The long weekend.

Thursday: Left work an hour early. Grilled burgers and watched the fireworks over at Mike and Em's. Watched "National Lampoon's Vacation." Went to bed too late.

Friday: Met Mike and Em, Lauren and her cousin at The Lincoln for brunch, went to Sam's Wine to buy, er, wine for the Gapers' Block Party. Went home for awhile, then walked over to Mike and Em's for drinks and to watch even more fireworks from their deck. The view from the 41st floor is amazing. Headed out to Andersonville with them and Lauren, had mediocre pizza at Konak's, caught a bus home. Went to bed even later than the night before. Woke up at 2:30-something to close window to drown out impromptu, high-decibel fireworks display at other end of alley.

Saturday: Drove to Shaumburg to look at cars. Test-drove a Mini and a Civic Hybrid, bought a couch. Made a brief stop at the mobbed IKEA to buy a table and a new rug to replace the one I accidentally dyed orange by washing it with our bathmat. Returned home, wrote for awhile, then went with Mike and Em to see "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle." Pleasantly surprised, we then hit Daily Bar and Grill where Lauren and Christian met us for dinner. Went to bed really late again.

Sunday: Biked to Fireside to meet Emily and Lauren for brunch. Biked home, talked to Bran on the phone. Worked on the Huff Report and a feature for Gapers' Block, watched the storms come through. Went out to dinner at a taqueria down the street, walked home as the next wave of storms came through. Called Grandma. Channel-surfed a bit, caught part of "Decline of Western Civilization, Part II," took a shower and went to bed at a reasonable hour.