happy fourth!

Happy 4th of July! Nick and I are enjoying a long relaxing Bay Area weekend, with several days spent at my parents' pool, escaping the heat! We spent our first 4th of July at home since we've been married, rather than traveling to the mountains.
Our morning began with some time spent in the kitchen, preparing for back-to-back afternoon barbecues. Like any good team, we divided and conquered; Nick preparing a tasty drink for one event while I made a festive fruit salad for the other.
Nick followed this Real Simple recipe for Thyme and Lime Lemonade, spiked with just enough vodka to provide a cool, refreshing treat.

In my never-ending quest to emulate Martha, I put together a star-spangled red, white, and blue fruit salad. My favorite part was using a simple star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out watermelon stars. Don't worry, I wasn't a watermelon waster. All the extra non-star watermelon got put into a separate bowl for Nick and I to eat this coming week.

After that I simply added whole blueberries and hulled and halved strawberries to the salad.

I had originally purchased white cherries from our local farmer's market to add to the salad (to complete the red,white, and blue theme) but when I put them in, they read a bit too yellow for my liking, so I took them back out. (Neurotic? Moi? Never!)

As always, our Fourth tends to center around food and fireworks. Now that we've eaten our fill, we back home and planning to finish the night with a movie and catching the city's fireworks show from our rooftop. I hope that wherever you may be, you are having a happy and safe Fourth of July!