ENDING WITH A BANG

The Fourth of July is probably my favorite of the three big summer holidays. While all there - Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day - are opportunities to gather with friends and family for picnics, boating excursions, and other activities, the celebrations centered around Independence Day just have a different feel for me.

While the red, white, and blue, are present throughout the summer, they take on a more patriotic feel on July 4th, and there is is an increased sense of pride as we display it on our homes, and wear it in our outfits. These colors just seem to shine on this day.

With the Fourth of July falling on a Monday this year, it gave us a long weekend to celebrate, and celebrate I did.  I feel like my holiday weekend actually started on Thursday this year. Last Thursday I joined some friend for dinner at It's Greek To Me (one of my favorite restaurants) and then on to see the show at The Jungle Theater. The show, Le Switch, was directed by our friend Jeremy, and was really good (I highly recommend that you see it)! The next day, Friday, was my friend Patrick's birthday, and a group of us celebrated by attending a meditation class, followed by dinner at Sober Fish, a wonderful Thai and sushi restaurant. The evening was so much fun, and a great way to celebrate Patrick.

Saturday brought more food opportunities, beginning with lunch at The Egg And I with my friend Art (The Egg And I is a classic Mom-And-Pop breakfast spot in Uptown), and then Saturday evening I joined my friend Tyler for dinner at Betty Danger's Country Club, one of my new favorite restaurants in Minneapolis. Sunday was a more low key day that began in the afternoon with coffee with my friends Cynthia, Steve, and Todd. Coffee was followed by shopping, and I'm happy to say I showed great restraint and only bought a couples of items. 

I had to work on Monday the Fourth until mid-afternoon, so my holiday fun started a bit late. After work I went to a barbecue at my friends Steve, Todd, and Charlie's home. Let me just say right now, the burgers Todd made were AMAZING!!! We ended the day with a bang, as we watched the fireworks from the Hennipen Avenue bridge in downtown Minneapolis. The fireworks were the perfect ending to the weekend.

This year the long Fourth of July holiday weekend was so awesome for me.  It was a weekend filled with good friends, good food, good conversations, and the making of good memories to be shared for years to come.

***What are some of the memories from your holiday weekend?