A Not-So-Traditional 4th of July

First off, happy fourth everyone! I hope everyone is having wonderful bbqs and enjoying some fireworks tonight.  I am not, but I had a day equally as exciting.  My mother and I decided to go to the outlets and purchase some necessary and some not-so-necessary items.  I bought a bunch of kitchen stuff for the new apartment, lots of hand soaps and lotions, and most importantly... NEW SHOES (this was the necessary part)!!!  I have only blogged once about my love of shoes so today seems like a good day to post another.  I had a dream last night that I bought new red shoes, and that was my goal for the day.  I ended up with black ones but I love them!  The pictures that follow are the new shoes.. and my mother being strange.

LOVE THEM...

... SO MUCH!

I think my mom was more fond of my outfit

Anyone watch How I Met Your Mother?  If you don't, you should.. then maybe this t-shirt would make sense.  Thank you Austin for the best gift ever.

Anyway.  I digress.  Main point of this post - there is nothing that makes me happier than new shoes (this excludes people - I don't want to offend anyone..:)...).  To complete the non-traditional 4th of July, we had pizza.  How American.


And here is a recipe completely unrelated to the 4th of July.  I guess you could serve it at a bbq because it is salad-like and made with summer vegetables.  I make things work.  


I got this recipe from here and changed it around a little to suit my taste.  As usual.


1 Summer Squash
1 Zucchini
a few handfuls of fresh green beans
1 can of chickpeas
(1/2 red onion chopped) - I left this out. oops. optional i guess :)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper, a little garlic powder


Trim and halve your green beans, place them in a bowl, and fill with water until the beans are just covered.  Microwave for 2-3 minutes and then strain.


Slice the zucchini and squash in half lengthwise, and then chop into smaller pieces and put in a bowl and fill with water until just covered.  Microwave for 5-6 minutes and strain.


In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients so that the vegetables are coated evenly.  Refridgerate, and that's that!