A Festive Fourth

This Fourth of July was a pretty great holiday, and I made it a point to bring my camera to record some of the highlights. It was a simple get together-- just a small group of good friends, a summery spread of mouth-watering food, and some fireworks to cap the evening off. We ate too much, and savored the great weather as we rode our bikes around the city (I'll leave off the part of the story where Joe got a flat tire on the way home...). It was the kind of night that makes me just love where I am in my life right now-- the right place, the right people, and a pretty good time overall! These pictures are also my first attempt at editing in Lightroom. I have zero idea what I'm doing, but I figure I'll just play around for now. The plan is to take a class this fall at Lillstreet Art Center, which means my photo quality should start improving in the coming months. No promises, though ;)

My advice to you: make friends with good cooks.

The dinner crew

Katie was pretty excited about her fancy Chinese Lantern firework!

I learned over the holiday weekend that it's hard to take pictures of fireworks!

After dinner, a few more friends joined us.
I made lots of jokes about how I was going to take random pictures.
Then, I did as I had threatened.

Almost time for fireworks!

Definitely time for sangria straight from the pitcher!

In classic Chicago fashion, we skipped the professional shows, and headed for a random school parking lot. Multiple groups had the same idea, and it ended up being a great spot for watching lots of illegal fireworks getting set off. I get a little nervous that someone's going to blow their hand off, but everyone stayed safe and had a great time. Not a bad end to a fun and relaxing day!

Happy 4th of July!