Happy Fourth of July KDHamptons readers!! I hope you are having fantastic holiday weekend filled with family, fun, and sun. Get to know our great new intern, Marie Goldstein, as she shares her first KDH Diary below…xx Kelli

“Since I was a little girl, I can remember family and friends gathering at my family beach house in Hampton Bays to kickoff the summer at our Fourth of July bash. This year was no different! Waking up, throwing on your bathing suit, and getting ready for a day full of swimming, laughing, eating, and enjoying our favorite people…

As usual, our guests showed up this year with smiles on their faces ready to splash in the pool, whip around on the boat, and eat all day…and night…leading up to a finale of fireworks overlooking Tiana Bay.”

We love having this one day where everybody is together. The college kids and the second graders love acting silly together. [Actually, I think the college kids still like sitting at the kids table!]. This year we even matched! Check out our festive Lilly Pulitzer dresses [at top] which glow in the dark~ We looked like fireflies at night!

Food is served all day long…From lunch to dinner we enjoy the fresh, tasty selection from Scotto’s in Hampton Bays. We love entertaining and always set up the buffet with a touch of Goldstein patriotic flair!

Check out this trick we stole from Barristers in Southampton! Cut up an entire pineapple and put it in a canister [above] then pour a bottle of Grey Goose and let it sit for hours [even days] to make the sweetest pineapple vodka!! We even have some left for the weekend! Mix this with cranberry and grapefruit juice to create my signature July 4th cocktail!

Before dinner the college girls are found cocktailing on the porch [below], the high schoolers are cannon balling in the pool, jet skiing, tubing, or taking the kayak out, and the parents just sit back and happily take it all in. Late afternoon, we strike up an old fashion game of whiffle ball! It’s like suddenly we are all ten again, it just must be a summer thing…

As the sun sets, there is only one thing left to wait for…..FIREWORKS! Living on Tiana Bay we are lucky because the water is aglow with red, white, and blue. reflections of the town fireworks. As we ran down to the water to get a better look~ it started to pour! Luckily, nothing could rain on our Fourth of July parade!!

As everybody finds their spot in the house to sleep for the night we are exhausted! My girlfriends and I stay in the guest cottage. The sun, water, and sand made for a perfect July 4th. But, it’s not over….We wake up the next day, throw on our sundresses head to the main house where my mom has cooked up a breakfast buffet of eggs, pancakes, bacon, muffins & more! How much do I love this holiday weekend?