princess dresses

i know it's been a full week since i've blogged, but i've very much enjoyed a "spring break" this week, some of it in houston with aaron and gracie, and some of it here in concord at my house with a good book. and, of course, i spent yesterday like many of you, captivated by the royal wedding.

that said, i would very much like to be a princess when i grow up. i believe prince andrea of monaco is still available. i speak halfway decent french. i would love to marry in to the same family as grace kelly - i think it could work. anyway, i thought the wedding was certainly beautiful and of course, kate looked amazing. but you know who took the cake for me? her little sis, phillipa (pippa). her dress (also by sarah burton for alexander mcqueen) was absolutely, positively stunning. and if my wedding dress looked like this someday, that would be okay with me.

images: 1.vogue 2.glamour 3.royalwedding.aol

happy easter!

oh, death, where is your sting?

oh, hell, where is your victory?

oh, church, come stand in the light!

our God is not dead, He's alive! He's alive!

image via flickr

good friday

"the devil has convinced so many people that they are worthless. each of us needs to stop and remember the cross - at the cross we will discover our true value - for it is here that we discover the price God was willing to pay for us, the depth of His love, and how much we are worth to Him."     - roy lessin

image via didyouknowtruth

clover home tour, house #2

i got extremely excited when sarah's mom pulled up in front of the third and final home on the tour. i don't know that i've ever met a tudor home i didn't like and this one was idyllic. you know how there are always those houses you drive past and think, "wow, i really wish i could see inside that house?" this was one of those houses. and we did get to go inside, for once. surprisingly, i took less photos of this home even though it was my favorite (i'm not sure photos were allowed and the volunteer lady working at the front door kept following us around), especially since we weren't actually able to tour upstairs (lame), but hopefully you can get the gist of this cozy english countryside-style manor.

the grounds were extraordinary. can you imagine walking out of your bedroom to this? i can. and i like it.

these vintage bird prints looked amazing in these shabby chic mirrored frames. i wanted to steal them off the wall.

loving this wallpaper.

and while we're at it, this wallpaper and this mirror in the dining room. gorgeous. 

the sunroom. ikat pillows don't look like they would work in my house, but i love them. 

this antique chair was upholstered in the coolest fabric in the greatest shade of green. i don't think my camera really captured it. it was awesome. 

oh, hey, look! another cool mounted animal head. in brass. fancy. 

i'm not really in to roosters, but i'm definitely in to the mirror and the lamps. 

directly behind this little detached greenhouse, the yard sloped down to this gorgeous pond.

there was also an excellent around-the-tree bench in the backyard. sarah and i felt the need to sit on it. and yes, i'm wearing the joutfit. i decided to go for it. 

sarah and her lovely mom. thanks for the invite, ladies!

for the record...

coffee drinkers, coffee shops, and sign makers of the world take note. thanks. 

image via society6

clover home tour, house #1

two weeks ago my friend sarah and her mom invited me to join them for the clover, sc home tour. i've been on home tours before in concord, and i always get really excited about the prospect of invading people's living spaces and stealing ideas, but quite often i've been disappointed. turns out, owning a big beautiful home does not mean the owner has great decorating style. this tour, however, was quite awesome. it only featured three homes, and they were all beautiful. i'll be featuring my two favorites, starting with this lovely home. from the outside, it was just brick and unassuming, but inside it was so sweet and cozy. i can't say that the decorating was really my taste - a little too primitive/country/americana for me, but i can still appreciate creativity and style, and this home had tons of it. enjoy these snapshots and check back tomorrow for my absolute favorite house - a gorgeous english tudor!

the most adorable piece of children's artwork i've ever seen.

i love this idea for a summer fireplace!

the fantastic screened-in porch...

my mom loves quilts. we often find them heavily discounted at thrift/antique stores when they're essentially falling apart but never know how to use them. i like this quick, cheap and easy way to salvage cool pieces/squares.

this was a particularly excellent photo cluster wall on the stairs. i hope to have one similar (but less uniform) in my house someday with lots of old family photos. 

the sweet, sweet guest bedroom. 

my favorite part of this house was all the vintage chandeliers and light fixtures in each room. they were exquisite. this one, in the guest bedroom, was my absolute favorite. i took about four photos of it but don't worry, i'll only bore you with one. 

a fun way to display pretty linens and doilies, if you're into that.

tin ceilings are amazing. 

again with the awesome animal heads. i've been raving about them here and here. i really really want a cool brightly colored one. i'm not usually into wicker, but i think i could probably be excited about a wicker bull or moose. in fact, every home on this tour had some fun form of mounted animal head. i'm thinking i need to get on board with this trend stat.

see you tomorrow!

simple sugary pleasures

my mom works at an elementary school in the area. this morning i received this email from her:

"our juvenile diabetes fundraiser walk is today. the students are walking outside on the walking trail during their recess time. i got balloons, and we have music and the jdrf representative is great. i’ve been going out to check on her and the last time i walked out there, 1^st grade was at recess. they had already walked and were having their freeze pops. this little girl ran up to me and said, 'this is the best day of my life!!' i said 'really, why is that?' and she said 'because i got a freeze pop!'"


ah, to be young and completely, blissfully happy thanks to a tube of frozen sugar water. i wish life was still that simple. 


image via weheartit

blackboards and breakfast

so remember that time i mentioned i was working on some chalkboards for an event? well, the event was this weekend, and the chalkboards turned out quite nicely! about a month ago, my friend luke at dean and deluca approached me about handling some of the details of an upcoming event, the big brew ha, at the mint museum uptown. the event celebrated all things brewed (coffee, tea, beer) and featured a magnificent spread of breakfast food by five amazing local vendors including dean and deluca, the flying biscuit, and amelie's french bakery. oh hey, delicious. i handled decor and some vendor relations for the day and it was exceptionally fun running around the mint with an all-access pass. i enjoyed it a bit too much, probably. we went with a "pub" theme for the evening, and the chalkboards were used to identify each vendor table. the event raised funds to preserve st. peter's catholic church - the oldest known ediface located on tryon street and turned out to be quite a success - i'm fairly certain we exceeded our fundraising goal. it was a wonderful way to spend a friday evening!

i didn't get quite as many photos as i initially planned while working on these boards, but i basically bought 24" x 24" squares of plywood at lowe's for about $3 each and started by hitting them each with two coats of chalkboard paint. quick and simple.

i then picked out the cheapest but most interesting molding i could find (also just under $3/piece). i used my dad's hand saw and miter box to cut the edges in to a frame for each board. this was much easier said then done. 

then, i painted the frames with an awesome rust-oleum hammered silver paint (loved it) and used a strong wood glue to affix the frame to the chalkboard. again, the wood glue was a little messy and difficult, but i got the hang of it by about the third chalkboard. you'll need some clamps and some patience, but it worked out. i also used chalk to "season" the boards. apparently, if you don't rub the entire board with the side of a piece of chalk, whatever is written on it the first time will essentially be "burned" in to the board. who knew? 

and, because i'm sure you're wondering, a few photos from the event...

setting up for the event. for the record, the 5th floor event space at the mint uptown is incredible. i highly recommend it. there's also an huge terrace that overlooks tryon street... 

beautiful st. peter's catholic church! how appropriate that the event overlooked the very building we were trying to preserve. 

the bechtler from above

with my friends and fellow big brew-ha committee members, hannah and elisabeth. for more exciting event photos, head over and check out pop rock photography's beautiful images and flying bee's action shots!