4th of July

Well, we've had our first 4th of July away from the USA.  The day itself was pretty uneventful.  Ryan didn't get home until 7am or so from a work trip so he slept a good portion of the day.  I did a little bit of shopping (surprise, surprise) and then we had tacos for dinner.  I can't tell if that's very American or not American at all?

A week or two ago we did buy a grill.  Both of us missed the one we left with my parents back in Omaha.  It would have been expensive to ship and we weren't sure if we'd even have anywhere here to put it.  But two months into the summer without any grilled food was too long so Ryan headed to Ace Hardware and bought us a new one.  Other than the tacos we made on the 4th, we've pretty much grilled any meal we can since our purchase.

We didn't let America's birthday pass without any celebration, though.  My new friend, Valerie, invited us to her 4th of July and co-birthday party on the 5th.  It was in their super swanky 21st-floor apartment in the Marina.  They went all out with some really delicious food, awesome cakes that Valerie made herself (she's a really talented baker!) and tons of patriotic decorations.  One of their guests even brought face painting gear and painted people's faces.  It was really cool.

British cake (though it had a secret US flag on the inside)

USA!

My USA nails

Terrifying face paint.  His eyes are closed.

I have to say, though, the highlight of the evening is where my fellow American, Megan, and I beat out two Brits for the beer pong championship.  USA!  USA!