Whether you’re in the mood to celebrate America’s Independence Day or just the fact that you’re (hopefully) getting a day off, here are some fun, festive ideas, photos, and links to get you in the mood – From too cute for words patriotic pieces to creative recipes that are as pretty as they are delicious

I don’t know about you, but I’ve basically been
addicted to cherries all summer. So #1 on my 4th of July list of must have’s is going to be a cherry pie! Women’s Healthy shares their easy cherry pie recipe from
Top Chef Just Desserts winner Chris Hanmer
here. He even uses almond flour so if you substitute the puff pastry for a gluten-free version or alternative, the pie will be gluten-free!
Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean you need to throw your healthy eating lifestyle out the window. Why not indulge in heavenly but healthy holiday fare? FitSugar’s
Healthy Red, White, and Blue Recipes to Salute the Fourth includes everything from fancy blueberry pancake breakfasts to gourmet beet & goat cheese salads for lunch to rich lemon berry trifles for dessert. And best of all? These are all healthier versions!
WhoWhatWear rounded up all the best star & striped adorned looks from celebrities to celebrate – Check out their
Fashion Scene: Stars And Stripes for some fabulous inspiration.
Rather than load up on once-a-year decorations for your house or apartment that you’ll only break out on the 4th of July, why not invest in some beautiful, well-made red, white & blue home decor pieces that you can keep our year around? Apartment Therapy is here to help with their piece –
Not Just for the 4th: Red, White & Blue Goods You’ll Use Year-Round.
Will the 4th mean grilling for you and your family or friends? Check out these healthy burger recipes and plan for a delicious but not overly indulgent holiday –
Guilt-Free Burger Recipes.
And in not so shocking news,
stripes are my favorite part about dressing for the 4th of July! 🙂 But I am a
fan of stars as well so check out the festive pieces below that I put together to celebrate the holiday.
Or you could create an easy DIY crown to wear for the day – fairy princess style! 🙂 If you’ve got a garden or can pick up some fresh blooms try WhoWhatWear’s
Beauty DIY: Floral Crown.
And what treat will I be making for myself for this mid-week holiday? Since I have tomorrow off I’ll be trying out Gena from
Choosing Raw‘s unbelievable looking new recipe for
Blueberry Ginger Ice Cream. Raw, vegan, amazing. I’m so excited I might not be able to wait until Wednesday night and might just try adding a splash of protein powder and calling it breakfast! 🙂
Want another idea for an all-American tasty treat? Try FitSugar’s Vegan Apple Pie Milkshake to get in the mood originally from
Spork Foods. This dairy-free milkshakes looks like the perfect 4th of July treat!
Have yourselves a fabulous Fourth of July – enjoy the food, sunshine, and festivities!
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July 3, 2012 | Categories: Fashion, Fitness, Food | Tags: 10 Day Style Challenge, 4th of July, 4th of july recipes, All-American, All-American Fashion, All-American Style, almond flour, American fashion, American Flag, American Street Style, and Blue Recipes to Salute the Fourth, Apartment decor, Apartment Therapy, Apple Pie, Apple pie treat, Asos Fashion Finder, Asos.com, Beauty DIY, Beauty DIY: Floral Crown, Beauty Do It Yourself, beet & goat cheese salad, Blueberry Ginger Ice Cream, blueberry pancakes, Boys, Celebrity fashion, Cherries, Cherry Galette with Lemon Zest, cherry pie, Choosing Raw, Chris Hanmer, Cindy Crawford, D&G Stars, Decor, DIY, Do It Yourself, Dolce & Gabbana, Dsquared Spring 2012, Dsquared², easy cherry pie, Erin Wasson, fairy princess, Fashion, Fashion Challenge, Festive home decore, Fitness, FitSugar, Flag, flag bikini, flag dress, Flag-print dress, Floral crown, Flower crown, Food, Forth of July, Freckles In April, fresh produce, Gena Hamshaw, gluten free pie, Gluten-free, gluten-free recipe, guilt free burger recipes, healthy 4th of july recipes, healthy burgers, healthy dish, healthy grill recipes, healthy grilling, healthy holiday fare, healthy recipes, Healthy Red, Here's How To Get Stylishly Star-Spangled For The Fourth, holiday recipes, Home dec, If You Like Stripes & You Know It Clap Your Hands, Independence Day, inspiration, Karlie Kloss, Katie Holmes, LA bloogger, lemon berry trifles, Lily Aldridge, Lindsey Wixson, Menswear, Model fashion, Model Street, Modelinia, Models, motivation, Not Just for the 4th: Red, patriotic, patriotic advertisments, Patriotic American Fashion, Patriotic Beachware, Patriotic Bikini, patriotic editorials, Patriotic fashion, Patriotic food, patriotic style, Patriotism, Rachel Bilson, raw ice cream, raw protein powder, raw recipes, Red White & Blue, red white & blue food, Rihanna, Sarah Jessica Parker, Self, Self Magazine, Self.com, Shop the Look, Spork Foods, Star scarf, Star Spangled, stars, stars & Stripes, Stars and Stripes, Striped dresses, Striped top, Stripes, summer produce, Sun Warrior Protein Powder, Top Chef Just Desserts, Vegan Apple Pie Milkshake, vegan blog, Vegan blogger, vegan ice cream, vegan milkshake, vegan protein powder, Vegan recipes, veganism, Victoria's Secret models, White, White & Blue Goods You'll Use Year-Round, WhoWhatWear, Women's Health, Women's Health Magazine, YumSugar, Zoe Saldana | Leave a comment
Happy – it’s almost the end of the week – Thursday! To celebrate I’d like to share some of my recent looks so that I can show how hard I’m working to meet my June fashion goals.
I have to confess, one of my favorite parts about having a stand-up desk at work is that I can wear pleated skirts to the office without having to worry about the pleats getting squished by sitting on them all day!
It’s the little things in life. 🙂





Skirt – Vince Camuto from Bloomingdale’s, Wide-strap tank – Zara, Cardigan – H&M, Mary Jane’s – Merona from Target, Rings – JewelMint, Vintage & Juicy Couture, and Watch – Vintage
You can HYPE this look on Lookbook.nu or shop similar pieces on ASOS Style Finder or by clicking the hyperlinks in the outfit breakdown above.
When I saw this skirt I knew that it was going to be mine, I loved both the stripes and the pleats. It’s also a fun length, almost like a cheerleader skirt (which I’ve never worn.,I swear). This whole look was inspired by the brightly colored, stripe-filled Jason Wu for Target Collection. And my love of stripes, of course.

Source
I also recently made my first peplum attempt of the season. I’ve seen so many cute variations of this trend lately – from simple peplum tops to fun & wild peplum dresses – and I wanted to give it a try as well.

Source
Liz from Late Afternoon has a fabulous and one-of-a-kind style, she frequently appears in my Looks of the Week posts, and I took her peplum outfit above as the inspiration for the look that I put together below.





Floral Dress – Vintage from Belle Cose, Peplum top – Zara, Patent (faux) Leather Oxford Booties – Wild Diva, Necklace – Express, Rings – JewelMint, Vintage & Juicy Couture, and Bracelets – JewelMint & Forever 21
In these photos is doesn’t appear that my body type is ideal for the peplum trend, but I decided that it was just the silhouette of the dress I’d chosen to wear under the peplum top. Besides, as far as I’m concerned the highlight of this look is the jewelry anyway. The finger-length floral ring is a recent acquisition from JewelMint and I’m madly madly in love.
Peplum Attempt Take II




Peplum Top – Zara, Pencil Skirt – Zara, Black & White Jacket – Zara, Round Toe Pumps – Very Volatile, Tweed Handbag – Kate Spade, Necklace – Asos, and Rings & Bracelets – JewelMint, Vintage, Forever 21 & BCBG
You can HYPE these looks on Lookbook.nu or shop similar pieces on ASOS Style Finder or by clicking the hyperlinks in the outfit breakdown above.
“I’m a Zara girl, in a Zara world…” I was definitely singing Barbie Girl in my head all morning. 🙂 The pencil skirt did a much better job of complementing the volume of the peplum top than the floral dress that I chose the first day. I’m glad that I gave this another try and didn’t give up after the first attempt was a disappointment!
What do you guys think? Are you willing to try interesting new trends each season? Or do you prefer to stick to your tried-and-true personal style?
A special thank you to my friend Liz for her help with these pictures, I’m an awful subject because I’m so uncomfortable in front of the camera, and I appreciate her never-ending patience with me!
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June 14, 2012 | Categories: Fashion, MCLV Style | Tags: 2012 Campaigns, 2013 Resort Collections, 50's inspired, 50's silhouette, 50's style, a little peplum does the trick, Asos, Asos Fashion Finder, Asos.com, Banana Republic, Banana Republic Ana Cardigan, Basic Peplum Top, BCBG, BCBGeneration, BCBGirls, Belle Cose, Black, black & white florals, Bloomindale's, Bloomingdales, Bohemian, boho, Braided hair, Carribean Stripe Skirt, Chanel-style pumps, Colorblock shoes, Cuff watch, Designer collaberation, Express, Fashion show, Fashion Week, Forever 21, Gap, GO International, Gold Plated Cuff Bracelet Watch, H&M, Hippie, hippie chic, Jason Wu, Jason Wu for Target Collection, Jason Wu for Target Collection Lookbook, Jason Wu Resort 2013 Collection, JewelMint, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Kate Spade Handbag, lace-up booties, ladylike handbag, Late afternoon, Liz Cherkasova, Longchamp, Longchamp le Pliage, Longchamp Luggage, Lookbook.nu, MAISON SCOTCH, Mango, Marni, Mary Jane's, Merona, Merona Mary Jane's, Mini skirt, Miss Selfridge, Molte Cose, Moschino Cheap and Chic, Mossimo, Mossimo Vena Patent Mary Jane Platform Pump, nylon bag, Office-appropriate, office-appropriate clothing, Oxford booties, patent leather booties, Pencil skirt, Peplum, Peplum top, Pleated mini, Pleated Skirt, pleats, red, Red & blue, Retro, RewardStyle, Roberto Cavalli, Round Toe Pumps, Runway Shows, San Francisco Fashion, San Francisco shopping, San Francisco Street Style, San Francisco style, San Francisco vintage shops, Seamless Black Tank Top, shopping online, stacking bracelets, Stacking Rings, Star scarf, stars, Striped collection, Striped mini, Striped skirt, Stripes, Style Tryst, style.com, Summer clothes, summer wear, Targe, Target, TopShop, Tweed Handbag, Very Volatile, Vince Camuto, Vince Camuto 'Caribbean Stripe' Skirt, vintage, Vintage dress, Vintage Gold Bracelets, vintage gold jewelry, vintage jewelry, Vintage watch, Wannabe Wu, Want And Afford, wantandafford.com, warm weather clothes, white & blue, Wild Diva, work clothes, work updo, Workwear, Zara, Zara Basics, Zara Pencil Skirt, Zara Peplum Top, Zara Skirt | 5 Comments