Something that I’m not very good at is accepting help from people without feeling guilty and/or obligated to immediately reciprocate. Being in a healthy and happy relationship for close to five years (crazy!) has helped a ton, but I’m still uber-sensitive about being indebted to friends. So wedding planning has been pushing me in a good way to do two important things–first, to take a deep breath and not be anal about every single detail, and second, to let my wonderful friends and family do nice things for me without feeling guilty.

I have eschewed a lot of the standard wedding stuff simply become it doesn’t resonate with me–I’m requesting no gifts at my shower, I’m skipping the expensive bridesmaid dresses, and I’m wearing something that’s non-traditional and very “me.” But I wanted to have a bachelorette party so that I could spend some quality time with my girlfriends before the wedding weekend–and I had a few requirements:

• I wanted to go to NYC and go trapeze-ing outside, a long-time dream based only partially on that Sex and the City episode
• I didn’t want people to have to do things they aren’t into or spend money they don’t want to spend
• No invasive games, underwear gifting, or penis stuff (just, no.)

Well, my friends blew the thing out of the water and I had the most fantastic time. Other than snuggles and catch-up time with my favorite humans, the highlights included…

Delicious meals! We ate like queens all weekend–my favorite spots we visited were BKW by Brooklyn Winery (get their dry rosé and die happy) and Two Hands Cafe for brunch.

Running! I harangued a few of my friends into going for a jog with me along the river and the High Line. The weather was perfection and I just couldn’t stop smiling the whole time.

Theater! I’m a total musical nerd, so we snagged tickets to see Josh Groban in Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. It was a really interesting and offbeat show–definitely not your typical cutesy musical–but the singing and staging were fantastic.

Trapeze! We channeled our inner Carrie Bradshaws and 8 of us intrepid adventurers did a flying trapeze class at TSNY. It wasn’t my first time, but it was my first outdoor class and SO much fun to do it with friends. I’m glad we don’t have a place to trapeze in Boston any more because all of my money would be gone. Such a rush!

If you ever have a chance to try flying trapeze, it is incredible. It was a perfect cap to a incredible weekend–we even had nice weather smack in the middle of a disgustingly cold and rainy week. On top of everything else, my mom drove down and came with my cousin and her daughter (my junior bridesmaid) to brunch before everyone headed out. I felt so overwhelmed and loved all weekend long, and it made me even more excited for the wedding.

Back to more running-related posts soon, I promise! Linking up with Amanda today 🙂