a southern birthday celebration

Vintage Betty Barclay Velvet Dress - gift from lovely Carmen

Black Oxford Heels - H&M

Heart Locket - Forever21

Hey, it was my birthday on Thursday!! And I'm 25 now!!

We're back from our Atlanta birthday visit and man alive, are we beat. We had a great time with Rhi and Drew eating the best pizza in the world, visiting vintage stores in the Little Five Points, and stocking up on wine. We also got to spend the afternoon with Vanessa and Abi, who are seriously lovely.

I can't wait to show you guys pictures of our H&M and Madewell adventures (yessssss Alexa Chung collection) and coffee drinking and the best peter pan collar blouse in the world. And I'll share why I'm not exactly wearing anything handmade for my birthday..

But for now, I'm admitting defeat and heading to bed. Happy weekend, all!

southern plantations, tennessee wineries, and honky tonk downtowns. a nashville visit with my family

I told you guys recently about last weekend, when my whole family came down to celebrate my parent's 30th and explore Tennessee. We hung out at old plantation homes, pretty wineries tucked away in Tennessee farmland, ate salt and pepper chocolate, and even did a Nashville downtown walk with my sister Rhi and Drew.

Here are some more photos from the trip, my absolute favorites.

Rhi posted lovely photos of the visit, check out winery photos here and downtown goodness here! It's incredible what Drew can do with his new camera.

This weekend is another family visit, but this time with my in laws! We're in Florida celebrating a wedding of one of Neil's sister's childhood friends. They had a pretty ceremony on the beach, really simple and intimate, and today we'll be swimming and indulging in some touristy, cheesy fun like bumper boats and mini golf. Last night, Neil and I snuck out late to take a beach walk, and I couldn't tell where the water ended and the sky began. The ocean is intimidating at night!

We head home tomorrow through Alabama, where we pass a record number of run-down flea markets that I would give my left arm to visit. And if you like hot boiled peanuts, Alabama has them - about five peanut stands per mile. I'm hoping to take photos of it all. While I really love corny tourist traps (I REALLY do.. where else can you find so much fried food?), there is a lot of charm in the old southern houses and junk-piled antique shops Alabama has, and it fits me better.

Hope your weekends have been fun! Last, but not least - today is the last day to take advantage of the buy one, get one free sale at the shop!

blessed by family and food

I'm blessed by good, good family. As I told you all earlier, my sisters and their families came to Nashville to celebrate my parent's 30th wedding anniversary, and it's been a memorable time. Here are some photos of their Tennessee visit so far!

Much more to show you and tell you about soon.. Homestead Manor today, Arrington Winery tomorrow, more outfit photos and sister posts and all sorts of good stuff. I'm also in the middle of a sewing project that caused me to drag my machine over to my parent's house for the stay, and I can't wait to show you the gingham rick rack country goodness. I hope you all are having a really wonderful 4th of July celebration, and if you're overseas or across the border, I hope you're enjoying a lovely weekend!

merry christmas to all, and to all a good night.

My beautiful sisters.. Photos by Drew!

Mulberry Velvet Bow Coat - vintage, gift from Rhi!

Black Hair Bow - Forever21

Heart Tights - Urban Outfitters

Lace Up Heels - H&M

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all had a wonderful celebration today.. Our house was filled with wrapping paper pieces and extravagant food and overexcited puppies and craziness. In other words, it may have been my best Christmas yet.

I'm convinced that the older I get, the more I enjoy Christmas. Does that make sense.. shouldn't you enjoy Christmas more as a kid? It could be that I appreciate being with my family more now that I'm married and can't be with them every year for the holidays. It could be that with or without split holidays, my parents rock and it takes growing up to realize just how much. It could be that I have lovely sisters who have chosen the greatest men who bring their own unique sense of self and fun to Christmas. It could be that perhaps eggnog tastes better the older you become, and a Beef Wellington holiday feast can't be truly understood by a 10 year old whose favorite meal is a hot dog and fries (I won't lie, I still love hot dogs and fries). It could be that I'm now married to the absolute best person in the world who happens to add significance to every event, no matter how small.

I'd continue on with the sappiness, but I'm really beat. Goodnight all and God bless, hope your festivities were wonderful and filled with meaning.

a fall day with family

Yesterday, Neil and I drove down to my parent's to visit with Rhi and our grandparents. Our grandma hasn't been doing well lately, so Rhiannon drove over from Georgia to visit her.

Our grandma has lung cancer that has recently spread to her hips and spine. She has been under hospice care for close to a week now, and thankfully, she doesn't have a lot of pain. When we saw her, she joked around with us and seemed happy to see us - which made us glad, since we didn't know if it'd be a good day or a bad day. It felt good to hug her petite little shoulders and it felt REALLY good to say I love you.

The bright side to all of this sadness in our family right now is a new perspective - we all appreciate the time spent with each other even more. And my aunts and uncles have been visiting, which means my mom and dad have enjoyed a lot of good family time, too. Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and when it comes, I think all of us will be truly, genuinely thankful.. I can't count how many Thanksgivings have gone by without feeling what it was about - just a good day with great food. This Thanksgiving will be different, I think. I've really been blessed with an awesome, loving, supportive family.

I'm actually wearing my Halloween dress in these pictures. I couldn't wait to wear it out after Halloween.. I guess I couldn't even wait til after I posted about our Halloween festivities. But there will be a post, wig and all, of Halloween, I promise!

Later on in the day, Rhi and I went to Goodwill.. It's always fun to go to Goodwill with my sisters, because they take almost as long in there as I do. I found a great leather jacket for Neil and an awesome 70's mini dress for me. It makes me look like I belong in Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or maybe in a marching band or something. And I absolutely love it.

Off to make some ice cream.. any flavor suggestions? Pumpkin pie?

my atlanta trip and adventures with ayn the owl - a crafting love story

Welcome September, my second favorite month of the year! Two weeks until my birthday!

I wanted to show you a few Atlanta moments! We had such a great time. The weekend consisted mostly of eating and talking, and you can't go wrong with that combination. Rhi and Drew are so fun and so generous and thoughtful. How did I end up with such a good family?

And I really have never seen a cooler house than Drew's. There is no contest. No woman decorates like Drew decorates. Or man. Gay or straight.

My friend Rachel is having a baby! She found out it's a little girl.. I wanted to make something for her baby shower coming up in a couple of weeks, so I went straight to Etsy for some inspiration.

While I found a plethora of cutesy cupcake felt hair clips and bear ear crochet baby hats, my favorite finds were, by far, the stuffed owls. One of my favorites was a cute little owl done by Plants and Animals (their shop rocks for many other reasons besides stuffed owls, so check it out!). While I knew I couldn't make a perfect little owl like they did, I thought I would use their pictures to make my own version.

So, here is the process..

And here are the results! Ayn the Owl. Made with felt and vintage fabric and coffee (not really the coffee part).

After Ayn was born, she kind of took over the place while Neil was away. Here are the exploits I caught her in.

Here is Ayn surfing the web, looking up pictures of other owls.

Here is Ayn listening to some music.

Here is Ayn having a snack. She loves her bananas and lemons.

Here is Ayn on the toilet.

Here is Ayn reading. I can't pull her away from those Hitler biographies!

What do you think? I'd like to give Rachel something else besides Ayn, maybe a little something for her and the owl can go to the baby. Do you guys have any ideas?