4th of July

Oh, hello there. Remember me?

June was pretty crazy for me if you must know. I am pretty sure I spent at least half of June on the road. Not to mention the fact that I finished May traveling as well. I'm not necessarily complaining. It is just that I was gone a lot. Which means by the time July 2nd rolled around and I was able to return to New York and a long weekend, I had no desire to leave town. Luckily, I have some good friends who were willing to come to me. And one of those friends was kind enough to capture the whole thing in written images. I don't really have the mental capacity for that (I'll blame the heat wave), so here are some photos - some even have bonus captions!


my fridge after cleaning out everything rotten (everything) after a month of travel - not exactly ready for guests


my fridge after the magical grocery delivery fairy came by - online grocery shopping is my favorite NYC convenience

my guests, excited to experience the thrill of The Shark

hot, sweaty me, hoping to get wet - no such luck

I wish I had a soundtrack of the laughter that goes along with this photo because it is one of the best laughs you will ever hear


the vuvu, the viviz, the err, Vesuvius!

my friend Sheldon in Puma City - Go Spain!

After a hot walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and a lengthy line under the baking sun, this was the most delicious pizza ever - Grimaldi's is famous for a reason. Why did it take me 10 years to return? Oh, right the lines. The lines are bad but move quickly. I recommend a quick stop at Mr Softee for a chocolate dip before waiting in line to fend off hunger.

Not your typical picnic spot - on the sidewalk near broken glass and dried up puke (no exaggeration)


But I don't think the food could have been better

but I am a little biased since I made most of it . . . except for the impromptu corn salad Tiffany made in about 5 minutes

"my watermelon looks like a star!"


I've never been so happy to receive a bubbling glass of Diet DP as I was sitting on that sidewalk after the crazy stress of aborting our rooftop picnic plans. Long story that essentially boils down to Tiffany taking the whole thing in stride while Ryan and I nearly melted down completely.

different perspective on my street than I have ever had before


Yay fireworks!




yup, that's the entrance to the West Side Highway we were squatting under

see all those little screens? it was weird how many phones and cameras were recording the whole thing - it is like we only really experience something if it is captured digitally to share later (ahem, like here)

my photos never quite captured the Saturn, cube and smiley face fireworks

we opted to take the stairs back to my apartment (no worries, only 10 flights) to avoid the lengthy line in the lobby for elevators

I'm sure these poor people had a much longer walk home - living on the edge of the City has its advantages at times. The subway may not be convenient but river access is.