Happy 234th, America!

Things I love about the 4th of July:

1) FOOD.  I mean, nothing says America like a cheeseburger, a hot dog, some ribs, potato salad, potato chips, fruit salad, a beer and a festive dessert like the one I made...

2) FRIENDS.  You can't have food sans friends.  Someone has to help bring the food!  And eat the food with you!  And let's face it, nothin is better than a "backyard" [note: none of us have a real yard yet...someday] barbeque with your closest buds on a hot summer day.  And for our VA friends, the warm summer weather is well-deserved, I'd say. 

3) FIREWORKS!  After grilling out at the Case's, we went with Paul and Christina (the newlywed Needhams, holla!) to the city to watch the DC fireworks display with another 500,000+ people who had the same idea as us.  But you know what?  We had a blast!  Here we are:

Team red & white (just noticed this)

Team blue & white :)

We hit the jackpot with a street vendor selling Domino's pizza for 10 bucks.  We bought a box, some sodas, and found a shady patch of grass on the Ellipse and waited for the sun to go down.  And when it did, this is what we got (or what my camera got, at least).  The show was awesome this year!

4) A DARN GOOD TIME!  After the fireworks, those 500,000+ people I mentioned previously proceeded to head to the closest metro station (our means of transportation home, as well).  So we walked up to Chinatown to visit Red Velvet cupcakery...and made it just in time to get some of the last cupcakes before closing time!  When that satisfied us...we headed back to the metro to head home, only to find that people were STILL lined up outside of Federal Triangle.  Passing on that experience, we extended the night some more by hitting up Harry's bar in downtown...which is not to be confused with the delish-o Harry's that we love love love in Tallahassee...but it did the job!  We were having so much fun passing the time that we passed a little too much time, making us barely make the last metro train back home.  Whoops!  We made it home by the 5th of July, savoring the memories of the day.  Happy Birthday USA! :)

Oh, and the last thing I love about the 4th...

5) MY BLUE STAR SUNGLASSES, duh!  My favorite white elephant gift of all time...thanks Aaron Little!