s house when we fought the Brookline kids, etc. etc. etc.
