Happy Birthday, America!

Having flown back into D.C. from Boston on July 3, I took full advantage of our firm holiday on that Friday to...ummm...ok, do nothing exciting, just unpacking, laundry, and falling asleep at an oddly early hour, especially for me. I had to get ready to celebrate Independence Day in style, especially here in our nation's capital!

I was faced with a small dilemma for the evening's festivities and firework viewing. Option #1 - brave the crowds descending on the National Mall and attempt to track down friends while maintaining some semblance of a personal space bubble. Could possibly feed off of crowd enthusiasm while catching strains of the National Symphony Orchestra playing. Could be hopelessly lost and subsequently smushed by crowd. Could be amazed...but possibly be disappointed by effort vs. level of amazement ratio. Option #2 - Metro myself out to Arlington to meet up with undetermined amount of partiers for a rooftop bash at Dana's. Could have better position for viewing fireworks from my own rooftop, but it lacks presence of friends. Could be missing out on quintessential D.C. experience by moving further out from the bash. Could save an absurd amount of time in my day by not staking out a viewing spot entirely too early.

Rooftop antics, complete with fireworks, people! We had an absolute blast - it was so cool to see the fireworks going off above the Washington Monument with other fireworks all around the horizon from the suburbs and cities in the surrounding area. And while I think it would have been amazing to be on the mall for the spectacle, we had a fantastic view from a rooftop deck in Arlington. It was also nice to have absurd amounts of food and beverage at our disposal from a convenient kitchen rather than lugging what would have been an extraordinarily full cooler through the crowds.

Also...I've just about convinced myself to get an amazing new camera. Then this won't be fuzzy and show busted pixels (or whatever's wrong that's giving it random white spots...in the same place every time. So frustrating):

I could really get into this roof thing. When you don't have space for things like patios and yards, you find yourself on rooftops, more often than not having a fabulous time with a great view. And usually a nice breeze. And in this instance...a crowd rendition of the National Anthem to accompany the fireworks.

Don't we look patriotic?