Inspiration for a stay-at-home Fourth of July

Over the last few years, the Kirk and Thomas families have developed a tradition of attending our town’s Fourth of July parade together. It’s pretty much guaranteed to be outrageously hot and charmingly old-fashioned :) This year, of course, the parade is cancelled, but Lisa came up with the idea to make a bit of our own Fourth fun – and I was immediately on board!

Whether you’ll be celebrating at home alone this weekend or socially-distanced with another family, we hope these ideas inspire you to have a little fun and get a little fancy! After months of leggings and jean shorts, it felt wonderful to wear a dress while toasting to silver linings, friendship, and our magnificent country.

A little background: you may recall that Lisa and I spent several years together criss-crossing the South creating editorial photo shoots for Southern Weddings. Though this most recent collaboration was hardly a professional production, we had fun brainstorming over Zoom and then bringing our ideas to life! And though our details were far more casual than our wedding days, we were very lucky to have professional photography on hand to capture them – thank you, Christen, for coming out to snap a few photos!! They turned out beautifully!

Even if it’s just your family around the table on Saturday, here is your permission to break out your favorite tablecloth, pour a cocktail, and try something new for dinner.

About the food: though I love a good modern spin on a charcuterie board (always and forever inspired by my friend Kayte!), we wanted to style an option that might feel more comfortable in the age of COVID. Instead of everyone sharing from a central platter, we made individual “boards,” complete with tomato, watermelon, and feta salad, cheese and crackers, summer fruit, spiced almonds, and pigs in a blanket (in honor of everyone’s cook-out favorite!).

Lisa mixed up a delicious drink with prosecco, simple syrup, raspberries, and mint to go alongside – you can find the recipe here!

Though your kids would probably be totally into the charcuterie situation (ours were), we also thought it would be fun to give them their own little spot…

Yes, Shep had eyes on Christen at all times, ha!

Super simple: I brought our kiddie-size table outside and added melamine plates, paper napkins, plastic silverware, and a fancy drink (lemonade with added blueberries!).

For dinner, we went with – wait for it – pizza with pepperoni stars :) It turned out so cute and was SO easy – just cut out the pepperoni with a cookie cutter and pop it on top of a cheese pizza!

For dessert, Lisa made blueberry hand pies and individual berry trifles. June made the sweetest sweets model :)

Gosh, seeing these photos just makes me even more grateful for an outdoor space to call our own, for beloved friends, for reasons to celebrate, for my sweet family, and for the freedom to enjoy it all. In the midst of our communal work to make this country truly a land of equal opportunity, I hope you take a few minutes this weekend to be thankful for all that we already have. I know I will.

Thank you again to Christen Smith for these beautiful photos and to Lisa for asking me to collaborate – be sure to check out her post today, too!

Friends, though I’m curious to hear how you’re spending the Fourth (and please feel free to let me know!), today I’d really love to hear something you love about America in the comments. It can be anything! After all, if we are to work to make this country better, we have to believe that there’s something good at root to build from. I’m eager to hear your thoughts, as always. xo

Block print tablecloth | Patio table and chairs | Blue centerpiece glasses | Floral melamine plates | Mini American flags | Blue taper candles | Similar scalloped napkins (Lisa’s were from Target last Christmas!) | Bamboo flatware | Champagne coupes | Red dot napkins | Similar star garland (mine was from West Elm last Christmas!) | My dress (on super sale!) | Affiliate links are used in this post!