Celebrating the Fourth of July

he bun buns, Liberty and London, named after one of my favorite stores in London, might give you a hint of how long ago we took these images! I can’t believe I never shared this Fourth of July party decor inspiration – or if I did, I forgot! I made these raw edge American Flag picnic blankets with fabric I found at SAS Fabrics, a local fabric warehouse, and lined the back with painters cloth. If sewing isn’t your thing, this red white and blue gingham throw blanket is adorable and here’s a flag blanket (another cute one).

I am drizzling a homemade lemon curd on ice cream made by Angela Saban – she and I met when I photographed weddings and she used to be an incredible wedding planner and designer, and a pastry chef! (See this Silverleaf wedding I photographed with her). Sometimes I miss being a wedding photographer because it was so fun to work with the loveliest vendors who became friends and it hardly felt like I was working.

Angela styled a few shoots for me when I was a wedding and portrait photographer (still am but not weddings) so I was thrilled when she came over to help me with a shoot day with my friend Melissa Schollaert. Though this wasn’t a recent shoot, I still remember this day so vividly! I had originally thought I’d have a new home website and keep my lifestyle and photography blog separate. That didn’t work out when I realized it was easier to integrate all my interests together on my blog, this one you are reading now. Sometimes I think we forget that it is normal for all of us to have a variety of interest and facets to us and we can share other parts of us on the same channel without being scared – and look where I am blessed to be now just sharing life and random thoughts on my little slice of the internet after all these years. Thank YOU for being here.

You can serve some cheese and snacks on this bamboo USA cheese board wearing this cute 4th of July apron as you serve some goodies up or BBQ! It’s usually killer hot here in Phoenix but the Fourth of July is on a Saturday which means we can host if we wanted to – I just need a beef hotdog and I’ll be happy! Whatever you are doing to celebrate America, I hope you have so much fun and remember how blessed we are to live in this great country of freedom and conveniences, and living our American dreams.

Photos by Melissa Schollaert. Makeup and hair by Lizzy Marsh. Styled by Angela Saban.

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Diana Elizabeth bought some vintage flag bunts she needs to hang across the new garage, she’s not sure how she’s going to get up on the top of the garage, but she’ll figure it out!