On Thursday evening, Leigh stopped by and dropped off Edie to stay with us for a couple of days while she had to travel. ˆ edie ˆ dogs ˆ stuytown apt ˆ

Stretch it out, wiener dog! ˆ edie ˆ stretch ˆ

Took Edie for a walk all through Stuytown. ˆ flower ˆ stuytown ˆ trees ˆ

Stuytown landscaping in full summer effect! ˆ flower ˆ stuytown ˆ trees ˆ

So happy to have a dog to cuddle with. ˆ edie ˆ meredith ˆ bed ˆ spoon ˆ

Our apartment in Stuytown has an amazing view of the East River just north of 14th Street - which is where they park the huge Macy's fireworks barge! A little after 7:30, the barges were pulled into place by tugboats! ˆ 4th of july ˆ boat ˆ east river ˆ

Close up of one the barges. ˆ 4th of july ˆ boat ˆ east river ˆ fireworks ˆ

Around 8pm, a fire boat showed up and anchored near the barges. It was shooting off its water cannons and two of the streams were shooting red and blue water! ˆ 4th of july ˆ boat ˆ river ˆ

Crazytown! ˆ 4th of july ˆ boat ˆ river ˆ wtf ˆ

We invited a bunch of people to come over to our place to eat snacks, play video games and then watch the fireworks. Amanda arrived around 10, looking summer-tastic! ˆ amanda ˆ pretty ˆ

Scott and Erika came in from Jersey for the night! Here's Pauly, Scott and Lisa playing Rock Band. ˆ lisa ˆ pauly ˆ scott ˆ rockband ˆ stuytown apt ˆ videogames ˆ

We planned on going up onto our building's roof, but a whole bunch of NYPD cops were stationed up there to keep an eye on the crowds gathered at the waterfront and we weren't able to go up there! We headed down to our building's courtyard instead. ˆ 4th of july ˆ fireworks ˆ

USA #1! ˆ amanda ˆ fatty ˆ scott ward ˆ number one ˆ

It started drizzling rain right as the fireworks started. The air was so humid and heavy that it trapped all the smoke and each time a firework went off it would light the whole sky with color. ˆ 4th of july ˆ fireworks ˆ

After some SERIOUS pre-gaming at our apartment, we decided to mobilize forces and head down to Hanger Bar a little bit after 2am! ˆ amanda ˆ erika ˆ lisa ˆ pauly ˆ scott ˆ scott ward ˆ best ˆ the bird ˆ

Hahaha. We got to Hanger Bar and it was practically empty. Which meant that Sarah and Karen were extra excited when we showed up with a whole crew. ˆ karen ˆ lisa ˆ sarah ˆ best ˆ dj ˆ hanger bar ˆ point ˆ

4th of July party in the dj booth! ˆ karen ˆ lisa ˆ sarah ˆ 4th of july ˆ dj ˆ flag ˆ hanger bar ˆ thumbs up ˆ

Zoe came and joined us! ˆ amanda ˆ pauly ˆ zoe ˆ hanger bar ˆ number one ˆ

Lisa was really proud of her Braxton jeans (which are like Jordache knockoffs from the 80s)! Hahaha. ˆ lisa ˆ braxton jeans ˆ hanger bar ˆ

Fourth of July clubhouse. ˆ hanger bar ˆ

Since you're at San Loco at 3:55am and there's still 5 minutes left before they stop selling alcohol why not just also order a couple of shots of tequila while you're waiting for your tacos, right? ˆ scott ˆ scott ward ˆ drunk ˆ san loco ˆ shots ˆ tequila ˆ

Tah-tah-toasted! Happy Birthday, 'Murika! ˆ scott ˆ scott ward ˆ drunk ˆ san loco ˆ

Ain't nothing to help you recover the next morning like a big old DINER BREAKFAST! Erika and Scott getting ready to dig into some recovery grub! ˆ erika ˆ scott ˆ diner ˆ food ˆ odessa ˆ

This is one of my favorite pictures of Edie. Aaaah-dorable. ˆ edie ˆ meredith ˆ best ˆ dogs ˆ

On Thursday night after work, Meredith and I met up with her dad... ˆ meredith ˆ mr silverman ˆ

...at one of the Bleecker St bars to see his next-door neighbor's band play a show. ˆ band ˆ

Awww. ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ us ˆ

Later that night, I headed back out on the town solo to meet up with Pauly and Lisa (who was wearing a summer onesie)... ˆ lisa ˆ pauly ˆ

...for some karaoke at 2nd on 2nd. ˆ karaoke ˆ strangers ˆ

Hooray for yelling! ˆ me ˆ karaoke ˆ yell ˆ

I don't remember what song Lisa sang, but I do remember that it got the crowd MOVING! ˆ lisa ˆ karaoke ˆ

By the end of her song she had everyone near the stage dancing. ˆ lisa ˆ karaoke ˆ

Slow dancing! (Maybe something by Whitney?) ˆ lisa ˆ karaoke ˆ

I love this photo. It's even funnier when you realize that I took this photo by hooking my arm around behind Pauly. ˆ lisa ˆ me ˆ pauly ˆ

On Friday night I went to Hanger Bar for last call! Karen, Michael and Mandy were all still there. ˆ karen ˆ mandy ˆ michael ˆ

We found a pad on one of the shelves behind the dj booth that was filled with scribbles from people playing the M.A.S.H. game! ˆ note ˆ

Closing time. ˆ hanger bar ˆ

On Tuesday night I went to some show at The Box. They get all uppity in there if you try to take any pictures. Probably because then all the people who can't get in would find out how meh it is. ˆ the box ˆ

After, I met up with Posh Tony and his lady Cyan down the street. ˆ me ˆ posh tony ˆ get a load of this guy ˆ

We went dancing. It was awesome. ˆ cyan ˆ dance ˆ fan ˆ windy ˆ

Friday night last call at Hanger Bar! I love going super late at night because it's right down the street and when you get there late no one is there but locals! This also meant that instead of being tied up serving drinks, Nicole was free to arm wrestle us! ˆ pauly ˆ arm wrestle ˆ hanger bar ˆ

Pauly couldn't beat her either! So tough! (Nicole, not Pauly OBVS.) ˆ pauly ˆ arm wrestle ˆ hanger bar ˆ

LOL, toilet! ˆ toilet ˆ

The only time I ever see Saturday morning... ˆ flower ˆ tompkins ˆ

...is on the walk home. ˆ stuytown ˆ tennis ˆ

July 26th is Amanda's birthday (and Leigh's too!). On Saturday morning, I rode my bike down to Battery Park to meet up with the birthday girl for a birthday bike ride up the West Side! ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward ˆ bike ˆ

Fatty looking all serious. ˆ fatty ˆ bike ˆ

And we're off! ˆ amanda ˆ bike ˆ

So fun. ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward ˆ bike ˆ

Amanda's friend Marco rode ahead and took this photo... ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward ˆ bike ˆ birthday ˆ

...and this great photo (both stolen from Flickr). ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward ˆ bike ˆ birthday ˆ

Later that night a whole bunch of us went to Amanda's for birthday treats and a game of Trivial Pursuit. Everyone was so tired from being out in the sun all day (well, except for Siege of course) and kept falling asleep! ˆ amanda ˆ maureen ˆ siege ˆ asleep ˆ trivial pursuit ˆ

Out cold. ˆ meredith ˆ asleep ˆ couch ˆ

More like Nap Pursuit! Look how SNEEPY everyone is! Happy birthday, Amanda! ˆ amanda ˆ katie ˆ maureen ˆ siege ˆ trivial pursuit ˆ

Haha. Elevator ride down. ˆ brother lawrence ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ elevator ˆ

On Sunday night we went to see the late showing of Baghead at the Sunshine. So freaky and suspenseful. Definitely worth seeing! ˆ movie ˆ poster ˆ

On Tuesday I stopped at the CVS by my work and they were selling bottles of breathing-oxygen over the counter! ˆ oxygen ˆ wtf ˆ

What in the WHAT? ˆ sign ˆ

On Thursday night I met up with Ellen, Amanda and Scott for some late night karaoke action at 2nd on 2nd.

Ellen singing Boys of Summer (which is a killer karaoke jam). ˆ ellen stagg ˆ karaoke ˆ

Scott and Amanda signed up to do The B-52's Loveshack as a duet! ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

Usually I'm totally anti this song (because it's like 10 minutes long)... ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

...unless you've got two people who are going to give it 100% non-stop energy for the entire song. ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

Then I'm pro-shack. ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

Hahaha. ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

Yay, karaoke friends! ˆ amanda ˆ ellen stagg ˆ me ˆ best ˆ

This guy was awesome and he looked like a suburban-version of Sexy Joe! Happy July 2008! ˆ sexy joe ˆ doppleganger ˆ karaoke ˆ strangers ˆ