The 4th Is My Favorite!

Who's ready for a long weekend? Me too. The week after a vacation always seems to take twice the time, so I am more than ready for a nice, long, patriotic weekend. And it just so happens that the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. I love all the fun things that go along with it - summer, fireworks, barbecue, watermelon, etc. - but also what it represents...Happy Birthday, America!

First off, we get to celebrate the marriage of these two sweet friends, Amber and Justin, who are getting married tomorrow! And speaking of weddings, happy six month anniversary to us today!!! Mr. T reminded me when he woke me up this morning. Yes, I know I'm spoiled having my own personal alarm clock. An alarm clock that happens to be VERY good looking, I might add.




By the way, this photo was taken at the "Kiss the Cook" shower we hosted for them at our place. Don't you love the chef hats? All the girls brought their favorite recipe along with a sample for everyone to try and the guys brought items for the groom's new grill. We had a ton of food, my favorite party punch (Firefly Raspberry and Lemonade), and played cornhole in the front yard until the sun set. Fun times!

Then on Sunday we're having our buds Adam and Liz over for burgers and beverages before heading downtown to see the fireworks. They moved here from New York about two years ago and have not seen the show yet, so we're going to brave the crowds, don our walking flops, and watch the riverfront show!

I found a great post on grilling the perfect All-American burger at The Kitchen Cafe (not that Mr. T needs any help, since he's also my own personal grill master, yep - spoiled again) but I do like her recipe for these mouthwatering bad boys:



And just because, I'm also planning to try my hand at these patriotic strawberries, found at Grin and Bake It. Even if no one eats them (hello, sugar high!) they'll still be pretty to see on the table.

And on Monday you will find me at the Y, working off the damage from the weekend and rewarding myself with a lovely little afternoon at the pool. Thank you, employer, for the day off. Oh, how I love this holiday.

Happy Fourth, y'all!