Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Fourth of July with the Dressy Jersey Strapless Dress

Hope you all had a safe and festive July 4th weekend! We are finally home…at least until August. Kids start camp next week. Life is getting back to semi-normal.

So let me tell you about the 4th at the River – I love small town holidays. We have 2 parades that we go to every year – at Lewisetta and in Reedville. This year they were on the same day since the 4th was a Saturday.

Here’s what is so fun about the 4th at the River:

Small town parades, which are so fun. We went to one in the morning and one in the afternoon. M & E rode in the earlier one in a decorated golf cart with some neighbors. E was a little worried that she would miss out on collecting candy, so when they drove by, she caught my attentions, mouthed “Mom, get this,” and tossed a huge handful of candy right at me. Such a giver. Lucy even dressed up…or rather, we decked her in some random patriotic sparkliness that we found in the kids’ drawer at my parents’ house. Good dog, Lucy! My mom didn’t even realize we were bringing her to the 1st parade, or she would have come up something even more festive. There’s always next year… While the kids were in the parade, the grownups hung out and had Bloody Marys. Great way to start the holiday (festively red, too, natch).

I wore my dressy jersey strapless dress in navy with the gold Havaianas and a white floppy hat. Perfect dress for the sunny, summer weather. Easy, cool, no bra-wear required. And to accessorize…several strands of last year’s patriotic Mardi Gras beads. (I think I might be wearing about half of what we got at the afternoon parade.) It was such a fun day. Such Americana. I love it. Below is the pic from the afternoon parade, which we watched from the front yard of a friend of my parents'. She had people over for lunch and a swim in the pool before the parade. Those plastic bags by my left arm are chock full of candy...which came home with us. Almost as much as Halloween. Fortunately, July is too hot to dole out chocolate, so there is hope that I won't actually eat all of it.


And then we roasted s’mores and watched fireworks on the dock and later the deck that night. Perfect way to end the evening.

And Lucy is becoming a good dock dog.




Here’s what’s not so fun about the 4th at the River:

Men in skirts shooting off muskets and pistols into the river with, we think, just black powder. I wish I could comment more...but I'll let you all do that.


Eh, enough about that. Blog note – I am still figuring out my new laptop which has Windows Vista. Any opinions? Especially on handling pictures? I am downloading from the card via Windows Live Photo Gallery and then manipulating in PictureProject. And I don't have PhotoShop. But there's got to be an easier way, right?

22 comments:

prince snow farm said...

A belated Happy Fourth. We've missed you. You are so faithful about protecting your skin...and it shows. Looks like you had a fun time.

GingerSnap said...

It looks like you had a wonderful 4th of July and you couldn't look cuter!

Sonya said...

I love your parade outfit, so cute! And Lucy is growing ever-more adorable! I have Vista on my machine, too (grr). When I'm uploading pix, I let Windows do its thing, then do my cropping, etc., with Picasa--and from Picasa, you can upload directly to your blog...don't know if that helps!

AppGal said...

You look so cool and comfortable! I adore that dress on you, esp. with the hat. My small town had a parade as well. It's nothing spectacular but it's such a neat opportunity to experience where you live and socialize with others.

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a great 4th! Such a comfy dress!

LRA said...

Love your recap on the fourth. I also love small town parades. We went to our parade and it was so cute! Perfect for my little boy. And you know what else made it perfect? The strapless dressy jersey dress!! I wore mine all weekend. Perfection!! It looks fabulous on you!!

Slastena said...

I have tried that dress in store and wish it would look a tenth as cute on me as it does on you! Totally stunning!

Petunia said...

That dress looks great on you! Glad you had a fun weekend!
I don't have Windows Vista, but didn't your camera come with a picture wizard CD that you can download onto your laptop? When I used to use Windows I'd download my pics directly into whatever software came with my camera. Sometimes you can go to the camera maker's website (Canon, etc) and get the download there.

snaphappy said...

Welcome back!

There is a photoshop express online -- I think it's free -- that you can use to edit, store, etc. your photos:

https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html

Even though I have the full photoshop, I'm a huge fan of Photoshop Elements -- you can get it fairly inexpensively at Costco.

Zoë Moët said...

It sounds like it was a great time. I agree that small town holidays are the best...there's just so much community involvement and togetherness :)

A said...

A belated happy 4th Heidi! Looks like you had a wonderful weekend. Lucy is adorable. BTW, you inspired me to order 2 of those strapless dresses since they're so well priced now. :)

dinagideon said...

GAWD...I cannot get over how great you look in the jersey strapless dress. Phew!

I love that you spend so much time at the river with your parents. I love close family units...just so wonderful and awesome to see.

We'll talk soon!

Patina said...

you're wearing the perfect 4th of july outfit. i love the strapless jersey dress on you. after wearing my sanur dress and nearly escaping an embarrasing "wardrobe malfunction" on 2 ocassions, I wish mine had strapes :((. I am a fan of picasa. it's easy to use and you can wartermark your photos also.

Summerilla said...

Sounds like you had a great 4th of July!! The parades sound like so much fun, I wish we had one. You look fabulous in that dress and Lucy is so adorable!

3-Penny Princess said...

Sorry I'm just catching up! I'm glad you enjoyed your 4th! I love small town parade days too. We used to go to Solomons for Memorial/Labor/4th of July and I miss that.

I love that dress on you! It was definitely made for you, And the hat plus all the beads is just perfect for the mood.

Unknown said...

You look so comfortable. Small town parades are great.

HeidiG said...

monogramgirl - thank you! I do try to be good about the sun protection but fully realize I'm not perfect. It was a lot of fun!

GingerSnap - thank you!

Lady Buttons - I will try out uploading to Picasa (grrr, one more thing to figure out, but I guess I am capable of some learnin')

AppGal - I do love small town parades. It is such a great social outing.

Lissa - thank you! (way comfy!)

mrs.anketell - you are so right about them being perfect for the kids - way better than the madhouse we have on the Mall in DC. So glad you enjoyed your dress for the 4th too!!

Slastena - thank you! But I am surprised because I would think it would be way cute with your baby bumpage.

Petunia - thank you! and thanks for the suggestion - that's the way I used to download on my old operating system but for some reason it's not working right in Vista. Blech. I guess I need to do some more research - or make hubby do it.

snaphappy - thanks for the suggestion, I will check it out. See you at the pool tomorrow or Fri?

Zoe Moet - community is a great word for it!

A Bigger Closet - hope you love the dresses - they will be so fab on you, esp with your height!

HeidiG said...

Dina - thank you! (blush) That's my favorite part of the river - not just the view or the water, but the family. It's funny...as many memories as I have of going to the lake growing up, I have even more of the river because my parents bought it when M was 3 months old, so the kids have been going all their lives. I remember when it was just 1 story and we would bathe them in the kitchen sink. At age 4, M was still sitting in the kitchen sink for the bath - he loved to hang out there!

Patina - ooh, malfunctions, not good. That was my concern with the Sanur, and if this dress did not have the strap, I would not have gotten it. Did you try toupee/fashion tape? And I think I will be exploring Picasa tomorrow.

Summerilla - thank you! Lucy did have a great time, too.

3-PP - thank you! I bet Solomons was fantastic for the holidays!

Gigi - Ah yes, that's the key - I was oh-so-comfy!

Kathy said...

You looked so nice in this outfit! What a wonderful day you had!

Anonymous said...

That is such a cute picture of you! I have had that dress in and out of my shopping bag so many times! I'm glad you had a happy fourth!! Small town fourth of July celebrations are the best!
No advice on Vista as I use a Mac, but good luck!

post-fab princess said...

Pretty as a picture!!! Lucy is to darn cute.

Instead of Photoshop I sometimes I use the photo editor that comes with the Office suite. Does Vista have that?

HeidiG said...

Kathy & Stephanie - thank you!

PFP - thank you! And I *finally* sat down to figure out the editing on Vista - we save our photos as raw files, so you have to "make a copy" before you can "fix" them. Ugh. but now I can start blogging regularly again...tomorrow morning, 'cause I'm going to bed now!