4th of July chalkboard fun

1. I hope everyone that celebrated the 4th of July yesterday had a great day and lots of good food! My Chief Culinary Consultant and I made festive use of the chalkboard in our mudroom :)

2. Incidentally, that was probably the most creative thing I’ve done since art class was mandatory in grade school. Now I’m feeling inspired!

3. It’s just not a summer picnic without a pan of strawberry pretzel salad. I’m happy to report that I ate more than may fair share yesterday and I still have some leftovers in the fridge calling my name.

4. I always take my camera out before family gatherings with the intention of taking some nice, candid photos. Inevitably, I never end up picking it up because I’m too busy enjoying the day. Does anyone else’s camera get forgotten?

5. I did, however, play around with some sparkler photographs! I liked this one in particular:

Sparklers!

For those of you curious, I used my 35mm 1.4 lens with these settings: f/1.8, ISO 100, 0.3 sec shutter speed.

6. My BFF leant me her Kindle Paperwhite to test drive before deciding to buy my own. I can’t wait to give it a try! I’ll report back on how I like it.

7. I got my stitches out on Wednesday… hooray! I still need to keep it bandaged for another 7-10 days; hopefully by then it’ll 100% back to normal!

8. I’m definitely in the market for decorating advice; if you are as well, check out these 101 Decorating Secrets from Top Interior Designers.

9. This green smoothie cheat sheet has me inspired to bust out my Vitamix more often, especially after overdosing on picnic food yesterday!

10. TGIF! Who’s ready for play time?!

Source: Amanda Evans Photography

Source: Amanda Evans Photography