kraft paper, twine, and red ink...

the twine ensuresall the pieces stay put!

boone and I have been truly honored by our friends sally ad kristi, who asked us to officiate their wedding this spring. they are so in love, truly kind people, and dear friends of ours, so we and other folks also wanted to honor THEM with a fun engagement party before the wedding. it'll be a laid back BBQ in the Delta springtime, and guests are being asked to bring mason jars with a wish for the couple inside (then S &K will be able to use the mason jars for their centerpieces at the wedding).

the back and the front

anyway, my mom and i worked on designing and printing these together over my vacation last week and so i wanted to share our handiwork. what do you think?

the card for the wish!

no apologies, and something new!

aren't these colors so lovely? I know grey, greens, and browns are all the nail polish rage this fall, but I just can't bring mylsef topaint my nails any color that isn't somewhat flesh and blood colored. colors like tea with the queen, the full monty, and tramp stamp make me excited to get a pedicure. well, that and the massage chair.

find more here.

love hurts...

five years ago i was working as a high school art teacher and i got a wild idea to dye my incredibly long and naturally blonde hair jet black. now i realize it was a desperate attempt to emulate my idol, emmylou.

 it's that she's always confident and refined, while still seeming easy going and natural. her voice is clear and authentic, and her harmonies make every song sound better. plus, a woman with a guitar is so unmistakably cool.

before i married boone and got the new last name of Harris, i'd had grand plans to name a future daughter emmaline louisa and call her emmylou.

emmylou wilson, sure. emmylou vanderzanden, perfect! but two emmylou harrises in the world might be one too many. ;) i still love her though.

 

who are your famous crushes?

art is life.

 

my wonderful, wonderful parents came to visit us this weekend and brought a BEAUTIFUL book of giorgio morandi's work that a neighbor sent to me.

i can't stop looking at all of his natura morta (still life paintings) the colors are perfect...so clean and simple. so full of light. and i'm as obsessed as he was with this odd shaped vase. isn't the texture perfect?

 if you haven't ever heard of him, look him up! he's often described as italy's greatest still life painter...i can see why! doesn't it remind you a bit of a simpler, softer, neutral cezanne?

 the new book was only a teeeeeny bit of my parents' visit, so stay tuned for a better recap soon!

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?

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.

garden club material?

love. this.


this week i (really..ME! biz!) was invited to our new little town's garden club. of course i can't go because i've planned meetings ALL day on Wednesday...but just to be asked is pretty fun. honestly, i'm probably not the delta garden club material...but my mama is a 1st place winner at the garden club of america's flower show (she did the MOST FANTASTIC dolly parton arrangements with cantelopes), so maybe arranging flowers and cultivating bulbs is in my blood, after all. ;)

either way, i'd love to have these pretty things by one of our windows... if i could pull it off i bet i'd be garden club material. thoughts?



















image here.

leaving on a jetplane

we've had a busy week back in singapore! lots and lots of playing with the nieces, going on family outings to the INCREDIBLE singapore zoo and the bukit timah nature reserve, and dealing with a little case of td. it's been wonderful!

unfortunately we leave in a few hours for the US... one stop in tokyo, another in chicago, and then a third in atl where we'll spend the night with friends (i hope i hope i hope) before we drive to the delta. it'll be hard to leave the girls and end out adventure, but will feel SO GOOD to have a home that's ours (at least until we find something more permanent in august. :) wish us traveling mercies!

seeing the sights...

our second full day took us on a tour of bali... i think almost everyone who hires a driver and doesn't give explicit directions goes on this trip. not only did we see all of the temples, but we also visited some rice terraces (since the region isn't flat, they've got to grow rice in stairsteps. eat your heart out, mississippi delta)




we visited a peak where we could see the volcanoes...


and had lunch there. ;)


we drove through coffee and fruit farms next to teeny villages and visited a fruitstand to try fresh balinese oranges (see below) which actually tastes like a giant lime, mangosteens, and something else that tasted like a giant grape but looked like a porcupine.


and we visited a lovely waterfall and made some adorable friends.



it was a great day... and the next day, we went to the beach! i still can't get over that all of this was on the same island.

wide open

this is how spring feels to my soul....



images from dress design decor, & imgspark

wishing for a white wednesday..

i'm disappointed that the snow missed us today... maybe we'll get a little more before spring.

has anybody seen this photo? i have no idea where i got it.

a little sunshine and some fun links...

today in the ATL was yuck-y. i thought we all could use a little sunshine...
because of the weather i should have been writing my thesis (ugggghh.) or been out dancing out in the rain, but instead we stayed in and did lots and lots of reading and job applying plus i spent a little time perusing the interweb. c'est la vie.

on the bright side i found a few things this weekend that made me think of my you, my dearests... yes, you.

here's something really fabulous to do with all of your old cereal boxes

my college roomie used to drink coffee in to-go cups like it was her job. she (and maybe you) definitely need these

bet you'll be sending one of these to your honey pretty soon.

have you see these aprons? i saw a few in VaHi awhile back but didn't know a local gal made them. fab.

do you know anyone who needs a REALLY unique engagement ring? (i sure do)

oh, and a funny drunken mistake.

image from evidently.org