A very full Fourth.

This past weekend I celebrated our nation's independence the only way I know how: by eating way too much.

I also did some other fun stuff, but primarily ate my way through the weekend. I'm sure I wasn't the only one...holiday overeating is the American way. Liberty, justice and ridiculously high caloric intakes for all!

The weekend got off to a great start Thursday night when Nate and I met up with our friends Bud and Carrie for dinner and a movie. But not just any dinner. A really, really good dinner.

In fact, I feel quite happy just thinking about it.

We ate at Sea Salt Eatery, a seafood restaurant in Minnehaha Park. This is not a fancy restaurant. It's in a public park pavilion. But it's soooo good.

Yes, you have to wait in line for about 50 minutes to order. Yes, once you order you have to wait another 50 minutes for food. No, there aren't enough chairs for everyone. And, yes (a thousand times yes!), it's totally worth the hassle.

I had the shrimp po' boy, Nate had the cajun catfish po' boy, we split two tilapia tacos and shared 1/2 dozen oysters with Bud and Carrie. It was a feast. I also had two beers, which I tried to finish while running through the park after dinner. We thought we were going to be late for the movie. Incidentally, we were 30 minutes early.

(By the way, the movie — WALL•E — was really good. And kind of sad. I have a strange emotional attachment to animated characters. Especially when they are batting big, innocent eyes.)

Then, after snacking my way through a coworker's party Friday afternoon, Nate and I met our friends Ben and Nikki for fireworks and a dessert picnic. I don't know who's bright idea that was (possibly mine), but we each brought dessert to share. The four of us polished off half a pound cake with whipped cream and berries, half a blueberry pie, half a box of glazed donuts, and half a bottle of cheap, crappy wine. Let's see: half + half + half + half = two. And two divided by four is half. So, really, we each only had half a dessert.

I am a math genius.

Saturday was (a little) less obscene: my friend Barbara and I met for a late lunch at the new Salut on Grand Ave. I had an omelette and a blackberry mojito. We shopped those calories off pretty quickly, so we ended our day with cheesecake at Cafe Latte.

Sunday I ran errands all day, so I had a Diet Coke and Chicken McNuggets for lunch. In an effort to be healthy, I passed on the french fries. Of course later that night I had a mountain of tater tots with dinner. But you know - I could have had all of that PLUS fries. It's all about making good decisions.

Unsurprisingly, I might not fit into my pants this week.