Happy 4th of July!!!

Today was close to perfect. Absolutely perfect. I slept in till 10:30, walked a block down to the park where there was a festival going on with live music and classic grilled food for sale. I got a cheeseburger, chips, watermelon, bottled water for $4.50 and sat under this giant circus sized tent and just enjoyed what seemed like the entire neighborhood out enjoying themselves.

Then I biked to Michaels and spent way too much time and money picking out beads and findings to finish some kusudama ball earrings for my friend, and to make a bracelet I was inspired to create. It's still in my head, I'll have to see how it goes. It will include some beautiful random-shaped green and turquoise colored beads and flashy metal tags. I wanted to get some charms for it too, but I stopped myself from getting too carried away.

On my way back home with my loot, I stopped by the park again and got a popsicle.

I've been promising to send my friend these earrings for about a week now, but I had hit a creative block on what beads to use to finish them after the flower balls themselves were done. The fact that she wants to use them for a photo shoot on the 11th forced me to just get it done. So when i got home I immediately set about finishing the earrings and making complimentary boxes for them.
I took some pics about an hour before the sun set, and then went out to enjoy some fireworks!!! And man, was I in for a real treat. I was originally going to camp out on one of the bridges that crosses the river here in Great Falls, but decided instead to keep going towards the park. People were already setting off their personal stash, and it was a sight to behold. All along the other bank was fireworks, a completely 180 degree panoramic experience. There was also an RV parked on the side of the road that had a speacker system set up and was tuned in to a local radio station that was playing tons of patriotic music and giving updates as to when to expect the city display. As it got darker, more and more fireworks filled the skies all around. I could have left satisfied with just this. About 10:30 the city started, and it was simply amazing. The sound bounced off the cliffs and hills that surround this area making a noise somewhere between thunder and avalanche. The finale, of course, received huge amounts of cheers and hollers.

The traffic afterward was horrendous, fortunately, I don't have a car. I cheerfully rode past all the gridlocked cars and decided to stop in the middle of the bridge on my way home to watch the fireworks that were still going strong from all everywhere. On the bridge I felt completely surrounded by beautiful shows of colorful if short lived lights. I ended up staying there for at least half an hour more.

Yep, today was pretty darn awesome. If every day could be this great, life would probably be perfect.