Happy 4th of July! Ready for some fun in the sun? Or a quiet, relaxing day? I have to say, one of the best 4ths I've ever had was a few years back when John and I went on a long bike ride followed by a picnic of fried chicken, fresh cherries, cheeses, and white wine. The. Kill.

But of course I like a good party too (who me?), so today we're on for our Annual Super Duper Shubert Coopster 4th of July Celebration, having Shuberts and Stace & Coop (obv!), as well as Harry Cunliffe, Debbie & Stu The Wine Genius Williams, and Debbie's sister Michelle over to swim, dine a la potluck, and see fireworks. I'm grilling burgers & ribs, and making new potato & green bean salad and some simple veggies & dip. With tasty appetizers, salad, and dessert contributed by the group...KA-BLAM we're going to have a meal! Yeah, baby!

Moderate it: I'll personally make a lameass attempt to fill up on salads and veggies and enjoy the whole burger-rib-beer-chip-dessert thing in moderation. Hope you fare better in your moderation efforts than I'm about to! Enjoy your holiday!

Welcome Levi Sizzle Meyer!

Levi is my sister Stacey's new dog, 1.5 years old, an English Cocker Spaniel (just like my parents' dog, Jake). Sooo cute! He's Cooper's little bro, so to speak, and Coop's maybe a little jealous of him. But not for long, I suspect, because Levi is such a kid-friendly sweetie. Stace and Cooper made it to Nathan's baseball game today, but Levi had to sit this one out. There are only so many busy little bodies Stace can handle at one time, and since Coop likes to run and run (and run!) at Nathan's games, Levi played doggie bench-warmer today.

Luckily, after the game, Stace and Coop were able to run home to pick up Levi and then head over here for barbecued pork ribs, biscuits, and a big green salad. Oh man, those ribs hit the spot, falling off the bone and spicy-sticky with a nice amount of Daddy Sam's Just Slop It On Barb-B-Que Sawce. Mmmmm hmmmm, them was good ribs, damn. Levi didn't enjoy ribs, of course, but he hung out by Coop's high chair hoping, in that fabulously ever-eager way that dogs hope for a taste of people food... Instead he scored lots of running in the back yard, enough to tire him out a bit. And for a one-year old English Cocker, that's not an easy thing to achieve! (As you can see, Cooper watched a little Ben 10 while we ate dinner; Stace perused Nathan's yearbook...)

Now, Levi Sizzle and Cooper are off to bed and it's high time to take my frizzy hair into the bedroom for an appointment with a good book, oh yeah. Nothing helps the digestion (of ribs, not light, ack) like a nice, long read. Have a good week!

Moderate it: hmmm, there's not really a way to moderate the ribs themselves - they're quite rich. The trick is to eat just a few, then fill the rest of your plate with salad, and call 'er a night.

Bloggin' on the porch on a lovely Saturday morning...ahhh...doesn't get much nicer than this. All my hard work is paying off and I'm actually starting to enjoy the spaces I've endeavored to clean up and beautify. NICE! I still have a chair to spray-paint, hopefully today, and other bits and pieces of things to do, but I'm nearing the end. And chillin'...yeah, baby!

I had such a nice day yesterday, too. Opened with Friday Morning Coffee with Suz - really, is there a better way to start one's day? - who in a twist on our usual routine, picked me up and we headed over to the Edina Art Fair. We did some serious wallet damage (ouch!) buying gifts for others and, uh, ourselves. Namely, necklace-type gifts. Suz didn't buy the one she's modeling here - it was WAY expensive, thus the look of longing on her face - but she did get a gorgeous one. And so did I! Some woman wanted to damn near buy it off my neck and Suz was like, step back, lady! Gotta love friends who will defend one's shopping turf - take that, beyotch, ha! And don't mess with Suz's dimples! After a yummy lunch at D'Amico and Sons (with all the rest of the women shopping at the Art Fair, ha), she dropped me off and was on her way.

Then last night was Baseball Moms, woo hoo! And a baseball game, to which I and co-Jiffy mom Nancy showed up a bit, er, late. I was totally busted by a "where WERE you?" from Nathan, but he had lots of fans there to support him, including Stace and Cooper Cuteness. Who had to don his adorable rain jacket because shortly after I arrived the skies opened and it POURED, sending everyone scattering for shelter. The rain did quit, and the game did proceed, and when it was done John and I headed over to Beaujo's Wine Bar for a late snack/dinner. After a lovely salad, and bowl of asparagus soup, it was time for beddy-bye, bye, bye. Nice way to end the week - and nice way to start the weekend, huh? Sparkly-necklace-shopping with Suz, beer and chat with the Baseball Moms, and a late evening meal with my husband? Sheesh!

It's supposed to rain, rain, rain today but I'll enjoy this window of sunshine while we have it. You enjoy your Saturday as well! Perhaps I'll grill me some pork ribs tonight, hmmmm, stay tuned...

Update: well dang, those ribs were mighty, mighty fine. Fall-off-the-bone tender, crisped up with BBQ sauce on the grill, we devoured them in oh, about 3 minutes. Luckily, they are no work whatsoever. I popped them in the oven and let them slow-bake while John and I went to a movie. A few hours later, a quick pass on the grill, and time to Dig In, yum. I forced portion control on us all by buying only a pound - by the time the bones are out, no one could eat too terribly much, which is a good thing. A few ribs go a looong way calorie-wise. And I just made a simple green salad as a side. As fabulous as slaw and biscuits would be - Lawdy! - it's nice to let the ribs be the star. Plus, there's that damn moderation thing...