#42 Celebrate the 4th of July

It took awhile but I finally crossed another item off the list! Yup I got all dolled up in my 'Merican finest and celebrated Independence day at my parent's house. Please note the use of my USA beer mitt- best purchase ever! I love my parent's house and affectionately refer to it as my 'summer home'- anytime its foggy in SF its usually super hot and sunny where they're at so its worth the trip over every time (plus seeing my parents is cool too). It was over 100 degrees so I spent most of the day in the pool- mainly lounging with a beer...relaxation at its best.

'Murican Christmas 2012

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I haven't quite gotten into the spirit yet- mainly I'm dodging tourists and people who apparently forget how to walk in the city like a normal human being for the month of December (I mean seriously?!? you're going to take up the entire sidewalk and go 0.002 miles an hour arrrrgggghhhh)- shopping in downtown SF during the holidays is not fun. I need to get my head in the game since Christmas is a week away- woo hoo!!! I need to stop muttering 'seriously/are you serious right now/you've GOT to be kidding me' to all the tourists and perhaps throw in a 'happy holidays' every once in awhile to mix it up a bit. Or I could avoid it all together by shopping online (where I've done 90% of all my shopping...oh Amazon Prime how I love you). Anyways, here's a last minute gift list if you're stumped on what to get for an American loving family member or friend.

Election Night 2012

I had a little election day party on Tuesday night and it was a ton of fun. As a first time voter (holla!), I was super excited to get home, turn on the news and see how things were going. After all the prep work I did getting ready to vote, I wanted to see how it all turned out...major fingers crossed for Obama (half Canadian, young, female, living in SF <-- of course I wanted Obama to win). The red white and blue decorations I picked up from Papersource turned out awesome- very festive for the night. I ordered some pizza to feed us (with lots of leftovers...mmm cold pizza) from Extreme Pizza: Pandora's box, Mr. Pestato Head and Adrenalin Rush (my personal favorite except this time they forgot the 'tangy slaw' which is the best part). Alyse and Rebekah brought over some delish wine from the local wine store (which is awesome and I need to go there more often- good prices and great selection) so we kicked the night off well. 

Independence Day 2012

'Murican beer pride photo thanks to Rebekah

So Vegas trip happened this past weekend...yup it really really did...I need some major recovery time. Long weekend plus a 3 hour delay (getting in at 11 instead of 8) makes for a miserable Monday morning. Great trip but I'm sooo tired...I'll recap in a few days. In the mean time, I already did my Canada Day prep post so here's a nod to my American side: 

1. Tracey from Shutterbean but together an awesome post about 4th of July foods. If you're trying to figure out what to serve or what to bring to a party she's got answers. I want her strawberry goat cheese bruschetta real bad.

2. Chiara from Oh Happy Day has a cute DIY red white and blue garland idea. Not sold on that one? She also has a giant garland DIY too.

3. Making It Lovely has cute table decorating ideas.

4. Planning a BBQ? Serious Eats has a 12 different homemade BBQ sauce recipes for you to try out.

5. AMERICAN FLAG CAKE!!! Obviously this is my favorite thing ever and someone *ahem Rebecca ahem* needs to make this.

6.  If you aren't sold on the cake I don't know what's wrong with you...I kid I kid that cake looks like a lot of work. Serious Eats pulled together a list of 15 desserts to make...these all look pretty damn good too.

And what will my plans be? Heading to the beach with the family (including my awesome cousins from Vancouver) to play in the sand and eat way too much food...can't wait!

#28 Go to a NASCAR race

This past weekend by friend Rebekah and I headed up to Sonoma to check out the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race. Technically the main race was on Sunday and we were there Saturday so I think this list item might eventually need a redo but for now I'm considering it checked off. We got to see the practice laps for Sunday so basically its like we were there and all NASCAR-fied. On Saturday it was the Pick-n-Pull Racing to Stop Hunger 200 NASCAR K&N West Series Race. What does that mean? No idea...my NASCAR knowledge is pretty much: cars go round a track, cars try to be the fastest, cars try not to crash....yup sums it up pretty good right? 

#35 Vote in a (primary) election

For the first time in 27 years I voted!! Pretty excited about this whole thing! I even woke up early so that my roomie Lindsey and I could hit the polls before work...I was real American and I hadn't even had breakfast yet.

Yea thumbs up for voting! Excited for what I refer to as the 'real' election in November then I can officially cross it off my list (don't really want to count a primary as my official list item).

And yes I was sporting my 'Merican shades to vote...obvi.

Patriotic down to my fingertips

So occasionally I wonder if someone has taken the time to America-fy something...you know just get uber-patriotic with say mailboxes, or skillets (which are pretty damn awesome), or shoes...and thats when good ol' google comes in real handy. The other night while randomly googling 'most patriotic <fill in the blank with something random>' I realized my nails were in some serious need of a manicure.

Now before I get the 'you seriously need to get a life' comments, first can I just say that no I don't have a TON of time on my hands to spend hours googling random totally pointless things but its really hard to sleep when the worlds loudest man lives above me...I swear he was either re-arranging his bedroom furniture OR he was doing some pre-summer workouts that involved weights hitting the floor....so yes when I can't sleep, I google. Anyways, this 'in need of manicure stat' realization led me to these pretty epic 'Merican nail art pictures.

Lets start with the classic- just a basic flag:

Patriotic Moment of the day

Backlit flag in downtown SF...this was on our walk home from work where me and my roommate saw a man walking what had to be the worlds tiniest dog.

Stagecoach Wardrobe

So much happened at Stagecoach that I feel like I couldn't do the wardrobe choices justice by trying to fit it into another post...so yes clothing gets its own post. And what a sight the clothes were. As expected, cowboy boots are a must despite the fact that your lower leg will sweat profusely in the 90+ degree weather. Also critical is a cowboy hat (or equally American hat of your choice) as it looks legit AND keeps you from ending up with a bright red sunburnt face (yeah sun safety!). FYI beer box cowboy hats that I found earlier were HUGE at this thing...they even had a booth set up. As we were mostly girls, obviously we had these two down pat! The only boy in our group did not get the memo and was not wearing cowboy boots...unacceptable! Jk

'Merican Beer Headgear

It turns out that not only are there some awesome ways to hold your beer, there are some equally awesome ways to show your beer allegiance on your head in the form of hats. And not just standard baseball hats, no no no this goes further ...much further. Sun protection + stylish + letting people know what you would like to be drinking = win win win.

(source)

Patriotic Moment...

Saw a little American pride on my way through Chinatown tonight on my way to North Beach for dinner at Cafe Divine (mmm Gingerbread cake)  

Patriotic Apartment

So I decided that these geese weren't really the design direction I was looking to take in the apartment so I opted to go with these:

I found these gorgeous type map prints on Etsy...the company is called Bold & Noble and you can find the Canada print here and the US print here. Frames are from Ikea and my roommate Lindsey and I killed our fingers trying to put these together but I guess thats what you get for a $15 frame.

These are going to look so good once they get on the wall...speaking of which who is going to be kind and help me hang them?? If I do it myself its going to get bad real quick...I can never manage to make things level when a hammer and nail are involved. 

Staying patriotic during the holidays...

This year will be the first year my fam and I will be celebrating the holidays as Americanadians. Its going to be a tough adjustment..no moose for Thanksgiving, no Canadian goose for Christmas, no building igloos, no opening presents by candlelight...juuuust kidding! I have been asked if Canadians do any of that and as far as I know (being from Vancouver) that would be a big 'negative!!'...maybe if you're waaaaay up north. Anyways, my Aunt Judy has been on the lookout to help our family stay 'American' during the holidays. She heard that Americans love Ugly Sweater parties (awesome recon on her part) but since she really wants us to be as authentically American as possible she went one step further and found these bad boys: Nauseating Holiday Pants by Betabrand.

Patriotic from head to toe...

I'm winding down from a fun weekend (my headache this morning indicated that maybe I had too much fun) by watching The Notebook and online shopping. Looove that movie and yes, I cry every single time I watch it. Now, I was supposed to be looking for things I can buy other people for Christmas buuut after some creative googling I came across some fabulous footwear that would be a perfect addition to any AmeriCanadian girl's closet...just sayin'

I wear through running shoes pretty fast walking around the city and bootcamping- as it turns out that there are many options which are both patriotic AND functional.

Patriotic fashion...

...so American I can hardly stand it. No clue why they would be selling such a classy hat in a costume store...obviously an error.

Patriotic moment (on vacation)...

Guess what song I had stuck in my head for 24 hours after visiting the amazing Beverly Wilshire hotel?

Balboa Island hearts America

I took last Friday off for a quick trip to SoCal to visit friends and get out of foggy SF 'summer' weather. On Saturday Ashley and I drove down to Balboa Island and got to see some super sized American pride...clocks, signs, flags, birdhouses, stickers...they managed to get a flag on almost everything! I can only imagine what the fourth of July is like down there:

My fav American decor

#1: Shotgun a Beer

First American activity is checked off and at a BBQ no less (very American)...ok here's how it went...

Step 1: Get beer- extra points if its patriotic