Land of the Free....Home of the Brave

The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. It has everything I love: spirited pride red white and blue style, great food, drinks, festivals, music, joy and camaraderie. Nobody does 4th of July better than the birthplace of the 4th of July....Philadelphia. I have a series of July 4th traditions that I absolutely love including watching "Rocky" on the Art Museum steps and hanging out on the Ben Franklin Parkway for the "Party on the Parkway" festival. Now I watch fireworks on rooftops. 

"Rocky" was everything and more. I went with my best friend, David. We got there later than we thought and had to hunt for a good seat. There was a raffle happening, where you could win the chance to watch the movie in the front row of the Art Museum steps in leather recliners from a movie theater. I told David we should enter that contest. So we did. We each got a blue ticket and then shuffled off to our scavenged seats. 

We're sitting there, eating our Wawa hoagies for dinner and they call the raffle winners. First number called, some lady won. Second and last winner of the night: not us. But that person wasn't available! They left or something. So they called a third number. I'm sitting there looking at my ticket. David goes, "Wait, is that you?" I look down and realize they called my number. I shot up in the air screaming and waving my ticket. I won!!! I went down so they could confirm my ticket and then back up to our seats where we packed up our belongings and sauntered down to the front. After a few photos we got to enjoy the movie in style. It was pretty epic. 

We felt like kings. Plus, I go to "Rocky" every year, so this was a nice treat for a dedicated "Rocky" attendee. David and I both agreed this VIP treatment topped the cake. 

The actual 4th was pretty sweet too. We went down to the Parkway and then went to a friend of a friend's rooftop party. We got to see the Delaware River fireworks really well and enjoyed a fun night of games, drinks and delicious food. Quite stellar. 

In other news, I've been working on an exercise streak. I'm on day 12. Every day I'm committed to doing some type of exercise. I've done swimming, kickboxing, running, yoga and a few in-house routines. So far so good!

I hope you had an amazing holiday too! Next up, there will be a bit more on my whole "path to enlightenment" and how I'm learning that your thoughts/feelings/attitudes really do shape your reality. 

Until next time...