Southern Weddings Part 2

Some of my favorite things to do are surrounded around the joining of a man and woman in marriage.

1. picking out flowers
2. finding wedding dressesokay just a little side note here, this is/was my dream wedding gown, seeing as we planned our wedding in exacly 7 weeks there was no time for Monique Lhuiller to make this beauty,soooo i wore this... and i still love it,
3. I also think one of the neatest stages in wedding planning is deciding which traditions will be incorporated in the ceremony. I knew that since Casey and I had no grandparents attending (casey has a grandmother living, everyone else is deceased) we thought we would have the mothers lay a special pink rose in honor of the grandmother's not with us.
4. GIFT REGISTRY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hello, need i say anymore, i was excited, mom was excited, and casey went crazy with that gun they give you, SCAN IT!!!! Most of the items on my registry were very practical. I think that is really becoming the trend, most of my friends have registered for really practical things, I have only had 4 friends register for china, and they are my traditional, "girly"friends.

1. childrens clothes for the wedding. Just see below. One day i hope to own a store that rents french hand sewn children'a clothing, noone wants to pay the price for such fine work but i know if there was a store that charged a deposit (for incidentals) and a rental fee, people would be all over that for children's portraits, weddings, in Mobile, (for the coronation ball)

below, these are the two sweet girls in my wedding, even though i had yet to walk down the aisle, the lady who sat up the ribbon tied a knot in it and the girls had quite a time figuring it out, (the car in the background really irks me.... whatev, small garden wedding i keep telling myself) needless to say it brought all the guests a little chuckle to get their minds of the incredibly aweful heat they were sitting in......
the dresses the girls are wearing have a really neat story to them... my mom made both of them for my sister and i to wear in our babysitters wedding when we were Allie Marie, and Mary Ira's age. It was really special for me to share that with two little girls that i had the privledge to keep. Are they not the cutest things ever???

this pic is from my friend Anna's wedding, are these not the most breathtaking wedding gown and french hand sewn {flower girls} dresses ever?? uhh just gorgeous......

and this is my sweet friend Kara's nephew London, uhh he is going to be a heartbreaker, and look at the lace both of the girls have in their dresses, (I LOVE LACE)

Sidenote: Most of the photo's shown in this post were taken by Josh Malahy Photography.
This is Josh
basically he rocks. His photography skills are amazing, and he has a true talent for photo-journalism. He IS the best! Here is a picture from my friend Haley's wedding. Josh has such an incredible way to capture a sweet moment.

What was your wedding like? Did you incorporate any neat traditions??

Sunday strolling

Yesterday the hubs and I did some serious yard work... So when baby awoke from her nap we went out for a treat!



Casey made her pay! Haha

Sweet Southern Traditions

Hello lovely readers,

Thought i would take some time to share something near and dear to my heart, Southern Weddings!!

 Seeing as i am in my first one for the summer this weekend (Lauren's wedding) I thought I would share some interesting things I learned while planning my wedding almost 2 years ago.

 Buy a few books:

My two favorite are...

My super sweet friend, H, was in college with me at Alabama, and her major was event planning with an emphasis in Wedding Planning, there was no doubt in my mind she would be coordinating my event and boy am i glad she did. The first thing we did was go to Barnes and Noble in t-town and grab some magazines, while perusing the store we found this book.

UMMMMM not only is the book absolutely HILARIOUS, it is extremely informative. Of course i purchased and ran home to read, The book follows women of the Mississippi Delta and the "must haves" of throwing a southern weddings.

Then there is the Southern Belle Primer, oh dear lord this book will have you in complete stitches, even if you aren't getting married it is a really funny light read, great for a road trip to share with the crowd.
Here are some of my favorites of the book, and things the book highlights i didn't know before i read...

• "what is considered trash or quality in the south has nothing to do with money. Some of the best families around here haven't had money for generations. The emphasis is on breeding and manners. no amount of money can make you quality of you don't act like quality. For instance, good souther belles don't place much importance on paying $400 to buy a pocketbook that's got some Italian designer's initials all over it. In the south, grandmother's monogrammed napkin rings are much more important than Gucci's monogrammed luggage. To think otherwise is just considered tacky. And around here, nothing is more tacky than being tacky." -Alabama belle discussing the intricacies of being southern

{a rundown of southern belles golden rules}

1. always wear white when you walk down the aisle (even if its for the third time)
2. never date your sorority sister's ex-husband until at least three years after the divorce. You may need her to write a rec for your daughter one day and its alot easier to find a new man than get your daughter into the sorority.
3. buy low, sell high.

• what a finger bowl is... back in the day these bowls were used for cleaning your hands before dessert, who knew?? {they contain rose petals or lemon peels floating in the water, you are to dip your right hand then pick up the doily with the left and once finished this signifies you are ready for dessert. they surely didn't teach me that at cotillion.
• There are 12 official Silver patterns

1. francis1
2. grand baroque
3. burgundy
4. rose point
5. buttercup
6. chantilly
7. strasbourg
8. acorn
9. old master
10. eloquence
11. chrysanthemum
12. repousse'

these are just a few of my favorites of this book. Honestly i could write for days on this... ahhh the joys and charms of being Southern.... by the grace of god.

Bedroom Design Highlight

I have been wanting to highlight my friend Candace's bedroom remodel for some time now. For her this has been a work in progress over the past few months and i think the room is absolutely adorable. {Candace is pictured above(on the left) with my sister, Ainslie (on the right)}I met Candace through Ainslie when they were very young, both of them grew up cheering and competing and even though they cheered for opposing teams they always remained friends and since in college they have become wonderful friends.

{don't you love the tray sitting on this bed?? the tray

and the bedding are from my fave store in memphis

BellaVita, the bedding is Pine Cone Hill}

Last February, Candace started babysitting for me when I went back to work. AC was a tiny 3 month old and I was so comforted to know my sweet precious was being taken care of by someone I knew and trusted. 

Since Candace has been keeping baby I have discovered we both LOVE to decorate, so before we make any changes to the house I always ask her opinion and she is always eager to help. 

She helped me with decisions in our bedroom, {not quite ready to reveal, but getting close} Anna Caroline's bathroom, the den, and now baby girl's room. 

Slowly but surely the house is coming together just the way we want and I am so thankful to have Candace's help along the way. Here are a few pictures of her adorable room she has designed and executed all on her own.... so proud of her.....

The Grace sign above has been my inspiration for something i have wanted to do in Lil bit's room. 

Long story short the word grace has wonderful meaning to me and is a very special name. 

Originally I found the name Carolina Grace and sooo fell in love with it, my grandmothers best friend was named Grace.

 Mrs. Grace passed away in September of 2008 while I was pregnant with AC and i thought since she was my "living connection" to my grandmother; who passed away when I was in sixth grade; it would be a neat honor to her. We eventually decided to use another name but I wanted to create this sign to remember our planning and preparation for her arrival.

The pink piping on the linen fabric is a great effect on this chair.... love it.

Oh and these shutters, i just have an incredible love for them... These are from a little store here in town! Its a super cute antique shop and this shutter is from a home being restored off the english country side somewhere in Great Britian. Ummm... your gorgeous, i love you and the stories you carry, good lawd, I have a soft spot in my heart for history and antiques.

Hope yall enjoy, i am trying to find my jump drive to load pictures from our trip to Birmingham, AL.

A Day to enjoy our surroundings

pre-post side note... i am trying to work on my photography skills, i think these three pictures show how once i am "looking through the view-finder" things get better... snowflakes and bleeding hearts make my heart swoon......
Okay, promise to try and not get too sappy on this one... Two weeks ago the fam and i packed up for Birmingham, AL for a weekend get away trip. This was exactly two years (to the weekend) casey proposed to me in the botanic gardens in birmingham; so we thought after our tuscaloosa trip to the paul bear bryant museum; {casey had never been} we would show baby where daddy proposed.
After we got there i decided this was quite the prime photo opp, for well, everything, enjoy the photo's we had a blast.
okay again, photo skills.. in the works, hate the lighting but i mean come on.. look at those ruffly socks, a chubby painted fingernails, and those puckered lips.
then ya know... smiles turns to frustration and hunger.... quickly.....so tears and tantrum turn to giggle again.
then of course a little game of monkey see monkey do, if you cant tell this little bit does EVERYTHING.. her daddy does. so stinkin' cute!!

Dreaming of a Luxe dining Room

i guess i have been watching too much Candace Olsen lately, here is what i am inspired to do in my very blank slate dining room.....

Ode to PBO

Okay so going to grab a sandwich at lenny's immediately I think...yes...mini pb trip so while I wait for my sweet friend heather to arrive here are some of the cute things I saw























Heaven... I am in shopping heaven. Hope the sun is shining brightly on you today and you are as excited about the weekend as I am!!

Lots of love for Little English

I have really had a hard time finding stuff that i just LOVE for bebe to wear. We love Kelly's Kids and Just Ducky and of course Beaux et Belles smocked stuff but i havent found a company that carries the "classic children's clothing" that truly matches my style.[sidenote: i really am still evolving my style and its something that truly began to take shape while i was in college, even though i love something funky, my design philosophy would probably have to be, if i look back at my self from 10, 20 yrs ago, i want the look to be timeless, beautiful fabrics, chic lines, something reminiscent of the simpler days; mainly solids, anything lilly, or lilly-esque.]Then about 2 weeks ago my mom called in a panic. this is kind of how it went...{ruffle collars make me weak at the knees, mom found 2 of these for like 5 bucks a piece... Thank you sweet Annie Hunter for sharing your love of bows and ruffles with me (my sewing class buddy from college, LOVE HER)}

mom:"hey jenn, can you leave work??"

me:"no mom we are swamped, i told you i was training for this new position, what's up everything okay??"

mom:"well i am in line, here, at the location for race for the cure, its bad, women look vicious, i need your hands to grab all you can!"

me:"mom, what are you talking about??"
mom:"oh, yeah there's a children's company i've never heard of doing this warehouse sale, rock bottom prices, smocked, beautiful things, it could get ugly."

me:"bahhhh mom your insane, what company, where did you find out about it??

mom:"in the paper, its called little english, ADOREABLE!!"
me:"okay mom, i trust your judgement, pick out some cute stuff, and i will pay you back."

mom:"gotta go, gotta go, someone tried to cut me in line, eeekkkk. call you in a few."
For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to meet my mom she is one of the craziest, funniest people you will ever meet. She is overly dramatic {i don't know anyone else like that;)} so concerned about everything involved with the baby and somewhat of a hover mom. No offense but this woman wants to know everything everyone of her kids is doing at all times. Think Nora Walker from Brother's and Sister's. Always from the heart kinda love but good lawd, she can put on a show. hahaSo needless to say i am now deeply, madly, in love with anna caroline's spring wardrobe, thanks mom for your continuous efforts to make sure your granddaughter has the best wardrobe, {not to mention at a great price}

Anyone know if other companies have warehouse sales?? I would love to find some just ducky stuff at these cheap prices, Maribeth, hook a girl up!! haha

The love dare

I have been meaning to share with you what I have learned from reading this amazing book.

Since becoming a mommy my heart is very full for others, at this point in my life I am not Able to financially assist others the way I would like to but I can pray for them and ask the lord to be with ppl and give them the guidance they need. The love dare has shown me how to be much more open with my feelings and more real with my spouse.I shouldn't expect him to read My mind,I have to explain to him what it is I need to feel safe, one of those things is knowing we are not living above our means. I can proudly say we are well on our way to financial peace and as of February 1 everything but student loans and the mortgage is paid off. This was for me the first step to feeling "safe."

Within the first 10 days the book encourages the reader and the spouse to create boundaries for one another. Boundaries are healthy and necessary rules of engagement. Once you establish those boundaries you must begin to live by them.

Then you begin to pray for your spouses heart and the ways god can begin to work in your marriage. This is where the lord really begin to bless my heart. Being able to simply spend time with my husband is something I don't take for granted. My husband is working full time, going to school part time, and also has a part time job on the weekends, so when Tuesday nights and Sunday nights roll around I can't wait to spend time together!!

Stay tuned s I continue to share what the lord is doing in our lives!!

Verse for day 17

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love; but perfect love drives out all fear.

-- Jb

Burmenham bound

Looks as if the only thing to save us is veggies tales sing along and some chikfila!!
Jb

Things i Love right now Part 1

I know i have recently written of simplifying my life and streamlining. I love the clarity this has brought me and how much more humble i have become through this, but every now and then there is a glimmer of dreaming. thought i would share these with you.

Romans 8:28 But when i hope for what i do not yet have, i wait for it patiently.

Thank you Jesus for the grace that passes all understanding when we learn to be patient in you.

New Projects

made some earrings for a coworker.....
trying to figure out how to use this space... its the cut out on our stairs landing, got my beautiful sconce from pb outlet hung, i like the center shelf but the other two are struggling... help... what do i need??
oh, and i ADORE my etched vase i got for my bday, had to bust out the new placemats for this arrangement (left over from easter meal) oh, and notice baby is totally cheezin' for this... haha

Easter Celebrations...

Ever had that feeling that you were NEVER going to get caught up... well i am there. As usual i have bit off more than i can chew and i am paying for it. My tired is tired as my grandpa would say... Anywho wanted to give yall a glimpse of my first ever hosted holiday meal. My favorite part was decorating the table. BTW i had full intentions of getting some mother of pearl napkin rings and i just forgot to make the trip to the store to get them... typical when your brain is as full of stuff as mine is....

This flower arrangement is one of my absolute fave's. you actually use two vases, set the smaller one inside the big one, fill with whatever candy you like then fill the small with water and flowers, VOILA.... such a unique centerpiece and really helped set the tone.

Then of course you must have candles....

And easter eggs hanging from the chandelier....

And dessert is always the best part, the funny thing here is on saturday my sweet hubby didnt hear the timer go off so my not so pretty, but very very yummy homemade carrot cake looks like a volcano, but still tastes great!!!

**on a side note this is the one room in my house that just is BLAH i love my curtains and chandelier and thats about it, any suggestions as to what i can do?? i was thinking a buttercream color for the walls, maybe in stripes and the stripes being a glaze. Any of you experimented with glazing... i am tempted to try....