Happy Fourth of July

Happy 4th of July from the cottage! We (I, mother) like to celebrate by gathering family and friends together, cooking out, decking out the table and hanging our flags.  Tomorrow, I will set the outdoor dinner table with blue glass dishes gathered from garage sales and big box stores, and will lay out my few red, white and blue vintage table cloths (most of my other vintage table clothes are flowered and pink, you will undoubtedly being seeing those at a later date).  Cottage guy (husband, father) will be grilling chicken and ribs, I will be baking Barefoot Contessa's Outrageous Brownies. Here are a few shots of our pre-holiday festivities!

Backyard flags flying.

One of the few flags I have hanging on my star-filled fence. 

My collection of vintage flag stamps that I like to use for collage or mail art. 

Every 4th of July needs sparklers!

I looooooove pink Geraniums. I often stick flags in my potted plants for an extra splash of color.

One of our favorite places to go for sweet treats is Kilwin's in Charlevoix. These are Oreo cookies dipped in chocolate and covered in red, white and blue sprinkles. Don't they look yummy?

More yummy treats. Fudge cones! Wouldn't all your little people like these?

It is always fun to craft your own folk-arty items, this was an old, wooden flag I had from many years ago that faded and had pieces missing. I filled in the missing pieces in true folk art tradition with what I had on hand - a piece of drift wood. I repainted the flag, gave a white wash to one of my rusty stars and now it's a focal point for this year's holiday celebration!

Ta-da! The finished product! Let the celebration begin!

So. The Fourth of July is a holiday near and dear to my dear mother's heart for unknown reasons. I've asked her to explain and she cannot. Flags, Americana and the Founding Fathers just seem to speak to her. But we all have unexplained things we are drawn to. I happen to have an affinity for all things army green and camo(uflage).  I'm currently coveting an oversized camo clutch with gold studs from J.Crew.  Why? Who knows. It looks silly tucked under my arm but I love it anyway. The Fourth of July belongs to my mother, although in her case it suits her as she decorates for and celebrates it beautifully. But friends, this week...I struggled. I struggled with storefronts, glass reflections, lighting and unhappy Chinatown shop owners. It became evident to me this week that I do not have the same flair for the Fourth as mom. I found little inspiration this week and came away with even less images. But, I tried. I tried for my mom and for America. Below are my efforts. Please don't stop reading our blog because of them.  

A plain white box! Just kidding. That's not it. What's inside is more exciting. The box happens to come from a bakery called Eleni's in Chelsea Market that sells adorable holiday-themed cookies and cakes. At Thanksgiving I got a turkey cookie. And an acorn. 

Wa-la! Star-spangled cookies on lucite cake plates! This is technically inside the bakery and not inside the box, but whatever. I told you it was better.

Now it's American flags on lucite cake plates! Ah!

 More.

Oooookay. As promised we're getting to the inside of the box. In my opinion these are more of display cookies than devouring cookies but devour I did. They were still mighty tasty.

Good God, I took a lot of these photos.

I did manage to snap one or two photos of non-food related items. This is the window front of a cool kids' toys shop in Nolita called Lilli's. I spied it on my way to work. 

The windows at Catherine Malandrino's space in the Meatpacking District. I would very much like to own the dress on the right. It's gorgeous, and I'm curious as to how many people would ask if I'm wearing a silk tablecloth. 

Skyscrapers, American flags and traffic signs - things there are no shortage of in NY. Happy Fourth!