When is it time to take off the party hat?
 

I'm almost 23 and I have no desire to drop the partying for watching movies, reading, or going to a tranquil bar on my weekends. Within the last few years, I've slowed down a whole lot, not because I wanted to but because I changed friends. Majority of them aren't into that kind of stuff. The minority who are, I don't get to see that often, because of differing schedules. But, I guess that's besides the point.

I went out with a cousin last night who's in her mid 20's. She got tired around 11 and wanted to go home because she stayed out until 1 the night before last. :o I consider that early as hell, lol. I consider pass 4 or 5 as late. Recently, I've being hearing similar things from people who are just a tad older than me. It makes me wonder if I am completely immature for enjoying college bars/nights, clubs, fraternity parties, and wild house parties and staying out past 3 a.m whenever I get the chance to.

When do you think it is time to settle down?

I try not to party pass 2AM during weekdays. On weekends, its 24/7 :D

the gals I work with & I are always exhausted by 11 on a Friday nite after working all day. We tend to make Saturday our going out night and osmetimes even then we have to say out loud "We're not old ladies" to rally a little :)

I don't think there's a set age where you can say "my partying days are over". Isht, I remember partying with a bunch of 30-40 year olds last year (and dated one of them! :eek: )

In the past 6 months or so, I've noticed that I get tired around 11 and I normally leave bars by midnight, though most are open till 2 and some are open till 4.

DVD nights, going out to dinner, watching a movie or even staying home to read a good book are ideal nights for me now. If I go to a club, it's because someone's in town or it's someone's birthday.

I look back on the crap I have done in recent years. I'd stay till the club closed at 4, didn't bother to sleep because I had to be in at work at 7, and even then I'd show up to work and class completely hungover. If I didn't go to work like that, everyone knew something was wrong. I had a different bar or club to go to every freaking night (except Mondays when I dried off).

Read my LJ and that's how 2002 was like. To be honest, I can't remember anything from 2000-2002.

If you're not ready to give up your hat yet, don't. Looking back it's hard to believe that I lived like that and I don't have any regrets, but damn I shouldn't have built up a tolerance like that...otherwise I coulda saved a ishtload of money.

This is something I've been thinking a lot about lately, too.

I love dancing, partying, just being social and meeting people...that atmosphere makes me really happy. And it scares me that in 2 years or whenever, people won't want to come out with me or will look down on me b/c I'm "supposed" to be getting married or settling down. Personally I don't really think there's a specific age for any of that, but if you have no one to go out with, you can bet I won't be doing it much.

I have made a conscious effort to slow down some aspects of my life lately, that's all I'll say about that, but I don't think I'm quite ready to make every night "good book/pot of tea" night just yet :)

It really just depends on what you like and what you feel like doing. I know plenty of people my age (and younger) who don't like to go out, but I'd be happy to be out until dawn if there was somewhere exciting to go around here.

Oh yeah and one other thing (more in response to the original question):
I do think, once you have children and a family, the partying should calm down. There's nothing wrong with getting a sitter and going out for drinks or dancing...a lot of women are young, hip moms and there's no reason to stop having a life. But you can bet I don't want my mom putting on a teensy black skirt and getting wasted with kids at home- that's setting a really bad example and to me, it's like trying to grasp the youth you lost a long time ago.

I still party like a rock star on the weekends but I'll admit that I try not to stay out past 2am. If I stay out until 2am, I end up sleeping until noon and then I'll have trouble trying to get to bed around 11pm on Sunday night when I have to be up at 7am on Monday. There's been quite a few occasions (like 3 times this month) where I've been out until 5am. :eek: I felt like crap by Monday and I think that's why I caught bronchitis. My body hates me right now.

As long as you're responsible and you're still going into work on time and getting you're job done, I see nothing wrong with partying it up on the weekends.

Do what ya feel! Screw what anybody thinks!

Don't worry about what anyone else thinks. I have realized that I get tired earlier now and I prefer to hang out at home now that I am a working stiff :) A few years ago I used to stay out laaaaate and then have a class or whatever. That stopped with student teaching. Now, as a teacher, I am totally wiped at the end of the day. The summer is a different story though...my sleep schedule gets totally effed up then!

I feel the same way as some of you all. I'm 23, but I don't feel old...as a matter of fact, I feel like I'm finally at the age where I'm old enough to really go out and have fun. :p Maybe I feel that way because I didn't go out or party a whole lot while I was an undergrad; I was always trying to keep my grades up and juggle my family and boyfriends, so that didn't leave much time or energy to stay out til all hours. Recently, however, I've been wanting to get out more, and I hate it that some people seem to think that after you've graduated college once, you should put your going-out days behind you, hang up your saddle, and become a "career girl" or get married. I'll be in school for another couple of years probably, so I'm not ready to do either of those things. All right, so I think it's kind of odd when middle-aged ladies dress in club clothes and stay out all night long, but I'm not there yet...and I'm sure I'll change my tune if I end up like those ladies. ;)

well i know i suck.....i am turning 22 in a few weeks and i hate to party (in the way that you guys are referring to). i hate to drink and i can easily go to sleep at 11 on sat. night (if i want to)


i dont have a problem with it. i do not see the fun factor in partying til 2 a.m. when i was 17, i would have loved it. but now, forget it

I've posted about this topic before, and let me tell you, it's something I think about A LOT. I'll be 24 this July and I am calm during the week, but I party it up on the weekends. I don't do anything too bad. The worst things I do are get drunk and publicly humilate myself by singing karaoke badly or something like that (as my friend and I did Thursday night).

But I have other friends and co-workers as well who really get on my case about that shit. It pisses me off, because for one, it's none of their business, and two, as I said before, I'm not doing anything that horrible! Now, if I were sleeping around and catching all kinds of diseases, or doing something illegal, they might have reason to get on my case. But I'm doing neither of those things.

I say, as long as you are performing well at work and not getting in too much trouble, have fun while you can before you have to worry about a husband and family.

I'm 22... but honestly, i was never really into partying/going out in the first place. I mean i love dancing and hanging out with friends at bars, but i am not a big drinker and on weekdays, i like to be in bed by 10-11 pm cuz i have to get up at 6. I love sleep, and without more than 6 hours, I am rendered useless. I save my late nights for the weekend as long as i am allowed to sleep in.

Never!!
 

This thread cracks me up, especially when people are saying "OMG, soon I will be 24 and people will expect me to settle down!" I know plenty of people who settled down because they thought they were "supposed" to and ended up divorced because they were so effing bored and miserable with their lives. Too bad they had already had several kids.

Then there are people who ARE ready to settle down at 20 and never have a regret. I don't deny they exist, I just don't think there are as many of them as there used to be, especially as our world in general gets smaller and it's easier to see what else is out there.

I don't feel the pressure I did in college to go out (from within myself, not from my friends) but I still love to - last night Mr 33 and I were out till 2 and outlasted all of the (younger) people at the table with us. If people are telling you you're too old to do this or that, they're the ones with issues, not you. Some people can't be happy with their lives unless they are criticizing the lives of others.

And one other fact to chew on....I am in my mid 30's and got carded at EVERY bar I went to last night. So I must be doing something right LOL.

Separate post...

One of my sisters "had to" get married. She has 2 kids and occasionally goes out with us and she definitely parties hard...as far as what she wears that really isn't relevant. And she isn't trying to recapture her lost youth, she partied in her youth too...she happens to have an immense amount of garbage to put up with at home. If she wants to get shit-faced once in a while, that's cool with me.

Maybe if you live in a closed-minded provincial smalltown atmosphere, you can't do that, but I do not (thank God). I mean no one is going to come up to her kids on the playground and say "OMG Hayley, your mom was doing tequila shots last night!"

You can't go out after a day of work like you did in college....but I would wager that 18 year olds who work in a factory or on a farm all day feel themselves fading pretty early too.

I turned 22 on Friday, so we went out Thursday night to celebrate. I HATED it, because I looked around the bar and I SWEAR I was one of 3 people in there not using a fake ID. People keep saying you're as young as you feel, but is it too bad for me to want to go out with people my own age?! I mean, on my 22nd birthday I shouldn't feel OLD because I'm the OLDEST in the bar!

I think it depends on where life takes you. If life calls for going to bed early, then do it-- if you can handle staying out all night--have fun doing it!!
I will be 30 at the end of the month, I have a 5yr and a 3yr old.
Just about every Friday night I go out with the girls. We don't leave until around 10 or 11--after the kids are asleep and we don't get home until around 5AM. Week before last was our earlies night in awhile and we got home at 2. My husband goes out with the gus on Saturday nights, I think they got home around 5 this morning.
As far as going to bed early--same thing, whatever works for you. I generally go to bed around midnight and get up at 630 on the weekdays. Sunday nights I often go to bed around 1 or 2 (friends are usually over). My husband thinks I go to bed very early--he usually goes to bed about 2 hours after I do. He requires very little sleep.
But I also listen to my body and know when I need to be home taking it easy.

When I was 19/20 I could stay out to 6 or 7 in the morning. Now at the age of 26 it's hard to stay up much past midnight or 1am. I find working all week makes me especially tired. Once in a blue moon I may still party until 4 or 5am, but I just can't do it all the time like I used.

I'm 24 ...I still go out... not as often... and I've never been what anyone would consider "hardcore".... as I have places to be in the morning.. but I say party as long and as much as your other responsibilities ( and health/body) allow you to.

Generally, I dont party during the week as I need my brain during the day (i dotn get paid to stand around and wait for customers/clients to come in, I have to be proactive and think and solve problems) Cant do that with a hangover or if I am really tired. But during the weekend ro holidays isht.... I am a phucking rockstar. can and will stay out till 4-5 am. Dont every weekend, but maybe 2 or 3 times a month, but usually go out at least once a weekend. And for those of you not in the know, I am turned 30 in January.

I plan to party till I get married, or knock a gal up. lol.

BTW, I one time said I'd slow down at 30. Once I hit 29 I redefined slow down to mean 40.

I'd rather only live to be 50 and have had a phucking blast than to live to be 90 and be miserable.

you'll know. when sleep starts to become important and having the money in your wallet, it might be time to tone it down a bit. the body will only let you take it so far.

<------ can personally attest to 33girl's partying ways :D

When did 2AM become late?

Chicago pisses me off because there are very few places really open late - specially on Fridays.

When Twilo was open in NYC, my friends and I had no problem leaving late - 9 AM once. Go to any European country and things are boring until about 11 or 12.

-Rudey

No shit! Even getting food late used to be a problem...although now there are places like TBK and McDonalds that are open way late.
But I totally agree...and that's why I wind up at Blu a lot, I think they're open till around 4.

Wait a minute!! Even if you were sleeping around, that's none of their business either. You have very nosy co-workers.

The party hat can come off when you want it too. Don't worry about being what you are supposed to be. Make yourself happy. Besides, you must be in a very stiff environment if people think you should settle down at 23. 23 is YOUNG!!! At 35, when you have children, then you can start going out only once a week. You probably will be tired from chasing after the rugrats. Of course, at 50 when they are out of the house, you can start living it up again. :D

I'm about to turn 25.... and I'm probably what you would call "settled down" (long out of school, full-time job, almost married, etc).

I still LOVE to go out and party, but it's just not feasible anymore. By the time it gets to be 11 or 12 on a weeknight (Friday, too)... I've been up for almost 18 hours and I'm just too tired to do much but be a lump on a couch.

If I didn't have to work, I'd probably be out every night. Unfortunately, I don't think coming into work half asleep and hung over would keep me my job very long :)

At the same time, I guess I do look down on some of my "less settled friends". I don't mean to, but when they're in their late 20s drinking a 12 pack every night, working at the Stop N' Go for 6 bucks an hour, and then complaining about how much their life sucks, I want to shake them and say "then get your head out of the bottle do something about it".

Within the past two years I've calmed down a lot. My drinking nights went from 6 nights a week to 2 or 3 nights a week. And the way I drink has changed dramatically as well. Before, I used to kill with 2 of my roomates an entire bottle of 100 proof smirnoff before we'd go out. Now, I had 10 shots of patron tequila friday night and now my glands are all swollen in my throat and I still feel like shit on monday. I don't think it has anything to do with people "wanting" to settle down. I think it has more to do with your body telling you that you can't do the shit you once did. In my case it's probably BECAUSE of all the shit I did. One thing I've noticed is that mostly the people who were never really party animals when they were younger, say 16-22, are usually the ones who you see partying it up when they're 24, 25, 26 and all the way till they're in their 30's. From my observations, the people that did shit in high school up until their mid 20's, and did it crazy party style.....shit just gets old and you dont feel like doing it anymore. I say keep it up until you don't feel like it anymore.

I think there's a big difference between people who are past the age of 23 and still go out and party, and people with no ambition or goals.

Re: Never!!
 

that's all right. I get Carded as well. :cool:

when I'm in the mood, i can party all night as long as I want. being a bachelor does has it's advantages. :)

I have a related question -- what exactly does it mean to settle down? Is marriage considered settling down? Living with someone? Having some sort of career? Having kids?

Maybe because I don't want to have kids, I've always considered the concept of "settling down" irrelevant to my life. Even when I'm employed as a professional and living with Mr. valkyrie, we go out and party when we feel like it, and we'll continue to do so after we're married.

I guess I'm asking because sometimes I wonder if people think that there comes a golden age in your life when it's time to stop having fun and be serious about everything. The beauty of getting older is that you realize that's not true, and you realize that you should be doing exactly what you want to be doing with your life, no matter what all your friends are doing and no matter what anybody else thinks.

Dang this is funny! You all sound like you're ANCIENT!:D

I tuned my "partying" to the demands of the job I held sometimes I held two.
Because I was in a band till 26, my evenings didn't start till 9 and "work" ended around midnight on week days and apx 1:00 on weekends. That's when the party started...every night except Sunday and Monday. Then, I had to play catch-up with my non musician friends.

I put it all away when I had my first child-well, actually when I decided to get pregnant for obvious reasons. When your very existence means the world to another, you cut the risk and try and live to see another day. .....still, I have had my moments!;)

Oh, absolutely... I wasn't trying to say that there isn't. Sorry if that came out wrong! I still go out and party once in a great while... like I said, I would more if I wasn't so damn tired all the time!

I wasn't trying to put anyone down who still goes out... I was just saying that if that's all a person does, then there's problems :)

nothing wrong with being an alcoholic.

Hatchetface , never ever say things like that-and change your name. You never know how beautiful you are in the eyes of another. Change your damn name!

I don't care what people say about my going out style. Some nights, I don't. Other nights, I stay out until 4 or so. I used to let people pressure me into staying out waaaaaay past my bedtime even when I had something important the next morning. Now I'm like "Screw it, no night out is worth being run down/sick." As long as you're going out (or not) for yourself, don't worry!

In South Carolina, 2 AM is when the bars CLOSE. People go out for happy hour, and sometimes are done by midnight (depending on the night) and on Saturday nights get kicked out at 2. Yay for forced Christianity!

Colorado is the same way -- it's ridiculous. That alone makes me want to go back to Chicago.

I was a party girl early on in college, slowed down and then started back up again my last year of school. Now I've been out a couple years and am wanting to start living it up again, but all my friends seem to be over it. And the ones that aren't just annoy me because they seem immature.

Can't you be grownup and fun? Or is that like the holy grail or something - unattainable?

If you attain celebrity status or great wealth . . you can party forever. :)