Happy 4th!

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Happy 4th of July Friends!

I hope you have a fun day of grilling, friends and fireworks planned as we celebrate and appreciate our great country!

Anybody have any fun, festive recipes planned for today?  I'm going to try my hand at this beautiful watermelon cake, we'll see what happens.  Funny moment at my local Trader Joe's earlier this week : I was in conversation with the TJ's employee who was ringing me up and he mentioned that he and his girlfriend had attempted this super cool watermelon cake they saw on pinterest and it was a major fail!  LOL - so we'll see.  I'll be back next week with a full report.

Wishing all a very safe and happy Independence Day!

XO


P.S. Did I mention that.......I'm suuuuper excited because I finally have a sleek new computer to call my own?? Yippee! So watch out blog!  I'm totally about to make a comeback. ;)

Happy Independence Day!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!  

Hello Friends!

I so hope you have fun planned for today.  I have to say, it's truly an honor to be an American.  Cheesy to say, I know, but I really am so very thankful for my heritage, for my country and for all of the brave men and women who serve our country to ensure we have freedom each and every day.  So thank you.

This is my very FIRST 4th of July on the West Coast.  Boy is it dramatically different than what I'm used to.  The fourth is always celebrated with a large family barbeque and fireworks {which I believe we plan to partake in with friends here in Monterey}, but the big difference this year is I'll most likely be bundled in a hoodie as opposed to sweating it out in shorts and a tank. 

When asked to make something to bring to our get together with friends, I immediately tried to think of something cold, summery and red, white and blue {of course!}, so I was leaning towards popsicles.  But the more I thought about it, I realized it may be a bit too chilly for popsicles.  {That concept it just too weird for my brian right now.}  

So I hopped on MarthaStewart {she always has the best 4th desserts} and found this fun strawberry shortcake recipe {follow the link below}.  Not too cold, but still fruity and refreshing - perfect!  I'm going to attempt to do my own gfree version, we'll see how it goes.  If you have a great gfree shortcake recipe you want to pass along, I'd love to have it!

Strawberry Shortcake with Vanilla Whipped Cream

While I'm sad to be away from my family this year, I'm so thankful for all of the wonderful friends who have taken us in and treated us as family.  We're really looking forward to hanging out with all of them.

I'd love to hear what you have planned for the 4th, and would love to know what festive dishes you'll be making/made.

Have a wonderfully happy and safe 4th of July!

{OH!  And a shout out to my beautiful friend Jill - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!  Miss you sweet friend.}

Lots of love {& fireworks}....