Baby's first Barbecue!

I hope you all had wonderful, relaxing, sunny weekends!  Mine was all of the above, which is exactly how I wanted to spend my "summer vacation."  Last Friday was my last day of work, and I started Organic Chemistry this afternoon, so I had 3 days with no responsibilities.  It was a short vacation but I definitely made the most of it.  On Friday my parents cooked out and made strawberry daiquiris to celebrate my last day.  My best friend who I have not seen in months (due to my crazy schedule) came over to join in the fun!  After a few daiquiris we decided it was the perfect time to go shopping, since I won't be getting a steady paycheck until Florida.  Note to self: Do not drink and shop!  Thankfully, tipsy me has great taste :) (and not to worry, Julia drove!)  Then, Saturday afternoon I drove out to Rochester to spend the rest of the weekend with Dom.

Words cannot describe how wonderful it was to visit Dom not in a fraternity house! I love his brothers dearly, but it just gets gross sometimes.  Dom is living in a house this summer with his friends Jake and Kenzie.  The house is so perfect and cute! The best part though? It's clean!  I didn't have to wear sandals in the shower! (It's okay, you can cringe)  Needless to say, post-grad living is much better, and Dom and I were able to have tons of "us" time without 35 other guys around 24/7!

Saturday night Dom and I went to my favorite place in Rochester for pizza and beer!  This might not sound like an ideal date, but for someone who is gluten-free, being able to go to a restaurant and get gluten free pizza and gluten free beer is almost impossible.  We sat outside and just relaxed.  It was so normal.  It has been a long time since we were both able to just enjoy being out together.

Since Dom is a "real" person now, it was only fitting that they throw a BBQ for Memorial Day!  Hosting it was so fun, and it really made us feel like adults!  We had the grill out and everyone who came brought something to share.  It was a great success!

Grill Master!

We had burgers, hot dogs, sish kebabs, beer, and dessert!  Everything you need for the perfect afternoon!

The guys made a run to get a picnic table (I don't ask questions), but we were not going to wait for them to get back to eat!  None of us really knew how to grill, but Kenzie got it down well enough to impress them!  They like to think we need them...but we had it covered ;)

This was my family's first Memorial Day with all three of my cousins home from overseas.  They all served in the 101st Airborne Division, and we could not be more proud of them.  Having people you love in harms way really makes you appreciate the sacrifice our service men and women have made for our country.  While this official kick-off-of-summer holiday is great for getting together and throwing barbecues, it's really about so much more.   After all, if it weren't for those serving our country, there would be no barbecues!  So, I hope you all had great party weekends and also remembered what this holiday is really about! God bless the USA!