I realize I've missed the "Memorial Weekend recap" boat by a few days, but I felt like it still deserves a mini-recap. And kind of wanted to take a break from the flower pics. I do love flowers, but I love my friends even more.
So over the weekend I escaped the family and roadtripped up to the Quad Cities to see my college roommate Christine and help her move into her very own apartment.
Christine is the type of friend with whom you:
-share general life values and traits
(for us this includes obsessions with coffee, working out, waking up ridiculously early, bread, Moscato d'Asti and good amaretto)
-can eat Panera every single day and love it
-take 2345 self-obsessed pictures of yourselves until you get the "perfect" shot of both of you
(I will spare you the "reject" shots of the weekend)
-have weathered lots of the tribulations of college and 20-something life
(crazy dating escapades both good and bad, long distance relationships, emotional breakdowns galore, yucky illness, birthdays, nights of too many shots, moving, scary life changes, etc etc)
In short, she is a best friend who will always be there for me, and who knows way too many of my secrets for us to ever break up.
On Friday night we went out with our friend Angie; I don't think the three of us had been in town together since Angie's wedding one and a half years ago. Thinking about stretches of time like that makes me feel oooold!!! Even though it's only been a year since graduation, so much has happened in the last 12 months that it sometimes feels like college was a whole different lifetime. Going out like a college student also makes me feel old. We were pretty much wiped out for the rest of the weekend! But managed to handle full days of shopping, DQ ice cream, blenders of delicious strawberry daiquiris, nailing a picture gallery onto C's walls, watching one and a half seasons of Weeds, and sappy chick flicks. Perfection.
And because driving through north central Illinois in the summer is NEVER achievable without a glorious thunderstorm, I got that on the way home too. Just to complete the weekend. One the likes of which would have the Eastern drivers trembling on the side of the road.
In the spirit of summer, college memories, and just because, I am going to share my amazing daiquiri recipe because you seriously need to try it. There are only 3 ingredients, and I figure the antioxidants from the berries completely cancels out the negative effects from the alcohol. Right? Well, repeated studies have shown that you will never get a hangover from this concoction. I am a scientist, so that's scientific proof.
Anna's Strawberry Daiquiris
-one bag frozen strawberries
-rum (of unspecified quality/quantity...)
-one tub of raspberry Crystal Light (the essential secret ingredient)
Dump everything in a blender and mix until smooth.
A bit of lime juice and other types of berries work deliciously too.
Happy Summer :)