Happy Fourth of July! I hope it’s been a wonderful weekend of celebrating freedom. When I think about the courage our Founding Fathers had in drafting and signing the Declaration of Independence, it gives me chills. They took a stand for beliefs that were radically different than how the world worked at that time…beliefs that people should have the power to govern themselves, make their own decisions and live in liberty. They stood up for their truths even though the road to seeing the Declaration of Independence realized was not an easy one.
We had a really great weekend with just the right mix of fun, friends and relaxing. We stayed in on Friday night, which was so needed. I made this weird quinoa/veggie/chicken sausage thing that somehow totally worked but I wasn’t even about to take a picture of it.
On Saturday I taught and prepped food for a pool party and cookout we were attending later in the day. $2.99 watermelons for the win!
I made my watermelon, feta and arugula salad with pepper jelly vinaigrette.
And my roasted sweet potato salad.
We went over to our friend’s house around 4:30 and hung out in the pool for a couple hours.
We had six year old twins and an almost two year old so pool time was full of play.
I sipped on this delicious beer from Highland while we hung out.
Our dinner was so good! Our hosts don’t eat meat so we had Field Roast sausages on buns. I’d never tried them before but really liked them. I had the Italian Sausage flavor and it was made with lots of eggplant and some herbs and spices.
We came home and took the girls for a long sunset walk and then watched the movie Anomalisa. It was so different and thought-provoking but had one of those endings that drives you crazy! We were Googling all the different theories about it on the couch after it ended.
On Sunday we celebrated Sullie’s birthday, taught classes and then went to a big fireworks celebration with friends.
Okay, get this. One of our clients owns a fireworks distribution company and their main office is in Fort Mill, South Carolina (just about 20 minutes from Charlotte). Every year they do a friends and family fireworks show so when they invited us we eagerly accepted!
The warehouse was HUGE and they have two more like this in different parts of the country.
We all hung out eating and drinking before the show. I made a batch of salted fudge brownies and my friends wouldn’t let me put them on the potluck table!
It was such a great evening for the show and sitting outside. We Ubered down to Fort Mill and another friend drove us home. We kind of had the worst Uber experience getting there. The driver’s car reeked of smoke and the back seat was soaking wet so I arrived slightly nauseous and with damp clothes. Apparently Uber can’t mandate that drivers not smoke in their cars because they’re contractors and not employees. I also considered that our ride was only $18 and that’s pretty amazing to not have to drive on a holiday weekend so complaints are voided. (Here’s a link to get $15 off your first ride.)
There were tons of food options for the potluck. I had a hot dog (you just have to on the 4th!), some kind of yummy vinegar-based slaw, a black bean, tomato and avocado salad and one of those addictive and delicious broccoli slaw/ramen salads along with some chips and hummus (and a few brownies!).
The show was INCREDIBLE! We all agreed that it was easily the best show we’d ever seen. It was like a grand finale for 10 minutes straight. The thing that made it so cool was how close we were. It seemed like they were happening right on top of us. It was a super cool experience and will become a new tradition!
Since we did all of our fun Fourth stuff on Saturday and Sunday, we spent the actual holiday working and working around the house. I taught at 8:15a and Tanner taught at 9:30. We took each other’s classes and then had lunch at Namastay Kitchen after. I was itching for a salad so I had our remix with chicken and asked for the tahini balsamic and maple mustard on the side to mix.
I got real crazy when we came home with cleaning, laundry and organizing. I even emptied out and cleaned the fridge!
The girls got the bones that we bought for Sullie’s birthday and they haven’t stopped chewing all afternoon. (These are the BEST bones. I’ve been buying them since Sullie was a puppy and they last forever…like years.)
I cut hydrangeas from our bush out front along with sprigs of rosemary to make some arrangements to go around the house. We are now hanging out outside having cocktail hour and working and I think we’re going to order from Postmates for dinner. So happy to have a chill day and night to end a fun weekend!
Tell me all about your Fourth of July. Did you do cookout? Fireworks? Pool, beach or lake?
Favorite cookout food?
Worst Uber experience?
