Friday, December 10, 2010

i make really amazing chili.

it's true.

it's supposed to snow here in atlanta on sunday.
if you live in the south you know a couple of things will happen....
1. the grocery store will be packed
2. everyone will be drunk
because when it snows here in the south, sheer panic hits.

i love it here.

so, in preparation of this occassion i have decided to make chili this weekend which reminded me that i have been meaning to share this recipe for a while now. it is seriously amazing how easy this recipe is and how much it comes off like you have slaved away in the kitchen.
listen...all you do is throw the following into a large pot:

2 small or 1 large squash - sliced in 1/4-1/2 circles
2 small or 1 large zucchini - sliced in 1/4-1/2 circles
1 medium sized onion - diced
1 can of black beans drained
1 can of pinto beans drained
1 can of light red kidney beans drained
1 large can of petite diced tomatoes
1 can of HOT rotel
1 package of Chili-O
groung beef or turkey

bring to a boil and then simmer for a few hours.
my personal feelings are that sour cream, cheddar cheese, and texas toast are must adds but you know....that's your call.

enjoy! xx.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

5 holiday things.

our house is now christmas official. i love love love decorating for holidays and being able to do it in our own house make is that much better. heres a peek at five things around my house that are making me really happy these days....
christmas, bring it.

my bestie caitlin got us this ornament when we were engaged and being pretty traditional as far as decorating trees goes, it is one of the only personalized ornamanets on our tree. i love it because on the back side it has our name and wedding date and it makes me think of my sweet friend.

now, for the record...i love york's all the time. but there is something about york's during the holidays that gets me really excited.

side note: i bought this bag on monday and finished it last night. i have problems.

ah, i am obsessed with my holiday cards this year. i love everything rifle paper co. does. i wanted to do something super cute and personalized but with all the moving and what not - definetly could not handle all that pressure.

i made this wreath, like...myself. so martha of me.

my. favorite. candle. of. all. time. archipelago botanicals - bergamot tobacco. perfect scent for cold days and warm fires.

happy holidays! xo.

Monday, November 29, 2010

holi-daze

{my precious little thanksgiving table}

so...did everyone eat everything in sight and shop like crazy this past weekend?!

i even rounded the weekend out with a day in bed watching sons of anarchy season one dvds, eating leftover mashed potatoes and gravy, and drinking mimosas.

it helps to talk about it.

hope your thanksgiving was perfect. and that your first day back at work is way less painful than mine is. xo.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

today i am thankful for many things.

{our new home}

hello friends. sorry i have been so mia from the blogging world but my only excuse really is that life got the best of me and i had to focus on some other things for a while. i hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving planned. we are having my mom in town, cooking a lovely feast, and relaxing after a whirlwind couple of months.

i hope you can all take some time to reflect on the things you are truly thankful for and appreciate the little moments in life. here is my thankful list i put together in no particular order...

  • mom's broccoli casserole on thanksgiving day

  • a pretty little bungalow on alston drive

  • friends taking chances on love

  • the really crappy moments....making the really amazing moments real

  • warm apple cider

  • the most patient man on the planet

  • glee, the food network magazine, words with friends

  • ray lamontage on perfect fall days

  • my family

have a wonderful thanksgiving! xo.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

autumn

is here. and its unusually cold in atlanta. which means today will be a perfect day spent with the steelers, chili, pumpkin bread, a lit fire, and my favorite candles.

i hope all these things will take away the fact that my entire house is in boxes while we are closing on the new house. which i am dying to do all the above in. but no complaining, fall is here.

enjoy it. xx.

Friday, August 27, 2010

oh, hey jack.

{side stage..where just the four of us watched jack johnson from}

hi.
i had to take a little break.
because once you start feeling like you have to do something...
it's no longer fun.
right?!

so i went and enjoyed the end of my summer.
hopefully you have been doing the same!

oh and btw, no big deal....i also got to go backstage at jack johnson
and have the second most amazing night of my life.


i love august.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

rob ryan can do no wrong


rob ryan. paper artist. british. brilliant.
sometimes he sells his beauties here. but you can see all of them here.

p.s. he has cute tiles too...

two reasons why august might be my favorite.

1. jack johnson concert. caits and dee are coming. going to hug them for hours.

2. i am spoiled and get to go on a mini-vaca again. this time around its hilton head with mikies family. this also mean hilton head with my friends and family. happiness awaits.

here's to august! xo

Friday, July 30, 2010

Happy Weekend!

{simon filip photo via black eiffel}

what if every week was a two day work week?
i for one would be a much better person.
hope you all have plans for an amazing weekend.
the only thing on my list is to go see 'inception.'
here are some of my favorites this week...
xo

photographs by simon filip, 18 years old...seriously gifted.

custom face stamps...yes, please.

my new favorite foodie blog, sunday suppers.

frenchwomen's secrets to aging well.

blairsings...i wish i could be this real.

jennifer zeuner horizontal cross necklaces...i love.

a big sur wedding i really wish i had been invited to.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

in honor of vacation...






isn't vacation the best?

waking up at the beach.
mikie surfed every. single. day.
i had coffee talk with my mom every. single. day.

we had a lot of afternoon bushwackers...
which are amazing frozen treats of the adult kind
you can only get in pensacola.

(okay maybe you can get them other places but i like to think its the only place)

we rode bikes, we played games....and guitars,
and ate everything in sight
we laid in the sand and stared at the stars
and had romantic nights on the pier.
we laughed. a lot.

but most of all we reconnected,
with each other, and with family.
and it felt really really good.


summer reading list

water for elephants.
by sara gruen

seriously, i haven't loved a book this much in a really long time.
have you all read it? promise that you will.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

and so it goes


back from the beach with sun kissed faces, bellies full of seafood and ice cream, and fully armed with a fresh perspective on life that only comes after a few days of staring into the sea.

-posted from my iphone

Monday, July 19, 2010

today...

today...
i am missing husband.
i am drinking more coffee than usual...
due to lack of sleep from missing husband
i am mentally preparing for a tough few days at work.
and checking things of my list.
and daydreaming...

about friday...

when i will be taking an evening drive with my man
to my happy place...pensacola beach.
where i have gone every summer of my life.
where i have had some of the most intense discussions with myself.
where i realized one day i would marry husband...
years before he ever asked me to.


hope you all have a happy week. xx

Sunday, July 18, 2010

i thought about getting up this morning...

{image via design sponge}

and going straight to the gym. to you know...just get it out of the way.
then i turned on the tv to check the weather (i swear)
and saw that dirty dancing was coming on.

an hour later...

and now i am still in bed, soliciting friends to go to
mountain lake resort in virginia with me...
where the movie was filmed...
for their dirty dancing weekend.

(btw, i am sure they don't mind phone calls at 9 am on a sunday)

i just love this movie that much. no shame.


Saturday, July 17, 2010

sometimes

not often, but sometimes...
it's nice to have a night where you have your house to yourself...
and be shamelessly alone and girlie.
i.e. masks, mystic pizza, pedicure, pinot grigio, people mag girlie.
agreed?

Friday, July 16, 2010

i love my friends.

{tiff and avery frolicking on lake norman}

i love that they go boating together...

and know i will be very jealous that i am not there...

so they send me a picture of themselves using our wedding coozies...

because they know i will feel instantly better.

it works too.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

simple...

John Mayer wrote this. i like it. i think you will too.


I wish that when I was younger I could have met my current self. We would have sat down at a coffee shop so that I could explain life to young me in terms that only we would understand. It would have saved me a lot of hardship.

You can listen to all the sage wisdom you want, but things only make sense when you can explain them to yourself in your own words. For instance, I’ve been told for three years that Breaking Bad is the best show on television, but only after I watched it was I able to tell myself exactly why everyone was right. Other truths I know now that I can explain them: that I’m not missing any crucial information and that poker really isn’t all that fun; that heartbreaks do fade but they take about a year longer than you expect and by the time they do you really don’t care about it enough to notice; and above all else, life is simpler than you think.

I used to think that life was an intricate series of levers and pulleys, buttons and switches, Mexican standoffs and hostage negotiations. As I get older I realize that life is more Netherlands minimalist than Jackson Pollock. The problems don’t get fewer, and in fact they grow in number, but the way I index them in the database is different. More problems get filed under fewer category headers.

Things are getting simpler, and it’s making life better. Here’s the cheat sheet:

People want to be liked. We all crave attention and affection and we all reject shame. When we get embarrassed we send a thug version of ourselves to the forefront to do our fighting for us. We’re at the top of the food chain just under fear. We don’t want to be in a relationship to hear the words “I love you,” we want to be in a relationship to say the words “I love you.” We want to feel needed, and exceptional and we hate feeling insignificant. We want to ace a hearing test. We are binary creatures; if we’re the plaintiff, we want to win every dollar. If we’re the defendant, we want guard every penny. We want to make more money than last year. We don’t want to get cancer or die in our cars and we want the same for our loved ones. We go out on weekends to try and have sex while trying not to get punched in the face. We drink so we can be ourselves and not mind it so much. We’re desperate to be understood. We want to know someone else has felt it, too. We hate being judged unfairly. We want to make the person we heard wasn’t all that into us change their minds and admit they had us wrong. We want sunny skies with a chance of killer tornadoes, just to keep music sounding good. We take hours upon hours to admit to self consciousness. We don’t know exactly how to pleasure each other. We just want love. In any and every form.

See? It’s simple. :)

Monday, July 5, 2010

July

{via we heart it}

July

is time for
warm nights
fireflies
apple pies
sparklers
sweet tea
bare feet
barbeques
melodies
mimosas
sunny days
L-O-V-E

Friday, June 25, 2010

darling, what would make you happy today?

{brady blazer at planet blue}

a dvf sequined blazer in your signature color? yes, please.

grateful

...for sunny days.

...for being able to drag my non-motivated-for-most-of-2010 self to the gym every day this week.

...for my beautiful madre who is coming for a visit today. i need hugs and attention.

...for trader joes fat free bean burritos and salsa. ah-mazing stuff.

...for supportive husbands with wives who are over-emotional for no apparent reason.
{side note: tears were shed over michael jackson songs on the radio this morning. i mean, it is the anniversary of his death, but still.}

...for friends who are getting married and letting me help. its like they know wedding blogs are my obsession.

...for friday. enough said.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

love. this.

{via danske's flickr}

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

office pranks.

{remnant of said prank}


so far today...
had a delicious buffet breakfast
i have had my co-worker cut my hair
listen to a straight man sing 'mamma mia'
and watched him dance with a pom pom
played a beautifully executed prank
had a canine office companion for the day
and been productive all the same time.


i love my job.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

matthew heller

this is molly sims nyc apartment.
it was in in style years ago.
but i still thing about it all the time.
because i love music. and art.
and matthew heller's "homage to music" series
is the best of both.

{homage to music, request #12, don't stop believin by matthew heller}

{homage to music, request #9, one by matthew heller}

you can fall in love with more of these here.

side note: when you go to his website, please appreciate how much matthew heller looks like the guy from clueless...right?!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

2 things.

1. last night husband did something really simple and sweet
that made me fall in love with him all over again.
it's the little things y'all.

2. the spicy chicken sandwich at chick-fil-a...it's life changing.

Monday, June 14, 2010

monday.

gotta love impromptu concerts in your living room.
hope you all had a great weekend.
i am still recovering from this night.

let's all pray for a quick work week, okay?

Friday, June 11, 2010

Happy Weekend!

{images spotted on you are my fave}

a campsite wedding...maybe the cutest idea ever.

michelle williams at cannes. she's officially my new favorite.

how to open a wine bottle without a corkscrew...

madewell is online...now we can be effortlessly chic all the time! (and poor).

many will see for imogene and willie.

the louis vuitton window displays....
you know with the adorable floating balloons? spotted here.

have a wonderful weekend! xx.


Thursday, June 10, 2010

dear traffic,


you lied to me.
you told me that when school got out you wouldn't be so bad.
that i could get through the fall, winter and spring
solely based on the promise that for three whole months
i wouldn't be forced into a bad place so early in the morning.
traffic, i don't think we can be friends any longer.

side note: how jealous are you guys of atlanta traffic right now, isn't this insane?

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

why my husband is a saint.

last night...
while watching the mtv awards,
and after three glasses of pinot grigio
i saw the guy from harry potter win an award
and was inspired to talk in a british accent
for the remainder of the evening...

i am sure that wasn't annoying at all.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

roadtrippin...

{husband on hhi bridge}


4:40 leave for hilton head
4:45 husband is asleep
6:15 stop for root beer
8:30 dinner with favorites at frankie bones
9:15 coffee spice ribeye
10:30 nighttime chat with mom
11:00 zzzzzzzzzz
7:30 morning chat with mom
8:15 cappucino (yum)
9:30 latte (yum)
10:00 beach time
11:00 make plans for life with husband
12:00 pick up new furniture
12:30 bbq chicken salad at amigos!
1:00 on the road again
3:45 singing 'life is a highway' at top of lungs
5:00 home sweet home

and that's how you do a road trip in 24 hours.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

i wish i could see you tomorrow, even for a second...

and tell you to have the
happiest birthday ever.

because you totally deserve it.

love you caits.

Friday, June 4, 2010

things that brought a smile to my face this week



seeing california cherries at the grocery store.

a package on my doorstep from my friend bee,

and the beautiful bracelet inside of it.

'red wine, mistakes, mythology'

a snickerdoodle cookie from ted's.

this
blog post.

a short work week....

and the promise of cloudy bay sauvignon blanc
waiting for me at home tonight.

have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

the perfect fourth of july top.

{anthropologie banderole top}
am i right?

one of my all time favorite songs...

...today i feel like i am hearing it for the first time.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

guess what husband brought home for me ce soir...


life=complete


images from the weekend...




i clearly love my hipstamatic. oh, and the lake house. and birthdays too i guess.

note to self...


the older you get...
the more candles on your cake...
the more likely you are to catch your hair on fire...
and come close to being a bald thirty year old.

(thank god for small miracles...and family members who think
capturing this on film is more important than putting a fire out of my hair)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

dftba

{via my photo blog}


don't forget to be awesome.

my friend just texted me this.
and it made my day.

sidenote: thirty is looming. help.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

i left my heart in...

dear chicago,
you are my favorite.

dear over grinder,
i would be fat and okay with it
if that meant i could have your flatbread every day.

dear michigan avenue,
husband is really mad at you.

dear chicago water,
my hair is just not the same without you.

dear lou malnati,
if you wanted to move to atlanta
i could be okay with that.

dear martinis at every chicago establishment,
i am still in recovery from you.

dear oprah,
i am sorry i missed you...
but i'll be back soon.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

i love chicago.

{caits and me....chicago '97}

and now i am off to my very. favorite. city.
with my very. favorite. ladies.

see you all on sunday when i am 10 lbs heavier,
and have a much cuter wardrobe.

xo.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

{via i can read}

it's sunday again...have a great week y'all.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

anne benjamin appreciation day.

this was my bridesmaid card i sent out to my girls.
it was created by anne benjamin who designs mok duk.
and whom i love love love...

a. because she lives in chicago and
b. because she totally got what i was looking for...
i told her that i love doves, banners, midnight blue, and the saying,
"who do you want standing next to you..when all your dreams come true"
and she made this beautiful image.

anne also designed my save-the-dates, the header of this blog, and did our silhouettes which was the basic theme throughout the wedding. visit her here.

notes


so of course, right on the tails of a wonderful week,
comes one that runs you over like a freight train.
life is funny.

as i work to get out from underneath a less than dreamy mind frame
i think i will take a minute and share with you all what's really good right now.
so that i can remind myself too.

1. golfers.
mikie has been promoted to head pro....
and on sunday he leaves to go down to sunny florida for the last part of his pga program.
passing this final test will be the end of a long and challenging road for him and i wish i could be there to see the exhale he takes when it is all finished. what a great moment that will be.

2. chicago.
this is one of my favorite places in the world. every year myself and three of my favorites, including my mom make this trip to say hello to the city we love, and pack on a few lbs of lou malnati's pizza. some of my favorite memories are from this trip and and seeing as i leave for it on wednesday...it could not come at a better time.

3. thirty.
on the 29th i will be thirty. i have long dreaded this event and the fact that in the past year alone my body has shouted loudly that it is moving right along has not helped. but i believe i am finally coming to terms with this occassion and it's because i am right where i want to be. not everything is perfect. but i am happy. i am married to the man i am madly in love with. i have a job that although made me want to drown in a sea of red bull this week, i love. my family, my friends....they are the best and growing and doing amazing things in their own lives. and most importantly, i am learning and growing in my own. so bring it on thirty...i am ready for you.

xo.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

mom

i love her, thats all.
(happy mothers day)


Saturday, May 8, 2010

i want a house.


i want a house. a house with a chalkboard wall.
a house, a chalkboard wall, and these so so cute wall decals.


{wall decals by shanna murray here}