wish-fulfilled. sally and kristi's wedding!

Last week boone and I were incredibly honored to officiate our delta friends' wedding ceremony in Oxford. The weekend was so celebratory and the brides looked beautiful...the best part of the whole weekend was the fact that these two friends began the rest of their lives together. consider this a wish-fullfilled. ;)

see more photos from the wedding here (and more to come).

for my GALentines.

Hey darlings,

most weeks I can say that not much is going on (besides work) in the delta, but last week was WILD with birthday celebrations and social events. it was pretty fun to have a full dance card...and see so many people who aren't teachers and don't need/want/have to have my advice but just want to chat about life, books, the news, and upcoming events.

we did take time out of our busy schedules to watch 30 rock and parks and rec thursday night, and they were totally worth the time. PLUS, leslie knope inspired me to re-think valentine's day as GAL-entines day. ;) great, right?

i'm THE world's WORST at mailing things on time, plus we live an 1.8 hours away from any decent shopping spot, but if i could overcome these obstacles, these are the things i'd want to give my best gals.
gifties found here:pillow so they know how much they mean,  cool umbrella pushpins, a pretty notebook to help us remember (we're getting old)   elise mahan "together in the sky" print , or maybe some fun stripey straws

Happy New Year!

 boone and i are spending the new year in austin, tx with some of our dearest. when i think of nye, i think of sparkly clothes, champagne, and streamers, so we've not only packed our dancing shoes but also i'm thinking of packing my very own vintage champagne saucers because they feel SO old world and glamorous.

i hope YOUR new year's eve (and more importantly, your new year) is magical, glamorous, and filled with the ones you love.

new worlds...

although my world right now is all about delta students, new teachers, building relationships, and our vegetable garden... over in atlanta, a close friend's world has just been altered irrevocably in an incredible way.

on tuesday anne gave birth to little, beautiful alice.

she and her honey blog here, which is where i stole these two photos. honestly, i didn't think i'd ever, EVER miss atlanta when we left, until my dear friend esta had twins. then all i could think about was how much i want to know the little ones in these super formative times, and how i'm missing parts of their lives (and will most likely miss more since atlanta probably won't be our home ever again.) and now, instead of holding this precious little one, i have to be satisfied with seeing her grow on the interweb.

with that said, THANK GOODNESS for the internet...otherwise i'd have to wait WEEKS to see alice's sweet smile.

anyway, all this is to say that i'm OVERJOYED for anne and her honey..but a little sad that i'm not there to help support and celebrate them right now. but mostly overjoyed that new life has been brought into the world and that two wonderful parents are here to nurture it!

on that note, do you live away from dear friends? how do you stay connected?

springtime sno....

last weekend the delta had a break in the dreary, bleak skies and had two and a half days of sunshine.  there's no way I could have anticipated how positively a little vitamin D would have on my mood...my outlook...my personality. i was more optimistic, more energetic, and just generally more fun to be around.
maybe this had something to do with the fact that we went on walks by the bayou, played yard games with friends by a lake, and drove with the windows down...but no matter.

this week has been pretty dreary, by contrast, BUT the sunshine of the weekend was just enough to tell me that spring IS on it's way. (that and the fact that the daffodils have started blooming in the yard!)
then i got an email from my friend anne today. anne lives in atlanta and reminded me of the fun we used to have in the summer walking from my teeny apartment in the highlands to the orlegian snocone stand on ponce that was only open one day a week for a few hours. in fact, i walked there so many times only to find it was closed..which ruined my day. what made her think of it was today's scoutmob deal (atlanta's answer to the groupon).

apparently in atlanta there's a place where you can get snocones ALL year long! inside a building! with air conditioning!

in the 'sip new orleans style snocone stands don't start appearing until after spring break or Easter and last until Labor Day. and even then you have to stand out in the hot sun waiting for someone to take your order. this revelation made my mouth water and made me looooong for spring even more. thank goodness it's on it's way.

what makes you excited for the beginning of spring?

to 2011!

happy new year! we've been celebrating it with our wonderful, sweet friends from atlanta. we danced the night away friday night and yesterday i made sure we all ate blackeyed peas, pork, and cabbage for good fortune in the new year. plus we watched all the football in the world (or all i could stand)... it was such a perfect weekend and has put 2011 off to a great start. how did you celebrate NYE?

left my heart in san francisco....

well folks, the wedding was just beautiful and full of so much love. every detail was perfect (what would you expect from snippet and ink's founder?) and i had the best time hanging out with the happy couple before the wedding and with dear friends the rest of the time. we danced, and ate, and walked around the city...but right now i can't wait to set foot in the 'sip.

it's been a looooong trip home.

apparently teeny planes that go to Memphis can't fly in snow, so we were stuck in salt lake last night, then sent to phoenix. we're currently on a plane to memphis and scheduled to land any minute, so the photo above is my vantagepoint.

cross your fingers for a safe return to our little hamlet!

image from imgspark.

marrrriage.......

so two of my dearestest friends are getting married this weekend... and about a year and a half ago they asked me to be the officiant. it's the most incredible honor and everytime i think about it i really just can't get over it. all week i've been remembering our own wedding and about the commitment that boone and i made to each other before our family, friends, and God. Then i remember that i get to stand there with kathryn and ryan while they say their vows and commit their lives to each other and i get teary and tingly and so, so happy for them.

any minute now we're going to get on the plane to head to see them, so if you don't mind saying some prayers that all goes well or crossing your fingers, or something else entirely for good measure and vibes, i'd be so incredibly thankful. my eposicopalian neighbor priests tell me (as did my divinity school preaching professor) that the holy spirit descends and gives the minister the words and authority to speak... so i'm holding out that that will happen on saturday. but until then, i'll have to keep taking deep breaths and reminding myself that although i have a big role on saturday, it's not about me at all. what happens Saturday is really between Kathryn, Ryan, and God...and i just get to be the vehicle. how humbling and beautiful is that?

mantra...

ran across this wonderful workspace on imagespark... love the desk, love the chair and I really LOVE the poster and would love to have a copy of it since:
1) it's printed on kraft paper. my fave.
2) and it's sort of the KIPP charter school network's motto. I'm not hardcore enough to make it as a teacher at KIPP, but I sure do love what they do
3) plus, I just believe that the phrase is a great mantra to live by.

it's especially fun that i found the poster this week since tonight i'm meeting up with my KIPPster friend, shapiro. she and another wonderful friend are visiting the 'sip (their old stomping grounds) and we're meeting up in oxford. katie's been an all-star teacher since day one and it always inspires me to be around her and listen to her talk about her kids. :) I CAN'T WAIT.

what are YOU doing this weekend?

wishing for a pile of leaves..

 the first time boone and I were really ever alone together was when he had a broken collarbone and couldn't drive his truck, so i gave him a lift home. as we walked to the bus (to pick up my car) we walked by the most perfect pile of crisp leaves...and the urge to kick them was really too hard to resist, so i ran over, scooped them up with my foot, and flung them everywhere. they made SUCH a great crunch sound.  but when i looked over at boone, he seemed so surprised that i got embarrassed... and then i realized that the pile had been so perfect BECAUSE some poor person had to rake to get them that way. i tried to scooch them back into place, but really..the damage was done.

to this day i look at piles of leaves and think of 3rd grade and st. john's day school and my first time alone with my honey. although it's autumn here, i really haven't seen any leaf piles... if you see one where you are, give it a kick for me, ok?
anyway, with this in mind, this weeks' posts are brought to you by the letter "l" and crisp, rust colored, autumn leaves. ;)

photos from imagespark

one is silver and the other gold...

friday night we went on a delta date...we had a drink, we went to dinner, we looked at the stars, and then we stood in the yard and talked with our neighbors Robert and Betsy (both episcopal priests, if you can believe it!) for almost an hour. it was perfect.

the yard part was especially perfect because the weather has turned cool and the mosquitoes gave us a little break...plus i just really like Robert and Betsy! it was really and truly hard to leave atlanta and our bestest, dearest, sweetest friends... we've had a lot of weekends where it's just been the two of us since we've been in the delta. now, i actually really LOVE low-key nights cooking and snuggling with boone like crazy, but sometimes it's just nice to have couple of couple-friends you can call and spend time with when you want.

i'm really looking forward to finding those folks, and having dinner parties and movie adventures with them. do i sound sad? i hope not! i'm just trying to say that life in a new place, a small, teeny, sweet place with history and few newcomers takes time to adjust to...and let's be honest, I'm not the most patient gal in the world. the good news is that sunday night betsy and robert had a bonfire for s'mores and hotdogs and we met even MORE fun, young neighbors.

AND boone's been asked to join the volunteer fire department, which apparently is just a guy's night once a month...and like i said yesterday, i've been invited to the garden club! at this rate, we'll have new friends in no time. what is it that they say about old and new friends? one is silver and the other gold! either way, SO valuable!

i love oxford american...

not only does oxford american publish a rad southern music issue every year with my fave artists, but it used to be located in our new (temporary) little town, and next weekend they are hosting a pretty fun party in the Delta next weekend. On top of all of this, they've published one of my friend's short stories!

Matthew Neill Null (Matt to me) was a college friend who tested the waters of TFA in the Delta my second year here, then decided the passion in his heart of hearts wasn't teaching, but writing. Now, after three years at the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop (where Flannery O'Connor studied and Marilynne Robinson teaches) a story of his about life in Appalachia has been published in an actual magazine with actual subscribers!!! I picked up a copy of OA at off-square books yesterday and am crazily impressed and proud of him. Order a copy here.

LOTS to report!

so friends, we're finally IN Singapore! i'd be lying if i said it was a loooooong trip (we traveled for 26 hours or something crazy to get here.. and we landed in Tokyo for two hours so now we can say we've been to Japan) but it's totally worth it to be with our family on the other side of the world. we can definitely tell that we're RIGHT at the equator because it's HOT,also the smells are stronger here than anywhere else I've been, and we've been spending every waking minute with our four nieces or walking around the city, so i haven't had much time to blog, BUT i wanted to tell you that we're HERE! and it's WONDERFUL!
also...really quick i wanted to share my mom's calligraphy.. she did this for me since we're throwing one of my dearest, prettiest friends an engagement shower in July. Isn't this FANTASTIC?



i know.
anyway, ta-ta for now... we're off to the singapore bird park!

inspiration.

o. m. gooodness! the sweetest girl in the world posted one of our wedding photos as some of her own inspiration on the "inspired by this" blog. SUPER flattered. really excited. kathryn, you are the best. for serious.

the thing is, kathryn has an eye for style and impeccable taste that everyone in the wedding world claims as inspiration...(it's her job, you know.) but she's my inspiration in real life. she's so beautiful, poised, honest, really (and truly) thoughtful, makes you feel special and she's kind.

i could say so much more, but i'll just write her a card.

i'll be your juke joint girl...

we're off to the mississippi delta this weekend for the annual juke joint festival...
blues, bbq, crawfish, racing pigs...


i spent 2 years in there, so it's a little bit of a homecoming for me, PLUS

it'll be happy reunion with sweet friends. here are a few pictures from around the web... beautiful and gritty right?






photos from here, here, here, & here.

warm winter peaches and pomegrante...

i have no clue what my sweet friend is thinking about her wedding but there's no doubt in my mind the everything will just be perfect and that she'll be lovely and such a happy bride. if i were planning her wedding, i'd have her wear an audrey hepburnish dress and would pepper the reception with teacher/school details since that's where she and her honey met.

They also have an affinity for blues dancing and it's going to be a winter wedding, so i thought a harmonica/guitar duo, a warm fireplace, and some cocoa might be nice, too...

msw, swm (2x) snippet&ink, sundaysuppers, swm, sweetmonday ,ourlaboroflove, sweetestoccasion, projectwedding ,littlewinterbride, msw, musicsover

plum, peacock, & midnight blue...

ok, here goes my second try... my oldest friend, megan is getting married in december. she's always been the queen of glamor (i'm pretty sure she only owns ONE pair of shoes that aren't 4 1/2 high and those are her running shoes) anyway, i think she said midnight blue was her color of choice, and what looks better with midnight blue than plum and peacock?

and since the wedding is in winter and she and her honey are high society I mixed in some fancy details and thistles.... what do you think?

credits from left to right:
???, flightsoffancy, snippet&ink, swmag, luckyluxe, our labor of love, flightsoffancy, bdunlap, elizatriutt, swmag, sweetp flowers, little winter bride, our labor of love

champagne, blush, and hydrangeas all around...

so, i've never made a wedding inspiration board before, (not even for my own wedding) but since my three dearest friends are tying the knot, i thought i'd try my hand at predicting their styles and visions. i don't have a lot to go on, but i finished my thesis (HOOORAAY!!!) so i've got a little extra time to play around.

here's the first one for abc: champagne, blush, and hydrangeas all around. plus a ukelele (part of their courtship) and some chemistry beakers (her honey is a scientist!)

what do you think? if you hate it...don't worry, i'm definitely keeping my day job. ;)

from left to right: bill kingston, frolic, swmag, ourlaboroflove, snippet&ink, ourlaboroflove, 100layercake, aloasmusic, velvet&linen, jennabush's wedding, msw

christmas or wedding season??? (wedding season, obvi)

so, three of my dearest friends are tying the knot in 2010... one in august, and two in december! two of boone's best pals are also gettin' hitched this summer, which means we have LOTS of fun occasions to get dressed up and celebrate.
i ordered this pretty little dress above from jcrew this morning for the august event (i'm a bridesmaid!!) and i got word from the bride that there'll be all sorts of hydrangeas, it's going to be on the fancy side, and that she likes the way lots and lots of white/light things look... i couldn't picture it immediately, so i went looking for something to jog my imagination.. maybe something like this?

or this?

obviously no one makes inspiration boards quite like kathryn does... so this definitely gave me some idea of what to expect. but either way, whether the wedding looks like these boards or not, i know it will be BEAUTIFUL, SO HAPPY, and F-U-N.

introducing...sweet p flowers!

apparently all the creative people i know are in the wedding business...

my dearest friend kathryn is a super-famous wedding blogger, my new friend erin is the toast of the wedding invitations world, my mom is getting into calligraphy of all sorts, and now palmer and her pretty mama are kicking off sweet p, what promises to be a really successful floral endeavor! palmer's work has been shown in house beautiful and atlanta homes and lifestyles magazines and her mama has tons of experience designing lovely arrangements.


i'd be lying if i said i didn't feel a little bit of jealousy that i'm not in on the wedding-related action (although the plan is for me to help my mom a bit after graduation) if only i could sew well enough to make gowns or something...

anyway, if you're in the southeast and are looking for a totally talented floral team (they think to put thistles and hydrangeas together! who else does that?) check out sweet p's portfolio... you won't be disappointed.