I didn’t have my red, white, and blue Amanda dress from Pinup Girl Clothing in time for the Fourth of July last year, but it was ready to go today!
I paired it with a white hat, red, white, and blue lucite earrings from SparkleLux, and alternating red and blue polish on my nails, something I mean to do every year, but have never actually remembered until now. It’s the perfect look for Independence Day!
Today was our typical Markel family Independence Day celebration. We watched our favorite Fourth of July movies (Yankee Doodle Dandy and Holiday Inn), listened to A Splash of Pops more than once, and then watched the Boston Pops Fourth of July concert. We also watched our neighbors set off tons of fireworks, which makes me very nervous every year, but it still an amazing show to see. We had our standard dinner of brisket, baked beans, corn on the cob, watermelon, and potato salad, and a few treats…finger Jell-O and a red, white, and blueberry trifle. There were even patriotic flowers this year, thanks to Ryan!
It was, as always, a very fun holiday!
Happy Independence Day from the Fab Five!
Since tomorrow is one of my favorite holidays, I thought I’d share a holiday-themed “Top Five” list!
What are your family’s favorite holidays?
As part of this year’s 200th birthday celebration, Belleville actually had an Independence Day fireworks display. On the 5th of July, but still…this is the first time Belleville has had fireworks since we moved here eight years ago!
The show started late, but it was worth the wait…I hope our town considers doing this every year!
We had our standard Fourth of July feast for dinner tonight: beef brisket, corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad, and watermelon…yum!
I made something new for dessert…a triple berry crisp, served warm with ice cream. It was also a hit!
Today was a very nice Independence Day!
I’ve been wanting to have a semi-ironic Independence Day tea party for a few years now (you know, Boston Tea Party and all). I had a few ideas last month, so I decided that this would be the year!
It worked out well, because our kitchen is decorated for this event all year:
And I found some cute little star candles and acrylic stars at Michael’s to add to the centerpiece:
Since I already had red, white, and blue table linens, I only had to spend about $5 for a fully decorated, very festive table! (No china this time, because if there was ever a holiday where china doesn’t work, it’s the Fourth of July! I should have just used paper plates…)
We had iced tea, to make sure our tea party had the proper American twist, plus lots of red, white, and blue, and stars. Blue and red jello stars, red, white and blue strawberries, marshmallow “firecrackers,” Stars and Stripes Funfetti cupcakes, blueberries, star-shaped sugar cookies in the colors of the flag, and white cheese on red and blue toothpicks were all on the menu:
I did make scones (star-shaped, of course), and served English muffins (with blueberry jelly), so it wasn’t completely American. Plus, have you ever noticed what color the Union flag is? Hard to tell what we’re celebrating! Again, semi-ironic, which was exactly what I was going for!
This was a particularly fun tea party to plan, and I’m glad I finally came up with ideas for a very American afternoon tea!
“From the bottom of my heart, I thank Mr. Wedderburn for everything he has said against me. My gratitude is sincere. You’ve answered a question which has troubled me since boyhood. But you have finally put my mind at ease. The question is fundamental and when my fellow colonists arrive at the same answer as I, a great empire may fall. Mr. Wedderburn says I’m a traitor, but this is not true. The question he has answered for me is thus: ‘Am I a British subject? Or am I the citizen of a new nation? A country distinct and different from England?’ And today I declare my answer: ‘I am not British. I am an American!’ And man can only betray his own country. My country is no longer England. My country is America.”
