Hooray, it's the 4th of July! Today is one my favorite days of the entire year. It's a day to be surrounded by the great company of family and friends. It's a day to be festive and wear a cute outfit equipped with the perfect touches of red, white, and blue. It's a day to spend the morning splashing around by the pool, the afternoon grilling yummy food, and the evening doing tricks with sparklers and watching fireworks light up the sky. But most importantly, it's a day to celebrate the independence of the beautiful country I live in.

Freedom isn't free and although many people may view the 4th of July as a day off from work and a time to spend eating hamburgers and hotdogs, there's much more to it than just that. Never forget to be thankful for your blessings and celebrate the gift of freedom that lies in the hearts, spirits, and actions of our extraordinary fellow Americans. America is free because of the brave.

For breakfast today, I whipped up a super festive/patriotic smoothie bowl!

Smoothie ingredients:

- 4 cups of frozen strawberries
- 1 banana
- 1/2 cup of water

Toppings:

- Blueberries
- Coconut chips
- Star-shaped strawberries

Directions:

For your smoothie, simply blend all of the ingredients together and pulse until smooth. Next, pour your tasty smoothie into a bowl and garnish it with any toppings of your choice! For mine, I used blueberries, coconut chips, and star-shaped strawberries. I used a small, star-shaped cookie cutter that came in a 3-piece set from Hobby Lobby, which you can find here!

Enjoy!