As American as Apple Pie

Well, another 4th of July has come and gone, and I think that each and every one of us groaned this morning when we woke up, knowing full well that we still have another two days of the work week.  I personally believe that the 4th should always be observed on a Friday or a Monday (although preferably a Friday) haha.  It was a fantastic day yesterday, which made it even MORE difficult to wake up for work today.

On Tuesday evening, Dan and I started off our mini-vacation by grabbing a pizza dinner at Pizzeria Paradiso.  I think the fact that we are both training for our half-marathon means we're ravenously hungry all the time, so a big dinner was definitely necessary.  Then we went to T Sweet's, where I got my favorite Oreo frozen yogurt and Dan got a dish of mint chocolate chip ice cream that was nearly as big as his head (not really, but he definitely misjudged the size!!).  He had been saying for a while that, given the more relaxed dress code at his new job, he wanted to get some work-appropriate khakis, so we popped into Banana Republic, where he found not only a pair of pants, but also a gingham shirt!  Yes, I have been hoping for months that he would embrace gingham (and had even casually pointed a shirt out when we went to the outlets in the winter), not that I ever would have forced him to buy one.  I refuse to be that girl who tries to dress her boyfriend, even given my strong views on style, but I was practically bursting with joy when he picked it out on his own!  Then we headed down to the movie theater, where we saw the new Disney-Pixar movie Brave.  I was surprised that everyone there was our age or older; I think Pixar has that effect on people.  I LOVED THE MOVIE, and, once again, Pixar did not disappoint!

On Wednesday morning, we went on our respective runs (Dan was going for a shorter run, so he ran outside, but I wanted to do my normal six-miler, so I ran on the treadmill in his building) and then started our 4th of July right by going to Metro 29 (which was packed) for breakfast.  Nothing better than some Metro 29 French toast to start my day off right (although I was definitely feeling nauseous by the end).  We lazed around for a little bit, thanks to our respective food comas, and then we headed over to his friend Goran's house for the afternoon.  We were there from about 2:30 to 8:30, and it was about 9 million degrees the entire time with 100 percent humidity.  There was a slip 'n slide that a bunch of the guys set up, but neither Dan nor I had brought our bathing suits, so we decided not to partake.  So we were content to just hang out, eat and drink, and catch up with people.  I didn't know the majority of the people there (and Dan didn't know many more than I did), but it was nice to see the people we do know, as well as meet some new friends.  By about 8:00, I was getting antsy, because I did not want to miss the fireworks.  I think the fireworks were much less important to Dan, but he knows how much I enjoy them, so we headed out a little bit before 8:30.  It occurred to us that we would have to walk back to Rosslyn after the fireworks, so, rather than brave the crowds at 9:30ish, we decided to head straight back to Dan's place and watch the fireworks from his balcony. They have some really prime real estate there, and we had a fantastic view of the fireworks!  And the fact that we didn't have to march all the way home afterward made it so much better.  I was so grateful to get to spend another 4th of July with Dan, as well as with his friends, so I would say that it was a pretty awesome day!

Tim texted me on Tuesday to say that he's in town, so I'm excited to go over to my parents' house for dinner tonight and see him.  I might be wrong, but my little bro has been an excellent communicator with me this summer!  Here's hoping that continues!  I'm looking forward to a jam-packed weekend as well, from jazz tomorrow to tubing on Saturday and the Titanic exhibit at the National Geographic Museum on Sunday.  And, of course, the main event, THE COLDPLAY CONCERT ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, it's all I've been listening to all week.  This concert is three years in the making for me, so I couldn't be more excited!