Patriotic Festivities

"It's Independence Dayyyyyy!" (Pleas sing to the tune of the classic Martina McBride song from 1994. That's such a great song, and don't you even try to deny that.) You know what else, it's also my super sweet Granddaddy's birthday today as well. Yes, he shares his birthday every year with our country's birthday as well. And so every year, we get to celebrate a national holiday, and a family birthday as well, so of course it's always lots of fun! 

I for one am super excited about today, and so I wanted to share some about what my day will look like!

First of all, I'm totally splurging on this healthy eating kick, and eating a super delicious meal for dinner tonight, including ribs, baked beans, potato salad, mac and cheese, and some dessert thrown in there as well. And I'm not going to let even one ounce of that deliciousness make me feel guilty.

Found via Google image search

Oh, and that mac and cheese I mentioned earlier, Jeff and I are in charge of bringing that, so I've scoured my "Pasta is my Favorite" board on Pinterest for the past week, in search of the yummiest recipe. And I think I've found the winner folks. We're going to be using cheddar, jack and mozzarella cheeses, and adding fresh crumbled bacon on top. Hello?! Who wouldn't eat that yummy, cheesy goodness?!

From the recipe post on White on Rice Couple blog

Moving on from food now, I will be rocking as much red, white and blue from head to toe as I can possibly manage - as long as that doesn't include my blue and white umbrella in all this nasty, thunderstormy weather. Come on Florida, get it together. I have some ideas in my head of outfits I can wear, but those are my backups. But first, Jeff and I are gonna hit up Old Navy to see if we can find something matchy-matchy to wear, and just be that sickeningly cute couple :) Now, I don't think it'll be quite like the picture below, but who knows? If we find it on sale, maybe...

Found via Google image search

In addition to my sporty red, white and blue outfit I'm sure I'll be wearing, y'all know I'm also gonna be rockin' some festive and patriotic nails as well. I actually already painted them two nights ago, but I don't have a picture right now, so I'll just wait for Mani Monday to share them with y'all. In the meantime though, here's a picture of some awesome nails, I only wish I had the talent to paint free-hand!

Photo found on the Pams & Kin Facebook page

Now what I'd like to be doing tomorrow afternoon before dinner is laying on the sand, with the sun shining bright in the beautiful blue sky, getting my tan on. But noooo, the weather in Florida has to be rainy and crappy all week long, so the chances of my preferred scenario happening are pretty slim right now. However, if I had it my way, this looks like the perfect spot to hang out on the 4th of July...All I would need is a bottle of sunscreen, a cooler of snacks and drinks, and a book to keep me company. And I guess my fiance would be a good addition too ;)

Photo found via Google image search

Oh sorry, I gotta jump back to food for a bit. Since my whole family (of 12) is eating together, we're doing it potluck style and each contributing, thus why we're in charge of the mac and cheese. So my mom is bringing some dessert for us, but she's keeping it a surprise and won't tell us what it is. We know it's festive in some way, but that's about it. Oh, and she said she's sure it'll end up tasting good, but she's not sure how it will end up looking, so who knows what she has up her sleeve. I'd love to see her attempt something as pretty and Pinteresty as this, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see...!

Photo found via Google image search

And of course at the end of the night, after gorging ourselves on some yummy food, and maybe playing a game, and definitely sitting around having weird, random, hilarious conversations, eventually there will be fireworks. Now, I don't actually know if we're doing them ourselves, or if we're going somewhere to watch them, but either way, they'll definitely be happening. And if they can look even a little bit like the ones below, I'll be a happy girl.

Photo found via Google image search

I'm so grateful and thankful for this country I was blessed to live in. I hope you guys know how lucky we truly are here in America! I hope y'all have a great 4th of July celebration today (and throughout the weekend too probably), and that you enjoy your time with family and friends! Happy Independence Day, and Happy Birthday America, and another Happy Birthday to my Granddaddy!