Memorial Day Weekend '06

Beneath the sunburn, behind the exhaustion and the full belly that remains from a weekend full of eating, lies a three day Memorial Weekend packed with memories. It was a weekend filled with great friends, great food, and plenty of sunshine to top an already amazingly good time.

The weekend kicked off on Friday as I hurried home from work to meet up with Tara, her roomate Dobry (Jeni) and Ashley for a night of grilled food and beer. We (read: them) cooked up hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, corn on the cobb and some baked beans and hurried upstairs to enjoy a fresh grilled meal.

Fast forward a half hour.

With full bellies we assessed the beer situation and decided we had plenty to keep us going all night. Thus, with beers in hand we busted out the board games...my favorite part of friendly get togethers. We started off with Yahtzee, as Ashley insisted she wasn't drunk enough yet for a game of Cranium and she proceeded to kick our asses in the coming rolls of the dice. Saddened at my defeat, I pulled out Cranium, ready for a game I KNEW I could win.

Drunken Cranium is probably on my list of top 5 things to do at a get together. I never laugh harder than I do while watching someone try to draw "Rock, Paper, Scissors" without looking at the paper, while their partner continuously yells "Square, Apple, Scissors", all the while thinking her guess is perfectly accurate given the picture being drawn. We never ended up finishing the game, but Tara and I were way ahead by the time we called it quits to play Circle of Death (more commonly called in B-Town, Kings Cup) =) We again failed to finish the game as Dobry left to vomit and Ashley and I engaged in an argument about whether feemer and leaner rhymed (which I must digress and admit I was wrong). It was then, we decided to call it a night.

I awoke early Saturday for work, which ended up being slower than usual, making it for a touch day to sit and stare, and wish you weren't hung over. At least I had the evening to look forward to, as Katie and I made plans for a late night out at our favorite B-Town bar: John's Main Event.

We arrived at 11:00 to a semi-crowded bar, but still managed to secure ourselves a seat at the bar, and a few rounds of shots courtesy of our favorite bartender. Seeing as how our money was obviously no good there, we decided to plug the juke-box with dollars and fill the bar with the sounds of Katie/Christi music. Def Leopard's "Pour Some Sugar On me" always gets me into the partying mood, so we opted for a few more shots, a few more drinks, and plenty of friendly run ins with old friends. But alas, at 2:00 a fight had broken out, dampening the mood of the night so we left the bar, destined for some late night eats at White Fox Den. Bed time didn't come until around 5:00 and I dragged myself out of bed three hours later to get to work.

I spent two hours at the salon on Sunday then quickly closed up and drove home to meet Tara at my apartment. I threw on a tank top, grabbed my flip-flops, and we were out the door, ready for a day by the lake.

We strolled to Altera, wandered through the Kite Festival and spent a lot of time lounging around on picnic tables, talking and people watching. It was the perfect way to spend a 90 degree day in Milwaukee. As dusk fell, we opted for an easy night in, rented a few movies, and by 9:30 I was sleeping on the couch.

Finally, memorial day came and the sun was shining as beautifully as it had the day before. I jumped out of bed, threw my swimsuit on, and we headed, with the Cabby's drop top down, to the beach to spend a few hours lounging in the sun. A few hours quickly turned into a half hour and we realized we had less time to spend there than we had originally hoped. It was a wonderful half hour though.

Tara and I reloaded up the Cabby and drove to the Metro Market to pick up BBQ essentials for our cookout with Erin and Dave. We loaded up on fresh fruit, buns, and of course Metro Market's famous free samples! The Metro Market rocks!

We arrived at Erin and Dave's exactly on time and we chatted for a while (us girls) while Dave manned the gril. Ah yes, the fine display of gender roles =) KIDDING! After dinner we played a few games, Dave kicked our asses in Trivial Pursuit, and so we moved to Taboo where Erin and I dominated the round.

And with that, my weekend ended and I sit her now recapping it and nursing my sunburnt shoulders. As the last weekend in May bring about the first week in June, it also brought with a hint of summer that still remains in the memories of the weekend. But as a cool air blows from the open door in front of me, and the signs of rain linger in the air, I am reminded that this summer is indeed still around the corner. I just can't wait for it to fully arrive!