I love 3 (and 1/2) day weekends. I think Friday should always be a work-free weekend day. The world would be a heck of a lot happier. Any way – here is what I did over 4th of July weekend.

Friday
Our offices closed at 1:00 on Friday, so we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. Since the weather was horrible, (well, not beach weather like we originally planned) Evan and I decided to take a little shopping trip to Target and HomeGoods.I am absolutely obsessed with HomeGoods. Friday night we went out with some friends that were in town for the weekend.

Saturday
I hung out with Crosby most of the day on Saturday. It was a really good lay-around-and-watch-HGTV day (wait, that’s everyday). A group of us went to dinner at Ukai, my all-time favorite sushi restaurant. It’s delish! After dinner my friend Matt joined us. I hadn’t seen or hung out with him in months. It was definitely good to see him and hang out with him for a night.

Sunday
We had great weather on Sunday (minus a little overcast early in the day) so we headed to North Avenue Beach. It was pretty packed but lots of fun.We hung out at the on-beach bar, Castaways. I feel like I’m in an episode of Jersey Shore whenever I go there, but it’s still fun. I guess.

Monday
Had a fun day in Valparaiso, Indiana on a friend’s lake. It reminded me of my college days at Alabama when we’d all go out to Matt’s lakehouse and blast country music. I cannot hear Craig Morgan’s “Redneck Yacht Club” without thinking about Smith Lake. Oh, how I miss my Alabama friends!

Also, it was Heather Brooke Collins’ (my bff) and Taryn Kay Miller’s (my cousin) birthdays! Wish I could have been with them to celebrate, but I guess a phone call will have to do. I cannot wait until Heather gets here in August – only 28 more days!

Welp. That’s it for my long 4th of July weekend.

*photos c/o Getty Images