celebrating the usa's birthday the all-american way.

san diego sunshine. the quinn family. coronado island's patriotic parade. red, white & blue on blonde & red headed babies. brandt beef burgers. mission bay sailing. boys vs. girls beach games. watching fireworks bayside from a rooftop hot tub. 

'merica the beautiful.

driving onto coronado island. never gets old.

the all-american quinn kids. 

quinns & tings plus the budweiser horses. 

such a good uncle. 

two to a chair for parade watching. 

pacific beach sporting its usa pride.

summer lovin'.

quinn & meg's godson... sweet sweet boy

america

ting helping buffy (quinn's mom) & molly (quinn's sister) with the bbq fixings - deviled eggs, potato salad, homemade mac & cheese.... oh, and he may have been offering up some recipe "tips"

meg was killing it with the broccoli florets 

san diego brought it's a-game this fourth of july

pit stop for some beachside fish tacos

bike pride

our view for the afternoon

sue brandt taught ting how to work the sails.

our beachside spot for the day. 

and then the sun went away and we bundled up.

usa.

for your playlist on indepenDANCE day.

here are some groovy poolside / beachside / lakeside tunes that are guaranteed to be played this holiday weekend.

happy listening! 

cheers to daddio b-joe.

we celebrated b-joe's father's day dinner a week early, and the timing ended up working out perfectly. 

danny's promotion landed the day before, so we kept the news a secret and surprised his dad and mom with a toast over dinner. it was super fun to celebrate with two very proud parents. 

for dinner, we decided to introduce the parents to Richardsons. we had a hunch they'd like it, and we were right - they loved it. it may have been the night as a whole, but everything was just right. 

an arizona gem. 

delicious, southwestern inspired meals. lots of spicy cuisine. 

a very happy dad. 

a father's day funny. some things will never change.

like any good daughter, last week i shipped a little package off to my dad for father's day. i was rushing to get it ready before my office's mailman arrived, so i guessed on postage - a handful of stamps will do, right? done. mailed. 

during sunday's chat with dad, he informed me that his package had arrived -- with .91 cents postage due. whoops.

we both laughed.

his response? clearly my life lessons were learned well: when possible, always pass the costs along to dad. my response? good to know your little oregon post office does that. collect shipping? cool.

poor dad. he even had to cover his own father's day gift.

sunday pool time at the saguaro scottsdale hotel.

the morning after the paella party, a group of us gathered at the saguaro scottsdale hotel for a pool party.

thanks to an Instagram photo, a longtime girlfriend and i were able to connect in scottsdale. 

heather, one of my lifelong friends, joined us at the pool. it'd been years since we'd seen each other. 

heather, me and carly, another LA-based friend who also happened to be in scottsdale for the weekend.

gotta love the girl photo line. 

heather / rachel / alicia  teri / angela / carly / heather / erinn

john & nicoli gettin' their holiday tan on.

alex was tossing rachel around like a "piece of styrofoam"

e-raaaayyyy in the house. 

tip: the saguaro scottsdale is an awesome option for pool-less arizona locals who are looking for a fun, but low-key, pool scene. and by low-key i mean that although it's in old town scottsdale, you don't need to have high-heels and full-face of make-up to attend. swear. the saguaro welcomes locals to enjoy the pool amenities. it's easy to get a comfy lounge spot without having to buy overpriced cabanas, the cocktails are tasty and the DJ plays a great poolside set. a great place to have some fun and escape the heat this summer.  

posts from past times we've spent at the saguaro scottsdale hotel here & here.