Happy Halloween

Spooky stamps from the small object seem like a nice way to kick off the weekend.

--Friends are flying in from New York this morning.
--The house project didn't exactly come to fruition. My intentions were grand; however, its been really busy around here lately and well, lets just say I've made a good start to a much greater, multi-level project.
--I still don't have a costume. I'm the only one without a costume. Even Cash has a costume.

Friends. Food. Pumpkins. Puppies. Flight. Fancy.

Happy (spooky) Weekend

xoxo

In the Saddle

D*S finds it again (surprise). Get ready for an adjective fest. Look how yummy these gorgeous Karaginther custom, hand-carved, painted, buttery leather, bicycle saddles are...

Shred the Gnar

or the accordion...

Cary Grant

Because it's nice to have something dreamy on a Tuesday.

Drive By Truckers Weekend

Friday, Cash made an overnight visit to a puppy boarding spa and Darling and I made the short trek to Oxford, Mississippi. The Drive By Truckers may have the best puns of any band I know (aside from the band's name itself, some of their album titles are: gangstabilly, pizza deliverance, the dirty south...) and they really put on nothing less than a rock show. The Lyric was a stellar venue, aesthetically. I think the budget for sound was depleted after all of the fresh decor was complete.

The one downer? I saw but a corner of Oxford, at night. I really look forward to a future Oxford visit to do a bit more exploring. It strikes me as a very interesting place as it seems to be about as liberal as Mississippi gets: a young, hip college town with a lot of history. There seems to be an intriguing balance of preserving the town's historical integrity while remaining active and contemporary.

The rest of the weekend is history as I'm surely doing my best to get things done around the house. Hopefully an update (maybe even photos) to come soon.

Peruvian Yarn

cold weather + pretty yarn = cozy dreams

Via the lovely love,leigh's worldly travels.

p.s. I'm 10 days late but I thought I'd announce the fact that I've actually kept the blog up for one. full. year. remember?
xoxo thanks for keeping up with me.

Lovely Lettering

Ooh la la!




I may just print my letter out to keep at my desk.

Darling and I are heading to Oxford, Mississippi for an adventurous evening.
Happy Weekend.

via Daily Drop Cap
via Little Green Notebook

Whistle While you Work

Darling's best friend and his girlfriend are coming to visit us over Halloween weekend from NY. I have a surge of energy to not just unpack the house, but to put it together. I've been seeking out beautiful images online and now feel flooded with diy project ideas and inspiration.

A few things to consider:
1) I'm done painting in the house. Each room that I have painted at home has been on a whim of sorts. I painted 1 room, then turned around and did the next without first analyzing any sort of cohesive color scheme. This proves to be a challenge now but at the moment, it was satisfying to just get the room cleaned, painted, and done. As a girl who's not afraid of color, I now have dark "greige", grassy-yellowy-green, pale cream, rich blue, and teal walls. Really, anything goes.
2) I am definitely on a budget and this is all going to take some time (and patience) before it's really in any sort of completion.

As of this point in time, I'm going into marathon mode. (We'll see how it turns out.)

Revenge

While Darling was off galavanting through the Redwood Forest, some lovely ladies, Cash man, and myself went on what started as a picnic to Bear Creek in Arkansas but actually ended up finding ourselves on an impromptu camping trip...

D*S does it again

Dear Design*Sponge--

Oh you, you really know how to brighten this girls day. I'm was so happy to see the Amsterdam City Guide you posted this afternoon. Have I told you it's my favorite. city. ever?
Thanks for all you do.

Love,

Sissy

Ticket for one, please.

Darling is here:

and here:

and will be here next week:


it's not exactly fair...

The Touch. The Feel. The Fabric of Our Lives.

This morning, on my way into work, to my pleasant surprise, I saw a "first" in my life. Now don't get me wrong here, there are millions of things I haven't had the privilege of seeing in person (e.g. the jungle, the northern lights, most animals in the wild, etc.); however, new first-time sightings don't often happen on the daily commute to work, at least not for me, no?

So. Driving along the winding road that takes me to work there they were, in the soft, crisp morning kind of light. Yes friends, cotton fields are in bloom.

Extra, Extra--Read All About It!!

October 4th (this past sunday), in celebration of the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi's (patron saint of animals and the environment), many Catholic churches hold "Blessing of the Pets." Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, fish, etc. are all welcome. I took Cash to a church close to our home to check it out. The overall message is one of love, celebrating and honoring our pets who love us unconditionally every day. The blessing usually goes something like this:

“Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless this pet. By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.”

After the room prayer and blessing. The father's and deacons went around the room to bless each pet individually. Wishing them health and happiness in their homes.


When dropping Cash off at day care this morning one of the workers exclaimed, "I saw you in the paper!"
Huh??
She proceeded to tell me that on page 1 of the Lifestyles section of the major Memphis newspaper, Commercial Appeal, was a full spread photo of Cash! I felt like he had just been chosen Student of the Week. I found it online but need to get my hands on a physical copy. One of my co-workers printed out an 8x10 that I have hung above my desk. Mostly, I get strange looks for it and I'm still new enough that no one has dared ask if it's some kind of joke they don't understand--this has made for many, many good laughs throughout the day.

Nashville

Design*Sponge just put out a new Nashville City Guide. It just happens to be impeccable timing on their part.

Last year, before we knew we'd be moving to Memphis, I started to plan the skeletal outline for a camping trip in the Redwoods to take place around labor day of this year. You could definitely say that I developed a fixation on the Redwoods. As noted, we moved to Memphis and the trip was not given a second thought until Darling's school told him he'd be chaperoning two 6th graders at a leadership conference. The conference, we found a few weeks ago, is taking place in (you guessed it) the Redwoods-- "you stole my trip!" I have accused him, over and over.

Since then, I've been planning vindictively where I can go to out-do him. I was hoping for camping with the puppy and some girlfriends (puppy's first camping trip) in the Ozarks but it seems the weather is going to be less than cooperative to plan on that. Nashville, however, is only 3 hours to the east and apparently is filled with loads to do, hmmm............

Best of Memphis

One of my new friends here in Memphis just happened to have an extra wristband to the Memphis Flyer's Best of Memphis Party! As a new comer to the city, she thought it'd be something I would enjoy, get a little taste of what's out there--it turns out she's a pretty smart lady! The Flyer is the local, independent, free newspaper (much like the City Weekly for you Salt Lakers/Utahn's, or The Stranger for Seattle/PNWesternes) in town. In celebration of the finest the city they love has to offer, they held a little swaray at Minglewood Hall full of live music, free drinks, and the best of food winners brought house specialties free of charge to feed everyone all evening long (and if you know anything about Memphis you know they love some good food!).

The best part? The party's hours were from 6-10PM. Plenty of time for everyone to get plenty of rest for work the next day.