It's the 4th of July! Definitely a favorite holiday of mine. It's a pressure free holiday for us. We LOOOOOVE getting together with family and gift giving and all the rest but sometimes it can get you stressed. First, there is the dividing of time between two families, mine and Aaron's...and then, you know, you just get stressed. But the 4th is different. It's a No-Show holiday. You maybe eat some barbeque if you get the chance and you go see some fireworks. We're at the Jersey shore...where the towns are clustered together all along the ocean...lots and lots of municipalities and all of 'em have their own fireworks display. So we've got a ton to choose from...the key is to go where there is a convenient escape plan for locals once the show is all over. We used to live and have a store in Red Bank, which is the biggest hub around here. The Fireworks there are HUGE. The NYC radio stations broadcast from there and people come from all over the state. But even when it was our native land...even when we'd close up shop for the night on the 4th and we could just walk outside and see the fireworks....we still wanted to be as far from there as possible. Because just to drive out of there afterwards would take you three hours!!So for years our favorite place to go for the festivities is a boardwalk town called Point Pleasant (sidenote to dedicated bloggers: This summer, Jennifer Hayslip, of the blog : sweet eye candy creations and of the great state of Georgia, will be spending some vacation time in Point Pleasant NJ!! It's such a small world...we plan to meet up!) It's one of our favorite Jersey Shore spots and it has some escape routes that only locals would know of. And plus, unlike Red Bank, it's on the Atlantic Ocean. When watching fireworks it is ideal to have your feet planted in beach sand...it heightens the experience...the sand between the toes, the rumble and hiss of the nighttime waves upon the shore, the smell of salt in the air, the bells and buzzers of the distant arcades, the roar of a far off rollercoaster and the cheers of the crowd, and forget it...the smell of warm funnel cakes...Nothing like it! My dear little brother Walt is down dogsitting for my sister Missy while she's in California, so it'll be me, Aar, and Walt once again. He's always with us on the 4th. I hope all of you are doing something super fun. I equate the 4th with the ocean, the beach and the boardwalk but I could imagine some completely different slices of Americana when I think of all the places you guys are from. The mountain lakes, the sprawling expanses of farm land, the big city fireworks extravaganzas and the small town traditions and parades. It's a wonderful holiday. Even if you use it just to do yard work and to fix up your house...maybe paint your kitchen. Use the term "Independence" Day very loosely. It's Your day.
Here's some very cool news! We are in this weeks issue of the New York Times Magazine! Namely, our Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake print. They put together a fabulous article about the phenomenon of the Keep Calm and Carry On poster from WWII era England... about how it's been recently resurrected as a piece of nostalgic art and how artists all over have offered their personal take on it. They called us up and said they loved our version and they'd like to feature it! How awesome is that?! Here's the link to the online version. And if you subscribe to the NYT magazine, it's in there today but in the stores I believe it's available with the Sunday edition! We are so very psyched that they contacted us because the Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake thing was totally our original idea but recently there have been a couple imitators doing a near carbon copy of it. So it's great validation to be featured in the press as the original creators of it. Thanks New York Times!!
Pop over to the shop for your own Keep Calm And Have A Cupcake! :)
Again, I wish everyone a super Fun and Happy July 4th!!! xoxo, Jenny
