A cookout and happy 4th!

Yesterday afternoon, we went to Craig's Aunt's house for a cookout.





I should have brought a veggie burger along because I didn't get much protein from my meal. I had corn on the cob, sauerkraut, tomatoes, onions, potato salad, cherries, and then this yummy dessert plate.



I love the no bake dessert with berries that Craig's Aunt Susie makes every year. I remembered it from last year. Am I a foodie or what?

I also enjoyed a Mike's Fruit Punch Hard Lemonade (wish I had this raspberry one pictured instead though).



Our afternoon entertainment was watching Lucky and MacGyver learning about the birds and the bees. Yes, they are both boys. As Craig's 8 year old second cousin said, "why is that one doing the butt dance?"



I felt pretty full from the cookout, so I napped for a bit when we got home and then I burned some cookout calories at the gym. It was nearly empty again, which was fantastic! I biked while reading a magazine, lifted a full circuit of weights, and I lifted some free weights.

We slept in this 4th of July and I decided not to go to the outlets with my mom. I have to buy an expensive new Mac laptop soon, so clothes shopping shouldn't really be my priority right now.

We started our morning out with a bike ride to a local park.



No scary nature stories today, phew!



This duck was more innocent than the mean goose from Saturday.



After cleaning, doing laundry and dishes, I felt like making something. I put together some pesto because our basil plant is growing really quickly now and I need to use basil up!

I used Mark Bittman's Basic Pesto recipe from How to Cook Everything.







Craig had it for lunch and it turned out ok. I think I toasted the nuts a little too long.





I'm saving some for a dinner this week.

I was not hungry today and I forced myself to eat lunch around 2 p.m. I think I am having some digestion issues from not taking one of my meds. I need to go buy it this week!

Lunch was spinach with a Morningstar Black Bean burger, red peppers, tomatoes, and olive oil/balsamic dressing and a berry smoothie with Bonne Maman wild blueberry drizzled on top.



I needed to force myself to relax in the afternoon and still had to watch The September Issue, so I popped it in the DVD player and enjoyed some coffee ice cream too.



I really enjoyed the movie! Definitely an interesting insight into Vogue and into Anna Wintour's style of leadership. I liked this movie so much more than the others I have seen lately. :)

After the movie was over, I ended my relaxation by organizing files and part of a kitchen cabinet that has been bugging me for a while.

For dinner, we continued our salsa Sunday tradition!



And now I need to go meditate and then get ready for the week by making lunch for tomorrow and reading a bit.

I am sad that this three day weekend is over, but I felt like I got to relax and also got what I wanted to done. I wish every weekend was a three day one, especially in the summer.

Hope you had a good 4th of July!