Red, white and blue remains one of my favorite color combos (I love primary colors in general) -- check out my July 4th outfit compilations from 2011 and 2010.
Showing posts with label fourth of july. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fourth of july. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Red, white & blue
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Remixed: Red, white and blue
While this weekend has been about fireworks, family, and all things Fourth of July, I do have a soft spot for a red, white and blue palette year-round. Though I'm not one for being costume-y for holidays, I do like to show my spirit for these occasions in subtle sartorial choices. Here are some of my favorite color combinations of the past year.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Life, liberty and karaoke
Dress: Donna Ricco;
Printed scarf: thrifted;
Shoes: from Philippines, gift from Mom.
Photos of me by Nikki, my sister.
Here's what I wore to my mom's Fourth of July barbeque. I know everyone voted for me to wear the blue star print dress, but when I tried it on, I knew I wouldn't be able to eat a lot in it, so I switched to the Donna Ricco standby. I realized going through my closet yesterday that I don't have much blue, so I improvised by wearing the patterned scarf. I really like how this all turned out.
My mom's barbeque was a lot of fun. She had us kids over as well as a lot of her Filipino friends and neighbors. One of my mom's friends brought over her karaoke machine, and well...you can guess what the entertainment was for most of the night. Karaoke is so ingrained into Filipino-American culture. In the last 10 years, I think every Filipino party I've gone to has had a karaoke machine set up. Every party. Anyways, Jeremiah had such a kick out of singing, because he had never really sung at a Filipino party before, and he ended up getting the high score for the night! The party was a lot of fun, and my mom made us take about half the party food home, so we will be eating leftovers for the next two years.
How was your weekend?
Labels:
dailystyle,
donna ricco,
filipino culture,
fourth of july,
gift,
joann,
karaoke,
nikki,
philippines,
printed scarf
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Pledge of allegiance
Whenever the Fourth of July comes up, it doesn't take long for it to conjure up thoughts of what being an American means to me. I think of my mother.
As a young Filipino woman, she came to the U.S. in 1985 to marry my father, an American naval officer, in his hometown in Alabama. Moving to America meant giving up everything and everyone she had known --- her small village, her family and the country she had grown up in. My mother loved my father enough to start a whole different life with him.
Through the many moves around the Philippines and the U.S., she raised us three kids, who all were automatic American citizens based on our father's citizenship. She learned English through watching television. She wanted us to learn English too, and didn't speak as much Tagalog with us in order to do so. She learned to live in another country and raise a family -- without the nearby support of her own family and friends who were back home.
When I was four, I came home from preschool and said the Pledge of Allegiance, which I had just learned that day, to my mom. During my recitation, my mother cried softly. They were the same kind of tears she would have sometimes when she perused my "American Girl" book collection.
Growing up, I often took my citizenship for granted, and forgot how much my mother had sacrificed for us, and how she sometimes struggled. How often people would hear her accent and assume she wasn't speaking English and would ask me to translate, even when she spoke the language perfectly; how often people would see the color of her skin, and think she was Hispanic, or Indian, or anything else non-white that can be considered "exoticized." How hard it was to forge friendships in the region, when, even after the civil rights era, biases still showed in random environments: the workplace, the supermarket, the parent-teacher conference. How hard it was to raise three children with one value system-- the one she was raised with-- while being confronted with another.
She was strong through it all. And still is.
When I was 11, my mother took her citizenship test and was sworn in during a ceremony in downtown Atlanta. My family -- the five of us -- spent the entire day in a government building, as my parents filled out paperwork. We took a pit stop lunch to McDonald's at one point. In the late afternoon, after what was a long day, a judge swore in my mom and a few others as American citizens. Afterward, he shook everyone's hands and congratulated them. He came to my mom, shook her hand and mispronounced her name. She cried a little, but it wasn't because of the judge's silly mistake. It had taken almost 13 years, but the struggle had been worth it. She could take official ownership to being an American. She was finally an American citizen -- like the rest of the family she had helped create.
Happy Fourth of July, Mom.
As a young Filipino woman, she came to the U.S. in 1985 to marry my father, an American naval officer, in his hometown in Alabama. Moving to America meant giving up everything and everyone she had known --- her small village, her family and the country she had grown up in. My mother loved my father enough to start a whole different life with him.
Through the many moves around the Philippines and the U.S., she raised us three kids, who all were automatic American citizens based on our father's citizenship. She learned English through watching television. She wanted us to learn English too, and didn't speak as much Tagalog with us in order to do so. She learned to live in another country and raise a family -- without the nearby support of her own family and friends who were back home.
When I was four, I came home from preschool and said the Pledge of Allegiance, which I had just learned that day, to my mom. During my recitation, my mother cried softly. They were the same kind of tears she would have sometimes when she perused my "American Girl" book collection.
Growing up, I often took my citizenship for granted, and forgot how much my mother had sacrificed for us, and how she sometimes struggled. How often people would hear her accent and assume she wasn't speaking English and would ask me to translate, even when she spoke the language perfectly; how often people would see the color of her skin, and think she was Hispanic, or Indian, or anything else non-white that can be considered "exoticized." How hard it was to forge friendships in the region, when, even after the civil rights era, biases still showed in random environments: the workplace, the supermarket, the parent-teacher conference. How hard it was to raise three children with one value system-- the one she was raised with-- while being confronted with another.
She was strong through it all. And still is.
When I was 11, my mother took her citizenship test and was sworn in during a ceremony in downtown Atlanta. My family -- the five of us -- spent the entire day in a government building, as my parents filled out paperwork. We took a pit stop lunch to McDonald's at one point. In the late afternoon, after what was a long day, a judge swore in my mom and a few others as American citizens. Afterward, he shook everyone's hands and congratulated them. He came to my mom, shook her hand and mispronounced her name. She cried a little, but it wasn't because of the judge's silly mistake. It had taken almost 13 years, but the struggle had been worth it. She could take official ownership to being an American. She was finally an American citizen -- like the rest of the family she had helped create.
Happy Fourth of July, Mom.
Happy Fourth of July -- and a giveaway reminder!
Hope you're enjoying barbeque, playing in the surf and slathering on sunscreen.
There's still time to enter my vintage red scarf giveaway, so head on over here! It ends today at 11:59 pm est.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Independence Day inspiration
I've got the Fourth of July off from work (yeah!), so I'll be headed over to my mom's for a barbeque. I'm not sure what I'm going to wear yet, so I'm looking to past photos for ideas. I'm thinking something that can handle sweat because of this heat!
For my U.S. readers, what are your plans for the 4th? And do you know what you're going to wear yet?
Happy weekend, everyone!
Happy weekend, everyone!
P.S. Speaking of July 4, my vintage scarf giveaway ends Sunday, so head on over and this pretty piece could be yours.
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