send up a signal, i'll throw you a line

i louvre the 4th of july like no one's business! i had a third of july celebration that involved watching mr. smith goes to washington as a warm up for the festivities to come the next day. SOOOO. 4th of july. where was i?

that's right, that's the white house ladies and gents (the backside to be exact... items of interest: (a)sniper on the roof (b)the white house is behind bars and not me). we went up to the capital for some ol' fashion independence day hi-jinx... 1776 style. over all it was a delightful experience. got to see lots of monuments, the smithosonian museum of american history, and eat hot dogs and a popsicle that's like a firecracker... and of course SEE FIREWORKS. there were some people setting off fireworks as we were walking to the metro.

a moment please...

1. metro - doesn't that make the train seem like a sophisticated way to travel? it's not. (more to follow on this)

2. fireworks - it is illegal to set off your own fireworks here on this side of the country (i think it's all the trees). sensible seeing as how people were like setting off fountains in the middle of crowds of people. imagine what they would do if it was legal! it reminded me of the time john tried to light a handful of sparklers off my sparkler, which totally worked except that he was then pointing a handful of lit sparklers at my arm and this causes pain.

3. weather - it's not hot here on the 4th of july. weird right? it wasn't humid either (which you wouldn't know from my absurd hair... it appears to expand and contract throughout the day in the pictures. i look like a red headed lion for the most part.). it makes me think that east coast people are PANSIES when it comes to summer time weather. (also it makes me SO happy to not be in arizona. sorry arizona.)

this is me with the ca state flag (you kind of have to use your imagination). the 4th of july makes me a little homesick so i took a moment at the ca flag to think of you californians. i have to admit i may have teared up a bit during the fireworks when i was thinking about how much i miss you all. but don't tell anyone... that would totally ruin my street cred. (ps mom - don't be sad about me crying... i'm just a pansy! too much time on the east coast.)

ENTER THE METRO.

as a west coaster, i have little experience with public transportation. but boy did i get an education on just exactly how much fun it can be. this next picture is the perfect representation of the experience of getting on the metro.

i'm not sure how i wound up being the only person not totally blurry... or why nate looks like he has a moustache. anyway, the important thing is that it was wall to wall people like you've never seen before. i was confused b/c it was a line so i didn't see why we all had to stand so close together. i think it was practice for what was about to follow...

that's a picture from before we really had to squish together.

i have never been so glad to be tall. there is, luckily, a lot of fresh air above everybody else's head (please keep in mind we all had to hold onto the bar above our heads... after we had spent the entire day running around the city. lets just say it was less than lovely.) i'm sure i would have had a claustrophobic / personal space meltdown if it wasn't for the fact that i had a clear view from way up above. i'm not sure why the people in the back look so small, seeing as how they were only maybe 2 feet from me. i also was accused of groping a man, but it totally was not me.