Stuck in a Sweaty (but beautiful) Sea of Humanity

Well we did it, we made it to downtown Philly and found ourselves in the midst of the largest crowd I have ever seen in person! It was amazing seeing people of all races and backgrounds gathered fairly peacefully, dancing, eating, and celebrating. Here are some pics of the day...

Our friends Kim, Emily, and Anthony (not pictured) joined us for the festivities

We found our spot and the crowd began to grow...

And grow.... 

Until people were literally, EVERYWHERE! 

Apparently this guy had special VIP privileges as he made his way through the crowd

He looked oddly familiar...Hmmmm

This was the "real" photographer of the day, my friend Kim,  soon you'll be able to check out her pics from the day at http://www.kimschmidtphotography.com/. If you take the time to look through her blog you'll find   my birthday, Thanksgiving, and many other celebrations...it's good to have a professional around!

The concerts were awesome! Though she didn't play for long, I loved seeing Sara Bereilles...ok seeing her on a very large screen (that's her on the screen wearing red) but I heard her live, 

and that was good enough. 

The Roots kept the party going strong, especially with the crowd gathered just behind us...

This was Anthony's unfortunate view through part of the night

The fireworks were the real show stealer, by far the best I've ever seen, far exceeding even the show in Washington DC a few years back and that's saying alot!

My favorite part of the day I have to admit was the surprise performance by Boys To Men, that's right, my 8th grade dreams came true! I can check that off my bucket list! Unfortunately I was so excited that I never even thought to pick up my camera.  The day/night which ended very late with delayed trains back  home was time well spent reconnecting with friends after a very difficult two weeks.