A weekend of celebrations!

Woo, that was a fun 3 day weekend! Friday we had a fun 4th of July celebration at the Lafayette Reservoir. I went out there around 9:00 so I could dump some stuff off and save a couple tables. After I went back home, showered and made the sangria I headed back out there to hang out and make sure no one took our spot before our official picnic start time at 1:00. Luckily I have a few friends who are always early :D so I didn't have to hang out by myself for too long! Phil arrived first, then Claudia and Rocky with the dogs and then everyone else started trickling in. We had a perfect picnic spot... 2 tables together in this little wooded picnic area... it totally felt like we were camping :D We had some shade, were close to the kid's play area and had plenty of room to set out chairs and blankets. We had TONS of yummy food and spent the day eating, drinking, chatting and enjoying the beautiful day! Lindsay and I even took a little spin around the reservoir in a paddle boat!

Around 6:30 or so most everyone was headed, or heading, home but a few of us wanted to see the fireworks in San Ramon. Since they didn't start until 9:45 we went over to Lael's house to hang out until it was time to drive down to the Bishop Ranch area. The fireworks weren't as spectacular as I had remembered them from a few years ago, but they were still nice. A lot of them didn't hardly clear the tree line so we didn't get the full effect of them exploding up in the sky. It was a nice end to the day though :D

Saturday was Claudia's birthday... WOO HOO!! I spent the morning just relaxing and then went to get my hair cut at 2:30. I was SO excited about getting it cut... it had literally been MONTHS since I had gone in for a cut! A little before I left for the salon, I get a message from Claudia telling me that in all the party planning and excitement, she had forgotten to get a cake :( Olivia to the rescue! After my haircut I swung by a bakery in Walnut Creek... thankfully they had one last larger cake available!

Claudia had her bday celebration at Artisan in Walnut Creek. It's a cute little wine bar with yummy sangria that I've been to a couple of times before. Our group pretty much took up the entire place and we hung out enjoying some finger food, sangria, wine and then cake. Once everyone started arriving, the warm weather, combined with a little wine, led to a little bit of overheating (and of course sweating). Lovely. It was one of those times when you know it's going to get ugly and will take more than a moment to cool down. Fanning with birthday cards ensued, and then a trip outside with Lindsay where it was actually warmer but at least no one could see me getting "dewier" by the moment :D Finally I cooled down enough to go back inside and I was fine the rest of the evening. Ugg, so gross. I was happy though that I wasn't the only one that happened to, just the first :D

Artisan has a fun little tasting area with this machine that dispenses a taste of various wines. You buy a card worth any amount you want (I did $10), you stick the card in the machine, choose the wine you want, and it dispenses a small amount. It's a nice way to try a number of different wines! After most everyone had left Artisan, the rest of us party people went over to 1515, this new restaurant/bar, for a few drinks. We didn't stay there too long-- just enough time for a couple more drinks and some food. By the time we left, the place was really getting packed and I think we were all tired from the long evening!

Sunday was a relaxing day... I met up with Lindsay and Claudia for brunch in Walnut Creek and then afterwards spent the rest of the day doing some laundry, downloading pictures from the weekend and just hanging out. After a busy Friday and Saturday it was nice to be able to spend the day doing nothing much! I hope everyone else had a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!!