2 reasons why i love the 4th of july

It's been a mad mad month here. Two big blog parties, graduation, visiting family and a number of family holidays. All in one short month! The dust is starting to settle and now I'm ready to look forward to the next  adventure.

First I have to say how very very much I enjoyed participating in my first big blog parties. I had sooo much fun. From planning them, putting them together and finally sharing them with everyone. And the best part was being able to see what others have done and meeting so many wonderful, talented and amazing people. There is so much awesome creativity out there it truly makes me giddy! And so much goodness and kindness from everyone who had such nice things to say. I only regret that I didn't discover this world earlier. But I think things happen they way they're suppose to so this is how it's  meant to be.

Today the temperature here reached 101 which is not so unusual this time. Still I'm not known to have a fondness for the heat so it takes lots of effort for me to deal with it. Lots of ice water and staying indoors as much as possible.

One of the reasons I love the 4th of July is probably the same reason everyone else does. Fireworks, parades, great summer food, love for family, pride for this country and just seeing everything bathed in red, white and blue.

We live next to a great park where there used to be a fireworks show every year. We would camp out on our front lawn and watch everything with our neighbors. People actually offered to pay us to park in our driveway but we always had friends that got there first. Sadly the event got too big for our little neighborhood, it got too expensive for the city and 2 years ago they decided to stop having it. We still have a fun neighborhood parade in the morning which is where I'll be next weekend.

The other reason I love the 4th is because whenever the 4th of July merchandise starts hitting Michaels all the Fall and Halloween stuff starts to show up  too. And for me Fall and Halloween can never come too early. Even when it's 101 outside! I snapped these pics a few days ago at Michaels. My son and I literally start to salivate when we get our first glimpse of orange and black. Now I'm not a fan of the gory slasher side of Halloween. More the vintage, fantasy ghostly, witchy and eerie. More Martha Stewart with an edge.

This year I'm even more excited since I've discovered this thing called blogging. I can't wait to see all the great autumn happenings and hopefully join in on another party or two. Heck maybe I  might even come up with one of my own!

For now I'm going to focus on doing more of my collage art. I've also discovered inchies and twinchies! Mini art pieces to swap or share. I have a little Mad Tea Party after party planned so I can properly choose a winner for my giveaway and seeing that July is just days away I have a few paper dresses to finish up too.

I think it's cooled down just a bit right now. Ha! It's 99 instead of 101!