Tuesday, July 5, 2011

My 4th of July Weekend!

It all started off with a lovely Thursday lunch in the park with two of my favorite girls - Katy & Geneva!


I rode my favorite hand-me-down road bike to meet them...


 Katy brought a blanket and we lounged around outside and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon!



What a great way to spend your lunch break from work!

That evening, Katy & I went to Beauty Bar for their 1-year anniversary.  We met up with a bunch of my derby girls, and had a grand old time.  Best of all, the drinks were FREE!  Yay for that!! 


The guy carved this with a chainsaw as we got there - pretty rad!  
 





I love that Blitz showed up in her Derby garb - she's so hilarious!  She said that when she got there she felt like a crazy person, but luckily we showed up soon after.  If anything, I'd just think she'd get more phone numbers! :) 
 
 
My friend Austin!  We ran into him at the party - I haven't seen this kid in a long time.  What a nice fella! 

 The next evening, I had a big cookout at John's place (soon to be my place too)!  A TON of people came out, and it was SO much fun.  It was so great to have all of my friends in one place, and I can't wait until we do it all over again for a housewarming party!  It was a great way to kick-off the long weekend. 




A couple of the book club girls!  



Katy & her Wild Turkey.... that's pretty much where the trouble began... 
 

My little sis!  I'm pretty sure that dress used to be mine at one point in my life, but it looks better on her anyway. :) 



.....yep.  Mission accomplished. 



Hey look!  We're the American flag!!  Wooohoo!! 'MERICAAA!!!
 




Saturday a very hungover me helped John clean up the cookout mess, then we headed to Christian's place for his cookout.  We hung out by the pool, ate a lot of food, and recovered from our evening of debauchery.  It was really nice!  I didn't take any pictures of that day because...well... I was hungover and didn't feel like it!  

That night I got a surprise phone call from my mom - "We're finished with dinner, and we're coming by!"  ACK!  I quickly straightened my apartment and welcomed in my mom, Deb, Chris, and Keith.  Chris and Keith were in town for the weekend because they're moving from New York City to Portland, OR and wanted to make a stop along the way!  Chris went to college with my mom, and they did a lot of theater together.  She was in Chris & Keith's wedding a couple of years ago too.  They crack me UP! 

Taryn randomly stopped by too, so we decided to go and get ice cream from my favorite place on the planet - Sweet Action.  



It was a lovely evening, and we enjoyed the walk.  After they left, I just watched a couple of movies and got to bed early.  It was perfect, and just what I needed!  To RELAX! :) 

The next morning (this would be Sunday now), my mom picked me up along with Deb, Chris & Keith and we all went to Boulder!  We window shopped (I wanted to buy, but if you can remember from this post, I'm trying to pay off my debt), and stopped for lunch at BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse.  

The beer there is REALLY good, and I decided to get a flight of 4 dark beers.  I think my favorite was the Nutty Brunette - it was sweet and mellow and deeeeeelish!  


 The 2nd one in from the left, y'all.  That's the gooooood stuff. :) 



My mom & Deb.  They're so silly and SO much fun to hang out with.  It was great spending time with my momma!! 




Chris & Keith & Me!  I think most of us ordered the loaded baked potato - it was really good (but SO filling and heavy in my tum-tum).  

Afterward we all ended up at my parent's house for a 3rd-of-July cookout.  


Yeah, it was really yummy.  That right there is a veggie-sausage thingy (I think Tofurkey brand?  Not sure - my mom bought them), a glass of Zinfandel some quinoa herb salad, macaroni salad, and sun chips.  DEElish!


The cutie-pie doggie is Max - he came along with Chris & Keith.  He's the sweetest pup ever. 







Corn on the cob.... Ohio State Fair style!!  Slathered with mayo, and seasoned with salt and cayenne pepper.  Don't knock it 'till you try it... it's amazing. 

After dinner we played with my dad's karaoke machine for a while, then laughed our heads off while playing Catch Phrase.  That is my favoritest game ever!  We giggled like crazy people - it was so much fun. 

After I got home I couldn't really sleep 'cause I was so wired!  So I turned on Mythbusters and half-watched it while I packed some boxes up.  


The next morning - because of the wonderful holiday = day off work - we all went to WATERWORLD!!!  I got some free tickets from a friend, and I couldn't have been more stoked.  I haven't been there in years, and it was just as fun as I remember it.  


I think what made it even more fun is that we were there with a bunch of my derby friends.  It's pretty much impossible not to have a super fun time with those guys!! 



Me and John gettin' our sunscreen on!


When I got home, I was POOPED!  It was about 4:30pm-ish, and I needed a nap.  I slept for about 45 minutes, and felt groggier than ever.  I drank a bunch of water, packed up another couple of boxes, and took a shower.  Then I got a text from my friend Kat inviting me over to play with sparklers and watch the fireworks from her roof.  


Holy crap!  It was the 4th of July and I still hadn't seen any fireworks yet!  So I hopped on my bike and joined her and Steve, met her new kitten, and we headed to the roof of her apartment building.  



SPARKLERS!!!  I thought these pics turned out pretty rad!




Kat's fella, Steve - he's such a nice dude!  So laid back.  Must have something to do with the fact that he teaches a meditation class.  Somethin' like that. ;)




FIREWORKS!!  We had a perfect view from where we were sitting - it was a lovely evening.  



The night cooled things off significantly and made for a blissful bike ride home afterward.  I slept like a baby! 


 
Then I woke up, and made myself some steel-cut oatmeal with organic blueberries.  Even my breakfast was patriotic-colored! :)  


I'm happy that the long weekend makes it a short work week, as I can't wait to have some more time off!  I have a pretty laid back weekend planned so far (yes, I'm already planning for this weekend), and that includes a morning where I'm going to SLEEP IN!  I can't wait. 


Hope you all had an AMAZING 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND!!



By the way.... did I mention that I only spent $13.27 over the entire 3-day weekend?  Yah, I was pretty happy about that.  Of course part of my success was because mom helped pay for my lunch. ;) 

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