a tree house for grown ups!

oh my...

did you see the NYT article "A treehouse grows in Brooklyn" yesterday? FIrst of all, I wrote my college essays about the book... what a classic. And secondly, if you didn't read the article....you MUST. right now. for $400 and lots of scavenging,  this burgeoning interior designer created the MOST PERFECT hideaway complete with oriental rugs, french doors, and a rocking chair. 

also, since last week's Modern Family (the treehouse episode") I've been thinking about how it would be SO MUCH FUN to have a special outdoor spot for reading, drinking wine, and pretending to be a kid...but I guess that's what a screened in porch is for. what kind of hideaway would you want to build?

rolling in the...

so, the flood is still happening... we're safe, though. thanks for all of your prayers! Two dear friends are coming to visit this weekend and if they're interested I think we'll head to a music festival/fundraiser for Tunica cutoff (a place REALLY affected by the flooding and sand boils) Saturday. If you want to come with us, let me know.

on another not completely unrelated note, I can't get adele's "rolling in the deep" out of my head. (the mississippi is deep..and definitely rolling these days). anyway, i drive to work singing it. i fall asleep singing it. i cook dinner singing it. i listen to other songs on my ipod and sing it.

this is worse than my  dolly parton/kenny rogers "islands in the stream" fixation about a month ago. (that was so bad it almost ruined my marriage. seriously. ask boone.)

anyway, although i'm sure i'm WAY behind the times here, i had no idea what she looked like, but i did a google search the other day and was inspired that this woman with a golden voice wasn't a stick figure with no soul. instead...she's a soft, full figured, lovely lady with similarly silky voice. which means....

new. style. crush.

it's especially exciting because i've been feeling (and looking) softer and curvier every month we live in MS. i've been pretty unhappy about it, but now: 1) I feel confident that one can be curvy and still sexy and 2) I ordered the zumba videos so I can take control of my own body again. :)

workity work work (space)...

so after a week of nonstop working/nonstop unpacking, things are starting to look like home around here.

the house has tons of windows and waaaaay more space than we're used to, has hardwood floors, AND our neighbors keep dropping by with homegrown tomatoes and chicken spaghetti, so i'm pretty sure we've picked the right place.

one of the best parts (besides the windows and the neighbors) is the fact that boone and i EACH have a home office... but right now they're doubling as "junk rooms" since my mama and aunt came to visit this weekend. this means our room, the guest room, and all the public spaces needed to be livable and somewhat organized. now that all of those rooms have been taken care of, its time to start thinking about office layouts/decor. here's my current inspiration...
(like the artwork above, HATE that everything is white)




top photo with the incredibly cool desk from copycatchic. middle images from the always fabulous at and the last two from imgspark

gypsy camping...

well, it's official... boone and i are gypsies. we've moved out of our ATL apartment and have nowhere to live for the next month. all of our worldly possessions are in my car and boone's truck (except the ones in the POD). now we're off to see/stay with as many friends and family as possible until we get back from the south pacific! honestly, i won't be able to count it as a successful adventure unless we spend at least one night sleeping in the bed of boone's truck...

all that is to say that i've always associated freedom* and spontaneity with gypsy camps, caravans and nomads of all sorts, so here's a little of my inspiration for the next month or so!


photos here, here, here here, here, here, here and here,

*this is not the reality for most gypsies...i'm aware that they face oppression and find themselves as outcasts in most societies where they reside, but in my imagination, this is what their lives are like.

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.

last board! i promise!

so, i had so much fun making my girls boards that i couldn't resist taking another look at our wedding photos and making a board with them. (plus i'm trying to pick out the pictures for our book) unfortunately you don't get the feeling of TOTAL F-U-N that was our wedding, but i guess that's not the goal of inspiration boards...

either way, i had fun thinking about all of our details and showing them off one more time (although not all of them are in this post) and am so thankful for the incredible work my mom did at making it all possible. (stay tuned for a pretty easter photo of her!)

photos by joe except the photos #2 of the R-G house, and #4 of the invitations. Those are by erin. and the photo of the flower girls is from esta. (thanks!)

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.

besos...

boone and i don't really celebrate valentine's day in any special way... mostly because we try to be spontaneously romantic and unexpectedly thoughtful as much as possible. what i mean is that just one single designated day a year just isn't enough love as far as we're concerned. plus, i'm not really into the commercial holidays where people spend untold amounts of mo.... blah blah, blah, soapbox, and so on.

with that said, i couldn't let today go by without a little bitty nod to love and kisses of all kinds since i do love a little PDA, and I know that not everyone is as much of a v-day scrooge as i am.






go give someone a kiss. *smack*


fyi- i tried (really really tried) to find more couples to represent my dear friends of who're tired (as am i) of hetero-hegemony, but no luck. i mean, if we're celebrating love, and it's for everyone, then it should look like it. will do better next time, promise.

style icon: rita hayworth

isn't she just perfect? i'm not bold enough to wear red lipstick like this, but i'm infatuated by women who are. last weekend i watched rita hayworth and gene kelly in the 1944 film, cover girl, and can't stop fantacizing about pulling out my hot rollers, finding a tube of red lipstick, and perching the most fantastic hat i can find over my left eyebrow. the good news is that boone has been searching for a '40s style three piece suit for months, so at least BOTH of us would look like we got trapped in a time warp. who's with us?









plus, the wedding scene is pretty dramatic... i'm not wild about ms. hayworth's ensemble here, but the bridesmaid outfit looks so chic.


photos from here, here, google, and flickr