Our Fourth of July by Kelly Larkin

Nantucket Sweater (You can also find the white version at Tuckernuck!) / Similar White Skinny Jeans (Love Hudson! This is my favorite pair of dark skinnies, btw.) / Emma’s Kate Spade Dress (Old; it was a gift from family friends when Emma was born! But I LOVE this one and this one.) / Mitch’s Shep Shirt (Linking to the classic one.) / Mitch’s Performance Shirts (No-iron! Best shirts for guys who refuse to iron.) / Mitch’s Shorts / Mom’s Striped Tee / Mom’s Jeans

Quick break from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale coverage! Here’s my ultimate guide to shopping the sale, my first round of “dressing room stories,” and eight sale outfits to shop *without* the Nordstrom credit card. And yes! This blog post counts as an entry to win the $250; to enter, simply comment in the comment section below–you can say anything!–with your e-mail address in the following non-spammy format: kelly [at] kellyinthecity [dot] com. Winner announced tomorrow. Good luck! Update: Congrats to Maddie P. for winning the giveaway!

My dad is an amazing photographer. He snapped these pics of the fam on our beach, right before the Fourth of July fireworks started–and I teared up when I looked at them the following day.

The Fourth is my favorite holiday for a few reasons:

Very little prep-work is needed and therefore no stress.
It occurs during a warm weather month.
It’s a reason for families and friends to gather.
FIREWORKS.
It gets us to either the Jersey Shore or the lake house: our happy places. :)

This one was super special, too. Many years ago, before Mitch and I were even engaged, we had a Fourth of July like this one. It was just my parents and us, in the sand, watching two Beach Patrol guys race back and forth (together) between groups of teenagers illegally setting off little fireworks. (Nothing crazy or dangerous, but we were all doubled over in laughter watching it. Why not split up to catch them? So funny.) But it was just such a perfect, low-key, happy night… and since then, I’ve always wanted to replicate it.

Of course, you can’t really replicate things like that; that’s just not how life works. (Nor should it!) This night, though, might have been even better. Because we had Emma. She ran around the sand, flags and toys in hand–and everyone was chasing her and throwing her up in the air and falling and giggling. Seeing her with her grandparents; seeing her loving the Shore; seeing her so happy… it was everything.

Side note: Yes, I’m wearing a Nantucket sweater in Ocean City. 😂 But I feel like it’s less weird than wearing it while actually *on* Nantucket? Or no? Can it only be worn there?! Either way, shoutout to my family on ACK. Missing and loving you so much, Auntie-M, Uncle Dave, Chase, Annie, Sammy and Paige. Can’t wait to see a bunch of you on the island in a couple of weeks! (Btw: You can shop the sweater here and here. I’m wearing a size small, and while it’s a teensy bit big, I prefer my sweaters to be cozy and roomy! The quality is great, and I love ALL the colors.)

I didn’t really have any intention of taking photos, but Dad grabbed the camera and captured some of the magic. And while I know that pictures–or words, for that matter–don’t fully portray the emotion behind personal experiences, I think my father came pretty close with this one. Thanks, Dad. Love you.

Also, fun fact: we only saw two fireworks because Emma freaked out and we had to take her home, haha. But those two fireworks were awesome.