Our Fourth

As I mentioned yesterday we completely changed up how we celebrate the fourth of July this year.  I was honestly a little bummed when I first thought about it, but it turned out to be so sweet and so fun and I did not miss our old plans one single bit.

I was super excited to set our outside table for brunch.  I had gathered so many fun things I was super happy to use and I had committed to a solid blue + white theme with touches of red and flags galore.  It was so fun to see it all come together when I got to use all I had purchased and set aside.  I love the combination of the blue seersucker napkin + gold oyster napkin ring and I can promise you it will be in major rotation for quite some time. So will these sea grass cups, I am thinking I may need a few more, one set seems to be just a few too few. I am completely in love with these melamine plates.  We have both the salad and dinner size and I can not recommend them enough.  I hand washed them after brunch to use them again for dinner.  I also snagged some fun cups + napkins from my friend Emily which are always so fun to use.

We had a super yummy brunch (fresh cherries + brunch eggs + tea biscuits + petite donuts + bacon) after watching our small but amazingly cute parade in the neighborhood.  My darling side kick popped over to spend the morning with us and she and I sat and watched the cute kids all decked out.  One of the little girls even treated us to a set of red beads, seriously so very cute.

After brunch we sat in the yard for so long playing corn hole.  I had never played and it was a bit of a learning curve for me (all my bags came up short) but the kids were pros and immediately started a big ongoing game.  Is there anything better than the kids giggling with fun music playing? 

Parade + Brunch + Corn hole ... some down time in the afternoon and then dinner (grilled chicken thighs + macaroni salad + baked beans + Cape Cod chips & dip) and many laughs and then the ride to fireworks.  We had a wonderful time watching the fireworks and then sat around with sparklers until the rain showed up and we ran for the car.  

We ended the evening with a bowl of pie + ice cream ... apple for some and cherry for others. I like mine warmed in a bowl with a big scoop of vanilla and some cinnamon sugar.  #soyummy

I hope your day was the best ... the sweet days of summer are half over for us and I intend to soak up every single second of them second half. 

Happy Thursday!

ps ... I promised you a dip recipe and I almost forgot to add it ... make sure you make this when company is coming so you aren't tempted to have some all for yourself.  Super. Bad. Plan.  Mix together 2c mayonnaise (I used RF), 2c sour cream (I used RF), 2T package of dry ranch dressing, 1 c slice scallions and dash of Tabasco.  Mix together and chill before serving.  We eat it with Cape Cod chips and I bought the LF version to help with my guilt.  I got this recipe from my friend Nicole and luckily I have only made it once because it is so good!  xo