The 4th of July ranks right up with my birthday as my favorite national holiday.

I started the day catching up with a former work colleague (friend) over breakfast. We met up at a really cute cafe called Brot und seine freunde (this translates to bread and its/his/her friends. Need to double-check that with my German friends because this may be one of the many times when it shouldn’t be a direct translation.)

Anyway.

We had a great time and the couple who owned the cafe/made the food was very accomodating to my many questions and requests to modify my sandwich filling.

I spent the rest of my afternoon running errands at a slow pace in the 103 degree weather, which was a welcome change to my usual hurried Saturday pace.

My futile quest to find red white and blue decorations.

I also organized a get together with my neighbors in our shared outdoor space (in the shade).

There was a lot of pre-party anxiety (on their end) over how much bread we’d need.

Apparently when I said I was bringing kebabs, they thought I meant döner kebabs – a Turkish lamb sandwich similar to a gyro. I had to send them a pic of chicken and veggies on a stick to clarify the misunderstanding. My bad: this is called a spiess.

They still brought a basket of bread to supplement the chips and hamburger buns.

After we (my neighbor’s husband) grilled, we all went for a walk on the river, around town, and ended up stopping for ice cream.

Side note: the heat is seriously making me crazy. I’ve had ice cream 3 days in a row now. My taste buds are craving sweets and water and that’s it. Also, related but unrelated, the heat is keeping the screaming children out of the park across the street…so at least one plus.

Today, in the party aftermath, I’ll be sitting in the dark, carrying my fan from room to room with me. And I think I’m actually looking forward to Monday and the office a/c.