a rustic touch...

(images via blueprint bliss)

(images via desire to inspire)

have you tried these?

lots of people have been blogging about their favorite snacks these days... so in the spirit of snacks these are pretty yummy...

yellow chairs?

(image via desire to inspire)

i like these yellow chairs! they are spunky and fun but sort of sophisticated too! and a good pop of color!

non-blogging brain...

well... i've been on bit of a blogging haitus. mainly i blame what we'll call double decker brain. saturday was the arts and music festival that i plan, and all my brain energy was consumed with details and running around like a crazy person getting ready for 55,000 people to converge on oxford on saturday!

one of my favorite photos from the 2008 Double Decker Festival. maybe i'll have 2009 photos to post soon!

it went off without any major hitches, had beautiful weather (i'd been praying god would let the farmers get all the water they needed before saturday!) and had a lot of fun! but needless to say i completely exhausted!

see more on this blog post about what i might argue if my favorite oxford day...

it was fun to see tons of college friends and even a few old (and blogging) friends too! ( wesley and the hill clan)

my mom was here, and yep, she did some help in the yard! it looked so nice we had to enjoy dinner on the deck thursday night!




she brought me some cute new outdoor pillows too! and the best things, she just picked them up at home depot! of course they are outdoor fabric and compliment the fabric on my chair cushions and my red ( camera phone didn't quite capture that!) umbrella.




she made pasta with fresh veggies and chicken... there is nothing like your own mom's cooking! we even had sparkling water which is my favorite!



ohh...and look at these great salt and pepper shakers she picked up at an antique store!

later that night, my friend liza surprised us with fresh baked cookies... remember these? well thursday's batch was equally as delish!

although i've been to tired to blog, i have certainly been reading blogs. did you see darby's stool? i love this fabric, in fact my curtains are this same fabric in brown.

(photo via urban grace via fly through my window)

see my curtains? ( again camera phone is limiting me on this..)



ok, i am off to celebrate liza's birthday! too bad she can't bake her own birthday sweets and share with all her "sweet" (loving!) friends!

feel the love...

do you guys ever go to le love blog? i love the images...and i think it is fun to imagine the stories behind her romantic pictures and very apropos titles. simple, beautiful and a little bit romantic too. what more could a girl ask for?

(photo via le love)

my mom is coming in town this week to help with double decker... but i think she's also going to help me with my yard/ deck area...mainly the plants ( remember i get a little overwhelmed with my gardening ventures) knowing this is on the horizon has gotten me thinking about outdoor spaces.

over at desire to inspire... they were thinking about outdoor spaces too? i love this planter and the chair.

(photos via desire to inspire )

my mom got several of these retro inspired chairs below for the "river house"... from lowe's and they were only $35...

i'll let you know how it turns out... but i have a feeling things will be looking much more manicured when she leaves...

have i mentioned...

that i would really like to have white walls...

images via desire to inspire

somedays...

(photo via cup of jo)

there is nothing like a good hug...

i kind of want this...

(poster via etsy shop byorderofthecrown)

a myriad of things...

for me, april is basically a blur. between a few work trips, working on double decker ( my day job!), easter and the rest of life... to say it is busy might be what you'd call a minor understatement! i realized earlier that i had started about 10 blog posts all of which were saved as drafts. so here goes... it is a myriad of things.

first, last week i was in orlando for work. it was really fun, although must admit my inner child wanted to go to magic kingdom, but that didn't happen! it sure is fun to go, but it is really fun to come home too! two days later lewis and i headed to what we call "the river house"... my parent's cabin in heber springs, arkansas. my brother works as a fly-fishing guide there and he took lewis and my dad out for the day, they caught some big fish and had a big time! ( matt posted about it here.)

(lewis and matty on the little red. photo via fish on!)

we celebrated easter with my family, it was good to relax, spend some time outside in the gorgeous weather, and have some always needed long talks with my mom. it was also very nice to go to church and worship as a family on sunday, living in different places, that is something we don't get to too very often!



i also read a whole book on the way home... good thing lewis agreed to drive! last year my friend amy turned me on to jen lancaster's book bitter is the new black... after pouring through it and her next book, bright lights, big ass, and laughing hyterically pretty much on each page, i was sad to hear from jen and her witty rants about the totally ridiculous stuff we all get frustrated over. while at the river house i found such a pretty fat on my mom's nightstand, and after assuring her i would read it so quickly she'd never miss it, i commandeered it for myself. certainly not disappointing. oh, and it all started with a blog. read it here!

in my spare time, i'm working on a story for the invitation oxford's may issue. it will feature businesses owned by mother-daughter teams, and yes you guessed it, the story will come out just it time for mother's day!

me and my mom last year on mother's day

think you could own a business with a parent? my mom and i are always scheming up business ideas in our heads. i for one think it would be incredibly fun...but i am sure at times it can be a tricky trail to travel.

regardless, its been fun to hear the stories of some of these folks, and what gave them inspiration for opening a business together. for some it was necessity, some skills, and for others a shared passion. so stay tuned...i'll post more here when the story is complete.

oh and p.s. and my friend kelley has finally rejoined the blogosphere! and started a style column in our local paper. the first edition was great. if you've not done so yet, visit her at her blog, brass buttons.

whew...now i can delete all those drafts!

hang your name...

i am smitten with these coat hangers on etsy that have names shaped into them! although i doubt they could fit mary-kathryn into one! that etsy... never disappoints.

want one? get it here.

shop in your own closet... or maybe gwyneth's

there are those people we all find fascinating. i have plenty of those in real life, but in the celebrity realm, i would say gwyneth paltrow is certianly one. have you seen her blog? i guess you'd call it a blog. its a website where she posts about life in general, covering topics from food and fashion to family and travel ( too bad i didn't have an f word for travel! that would have been good alliteration!)

you can sign up and recieve the posts weekly in your email inbox, or browse through her old posts here.

in her words goop ( the site's name) is:

Goop is a newsletter that will usually come once a week. I will be sharing recipes, my personal travel notes, the advice that I get and follow, and so much more. GOOP is constantly evolving- I'm excited to have you join us.

i stumbled ( via east side bride) upon a post about cleaning out your closet, something i always find very cathartic, but also the eco-smart and economy-smart idea of "shopping in your closet." it would be easy with these old items hidden away huh?

oh and even better... she's havig an ebay auction to sell some of her items! so in case you can't shop in your own, maybe you can shop in gwyneth's...

more calling cards

if i needed some... and wasn't feeling crafty... i'd order these guys that i found at blue print bliss ( a new favorite in the blog browsing!)

a calling card...

i was on how about orange and saw these cute printable calling cards! how cute? and you can do it yourself!

there is even a pdf here in case you want to print some.

for the "girls"...

photo via cup of jo

this is a cute post on garnace dore about something i think every girl has dealt with in her day! boys, you won't understand... trust me! as stacy and clinton ( yes, of tlc's what not to wear) would say... this post is for the girls, about "the girls"

ps. if the link pops up in french, look in the top right and you can convert it to english.

a toast to...

scarlett and her champagne make me wish i had something to celebrate! not mention it makes me a little reminiscent of when i visited moet and chandon while studying abroad in france with my good friend lauren!

happy friday

this cool picture came from this blog!

have a great weekend everyone! i am headed to orlando tomorrow for work... its been good week ( i got a new car!) and a long week ( i got a speeding ticket within one hour of owning it!) but the sun is out today and it is friday! enjoy your weekend!

mud bugs

do you eat these guys? during march and april everyone around here ( well, i think in the south in general) is crazed over crawfish... not nearly as healthy as this. it seems pretty afternoons and crawfish specials draw people to many a happy hour around oxford in the spring.

i for one, am not the biggest crawfish fan but i do love the festivities that go with crawfish boils (and if you ask me, the sausage and corn that cooks with them is to die for). when we lived in new orleans my brother would be in diapers eating them as fast as he could!

i had them on the brain just now because we are headed to a crawfish boil tonight... to bad it is pouring and not 75 and sunny like yesterday. oh well!

today during lunch my friend kelley and i went to the lenton luncheon series at her church. today's speaker was rabbi micah greenstein,of temple israel in memphis, who i have heard speak ( in chapel at st. mary's school) many times. this is the kind of thing i always intend to attend, so i was thrilled that we went and left wanting to share it.

his message and the entire lunch really struck a chord with me...he opened his message with the comment that if there had been an ad in the newspaper proclaiming rabbi speaks at lenton luncheon on april1, many folks might have laughed at the ironic april fools joke! but, as he was (not jokingly) speaking to us, i was really touched by his words. rabbi greenstein reminded us that although we may differ in faiths, we share many similarities, after all, jesus was a jew!



he spoke about the similarities between the upcoming passover celebration, lent and spring in general saying "since life starts over again in spring, in passover and in lent, so can we."

as he discussed the beauty of our shared faith in god he said that it has "often been said that we all sit in the cathedral of the world," going on to paint the picture of each window is a different story of faith, and that the sun shines through them all - and there is something to learn from each window, whether or not you share that faith. what a beautiful lesson that i know i all too often don't remember.

message aside, rabbi greenstein is a fascinating man, you can read more about him here. he also brought along a musical group from his synagogue, of which he is a part, and they sang several songs. so many were focused on the hebrew words from psalms and were beautiful.

one chorus i especially loved, " when you dream, dream big, because when you dream it might just come true!"

now how's that for a mantra!

well, thanks!

thanks to mary straton for the shout out on her blog about my etsy shop! ( i hope to add some new stuff tonight!).

OOPS! and thanks to very married too! she is always a great reader and supported of my blog!!