Happy 4th of July friends! Man, I gotta tell ya. There is NOTHING like experiencing the fourth of July in New England! As a Social Studies (particularly a Government) teacher, I get especially geeky about how historical everything is in this area.  I shot these photos of my patriotic outfit after we celebrated “Freedom Sabbath” and decked out our local church in red, white and blue! Everyone dressed up in their own patriotic colors and we celebrated the freedom we have in Christ, along with the freedom we have to worship. What’s crazy awesome is that my church is over 300 years old and Sam Ward (Governor of Rhode Island, delegate to the Continental Congress, and one of the founders of Brown University) was a member of our Congregation! He died of smallpox during the Continental Congress, only three months before the Declaration of Independence was signed. Be still my little historical heart!

As I said in this post, I adore the 4th of July. Some of it could be because I grew up in the Midwest where we celebrated our freedom as a community (with fireworks!) and a lot of it probably (yes, definitely) has to do with being a Government teacher for ten years. Even though I’m no longer teaching government, there will always be something special for me about red, white and blue!

In recent years, patriotism in our country has suffered. I’m not here to lecture on this or to excuse our country for the things we’ve done that are wrong, but there is something to be said for our having freedom as a foundational principle. We have our issues with freedom at home, for sure, but I taught Comparative Government. We studied places where bloggers were blacklisted, journalists murdered, and people jailed or murdered for practicing their own religious beliefs. Call me old-fashioned, but I am thankful that freedom is “in our blood” as a country and true patriots will love their country enough to fight to keep it that way. I’m a patriot (don’t worry Seattleites, not that kind of Patriot!) and so on the 4th of July I don’t just celebrate being able to barbecue in the backyard (though I do love that…) but the kind of country that is willing to stand up against tyranny today as in 1776, at home as we have done abroad.

The photo of the canon above was taken across the street from our house. Our whole town decks out for the 4th of July, with bunting on every public building and the streets downtown lined with flags. Last week, we had a Summer Pops Concert in our local park and at the end, when the orchestra played the National Anthem, the entire place (over 1,000 people) stood and sang the national anthem together. It was moving. Patriotism is not dead in New England and I’m proud to be part of this kind of community!

Enjoy your holiday with family and friends, experiencing the freedom we have to do so! Most of the items I’m wearing in this patriotic outfit are from previous seasons, but they are classics to have in any closet and some of you may even have versions of these already. If you’re still trying to think of a patriotic outfit to wear tomorrow, pull out a blue top and some white shorts or skinny jeans. Then, grab some patriotic ribbon and use that as the finishing touch! That’s what I did! My trick to tying in more of a color (in this case, red) to an outfit is to wear it as a lipstick and add a ribbon to your hair! Try it!

Happy 4th of July! Thanks for visiting! (Check out this post or this post if you need more outfit inspiration!)

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Get this Patriotic Outfit Look:

• Blue Lace Peplum Top, Forever 21 (0ld). Similar | Similar | Similar
• White Skinny Ankle Jeans, LOFT (old). Same Brand | Similar under $50
• Red Ankle Pumps, DSW (old). Almost Exact | Very Similar
• Ribbon as headband, Walmart.
• Crystal Statement Necklace, Shinymix.com (old). 40% off at Shinymix through the 4th with code: July4
• Ray Ban Original Aviators, Rewards Points! (also here)
• Stila’s All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso, Sephora.
• Corley Earrings, c/o Kenda Scott. Also here.
• Baublebar Ice Lateral Ring, Baublebar (old).
• Rachel Double Ring, c/o Kendra Scott (old). Similar.
• Michael Kors Two-Tone Darci Watch, Areatrends.com. Also here

 

Linking up with: More Pieces of Me| Lady in Violet | Style Elixir | Sandy a la Mode | Cute and Little | I Do deClaire | Walking in Memphis in High Heels | Fashion Canvas | Visions of Vogue| Pumps and Pushups| Straight A Style | On the Daily Express| J Petite| Doused in Pink  | Curly Crafty Mom | Elegance and Mommyhood| Lizzie in Lace