friday eye candy

meet my friend allison. she's gorgeous. she runs half marathons. she loves jesus. she has a cute dog named ranger. she now lives around the corner from me. she sells mary kay. she is the only person in the world i know who owns and loves every season of friends as much as i do. and she just got married to her best friend. i don't know rob too well yet, but my favorite thing about the two of them together is that when they had a long distance relationship they'd use skype to play connect four with each other. is that not the cutest thing ever? personally, i'd be partial to texas hold 'em or monopoly deal, but it's probably hard to wager things via the interwebs.

i had the honor of sharing in allison and rob's special day and despite the fact that the temperature never rose above 50 degrees, had a blast at their outdoor ceremony. what's even better is that allison hired my sweet friend and insanely talented photog, lindsey lee hartsell to capture her special day. and it's your lucky day because there's a huge slideshow of their lovey nuptials over on her blog. go check it out and round out this week of love with a real wedding featuring two people who definitely love one another.

happy friday!

p.s. if you leave a comment on lindsey's blog post, allison can win free photography. it takes five seconds and i promise lindsey lee will not fill up your inbox with spam. i mean, why wouldn't you want to help allison print more photos of her fantastic bridesmaids to hang on her walls?

all images via lindsey lee photography

well, hello, friday!

would anyone else like to agree with me when i say this has been the longest week? oh my goodness it is about time friday rolled around. today i took a half day at work despite the unbelievable list of to-do's and deadlines looming because my pretty friend lacey (of the famed humming right along) is in town to play! hooray! we went to the gavin degraw/colbie caillat concert last night thanks to some free tickets i won on the radio and we plan to spend the weekend hanging out and eating loads of junk food, which is essentially the best part of our friendship, we are great at doing nothing together and still having fun. we both very much like pajamas, swedish fish, wine, wine coolers, boxed wine (don't knock it til you try it), pizza, ice cream and chai lattes from dilworth coffee. since i have nothing of consequence to share today, here are a few links that you might enjoy:

the colorful jen ramos is making me want to paint.

the glitter guide turned one this week. if you don't read it you should. one of its founders, taylor sterling is my ultimate style inspiration/girl crush.

in the celebration of father's day, watch jimmy fallon dance like a dad. guaranteed to make you laugh.

concert with gavin degraw renewed my love for him last night. he is so great live. check out my favorite gavin song, a lesser-known one.

finally, for those of you that took the time to call, email or message me after my rather melodramatic post on wednesday, thank you. your encouragement is such a blessing to me. ♥

happy weekend! 

image via laurel from iiiinspired

my feelings exactly...

image via hallmark

cheap romance

this post title makes me think of a drugstore romance novel, however, i assure you fabio doesn't have anything to do with mel tormé. i've been a fan of jazz and crooner music for most of forever and am not ashamed to admit that i have several albums by dean martin, nat king cole and many others. i was introduced to mel tormé one morning while getting ready for work last year when npr did a story on his son steve march's tribute performance to his father's work, and i immediately became a fan. which basically means i created a "mel tormé" station on pandora and looked for some of his cds at the library, where you can check them out for free. so you can imagine my excitement yesterday when i came across the "mel tormé: recipe for romance" cd at mighty dollar. i was so thrilled i think my "oh look! a mel tormé cd!" exclamation was heard by the entire store/shopping plaza instead of just my mom. the album has twenty songs on it, which means i paid a mere 0.05 per track. take that, itunes. i've been listening to it on this perfectly crisp gray fall friday, and it makes me feel like i live in a black-and-white movie, look like rita hayworth, and live a glamorous life. i'm fairly certain none of these things is true, but thanks to mel, i can pretend they are. now if only gene kelly would show up. i'd take him over fabio any day.

i mean, let's be honest here. who wouldn't?

images: 1.doctormacro 2.galaxyaerospace

happy (state fair) weekend!

i've lived in north carolina for 21 of my 26 years and have never visited the state fair. all of that is about to change this weekend, though, and i could not be more excited to wear my cowboy boots, ride the giant swings and eat lots of yummy fair food!

happy friday, everyone!

image via imgfave

friday super sales

okay people. let's get really excited about the fantastic sales that make up this outfit. i honestly still can't believe these deals...

sweater: while shopping with blair and baby elliot a few weeks ago, i noticed this sweater on a sale rack at anthro and picked it up thinking it was pretty, but not anticipating the price i saw looking back at me. the sweater was originally $118. but written in red, next to the crossed-out triple-digits, were the three little numbers that made my heart leap: $9.95. i promptly RAN to the register, afraid it wasn't true, but it was. despite my love of anthropologie, this is, in fact, the very first article of clothing i have ever bought there. carrying that gorgeous bag around the mall was exceptionally wonderful. i bought it in the mid-july heat, but i'm pretty certain this is going to be my go-to piece this fall/winter. i love everything about it.

jeans: a few weeks ago, a friend of a friend had a moving sale in her home and it was pretty excellent. she had cake and wine and we got to shop in her living room. i'm remarkably sad this lady moved to texas, because judging from the excellent items she was selling and her cute cute house, we would have been good friends. i'm not sure why she was getting rid of the clothes that she was, but i hit the jackpot when i found these banana republic boyfriend jeans for $3. they are a size smaller than i usually wear, which is always welcome, and they look impossibly cool with virtually everything.

boots: oh the boots. here's the best deal...remember when i blogged about how i wanted these boots for my birthday? well, i got them, after agreeing to split the ridiculous $198 price tag with my parents. i say i'm the cheapest person alive, and it's true. they came and i opened them and they were beautiful, but i couldn't get over how much they cost. it just wasn't worth it. the next morning, i was determined to find a better price. first, i found a pair in my size on some random website for $98. i got pretty excited to find $100 knocked off the price, but thank goodness i kept looking. a few minutes later, i found them on super-sale in my size for (are you ready?) FIFTY DOLLARS. with free shipping. i nearly fainted with excitement. that's like 75% off. and that's my kind of sale. i can't wait to wear these babies for the next six months. i will definitely be getting my fifty dollars worth.


also, happy weekend, by the way! i'll be hitting up a big church yard sale in town, helping out at a dance theatre fundraiser, decorating my house for fall, hopefully shopping for some key fall pieces and definitely enjoying my first pumpkin spice latte of the season. sounds perfect, no?

is it fall yet?

happy friday, everyone!
today's cloudy, breezy, humidity-free 70-degree temperature is making me one happy girl. in fact, it is such a nice little fall preview i turned off my air conditioning and wore a blazer all day without sweating. bliss!
i absolutely cannot wait for my september magazine issues to show up in the mail, for target's fall shoe preview, for back to school supplies, and all that comes with the end of summer.

have a wonderful weekend enjoying these cooler temps!

image via shuttersisters

happy (memorial day) weekend!

happy friday and happy memorial day weekend! i know for those of us here, it's an enjoyable three-day weekend to spend grilling out and celebrating the unofficial arrival of summer time (ew, summer).

but i also love what memorial day represents - a day to honor the men and women who sacrifice themselves for our safety. while there are about ten million reasons why i would not make a good member of any branch of the military, the primary fact remains that i can't comprehend putting myself in potential danger for the sake of millions of people i don't even know.  regardless of your political leanings concerning our country's defense agenda, our service men and women remain some of our bravest, most unselfish citizens and i am thankful for them.

want to do something to make a difference? become a soldier's angel and care for a deployed soldier who doesn't have a great support system on american soil. i can't say that i've made the commitment (yet), but my friend lacey has, and she says it's awesome.

happy weekend!

image via militaryboots

wisdom for friday

"you're a human being, you live once and life is wonderful, so eat the damn red velvet cupcake."
- actress emma stone

i couldn't agree more. happy happy friday!

image via kgv photography on flickr

liam says happy friday

just in case you were wondering why the blinds on almost every window in my house are a mangled mess and why my neighbors say things awkwardly like "your cat watches me out the window every time i'm outside" or, "um, your cat was hanging from the blinds the other day". some cats play with yarn and sleep 22 hours a day. mine does things like this...

(chewing the blinds - awesome)

happy friday and maybe watch your back next time you're over my way.

happy friday!

something about weekends in the springtime makes me very ambitious and giddy. even when i'm unemployed and every day is (kind of) like a weekend. this weekend i'll be walking to cure juvenile diabetes, filing my taxes before the IRS comes after me, crafting up some chalkboards for an upcoming event i'm working on, and taking on a tour of homes with bestie sarah. i can't wait!

image via lunatic art

wisdom for friday

the fortune in my cookie a while back was better than my general tso's chicken and lo mein. i'm always impatient and it was so inspiring to learn the great wall didn't got build in one day. that's true wisdom right there. translate much?

happy friday + links

it's friday! i'm spending the weekend with two of my very best friends from college and that makes me very, very happy. i hope your weekend is wonderful as well! 

and, just for fun, a few links from around the web:

one of the more entertaining you tube videos i've seen in a while.
yes, i will gladly wear ballet shoes with my wedding dress someday.
um, apparently i'm a stylist now? more looks to come in the next week or so.
my new fashion inspiration.
since i haven't gotten to it, a brief runway for the ballet recap.
very, very excited about this new development.
a new movie of one of my favorite books.
happy we'll be making a stop here this weekend.

image via thetortoiseandthehare 

friday spring fever

this glorious weather has me so giddy. i have my windows open and am enjoying the breeze and hearing the kids at the elementary school across my street playing outside again. as much as i love fall and winter (and as much as i'm not looking forward to the summer),  i am really excited about spring. i miss wearing floaty dresses and sleeping without 16 layers on. spring's approach means yard sales and farmer's markets will again soon occupy my saturday morning agenda and that i can once again drive around with my sunroof open and drink coffee on the swing in my backyard. so, happy friday and enjoy some spring pretties...

images: 1.matchbookmag.tumblr 2.vintageandchicblog.com 3.etsy 4.vis.ualize.us 5.luckyandlovely.com 6.country living 7.missjordanlee.blogspot 8.emily nathan photography via cargocollective.com 9.weheartit

happy (texas) weekend!

it's been a busy day of traveling to houston to visit my little brother and his awesome girlfriend gracie. it's my first time in the great state of texas and i'm excited to spend tomorrow exploring. have a happy texas weekend and i'll hopefully have fun photos to share from my time here when i return!

image via flickr

nothing to say but...

...happy, happy friday! have a fantastic weekend!
xoxo

image via emizok.tumblr

(not so) happy friday!

it's been a very disappointing, i-want-to-eat-cheetos-and-stay-in-my-sweatpants-forever kind of day. instead of wallowing this weekend (which i've been doing pretty much all day), i'm going to work on carrying out the immortal advice of barney stinson:

"whenever i get sad, i stop being sad and be awesome."

so enjoy the sunny, happy photograph (summer in paris sounds great right about now, no?) and join me this weekend in being awesome. see you next week!

image via tumblr