The Guide to Post-College Birthdays!

Soooo since we’re not in college anymore, we are not constantly surrounded by 30 of our closest friends. We do not live next door to our friends. And we are not in walking distance of the parties and the 3 bars that everyone seemed to always go to.

We are now living at home with our parents during the week and couch surfing our friends’ apartments during the weekend because we do not make nearly enough money to move out yet. And we spent all the money we made in college (if any) on booze, clothes, and late night pizza. Okay, fine, maybe that’s just my story, BUT life right after college is along those lines for everyone.

Maybe you stay at home with your parents all weekend long because you don’t live near a city and none of your friends have apartments to crash at. Or maybe, you got some badass job, because you went to school for engineering or finance, and you had enough money to move out the day after you graduated. Maybe you had to move to a new place for your new job so you got your own apartment, and are struggling to pay rent. Or maybe you are just extremely wealthy and your parents bought you a beautiful condo downtown with security at the door, even though you have no job and just shop and party every day (I envy you people).

Regardless of your situation, one thing always remains the same. YOUR BIRTHDAY! AKA the greatest and best party day of the year. YAY!

Okay, soooo back to my point of not being in college… well, you may feel like your birthday festivities will never be the same again – and you’re probably right… they never will be the same. Life has a way of interrupting your social life once you graduate. You might have to work on your birthday… you might have to take care of your kids (many, many years from now)… you might have to work out because you tri’s only consist of FLAB… your friends might be busy on your birthday with their life (how dare they?!)… and you even might be too tired to go out after working all day.

Whatever the case may be, you still must celebrate. Letting your birthday go to waste is just like admitting that your life sucks because you’re a real person now. WELL, it doesn’t. Everyone loves a good excuse to party – and what’s a better excuse than YOUR birthday?! Okay, let’s start planning.

Here are 5 fabulous post-grad birthday ideas:

1. Birthday Booze Cruise: This one is first because I actually had my most recent and 1st birthday out of college (my 22nd!) on a “booze cruise.” After weeks of struggling to get enough money to pay the $3,500 deposit (MIND YOU, I WAS UNEMPLOYED AT THE TIME) and even more weeks of recruiting people we didn’t even know to come on the boat to be sure we wouldn’t lose any of our own money on the night – we did it. And we only charged people $25 each to come on a classy cash bar booze cruise for a few hours on beautiful Boston Harbor. Once you’re a few years older and your friends would be able to indulge on such a thing, you can charge more money per ticket and won’t have to hound people down to give you money. And you won’t have to recruit randoms. Although, who doesn’t love a good random? The point here is that it is a fabulous idea, unless multiple people decide to puke and pee off the boat and on the dance floor. My recommendation for Boston: The Boatonian! For other cities: IDK, Google it.

2. Go to Vegas: Have you seen The Hangover? To some extent, that is exactly what your birthday in Vegas will be like. Vegas is like Disney World for adults. And I speak from experience… I went there when I was 20 (with a fake ID, duh). Imagine what would happen there now that I am 21? Okay, so this would probably be a smaller birthday… Instead of having 100 acquaintances stuck on a boat together, you would have 5 of your closest friends with you in some sketchy Vegas resort ready to tan, booze, gamble, and dance. Need I say more?

3. Dinner and drinks with the boy/your closest friends: Yeah, so unfortunately, we are adults now. Not everything can be a party, even though you want it to be. If no ones around or you don’t feel like doing the whole party thing for your birthday (which I do not recommend), spend a night alone with the boy. Have him take you to Mortons or the nicest Italian restaurant in town. Get a few glasses of wine to ease the mood, go home, and drunkenly spend the night alone together. No boyfriend? Go out with the girls! Get dressed up in your finest LBD’s and be classy for the night – aka drink lots and lots of wine.

4. Party at your Fave Bar: Do the usual – Make a Facebook event, order a party bus, call your favorite bar and tell them its your birthday to get the cover waived, and head over there with all your friends for a night of drunken dancing & debauchery. Be sure to invite your friends from school! If they aren’t from the area, think about getting a hotel room or two.

5. College Reunion?!: This is simple. Make a Facebook event (of course), plan a trip to your college town/city, get some hotel rooms for the pregame & pass outs, and throw a party at the bar you lived at senior year. It will be just like you never graduated! Except only with people you actually liked (which might not be many).