let's get down(ton abbey)

only 6 more days until a personal wish of mine is granted! the season 2 of Downton Abbey premieres on PBS Sunday and i've been waiting since last spring to see it. i can hardly stand it.

everything about the first season was so incredible...the clothes (and hats!) the characters, the time period (the hats!), the story, the setting...i was so aboserbed that i watched the entire season in one weekend. i loved this BBC miniseries MORE than the BBC's pride and prejudice, which is saying something since it had colin firth in it...and i don't think i'm the only one. twice recently i asked someone what they'd watched and liked recently and they gushed with me about DA for many, many minutes. if you haven't seen it, start watching it on netflix or pbs streaming right this minute (or if you're at work, the MINUTE you get home.) if you watch one episode a night and two on Saturday until Sunday when the new one premieres, you'll be 100% caught up. you'll thank me, i promise.

if you aren't convinced, here are a few stills, and a link to the website, to whet your appetite.

 oh, did i mention that the hats are amazing?

of course i love the soap-opera-ish romances and the pot-boiling feuds between the sisters, the in-laws, and the servants, but some of my favorite pieces are the little period details and social and professional expectations of the world at that time since between the sinking of the titanic and beginning of World War I there was an incredible historical turning point. also, something about the society reminds me of earlier generations of southern families. i'm glad i don't live in those times, but i'm so intrigued...

also, if i'm preaching to the choir and you've already watched the show and are as excited as i am, take 2 minutes for the character quiz to find out your downton abbey doppelganger! the last season ended as world war one began, so i can't wait to find out where the writers pick up. let me know if you'll be watching so we can chat about it.

images from google

well, hello Dolly....

last week we drove through sevierville, tn (home of dolly parton) twice on our way to and from thanksgiving. it was exactly eight years ago last week that i fell in love with dolly while driving home for the holiday from college and happened upon the WSEV radio station that was only playing her music and a recently released album "Just because I'm a Woman." I'd always though of her as something of a hokey, down home joke, but when i truly listened to her lyrics, i knew she was speaking deep, powerful truths...specifically to me.

I thought of Dolly and made boone listen to that same album as we were sitting in traffic in knoxville.

not only is her music incredible, but her style is unmistakeable. 

growing up in south mississippi, we had a saying "the bigger the hair, the closer to God." i guess some folks may have been joking about that, but not me. oh, no. since high school i've worked hard to have big, voluminous blonde hair. while all my friends were flat ironing their hair to pieces, i was using hot rollers (hot rollers in high school! in the year 2000!)

now i use a giant curling iron and velcro rollers to pump my hair up, but the concept is nearly identical. i have a feeling that it was dolly parton's early look (before "backwoods barbie" and all that surgery) with her flirty, fun personality that gave me the idea that this is what southern women could (and should) look and act like. (ie: they should be ferociously independent, truly smart and 'with it', able to make fun of themselves, care deeply about their appearance, and make men feel special and breathless.)

then, in college, when i learned that she donated entire libraries of books to children in her hometown and rescued injured bald eagles i realize that she truly was someone to be idolized.
and did i mention that she's for marriage equality? score ANOTHER ONE for Dolly. Yep, she once said, "Sure, why can’t they get married? They should suffer like the rest of us." ;)

i finally got to see her perform on my cousin's birthday a few years ago, and even though we were in the ABSOLUTE farthest rows away, she was still incredible..and so fun...and super sparkly...and her boobs looked enormous even from that great distance.  ;)

 

anyway, when i meet another Dolly devotee (my friend Jon from Grad school and my coworker Sally to name two of the most important) i feel like we share an extra special bond because we know how truly incredible she is...we get it.

in fact, sally told me a few weeks ago that there's a new dolly movie coming out in January. I have NO IDEA about the plot, but i  do know that i'll be buying a ticket for opening night and will try to introduce as many people as I can to the mountain angel.

Is there someone you love but no one else gets? 

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. :)

going daffy...

 

our little town LOVES daffodils...right now they're blooming all along the bayou and at the turn you make to come into town. last week i picked a few and couldn't believe how many different kinds were blooming....i really thought that there were two kinds...white with yellow centers, and yellow with yellow centers. wrong!

 

they're my favorite signs of the coming springtime...it turns out that I DO NOT have a knack for arranging flowers, (ask anyone who's seen my previous attempts) BUT this time, I think like my own arrangement better than this one

too bad i have to leave the warm, spring-ish weather for detroit, michigan this afternoon.... i hear it's 20 degrees there right now. hmpf.

the blanket of snow...

the delta got 6 inches of snow last night...which made the landscape so beautiful this morning. it looked like everything was covered in this smooth white blanket. in fact, neko (the cat who rooms with us sometimes) stepped out of the door and pounced on the snow just like she does on the bed when our toes move under our white down comforter. 

this isn't my photo, but i took a few when boone and i went for a walk around the town. as we walked, i remembered a retreat we went on together (getting trained for a summer job) just after we'd declared our mutual affection but just before we'd actually been on a date.

that day, we walked around in the snow and through a labyrinth on this amazing methodist retreat campus outside of atlanta and learned about each other. i was DYING to snuggle up to him and hold his hand, but we hadn't even been on a DATE yet so i tried to play it cool. it was really comforting to get to walk with him last night as the flakes fell and nestle under his arm as much as i wanted. ;) the joys of having a life-long partner, i guess!

did it snow where you were this weekend?

new year's style crush...helena bonham carter.

isn't she the coolest? i know. it's either the curly hair, the wild outfits, or the cigarettes. in the new year i'm going to try to take my coolness to this level (never going to happen, but a girl can dream). who's your style crush this year?

ice, ice, baby...

 it was soooo cold outside this morning...for some of you, 18 degrees is nothing, but for us, it is COLD. frost on the grass, see your breath in front of you, hands freezing on the steering wheel cold. the best part of cold weather for me is how beautiful and clean everything looks... 

so, here are some lovely photos that remind of this this morning.

enjoy!

forever and ever...

here's another post from the road...
so boone and i are on our way to laurel for the wedding of a dear, beautiful friend i've had for FOURTEEN YEARS...megan. she's truly going to make the most beautiful bride and i can hardly wait to be her matron of honor since we've been talking about love, boys, and forever since we were 14 and 15. in celebration of megan and her handsome honey, here's one of her engagement photos. beautiful, right?

congratulations pretty girl!

a little november blue.

i've got a workshop this weekend and have been feeling just awful all week with a cold, but i wish you a perfectly lovely, relaxing autumn weekend. one where you get to wear a wool blazer and a scarf, frolic in the leaves, and feel the breeze blowing in your hair.


don't forget to leave a comment on yesterday's post to win the november mix!

image by corrie bond

driving rain...

it's been raining this week...and the delta needed it so badly. thank goodness driving to my schools looks nothing like this commute!


photo from imgspark

creative energy..

really and truly, we live in one of the most lovely spots in the delta...and the whole country, in my opinion. i felt inspired today to take a few hours to paint something. it's been so long that I didn't really do anything serious, but i've really been inspired by the cassidy bayou that floats by our front porch. i'm thinking that one day soon when i have another burst of creative energy i'll start working on something like this since it's what i see every day.

 

see what you're missing by not coming to visit? ;)

dog in fog by maude schuler clay (actually taken at our cassidy bayou), an oil painting by american artist alexander john drysdale, two images from pixdaus, and a sara norris original print.

the perfect pattern...

i've always loved this japanese-style wave pattern (apparently it has a name, but i can't find it) but i lusted after batik silks painted with this pattern in bali, and while we were in singapore i bought two bowls for rice that look JUST like the one in the top left. i can't get enough of it's simplicity and fluidity. it just seems like the perfect zen pattern, right?

if i could find a duvet just like this one from crate & barrel that was grey and white for our bedroom i would just keel over and die.

images from here, here, here, and here, here.

not much to report

well, it's official...i've been using my organization-issued pc notebook so much that my sweet, lovely black mac is angry with me. she keeps freezing, and--i swear-- is moving the keys so i can't type at my regular speed. (or it may have something to do with the fact that the pc has keys that are much, much closer together. it's almost like typing on a blackberry. yep. they gave me one of those, too)

anyway, i want to thank all of my friends who've stayed loyal and have continued to check back for updates week after week even though NOTHING new has been posted in ages. trust me, things are crazy here. boone's been posting though... really great things about life in rural america, and when i can, i'm going to chime in. here's that link: http://godknowswhereblog.blogspot.com

all i really have to tell you (beyond that my fingers have stopped recognizing mac keys and that my work life is insane and completely fulfilling) is that when you think of where we live, i DO NOT want you to imagine this place:

nope. although it IS the technical Mississippi River Delta, it's not THE Mississippi Delta. just so you know. ;) that is all.

"it looks like a screensaver!"

we watched couples retreat right before we left singapore and this quote kept popping into my mind when we got to sanur beach. i really don't have much to say about this part of our trip, except that we had a traditional balinese couples' massage for like $40 total (where hot hot hot spice mask is slathered all over your body and left to dry) the massage part was fantastic...but my skin didn't find the mask all that relaxing. Boone loved it, though.

the photos just say everything else...







everything except about the food. so, sanur also has tons and tons of small warungs, or food stalls along the beach. we drank bintang beer and sampled some piping hot roasted corn on the cob. (one slathered in butter, the other in sweet chili sauce. again, i tried something a little too hot for me).







it was a perfect beach vacation unlike any other i've ever had. if only destin or pensacola would get some seafood stalls or bars on their beaches...