{Happy 4th}

I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful and festive 4th of July today! Earlier this week over on the Bliss Weddings Blog, I posted a beautiful inspiration shoot we put together for a 4th of July Fete- I only wish my day today looked as fabulous as this little soiree- see the full post here.

{4th of july party inspiration}

While I am excited to get the chance to spend another year in Huntington Beach for the 4th, I am a little sad to be missing the all out celebrations that Chicago and the midwest have for the holiday (I hear it's huge!).   In anticipation of a great day of bloody marys, bike rides, pool lounging and firework watching, I thought it would be fun to put together a little inspiration board for next week's holiday!

the attire: I love these breezy dress options from J. Crew (solid blue) & Indah (printed).  I will obviously be pairing it with my patriotic flower crown from last year (see a diy tutorial here), but if I didn't have that as an accessory I would definitely opt for the understated red/white/blue statement necklace from BaubleBar. 

the spread: I would definitely start the day out with our doctored up bloody marys and glasses of champagne from Chandon's seasonally designed bottle (although I liked last year's design better!) and in the afternoon I would serve blueberry and blackberry caipirinhas.  In addition to the normal grilling fare of hamburgers and sausages, I think Joy the Baker's pretzel dogs would make for a fun snack.  Berries make it so easy to create a patriotic themed dessert like these mini trifles, but if I didn't have time or energy to whip those up I would just stick a sparkler in some ice cream and call it a day!

the activities:  The fourth is definitely not one of those type of holidays to be overly planned.  Our day will most consist of lounging poolside and then watching the fireworks on the beach at night, but we might venture out on bikes to see the parade in our hometown. 

Hope you all have wonderful plans in store for next week's holiday!

{weekend photos}

Growing up in Huntington Beach, the 4th of July is a BIG deal.  We usually spend the day riding bikes around the parade, BBQ-ing, lounging by the pool and then watching the fireworks on the beach.  On top of all that, this year we also got to go to an early 4th of July celebration on Saturday in Venice Beach at our friend's neighborhood block party.  Here are a few photos from the weekend:

 {patriotic dogs}

 {chris grilling at the block party}

 {terra, dugg-e & mortie ready for the block party's pet parade. yes I said pet parade}

{Chris' invented this great way to save sprinkles}

 {razoring and roller skating with muji}

{lounging poolside}