for laurie

hello! i'm alive! i'm blogging! it's been months and months!

grandma, aunt ginny, laurie, mom... you've been heard. since my readership is clearly out of control and the masses (er, my family) are begging for my return, i've decided to give the people what they want. it's happening. get ready.

in all seriousness, things have been great lately. my lack of blogging really hasn't been a reflection of anything but the fact that i'm busy and enjoying life. and that baby mac has been struggling ever since this summer's extremely traumatic hard drive crash; but three semi-working office laptops later (working for a non-profit sure has its perks), i now have two computers that combined add up to one good one, so we're on track for some non-efficient-but-nonetheless-awesome-posting.

since i've stopped blogging, a lot has happened, in fact. i am awed by the lord's blessings during the past few months and unbelievably thankful for his continued faithfulness. work has gotten quite amazing thanks to an incredible new boss lady who is absolutely wonderful. liam and i moved into a lovely little new house in charlotte in a sweet little neighborhood with families who play basketball in the driveway in their church clothes on sundays. we are happy here. i bought 456968 new articles of clothing at the goodwill to replace all of the ones that i sold/gave away when i moved, and i have attempted, somewhat successfully, to fit them into the only closet in my teeny tiny house. i started freelancing for charlotte style magazine and have written a total of one articles so far. i managed to make it through the hot summer months without having one single temper tantrum. i bought my first set of grown-up furniture (a couch and a loveseat). i joined claire danes and charlotte's elite with a visit to the new 5 church restauant in uptown (i maintain that fancy pretentious food is fun, but overrated). i killed approximately ten cockraoches in my new house with no help from anyone (dad, please don't tell anyone about that one time you had to come over...). i went to raleigh. i went to southern pines. i went to the beach. big things. good thing i'm back just in time for my favorite two months of the year to share lots of inspiration and pretties.

see you soon! tomorrow, in fact... (for real). you're welcome.

as promised, this post has been dedicated to the always lovely laurie. you have taught me how to yard sale like i mean it, use coupons more efficiently than anyone i've ever met, cook without following directions, and fill a house with things that make it home, like vickie the duck. thank you for letting me sleep on your unbelievably comfortable couch with the star wars sheets, drink your wine, eat from every single pint of your front porch ice cream flavors at once, and beat you to good treasures at your local thrift stores. let's do it all again soon?

image: ifreakinglovetaylorswift.tumblr