The Weekly Collective: 4th of July & Summer loves.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July weekend! I know I sure did! Due to the holiday weekend I've decided to move my Weekly Collective post to Tuesday this week. And also because I wanted to include the 4th of July in there. :) As most of you know, the weather went from June gloom to summery and warm right along with our transition into July and I couldn't have been more excited! Something about the sun really puts me in my "happy place."  I finally made it out to the beach for the first time this summer, and considering I live only 10 miles away, it's really quite sad. Nonetheless, I made it there, and my mom, little brother and sister and I (and Suki too) had an awesome time just soaking in the sunny day and playing in the sand. Here's a little snapshot of the kiddos and I.

{Josh, Megen and I in Newport Beach}

The fourth was fairly mellow this year since we didn't attend our usual 4th of July bash in Long Beach.  It was nice to have a more intimate celebration with some close couple friends of ours. We went over to our friends' Erik and Drew's new place and bbq'd, hung out by the pool, and ate WAY too much delicious food.  Drew and I concocted some homemade fruit Popsicles with her new Vitamix, (now I'm dying to get my own) and Kaysha made a devilish trifle. Then we went to their rooftop parking garage where we could see fireworks from all over Orange County going off at once. This is a bit embarrassing but, I actually have a tiny fear of fire and fireworks (which I'm slowly getting over thankyouverymuch), so I was happy to watch from a distance this year. :)

{From the top: Our little family (minus Pickle) on the drive over to D&E's place; Drew, Kaysha, and I with our homemade Popsicles; the whole gang posing for an awkward/blurry snapshot taken with my iPhone; Kaysha and John watching the fireworks (Kaysha is probably tweeting, facebooking or something here)}

To finish today's post I'll leave you with four of my favorite current summer obsessions: Brightly colored nail polish (yes, I absolutely love all of Essie's colors), hats for my less than awesome hair days (I seem to be having a lot of those lately), fresh flowers from the farmer's market, and the oh-so-wonderful Tan Towels. A natural looking tan in towelette form, made for people like me who are seriously pale, allergic to the sun, but still prefers not looking like Casper the Friendly Ghost in a bikini. ;)

{Top left image (from left to right): Essie nail colors in Sugar Daddy, Turquoise and Caicos, Sinful Colors in Dream On, and Essie's Lollipop, Chubby Cheeks, and Cute as a Button. Hats from JCrew, Nordstroms, and Tulum Island Boutique; orange daliahs from the UCI Farmer's Market; Tan Towels}

Happy (Taco) Tuesday!!!!