Goal: Squeal like a little kid

Hot air balloons still make me obscenely happy. Unnaturally happy, really, for a 24 year old who's had them puff puffffff-ing overhead each and every summer.

This weekend my teeny tiny almost-middle-of-nowhere NJ town hosts one of the largest balloon fests in the country. We wait for the balloons to launch and chase them, hoping to be there when they land.

As I left my house for work at 7:45 a.m. I saw 7 of them floating over the treetops and touching down in housing developments. I couldn't stop smiling.

Also - a sweet hot air balloon proposal story.

{photos by Tommy Bass}