Fun July 4th Weekend

So I had a great time this July 4th weekend, and it went by way too fast! Here's a recap:

Thursday night, Beck drove down and we had dinner at John Henry's, a cute (and very reasonably priced) pub right by my house. We accidently ordered WAY too much food. We took home half of our nacho appetizers, and half of our cheesesteak dinners. Everything was delicious, but we had no idea the portions would be that big. Later we went to blockbuster and ended up buying some movies- I bought Nick and Nora's infinite playlist, New in Town, and Bride Wars. Then we walked to the Coldstone Creamery I just discovered by my house and got some ice cream. Hard to believe, considering our dinner.... we certainly weren't winning any awards for healthy eating that night! Once we got home, we watched New in Town... a romantic comedy starring Rene Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. It was ok. The funniest part of the movie was all the Minnesota accents. Not bad though.

Friday, Beck and I awoke early and went to Saxby's coffeehouse (right on my street) for some breakfast, and then enjoyed walking the nature trail and campus area of Haverford College. Again, may I reiterate how GORGEOUS that campus is? I adore it, I'm so glad I live so close!

My mom and Britt arrived at my house around 11:30, so we all ate the leftovers from John Henry's, and then headed to the Philadelphia Premium Outlets. It was PACKED! We enjoyed walking around, and mostly window shopped. Even though they were outlets, a lot of the stores were a little pricey for us. I did pick up some cute things at Charlotte Russe, though. I love that store. On the way home, we stopped at the KOP mall and headed to our all time fav store, NY&Co. By the time we came home, we were pooped! We lazed around a bit and rested, and then Beck and I headed off to Christina's house while mom and Britt headed back home. We had a great time at Christina's. We just hung out at her and Shane's house with their friend Dana. We shared funny stories over pizza, snacks, and Sangria. It was fun.

Saturday, Beck and I got up bright and early again and headed back home. We were taking a casual family picture that morning, so we needed to be home in time to shower and get ready. All of us wore red T-shirts with jeans and sneakers. We headed over to our friend the Heinselmen's house (they have gorgeous landscaping) and my Dad set up the shots, and then my Aunt actually took the pictures. They came out so great! When I go home this weekend, I'll upload some. They turned out better than we'd hoped.

In the afternoon, my mom and I pitched a tent in our backyard. This was my idea, because 1)my mom loves camping and hasn't been in a while and 2) our house is infested with fleas thanks to our stupid Houdini cat who escapes from every flea collar we put on her. I wasn't going to get all flea-bitten while I slept!

We had a nice cookout and went swimming that day, and I built our family campfire, which we enjoyed till about 10 pm. By that time, we were all beat and decided to hit the sack. Getting to sleep was interesting though.... it's been a while since I slept in a tent, and it's a lot harder than I remembered. And the highway seemed extra loud that night. It also didn't help that the cat came meowing at the tent, and then dive bombed it, claws out, right at MY side of the tent... I almost had a heart attack! Luckily, the night was pretty eventful after that. :)

Sunday we didn't do too much... just breakfast at the Bagel Bar, and then a huge cleaning of the house. Well, mom and I did most the cleaning, Britt and Beck had to pack up all their stuff. Considering they'd been home a whole month, they had a lot to do. Plus we had tons of laundry ( to make sure no one was carrying fleas back to their respective living areas) so that took a while. The worst part of the day was saying goodbye to Beck.... she was only leaving to go to DC for the week to check in with work, but it was sad because we know that after this coming weekend, she'll be leaving for overseas again. :( I'll miss her so much. She's my best friend, and I never realize how truly lonely I am until she comes back. Thank God Britt is still here, or I'd be totally lost. It just sucks cause she's out in Lancaster and is really busy with school and work, so I don't get to see her that much anyway. She may as well be overseas, too.

Well, enough thinking about that. From the recap above, it's clear I had a super fun (yet terribly unhealthy) july 4th weekend. I can't wait for this weekend, it's our annual Pyle-Reid Family Reunion. And it's prob our last weekend with Beck before she goes overseas, so I'm going to enjoy every minute!