Weekend Wrap Up: 4th of July Edition

{More photo info on Flickr}

Friday:

John cut the grass & we stayed in & made kebabs on the grill. My new favorite kebab includes beef kielbasa -- so good! I also started watching Season 3 of True Blood. I don't have HBO, so I'm a season behind.

Saturday:

With a full paycheck in my pocket for the first time SINCE JANUARY, I went a little crazy. I spent the day doing what I used to - spending money on bullshit. I got my car washed, I bought some running stuff I needed, including a $40 Lululemon tank top. I shopped my way through The Hill Center, not buying anything else, but knowing that I could if I wanted to. I was in such a good mood, that I treated myself to a cookie & an iced coffee at Whole Foods. At 4 o'clock. Yeah, I never went to sleep.

For dinner, we met our friends Mike & Chrissi at The Melrose. John & I have both been there, but not for food. We both got hamburgers -- so good! Fueled by sugar & caffeine, I was in it to win it, so when we got home we watched Defiance via Netflix Instant Streaming. Aside from the fact that I'll watch anything starring Daniel Craig, this movie was actually really good.

Sunday:

After about 5 minutes of sleep, I got up to meet my friend Ashlee to run Belle Meade Blvd. We met at 7:30am, so it wasn't too hot yet, but I did somehow still manage to get sunburned. Stupid albino skin... After our run, we treated ourselves to Starbucks. OMG, the people watching. Typically the Belle Meade Starbucks is exactly what you'd think: housewives in their perpetual work-out gear & private school kids, but not on Sunday. It was what New Yorkers call the 'bridge & tunnel' crowd, meaning a lot of people driving in from rural counties to go to, oh let's say, Nashville Shores. Anyway, it was hilarious.

That night we trekked to East Nashville to cook-out at Jon & Ali's. I contributed squash casserole & Pimm's, which I finally cracked open. My one drink consisted of Pimm's, ginger ale, some weird organic mango lemonade that Ali had, lime, strawberry & a splash of vodka. It was good! And Jon made these half beef, half pork burgers that were possibly the best burgers I've ever eaten.

Monday:

We finally saw Super 8 yesterday. OMG, so good! After the movie, I made zucchini bread, then we went to our friends' Keith & Nicole's house to cook-out. We didn't watch any 'official' fireworks, but we saw our share of amateur pyrotechnics as we made our way across the Cumberland.

Aside from the 300 mosquito bites on my calves & feet, it was a good, relaxed 3-day weekend. Happy birthday, 'Merca!