A Ballet West Independence Day

There is a simple joy in the 4th of July. You get to paint your nails all sorts of crazy colors, sport the totally unattractive yet completely awesome red white and blue eyeshadow and participate in everything patriotic, and that means eating everything that is red, white and blue, and wearing every article of clothing that involves those three colors. Pretty much, it's one of the few days of the year I can look really ridiculous and not get  made fun of by those too lame to go all out on this glorious holiday. Coming from a very holiday-spirited family, we like to go nuts for every holiday, but 4th of July is one of our really crazy ones. We usually make a flag cake with blueberries and strawberries and have a barbeque. Me and my sisters paint our nails, of course, and coordinate our outfits at least 2 days in advance. I just love getting all into it, even if I look like a freak. But, that's the beauty of it all.

This year, I had the privilege of being in Utah for Independence Day. I was so bummed that I left my red jeans and my stars and stripes shirt at home, which totally ruined my entire outfit plan, but I made due and pulled something together from my limited, one suitcase wardrobe. Ugh, I hate having to choose from just a few shirts... and by that I actually brought at least 15 shirts :) I just like to complain about not having all my clothes with me. It's amazing I've survived 2 whole years without my entire selection! haha. Fortunately, we got the day off from ballet classes (halleluiah!!!), so I enjoyed a little bit of extra sleep. 9:30 feels a lot better than 6:30, for sure. Just saying. Never thought I would have to wake up earlier during the summer than I ever did during the school year... ridiculous. Anyway, after about an hour of picking an outfit and putting on eyeshadow at least 5 times to make sure the red white and blue didn't make me look like a total idiot, me and a few of my friends decided to go out for a Patriotic brunch at the Original Pancake House. It turns out everyone else in the entire Salt Lake Valley had the exact same idea as us. We showed up to a mile long line going outside the door of OPH and we were told we would have to wait and hour and half before getting a table. Being the impatient and starving dancers that we are, we looked up another diner, which was a block down the road. What we didn't know was that we would be walking up to one of the sketchiest diners I have ever seen. Dee's Restaurant diner looked like it had come straight from the 80's in some run down city. But, it was either creepy little diner, or wait an hour for that coveted stack of pancakes. So, naturally, we risked it. It was actually pretty cute inside, with the faded leather booths and the waitresses carrying baking sheets for serving trays. And even with an entire menu of breakfast food, we all ordered the same thing: the patriotic pancakes; a stack of three pancakes covered in strawberries, whipped cream and blueberries. Perfect start to an amazing 4th of July. The plate was huge, but when your hungry and you know you don't have to fit into a leotard that day, those three gigantic pancakes seem to disappear. I really don't know what happened to them :)

After a very fulfilling breakfast, we went back to the dorms, where I crawled back into my cozy bed and watched multiple episodes of How I Met Your Mother and surfed Pinterest for a good hour. There's nothing better than a little relaxing on your day off. I hate it when I end up wasting my entire day actually doing things and getting outside, as opposed to the rest of my life that is spent in a ballet studio, lit by florescent lights and scented with feet..But really, I mean, it's fun hanging out with friends and going out on the town, but sometimes you just need to take the day to lay in bed and eat Doritos all day. Sounds pretty productive to me :) So, I was glad that I was blessed with those few hours to relax and get my internet time in for the day. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The group at the baseball game :)

In the evening, everyone went to a Salt Lake Bee's baseball game. I've only been to one other baseball game, but I already know to expect about 2 hours of complete boredom and practically nothing happening but a few old, fat guys occasionally making a run. But, I was excited to be able to hang out with all my friends and pretend to act excited when the one home run actually happens. I really had a good time though! The game went by really fast, probably because I spent half the game waiting in line for an ice cream cone and a cup of water, both of which were totally worth the wait.. and the $5. Concessions are so ridiculous. I can't believe they can charge you $7 for a hot dog. After the game was over, we waited around a little while to watch the firework show in the stadium. I've been in Washington DC twice for the 4th of July, so I wasn't expecting a firework show better than the one they show at the National Mall, but I was blown away by how spectacular the entire show was. It lasted a surprisingly long time and I felt like they sparks were going to fall on top of me. It was an amazing ending to a very successful day :) I love fireworks. If the Colorado laws and the money allowed, I would shoot them off everyday. But then, I guess they wouldn't be as special. I will have to settle for the biannual occasion of fireworks.

This doesn't even serve justice to the incredible firework show!

We got home at about midnight that night and I didn't get to bed until 1:30. Darn you, Facebook addiction!! And darn you, the need to shower after sweating at a nasty stadium all day long!! Let's just say waking up the next morning was not a joyous occasion... 5 hours of sleep does not fit me well. But, it was totally worth it for that amazing baseball game and firework show :) Now I just have to wait until Halloween for the next holiday I can go crazy for.. that's quite a long time for a holiday fanatic.