Pure Joy

My sweet friend, Kristie, of Pure Joy

Photography took these pictures of us

in my parents' rose garden and in the space

of yard where Paul and I had our wedding

reception ... I love them!

 



Happy Hearts

 

Paul and I had a low key Valentine's dinner on

Thursday night at home. And by low key I mean ...

fine china by candlelight ...

...with take-out pizza and blood orange salad from Pi. It

was perfect. We talked about all of the February 14th

dinners we have had over the years and how this might have

been our very favorite. Maybe it's the fact that life as we've

always known it is about to change forever, but it really was

the best.

 



 

My beautiful flowers!

~

xoxoxoxoxo

When I Know Summer Is Almost Here

I know that summer is right on the horizon when all

of the hydrangeas in Memphis are in bloom.

These particular blooms are located in Cooper-Young

and belong to the neighbors of a friend. Aren’t they beautiful?



Hydrangeas are filling up nearly every vase I own right

now, in every room of my home … and on my desk at work.

They make me so happy.



Our book club is reading Gretchen Rubin’s

The Happiness Project this month.

It’s a re-read for me, but I’m okay with that {I really love it}.

Other small items of happiness in my life? … the fact

that I splurged on dryer sheets because the box says,

“Mrs. Meyer’s lemon & verbena” {and now, not only

sheets and towels, but my entire laundry room smells like

deliciousness} … the sky club lounge at the airport

{are you a member? It makes waiting pre-board

and layovers an entirely new experience – and a happy one} …

my new black linen wedges … and the Psalms {which I am

currently reading through each morning}.

Peony Season

So much going on that I feel like life is in a perpetual fast-forward motion. And … it’s peony season … have you heard? Haha. I have three saved photographs on my phone right now from three different people who have all sent pictures of peonies {either growing in their yard or in vases in their homes}. When you have a signature flower and others know it … you get flowers delivered on a near weekly basis {and it makes no difference to me that it’s via text, it’s the thought that counts}.

Today is a bittersweet day … as I’m saying good-bye to one of my dearest Memphis friends as she is off to Denver tomorrow! Anna was a co-founder of our twenty-something supper club {that we formed post college … seven years ago this very month}. We ran our first 5K together, have been neighbors for two years and have many memories {the vast majority of which include lots and lots of laughter}. I am sad for me, but so incredibly happy for her. Onward and upward and all of the best to Anna! xo

Looking forward to book club tomorrow night and a weekend of celebrations … for moms AND a certain six-year wedding anniversary. Time flies when you’re having fun, kids! :)

Time On The Mountain

I spent the night in Nashville Thursday night with my

brother, and then drove early on Friday to Signal

Mountain for a weekend with Aunt P and Uncle B. I

have been coming to Chattanooga my entire life, 2-4 times

a year to vist ... and it feels like my other home. I love,

love everything about that city ... it's so special to me.

Aunt P always has the most beautiful fresh flowers. She

and my mom are similiar in so many ways.

...and the viburnum was in full blooom. I love these ... when

you see them from afar they look like giant snowballs.

I helped Aunt P go through some boxes in the attic and

it was memory after memory in each one. We sorted years

worth of Christmas cards ... the ones above were the

ones that my grandparents had sent dating from the

early 1960s!

...and we came across many a jewel in the form of

photographs. This would be Becky and Duke circa

1980 {with their beagle puppy}.

Aunt P shared a lot about her mother {Aunt P and my

grandfather were siblings, so this is my great-grandmother,

Billie Laurel Barrett Lee}. I knew 3

out of 4 of my great-grandfathers, but none of my

great-grandmothers {they all passed away before I was

born}. And I don't know that you can really, truly

miss that of which you've never known, but I feel

that with them ... this is exactly the case.

We went down to Signal Point {this is where Paul and I

had our engagement pictures taken} and enjoyed the view.

We had lunch on the porch at Gin-Gin's, shopped at

Merchants on Main and visited The Bread Basket

where I proceeded to eat more cream cheese muffins

than should be legal {over the course of one weekend}.

The morning I left, Aunt P and Uncle B gave me

this card and said that this was their prayer for me during

this next year of my life. Along with some waterford

and dessert bowls "just because."

None of our siblings are married, so I know that being

an aunt is further down the line for me ... but I also know that

I have a lot to live up to in that department. My aunts have

been so influential in my life.

They are amazing, incredible, wonderful. I am so

blessed - really - beyond words.

I left yesterday with more memories and a passenger seat

full of peonies ... and I drove down the mountain with tears

in my eyes and a full heart. Another weekend to

remember. Always and with love.

Spring Has Sprung!

The Bee's Knees

In no particular order, currently loving:

• Brussel sprouts – quartered, roasted for 20 minutes at 450, with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. When I’m not eating them, I dream of eating them – yes, that good.
• OPI’s It’s all Greek to me … my signature hot pink summer nails. I am a recovering {nail biter} addict who manages to stay sober when my nails are painted pink.
• Going to a friend’s house for lunch because she has a yard full of blooming hydrangeas and offered them to me. Make no mistake … if there is one thing I will make time for, it’s a blooming hydrangea in June.
• Have recently finished the following books: Nora Ephron’s Heartburn, Emily Giffin’s Love the one you’re with, Chris Cleaves’ Little Bee, Brennan Manning’s The Raggamuffin Gospel and Caroline Kennedy’s She walks in beauty. The first two are perfect reads for pool days, the second two were my favorites, and the last reminded me of every single reason why I loved my poetry workshop class my senior year in college.

Fresh Flowers

There are few things that make me happier than fresh flowers in the house. I have lived off the peonies I brought back from Aunt P's garden all. week. long. At some season in my life, when my responsibilities are fewer {ha} ... I will bake cakes all day long ... and garden.

Happy Cinco! I'm celebrating with guacamole :)

A Quick Trip

I traveled to Chattanooga this weekend to be with my aunt and uncle and my parents. Friday was a rather sobering day as they spent much of their time with our cousins, Don and Ina. On Wednesday night as Don and Ina were huddled together in their basement, a tornado leveled their home ... essentially destroying, like most every photograph you have seen in the last week ... everything. So many prayers for my family, and ALL who have been affected ...

After a short weekend, I drove back to Memphis this afternoon with a bucket full of white peonies and a happy, full heart from being on Signal Mtn. These same peonies were the ones that traveled to Florida five May's ago {from Aunt P & Uncle B's garden} for my wedding bouquet ... I have enjoyed them all night as they bring back so many wonderful memories from that day.

Happy Half Way ...

...through the week. It's been a good one.

Cotton {Eye} Candy

I got my November issue of Southern Living in the mail last night,

and fell madly in love with the section on holiday {Thanksgiving}

table settings and centerpieces … the one above in particular.

So simple and perfect.

One, Two

Two things:

One. I want a table this long and this wide in my home some day. I just love the idea of massive tables … and fresh flowers. And food. {photo compliments of Mary Ruffle}.

Two. I feel like a seven year old. PB and I went to the new Memphis Greenline on Sunday to ride bikes {and it’s gorgeous and fun and miles of nature and exercise}, but it’s also a zoo, as in, everyone and their mom’s best friend is also biking, jogging, walking slower than molasses …which leads to why I feel like a seven year old. I’m missing an entire patch of skin on my right knee due to a crash and burn type scenario on the ole bike. It’s one thing to do this type of thing in the comfort of your own driveway in elementary school, but it’s something entirely different as a 27 year old in the middle of the aforementioned zoo.

Happy Weekend!

...my dream is to have a garden full of these...
...so that my home looks like this...

Happy 70 Degrees

The daffodils were blooming at the Botanic Gardens

on my lunch break ... I love spring.

Happy Weekend

Flowers & Friends

My favorite person to discuss wedding-related everything with

via email, got married last weekend. Here is her bouquet,

which I absolutely adore.

~~

& we had dinner with the newlyweds, Beth & David, last nite ...

ate on their new wedding china and everything. So fun.

Life is good.

Lilac Love

I keep remembering our delicious dinner at The Beauty Shop last week, and I’m thinking that maybe it needs more documentation. I had lamb [which I ordered rare], and it came with these delicious potatoes, and haricot verts, with just the right amount of spice. The friend to my right ordered sangria and a type of summer vegetable gnocci, the friend to my left ordered the same as me. Really. So tasty. I love that place. If you haven’t been yet …………….

And then … someone asked me earlier today what I would choose if I could have my choice of three or four types of flowers to grow in a cutting garden. Easy as 1, 2, 3: peonies, old-fashioned roses, hydrangeas and … wait for it ……….. lilacs. There is hardly a flower that I don’t enjoy, but these top the charts. When I am in Ocala, I love going to get facials at the spa mostly because I love the lady who gives them – she is as sweet as pie, and she tells stories about her childhood [in the northeast] and about the lilacs in spring. I love the facials, but I just might love the lilac talk even more.

Fancy that.

June + lunch hour + Bethany’s yard in High Point Terrace + scissors [and yes, she gave me permission] = a much more beautiful desk on this Monday afternoon.

These flowers are sitting on my dining room table, so beautiful!

[MC left them for us to enjoy, they were the bridesmaid bouquets in the wedding]

Carolina In My Mind

In my mind I'm going to Carolina. Can't you see the sunshine, can't you just feel the moonshine? Ain't it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind? Yes, I'm going to Carolina in my mind.
–James Taylor

What a wonderful way to kick off summer – Eastern Carolina and the coast. I flew to Raleigh earrrrly Saturday morning to spend the weekend with Jill and Brandt. Jill picked me up from the airport and we headed straight to Watt’s Grocery – there was a feature a few months back in Southern Living on this new and very hip eatery near the campus of Duke University, so we had brunch … an asparagus, goat cheese and spinach omelet for me. After we ate we ventured over to the campus to see the famed chapel, and then a “drive thru” of the Sarah Duke Gardens – magnolias and old-fashioned roses all in full bloom. Next we ventured to downtown Wake Forest and shopped around, had some gelato (lemon meringue and raspberry mix) and toured Magnolia Hill, compliments of Mrs. Akin. Saturday evening the Waggoner’s had a cook-out with some of their friends, fun!

Sunday we went to church, and then to blunch (you know, brunch/lunch) at Coquette, a yum-o French bistro where I had the best Croque Madame this side of the Atlantic. Afterward we shopped around, went back to the homestead and packed/re-packed for the trip to Wilmington. We ate seafood in downtown Wilmington right on the river and then headed back to the hotel … where the air conditioning was seriously lacking. Around 3 a.m. we changed rooms, and the elevator tried to eat me, closed smack on me. By this point, everything was funny … when you’re so tired the word delirious is the only one that makes sense.

Monday brought a day at Wrightsville Beach … it was so refreshing, and the North Carolina sun isn’t as all-consuming as the Florida sun … you can actually stay out most of the day and not feel a heat stroke coming on.

This morning I was up at the very ripe hour of 4 a.m. to head back to Memphis. It’s lunchtime now, and I’m on my third cup of Starbucks … survival, that’s what I keep telling myself. Thank you, Jill and Brandt for such a fun and memorable weekend – I can’t wait to return, and when I do, I’ll have the best shag dancing skills those native Carolinians have ever seen.