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Late summer is one of my very favorite times of year. The sun hangs low and golden, the produce is at its best and the evenings get just a teensy bit cooler, promising of fall. Now that the kids are back at school and everyone is working back into old routines, casual dinner parties at home replace big barbecues as my party of choice. Today I’m teaming up with my friends at Prairie Organic Spirits and sharing my take on a farm to table dinner party, inspired by your weekly CSA share or a trip to the farmer’s market. This is summer at its very finest!

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After Christmas, hands down my favorite holiday of all time is the 4th of July! I’m a sucker for all the summery nostalgia from the fireworks to the 4th of July desserts to the stars and stripes to the requisite ice cream cones and backyard picnics. I recently teamed up with Walmart to host the most festive modern Americana inspired 4th of July party and today I’m sharing all the details! I loaded the backyard with great finds from Walmart, created the prettiest spread of 4th of July decorations and loaded up on the appropriately themed menu items like red, white and blue desserts and watermelon cut into stars. My favorite part is that just about every single thing you see here, from the place settings to the decor to the food to the fashion selections, can all be found at Walmart!

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Back in late July you may recall that I hosted a party in our backyard with Sutter Home. At the time I shared a couple of the DIY projects, a sneak peek at the decor and the prettiest dinner party printables designed by my lovely friend Maddy of The Proper Type. Late last week the first of several videos was launched on Sutter Home’s Facebook page and I have to say, seeing that video really brought it home just how amazing an experience throwing this party was for me both personally and professionally. In a nutshell, we filled our backyard with a ton of family and friends, incredible food, an abundance of great wine and live music by John Driskell Hopkins, who is also a member of the Zac Brown Band. Then, an incredible production crew complete with director, videographers, photographers, art directors, sound guys and stylists took over our house for the day and after an early morning hair and makeup session the day kicked off and didn’t stop until the wee hours of the morning. I’ll be sharing all the other videos, recipes and photos with you as they roll out, but it would mean the world to me to have you take a few minutes to go watch the first video, or the appetizer video as Sutter Home has so cheekily dubbed it, and appropriately so. Getting to share my life’s passion in this way and on this kind of platform means so much to me it almost brings me to tears seeing it all come to life. Click through for loads of behind the scenes photos that Alice captured on what our friends, family and neighbors have affectionately come to refer to as Sutter Home Day!

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A few times over the summer I’ve eluded to the fact that I had some big projects in the works and today I am so excited to share one of those with you! A while back the folks at Sutter Home reached out to me and asked if I wanted to team up with them to throw the ultimate backyard party. Because I can never turn down a reason to throw a good party, I had to yes, naturally. Then they asked if they could bring in live music, have a bunch of our friends and neighbors show up and film the whole thing. And again, my answer was an enthusiastic yes! Today is the day it’s all going down so you can follow along with me on Instagram Stories all day long to see how it’s all coming together and witness the fun for yourself. In a few weeks we’ll be sharing all the details right here, but in the meantime I wanted to share a bit of my planning process including some really gorgeous printables and a fun DIY project I incorporated into the mix!

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When we moved into our neighborhood a year ago we were thrilled to discover that we had unknowingly bought a house on the coolest block in town. Our neighbors have become incredible friends and we love that they all have kids, and that they also share our family-centric yet fun-loving ways. This time of year the afternoons mean nearly a dozen kids running up and down the street riding bikes, throwing lacrosse balls and chasing down the ice cream truck. When JOLLY TIME asked if I wanted to host a fun summer party for our neighborhood crew, there wasn’t a chance I’d turn that down.

Read More about A Summer Neighborhood Lawn Party

With Memorial Day coming up next week, I’m getting really excited for loads of fun summer parties and picnics over the next few months. Always an advocate of simple yet lovely entertaining and parties, today I’ve teamed up with my old friends at Dr. Oetker Virtuoso Pizza to share a few tips for hosting a totally easy yet completely chic patriotic picnic, perfect for Memorial Day or even the 4th of July!

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I seriously love getting to share gorgeous parties and today’s engagement party is particularly special because Bay area photographer Krista of Krista Marie Photography was not only behind the lens but also one of the guests of honor! Krista and her fiancé Jon met when they were just 12 years old and have been best friends for over …

Read More about An Elegant Al Fresco Engagement Dinner Party

If ever there were a celebration that spoke to my soul, this one is just that. Oh gosh, does that sound horribly over the top? The thing is, it’s really true! This party honoring the 30th birthday of Melanie Duerkopp, designed by Amanada O’Shannessy Creative, took place at Hog Island Oyster Co. With a casual picnic …

Read More about Melanie’s Surfside Oyster Boil 30th Birthday Party

Coming to us today all the way from Valencia, Spain, we’ve got Little Red Riding Hood in the house! Or, more specifically, Claudia of My Little Bloom’s adorable daughter Cristy and her 5th birthday party all decked out in Little Red Riding Hood inspiration. Featuring pretty red capes for all of the little girls and …

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I have to admit that I’ve always held picnics up on some sort of nostalgic, romanticized pedestal, pretty much my whole life. One of my favorite picnics to date was adventuring off into the back field behind my friend’s house for a girls-only picnic one summer afternoon following the third grade. Her grandmother had helped …

Read More about A Summer Picnic with Martha Stewart

I discovered new-to-me blog The Merrythought a couple of months ago and since then have been loving literally everything that Caitlin, Manda and Marla share. Which neatly sums up why I’m thrilled to be sharing their recent end of summer s’mores party with you. It’s the perfect celebration of the end of summer, a bittersweet farewell …

Read More about An End of Summer S’mores Party