For the third year in a row, my family and the hub’s family will meet up for the Fourth of July.  This year Oxnard Beach, CA was the chosen So Cal beach destination.  As I pack up some thoughtful pinches for the celebration, I thought I’d share my nontraditional gift ideas so in case you need any, I’ve got your back. Kohl’s marked down their 4th of July items last year towards the end of the summer so I bought whatever I could. I’m always puzzled - why do American-themed items go on clearance? Do star-spangled red, white and blue ever go out of style in the USA? Who knows, but I buy whatever I can for next year!

When our families come together, it’s not unusual for my daughter and niece to have a spa day. They mash up bananas and avocados, add honey and who knows what else, so that they can put this concoction all over themselves.  With cucumber rounds on their eyes, they sit in lounge chairs outside waiting to feel their soft skin after the “treatment”.  It’s a sight to be seen.  This year I thought it would be cute to bring the thoughtful pinches that my cousin, Cherry Pie,  gave me when she moved back to CA after living in China.  The girls could use these gifts for their spa day treatments. Next, maybe we can all put on these lovely tattoos. What a perfect way to show some US pride even if someone isn’t wearing red, white and blue, they will have a shimmery tattoo (hey, that rhymes!).  And last, but not least, the finishing touch for the USA Spa Day is…drumroll please? Putting a flag on our finger/toe nails with these flag-themed Jamberry’s. Ta-da! 

Ok these pinches are cheesy but so what? We’re going to rock them on the 4th. 

The kids and I have been busy putting together a summer playlist for Oxnard Beach.  This will be a group pinch given to all the families because my hope is to hear these songs years from now and remember the great time we all had together over this July 4th weekend.  I was tempted to include all of the old school Tupac, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg songs that got us going back in the day. But it’s not worth the energy to explain gin and juice to my 7.5 year old. Instead, this kid-friendly (eerily similar to the Radio Disney Top 30 song list) will include: “Me Too” by Meghan Trainor, “Ride” by Twenty-one Pilots , “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by my fave Justin Timberlake, “Summer Forever” by Bahari, “Just Like Fire” by Pink, “Love is the Name” by Sofia Carson, “Kill Em with Kindness” by Selena Gomez, “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE, “Cheap Thrills” by Sia (Radio Disney version), “Brand New” by Ben Rector, “I’m Not Famous“ by AJR and “Wildside" by Sofia Carson and Sabrina Carpenter. 

Another easy-to-pack thoughtful pinch idea is a set of goggles!  For my kids, these goggles are the perfect pinch because they’re fun and they are something they will actually use!  My kids are going to be in the water for almost 2 weeks straight (Oxnard Beach, Newport Beach and Costa Rica are on the itinerary).  They can show their patriotism by sporting the colors of our flag while keeping the chlorine away from their eyes. Win-Win. We bought the last two flag-themed goggles- otherwise, everyone in the Pellicer/Paton family would have a set!

Something NOT easy to pack is a Cookie House. Even though Oxnard has three Trader Joes in the area, I did not want to risk waiting till July 2nd to buy this pinch - they could all be gone by then!  We gave a couple houses to some cool families as our July 4th thoughtful pinches but how do I pack the one I bought for our family reunion? Looks like I’ll be spending more to ship it than it’s worth - whoops!  

I found out that my immediate family has a couple of things in common with the city of Oxnard besides Trader Joes. The founder of Oxnard, Henry T. Oxnard, was an owner (with his three brothers) of a company called Crystal Sugar Company which is from Moorhead, MN.  Hello? It seems like everything can be traced back to Minnesota.  Fun Fact: The city was supposed to be named after the Greek word “Zachari” which means sugar but the bureaucracy was so frustrating to Oxnard that he just ended up naming it after himself. The other common denominator is that on February 4, 2106 the LA Rams picked Oxnard to be the location for their Official Team Activities (OTA’s) and mini camp. Yup, the Rams were at the River Ridge Playing Fields up until June 24, 2016. Hello? It’s a small NFL world after all. 

Pack well for your Fourth of July!

Pinches,

Barb