fixins for the fourth

we are in prime party mode at our house, 

gearing up for the fourth of july!

the local fireworks are actually on friday, july 2, 

so the festivities are starting early this year.

we live in a neighborhood full of young families, and luckily, can see the fireworks from our lawn...so most people end up at our house for the show.

i'm planning a little snack and beverage station for friday night

there's also a little fair going on in town that we will go too

and saturday afternoon muffy has invited all the 

neighborhood girlies to a water party where we will have

the dora sprinkler

the double slip and slide 

and the pool 

i found some really cute recipes in this month's 

food network magazine that i'm going to try out

a twist on the "flag" blueberry/strawberry cake

and a new, fun cranberry cocktail

(the sugared rim is actually pop rocks!)

and what to wear?

well, (this should be no surprise) 

muffy and i do not have a lot of red, white and blue in our wardrobes

however, i did recently get this sweater from llbean

(thanks for the tip mFw aka prissy and preppy flamingo)

and this cute little tunic is from gymboree

this is my little sparkler from last year

(see? not a lot of red, white and blue!)

what's on your agenda this weekend?

new snack delight

have you ever tried 

pepperidge farm's petite twists?

oh my! what a little crunchy twist of heaven!

it's as if two of my favorite foods had a baby...

it's one part flaky, 

buttery croissant

with the perfectly cooked, slightly gooey goodness of a 

cinnamon snickerdoodle cookie

(my mother made me dozens of these growing up...they were one of my favorite after-school snacks, and when i was on maternity leave!)

you must give these little twists a try!

the graduate

my little pooh bear graduated pre-school on friday!

of course she opted for the pink gown

 and what did she wear underneath?

a lilly of course! 

(yes, we're both wearing the lilly marzipan fruit-patterned dress!)

and do you know what was on her graduation wish list?
another lilly!

(this girl is developing an addiction!)

here are a few pictures from graduation last year
(let's hope there's not another one till 2023...
wow, that seems scary, but that is the high school graduation year!)

(i was going for a beachy-curly hair look)

coffee talk

how do you start your morning?

i am not fully awake until i have a cup of coffee!

but lately, i've become an ice coffee girl
(it's been steamy in the northeast!)

there are two very distinct tastes in coffee

(in the boston-area at least...enough to start a fight!)

what type of coffee drinker are you?

i actually like both of these brands

for a hazelnut or coconut
with cream and a sweet and low

or

for a coffee frappaccino

both are so refreshing and enough to keep me awake all day!

pink and green thursday...good morning

is there a better way to start the day than in pink and green?

especially on pink and green thursday?

let's begin by...

waking in soft cotton
pink and green lilly jammies, then...

wander into the beachy kitchen

and start the day with a tropical smoothie

(if only this were the life, right?!)

join in the fun with trish over at
pinkpreppylillylover.blogspot.com

and have a fabulous pink and green thursday!

way-back wednesday...royal weddings

so much royal love news as of late!

i am loving all the beautiful photos of 

sweeden's princess victoria's weekend wedding to daniel westling

this morning's announcement of 

monaco's prince albert's engagement to charlene wittstock

and the soon-to-be-announced engagement of 

prince william and kate middleton

i am quite the royal watcher, and who doesn't love 

an all-frills, fairy tale wedding in a castle?

with that, i pay homage to the late, great 

princess diana...

how lovely she was! 

as a bride and throughout her lifetime. 

i remember watching her wedding as a little girl

(and years later, sadly, her funeral)

rest in peace, dear princess, 

you set the standard for modern-day royal weddings

loving the preppy bargains

don't you just love a bargain?

that's the slogan of a great little 

new england-based bargain store, the Christmas Tree Shops

and i just got their latest flyer with these great preppy finds!

 hmmmm, there is a store near work 

that i could go to at lunchtime 

or there is one on my way home. which one to go to first?

it's lilly day

how exciting for us lilly lovers that it's 

national wear your lilly day!

i'm proudly wearing mine

(scoop neck navy tee and pink and green floral print pleated skirt -- sorry no photo!)

what are you wearing?

muffy and i love to coordinate our own lilly-wearing days any time, 

so i thought i'd post some of our favorite outfits, 

(even if it IS a bit self indulgent!)

may all your days be lilly-filled!

daddy's girl

doesn't this just say it all?

in honor of my daddy, whom i affectionately call DAD-O,

i wish him and all the daddies a very happy father's day!

i am very fortunate to be celebrating this father's day with my dad, 

who graciously drove up from tennessee 

to help spruce up a few of our rooms with a fresh coat of paint! 

he loves little projects like this now that he's retired!

we even took a day off this week to go into boston, 

walk along the waterfront and eat some fresh lobstah!

dad-o and me, october 1975

my father always played dolls with me as a child, 

and even when it came time for me to pack 

the baby dolls and barbie's away, 

dad-o was right next to me, shedding a few tears.

muffy and her pampa, december 2009

he now plays with muffy, and loves that he has another little girl in his life!

then there's muffy's daddy, mr prep

muffy and mr prep in disney, april 2007

 

mr prep became a stay-at-home dad after she was born, and began his own business from our dining room.

muffy and mr prep in nyc, december 2009

she is super close to her daddy, 

so, happy father's day to you, mr prep!