Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Well, things they are a changing...last I recall I was going to take some time off to figure out what I was going to do...so to speak.  The toddler/preschooler was (still is) moving ever so quickly toward being in "big school" and that was going to leave me with some extra time on my hands...despite still working from home.  I was starting to feel the pangs of sadness that come with putting your little one in the hands of other people who are mandated by the state to educate them, shape them, mold them, into the little geniuses they will surely become.  What would I do, follow my dreams of having a general store type hangout with cool clothes, banging bands, and loungy sofas perfect for reminding people of a simpler time all the while making a little money and having fun while doing so?  Or, how about turning 40 and preparing to welcome a newborn in February?  What?  Surely that'll be just as fun...though not as lucrative or free spirited.  Yep, you guessed it.  Just as I was meeting friends for super incredible house made vanilla lattes and bacon caramel popcorn...something happened and everything kind of went silent.  How could this have happened was the resounding question I had.  Over and over I'd wonder why at 40 this was so much easier than the 5 or so years we tried to get pregnant the first time.  Sparing you the details, it happened, I've adjusted (most days), and we are thrilled about our new little man that will arrive in February.  I was pretty sick at first and now am just battling general tiredness and crazy hunger.  So, that's about it on this end...which is a lot!  I'm not going to bore you with the details going forward or turn this into a "hey-everyone-look-at-my-belly-kind-of-blog.  I will try to update more often than I have in the past few months.  Needless to say, I've had my hands quite full.  In other news, the preschooler turned 5!  I can hardly believe she's so big. 
Stay tuned...hopefully I still have some readers after my hiatus! 

and...I'm back!

 I am destined to have both one of these gems...I mean, I have to have it, right?  Billy Reid, fellow Alabamian and fashion phenom has hit the nail on the head (in my opinion) with his latest in patterns.  Of course, I've always been a fan, with all the cool tees and swanky menswear but these feathered friends have pushed me into complete heart pounding, butterflies in the belly, kinda love!  Now, couple this with the fact that I'm spending Memorial Day in Florence, Alabama...home of Billy Reid, and...well, you might just label me a stalker! 

image credit: Billy Reid

intermission

It's been a long time...and it's become painfully obvious that I'm having trouble keeping my ducks in a row.  Why?  I don't know, time is escaping me somehow.  Maybe it's that the preschooler is, excuse me, Cinderella...(she demands to only be called Cinderella now) is keeping me super busy.  Or maybe it's that I've got a million things going on between work and trying to decorate our new house.  Or maybe, just maybe it's that I've got my head in the clouds daydreaming about something I want to do.  Something that is scary and exciting at the same time.  Of course I've done nothing to make this little dream of mine come to fruition but it's nice daydreaming about it nonetheless.  What is it, you ask?  I have this little dream of opening a southern style Anthropologie.  Think same kind of coolness but pair that with Imogene + Willie type flair.  I want a store that sells cast iron frying pans, jeans, cool shirts, Redwings, and a million other "picked" items...an updated general store of sorts.  Little bands on Friday nights, a shop dog and ice cold glass bottled coca cola to boot.  These are the things that keep me up at night.  Will it ever happen?  Who knows.  All I know is that I've always been nostalgic about the past...about playing in the front yard, about digging in the dirt, riding in my grandfather's truck, going through the "junk drawer" about a million times even though I knew every single item in there by heart.  These are the things that shaped me and these are the things that are missing in our world today.  Our kids (mine included) aren't playing in the yard.  They don't know about junk drawers or dirt under their nails or being hosed off or eating bacon out of an iron skillet.  They don't know what it's like to get stuff that's made in the USA...made with heart.  I want to give that to my child.  Give her a sense of nostalgia for something other than a Nook tablet or Nintendo DSi.  It's complicated and I know I'm rambling but my point in all of this is that I'm going to take a break from blogging for a bit to try to figure this whole thing out.  Please stay tuned.  I will definitely be back but I just need a minute to figure out if the cloud really does have a silver lining after all...

holiday hangover

I'm slowly but surely emerging from the holiday hangover that is...coming home after traveling nearly all month, to a home that appears to have been hit by a Cat 5 hurricane, decorations and tree still up, poinsettia slowly dying and a Christmas cactus that is for some odd reason blooming for the first time since I received it about 6 years or so ago!  I have no motivation to do anything.  I would have motivated to go to the BCS National Championship game but alas, no tickets, no dice.  So, here I sit...smiling halfway because I did muster the energy to vacuum the floors this morning but that's about it.  About to hit the showers as the rest of my day will be consumed by a 5 yr old birthday party.  It's Friday, I know...woohoo, should be excited but feels kinda like just another Monday.  Post holiday blues...that's what it is.  I'll let you know if I find a cure!  Until then, I'll slog through another day trying to rearrange the clutter to make me feel a little better. 
On a brighter note, I did get some great things for Christmas and enjoyed...beyond belief...spending time with family!  Also rediscovered the "haystack" holiday treat...butterscotch + chow mein noodles = phenomenal...thanks to a sweet sister that made me 2 batches!  (More on those later)

image credit: modmom

...and I feel fine

"It's the end of the world as we know it"

...Well, at least the Mayan's thought so.  And so, as I'm pretty confident that I'll get to wear my Hudson boots that I searched high and low for after the "world ends" tomorrow, I can't help but wonder what those calendar keepers so long ago must have thought.  While we've crept closer and closer to the "end of the world" date I tried best not to think about it.  But now, it's upon us.  And so I think...what will I do today?  Too bad the "last day" is so rainy and dreary.  But, if it weren't...I'd take the preschooler to the beach, her favorite place...and mine too.  We'd then head to Disney World, because, well...it's the happiest place on earth, right?  And I'd be heartbroken if she didn't get to see Aerial and Mickey and all their friends.  Then we'd eat the best crab at Joes Stone Crab in Miami Beach, before heading to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower and eat a bacon sandwhich and macarons from Laduree.  I'd then head to New Orleans for dinner at Commander's Palace, followed by a Pimm's Cup at the Napolean House and listen to Dr. John at Tipitina's.  We'd swing by Cafe Du Monde for some beignets and get a coffee to go before heading home to be with my family...hold them close...hunker down with our dogs, and tell each other how lucky we are that the day is over and we're still alive...except we'll have no money left after that little jaunt!  Fun to think about nonetheless.  As the holidays approach, I'm so grateful for family and friends and just knowing they're there even when we don't see them often enough.  My heart is broken for the Connecticut children, their parents and their community.  It makes no sense and there are no words for such unspeakable events.  But, to say that we are all lucky to have what we have whether it's a lot or a little is an understatement in light of so many that are broken and hurting.  My heart goes out to them.
And so, I leave you with this...take a moment to reflect on the things in your life that you've experienced, endured, accomplished, this past year.  Make a promise to be a better person (we all need improvement), make a promise to be more present in someone's life who needs you or just needs a friend, make a promise to be more accountable for your actions and those that affect others, make a promise to be kind to others.  If we all do that...the world will be a better place and no calendar would ever make us think otherwise.  What's the world coming to?  It's coming to us, to better serve it, to better serve each other and to make it a better place...it's up to us. 
Hope your holidays are safe, happy, and sparkly.  Hope you get exactly what you want but most of all love.  Until the new year...xoxo!

Here's a little something to get your day and tomorrow started..."It's the end of the world...and I feel fine"

image credit: vale-timon-tumbler

Wish List time...

Where has the time gone?  It's nearly Christmas and I've yet to post my wish list...much to the dismay of my Mom...I'm sure!  So, here goes.  As before...these are things that I want, love, am coveting obsessed with!  I'm not suggesting that you should buy something or suggesting superior quality of an item...just merely suggesting that there might be a BIG ole smile on my face come Christmas morning if I should happen to open one of these items.  So, without further hesitation...I give to you...

The 2012 Wish List:

1. Dyson Vacuum - still pining for this sucker!
2. Banjo with lessons - cause let's face it, I'd be the hit of the party if I could twang a little twang!
3. French lessons - cause it's just pretty.
4. Sandgren "New York" clog boots in Royal Navy - cause they're different and they'd look good with everything.
5. Dixie letter press print from The Old Try via Garden and Gun - cause, well...you know.
6. Dixie T-shirt from The Old Try - again, just cause.
7. A weekend at Palmetto Bluff - cause it looks like heaven on earth
8. The Summer Red photograph from Garden and Gun for over our bed (top image) - cause nothing is more relaxing than thinking about riding in a truck with the windows down and the sun flying on your face.
9. A creative job - cause I'm so full of ideas I might pull a Van Gogh!
10. Tuckernuck Sunday Bag in chestnut or mango (or any color, really) with block monogram- cause I'm a Mom and my purse has to be big enough to hold gum and mints and small forks and wipes and tissues and magnificent drawings and baby dolls and general stuff that the preschooler no longer wants to hold! (and because I might have a tote fetish obsession)
11. A Barbour waxed canvas coat - cause, well...I don't know...I just really like them.
12. A hair stylist that I trust with all my heart - for obvious reasons.
13. A weekend with my girlfriends - cause it's been too long!
14. An upholstered wall - cause they are so glamorous and I could then fling myself against the wall or bang my head against the wall when I throw a fit for added drama.
15. My grandfather's old Chevy truck that no one drives that just sits there begging to be loved and driven down a winding road.
16. A Sarah Ashely Longshore painting - cause they're just plain fun and she's from my hometown and my friend!
17. A goat - the little kind - cause they are so cute and I've always wanted one.
18. A professional organizer - cause when I moved I discovered just how close I am to actually being on TLC's Hoarders.
19. Crazy, wild-eyed, no consequences kind of fun - cause I'm not sure that still exists once you're over 35 or have a child.  But I know I still have it in me...just sayin.
20. Calligraphy lessons - cause the art of handwriting is becoming extinct.

So, there you have it. I'm sure I'll receive next to none of those items but it's still nice to dream a little.  Maybe I'll compile all my wish lists into a little book to look back on.  Wouldn't it be fun to be able to see what I "wished" for in the 80's?  Man, I'd love to know.  I'm sure it included makeup and hot rollers and roller skates and anything sparkly or scratch and sniffy. 

What are you hoping and wishing for this year? 

image credit - Summer Red by stacey haines, photographer 

tis the season...

I ordered our holiday cards this week and have already received an email saying that they have been reviewed and are ready to ship...I couldn't decide which card and photo combo to use this year so I asked the preschooler which she liked best and her response..."I like them both".  They are both so completely different so I decided to order some of each.  And so, as I'm waiting with baited breath for them to arrive so that I can hold them in my hot little hand...I started thinking...I bet those people that work at those holiday card places like Tiny Prints, Shutterfly, Minted, Pinhole Press, etc. must have the most fun this time of year aside from the hustle and bustle of this probably being their busiest season.  Can you just imagine getting to see everyones best photos and designs?  I mean, I get so excited to just get one holiday card in the mail...I would be in heaven spying in on everyones life for a moment...living vicariously through them, going skiing with them, to the beach, sailing (cause we all know how much I love that!), camping, ect.  Who cares if they are strangers.  Every year when we go to the my in-laws house for the holidays, I look forward to perusing the big basket that holds all of their holiday cards they've received.  I know very few of the people but still really enjoy looking.  Imagine this on a much larger scale and getting paid for it!  Maybe I should consider a career change! 

p.s. I love this holiday card display idea (pictured above)!  I'm always at a loss for how to display holiday cards...this would be perfect!  I also have a friend that does a medium size foil (silver) tree and punches holes in the cards, adds pretty ribbon and hangs all the cards on her "card tree"!  Love that idea too!

image credit: me oh my