This is kind of a misnomer because a bunch of my Babylon friends actually live in Lindenhurst, but we spend all our time in Babylon, so...they're Babylon friends. I spend at least one day of every weekend with these friends. They love adventures and parties and are incredibly fun and incredibly loyal. Last year’s curation highlighted our beach camping trip, and I’m glad I’ve chosen “friends” as my organizational focus this year because this year we had too many great moments to have had to pick just one.
Even though it was only with Brian and Kristen, running the Cow Harbor 10k felt like a Babylon adventure because of them. The Cow Harbor race is known as one of the hilliest races in the country, and I actually trained with my wife to get ready for it. The race was empowering, and even though Jenna ran a half marathon earlier in the year, I felt like this was a milestone for me. The best part wasn’t just accomplishing the race, it was the camaraderie we had when the race was done - all being sore as hell and having our own anecdotes about our runs and the people around us. It was probably also the fact that the race was in our hometown, a place we love and are proud to call home, (and we also got an amazing Mexican breakfast afterwards). Then Kristen ran the Tough Mudder with me and Jenna but that has the fewest Babylon people, so I’ll just include this victorious photo of us!.
John’s 30th birthday celebration and proposal to Lauren in Atlantic City is probably the event with the most Babylon friends! The fact that 90% of us hate AC but were beyond happy to celebrate everything that was going on made the place more fun than it ever could be.
These are the friends I celebrate my birthday with (going ax throwing in the city); these are always the first guests at our Christmas party (this year’s theme was Camo Christmas) and the last ones to leave the next morning; these are the friends who use my pool every weekend (even if I’m not home), who I played in a volleyball tournament with, and who I call for just about any adventure (a bike ride, a Ranger game, or just to hang). We celebrate Freindsgiving together every year, we take a Memorial day bike ride to Jones beach every year, and basically spend every special occasion together. I wouldn't have it any other way!