i hope you’ve all had a glorious and patriotic three-day weekend. it was a much needed weekend for me, and because i’ve been out of the country the past two years on 4th of july, i was so looking forward to doing all things AMERICA! at the last minute on thursday/friday, i actually almost had to fly out to chicago for work, which would have been okaaaaaaay, but i had been really excited to be home on the 4th this year, so quite honestly i was a bit disappointed about having to travel. but then things worked out where i didn’t have to go, and it made me appreciate the weekend at home with friends and family that much more!
freedom isn’t free, and let’s not forget the countless americans who serve our country to allow us to be able to celebrate like we have this weekend. we live in an amazing country with an amazing history. we are a nation of beautiful people from around the globe who have come together to be one. and even with all the insanity of the presidential elections this year and events that make us question the world we live in sometimes, we need to remember how lucky we are. our country was founded by brave men and women who had a vision for this place and its people. land of the free, a place of liberty, of individualism, of diversity, of unity. these values are deeply rooted into our culture, and it’s so easy to take our everyday freedoms for granted. when i think about all the strife and oppression in the world, all the countries that are lacking in safety and education opportunities, i can’t believe how lucky i am to have been born here, to be here. i have such a love for this wonderful country and its people.
aaaaaand here’s how i spent july 4th weekend, celebrating america:
{first, some outfit photos. these were just for running errands after a bit of a stressful friday morning, but i was happy to finally be able to relax and get my patriotic colors on!!}
{even the shoes.} ;)
{starting the weekend out right, with a tiiiiiiny bit of shopping!}
{from my saturday morning run in my cute neighborhood}
{WATERMELON.}
{4th of july pool party on saturday with these two! thank you to lauren for inviting us and to bennett for hosting us! it was seriously such a fun party.}
{yep, i’m all about the watermelon.}
{so i made these bomb pop jello shots for the party using this recipe, and as you can see, they turned out super cute…but quite honestly they were way to strong and not very tasty. i would make them again, but i would definitely decrease the amount of rum in them, because it was really pretty difficult to even force one down…}
{the weather this weekend was pretty darn nice for july in texas. still hot, but breezy and partly sunny/party cloudy.}
{love this girl! we go way back!} ;)
on saturday night, i had dinner with mom, mimi, and mike, as mom and mimi had come over for the day to help mike apartment-shop [he found one! right across the street from where he’s currently living and much cheaper, which is great news!]. and i went to church with mike on sunday morning.
{after church, we had lunch together at east hampton sandwich co. i had a lobster roll and he had a lobster grilled cheese. both were soooo good. we’re lucky to be able to get our lobster fix here!}
{on sunday evening, we met my friends linda and noel for fireworks at kaboom town, which is basically like a whole carnival/fair + airshow + fireworks show in addison. there were tons of people, but we had a picnic with lots of great food [you can buy food and alcohol there too], and we had a really nice time.}
{noel was off in search of a funnel cake, and i meant to get a photo of him and linda when he got back, but i forgot! i love them both – they are both so fun and are such great people too. and i’m glad that brother bear can tag along – he keeps me company and we enjoy hanging out together.}
{happy 4th of july!}
{golden hour}
{i woke up late this morning and had a suuuuper productive day…NOT. haha. it was definitely a lazy day off, although i did manage to fit in some cleaning, laundry, and a run between my lounging! and then mike came over tonight so we could eat bomb pops and play with sparklers.} :)
{this was fun!}
{mike was sweet to help me take the shot at the top of this post with my nikon. it’s sort of been on my bucket list to take a slow shutter speed photo with sparklers, so i can check that one off now! although no doubt i will want to try to do it again next time i have sparklers…}
happy independence day! xoxo