Short Wedding Dress

From Style Me Pretty: "Carmel Valley Wedding"

I adore short wedding dresses... on the right person, with the right style and right venue! When I found Myka + George's Wedding on Style Me Pretty... I just had to share!



Photography by Melissa Diep

Love those ruffles!



The Last Song

Okay, I'm finally going to get around to reading The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. Being from NC it's pretty standard to own every one of his books, at least in my family it is. Last year I purchased it the week it came out just like I do every fall when Sparks releases a book. I usually begin reading right away. Well, I attempted... got through the first chapter and stopped. I just couldn't get interested. I think it was because it was based on teenage love and I kept picturing Miley Cyrus since I knew she was going to be in the movie. I hadn't read about teenage love since reading a Walk to Remember and The Notebook but at that time, I wasn't so far removed from being a teenager myself.

So, I'm going to give it another try because I hear it's not so bad. It will also be the first time that I watch one of the movies before I read the book. I currently have it rented on netflix. Maybe this will help me get into the book a little more.

Next up on my reading list: Safe Haven (Nicholas Sparks) & Heart of the Matter (Emily Giffen)

DIY Contest on Ruffled

For my bridal friends and fellow bloggers out there, Ruffled Blog is doing a DIY Contest with some great prizes! I'm planning on entering my "last minute wedding programs" which bridesmaid Callie finished for me while I worked on other projects.

Here she is at the hair salon providing moral support while assembling the programs just hours before the wedding:

To enter the contest, you must have at least 4 images and list all of the materials and instructions. Everyone has until October 3rd to enter. Good Luck!!

Here is the final product along with another DIY project I put together which adorned the aisle:

More from Southern Living

From the "Made by Southern Hands" section...

Time for a little unsolicited promotion... Check out these clipboards from Cottage Indus-tree! Creator Amy lives in Alpharetta, Georgia (the suburb I always dreamed I would live in but that's another story in itself). It's so neat to see someone take such a simple concept and make a dream business of it!



Daisies



Vintage Postcard



She even has collegiate sports...Go Heels!

Tar Heel!

Check out the rest of them on her website! She also has magnetic clips...

My college football team, GO DAWGS!

"Why I nev-ahhhh!"

Here's a Link to the Article Above

My grandmother sent me the September issue of Southern Living Magazine last week and I had the chance to sit down and read it on Sunday. You're probably wondering why I have my grandmother send magazines to me. For one, my grandmother subscribes to a slew of magazines that she will then pass along to me. If I haven't made a trip home in a while she will just send them in the mail. Second, she knows I like reading the Southern Living's specific to the Carolina region. Each region has a special section devoted to it and the advertisements tend to be more directed towards that region also. Naturally, I love to see what's featured from the area I grew up in.

Moving along...at the very end of the magazine was a commentary article by Amy Bickers on how Hollywood portrays us Southern folk. Let me stop there and say that I haven't read the last page of any magazine since Rick Reilly left Sports Illustrated. But on this particular occassion, I had some time on my hands due to a muscle strain I experienced on Saturday, keeping me lounging around in my PJs all day. Plus, when she said "it's really not all moonlight and magnolias down here," I was hooked!

Take a moment to read the article and let me know what you think! 

Old Fashioned Soda Bar

From Project Wedding

I was going back through some of my notes & ideas when I was wedding planning and found this! I really wanted to do this at our wedding but it didn't happen. I actually have a collection of empty ones at home in my parents attic but I figured that wouldn't do anyone any good. I'm thinking I need to throw a party in the future and set up an old fashioned soda bar. What do you think?

Etsy Finds: Fall Accessories

One of my favorite sites is Etsy.com where you can find a collection of homemade goods for sale. I have purchased several items from Etsy suppliers and have had great success! I subscribe to their daily e-mails called, "Etsy Finds" which each feature a different theme. Today was "Fall Colors." I found some chic fall accessories I wanted to feature on the blog since I can't afford to purchase any right now (saving for the honeymoon).

Obi Handbag from GraceDesign

While this bag is $74.00, they also have an adorable clutch made from the same Japanese fabric for only $24. I love those daisies!

Mini Bow Shoes Clips in Mustard Yellow by No144s

 I can just see these on a pair of J. Crew ballet flats. I think I "need" them.

Upcycled Jemina Jones by SparkyJones

This clutch has pockets to keep you organized!

Brown Leather Watch Cuff by Nualaleather

I saved the best for last. I love this watch, it reminds me of a fossil watch I used to have.

Those silver studs have flowers on them to add some femininity to it.

Happy Shopping! Let me know if you have purchased anything on Etsy or plan on it!

I'm a nerd. I'm in love...

...with Microsoft Office 2010. More specifically, with OneNote.

  

My parents just bought me a new computer for my birthday. After having two Dell Laptops that went south after about 4-5 years and costing about $2,000 each... I decided that I was ready to move on to a Desktop and more importantly, a new brand. This time around I'm trying out the HP Pavilion Slimline and I made sure that they didn't sink a lot of money in it. I think it was between $500-600 at Best Buy. The monitor had previously been purchased by my parents but is like new.

Also, I wanted a desktop because sometimes I feel lazy with a laptop. Do you ever feel like that? For instance, let's say you're applying for jobs and need to write a "knock the socks off of them" cover letter. For some reason, I can't get it done on a laptop unless it's sitting on a desk and I'm sitting upright. (Totally defeating the purpose of a LAP-top, right?) Not sitting on the couch, watching tv and trying to concentrate on the screen in my lap.  I feel more motivated behind a desk and I spend less time aimlessly wondering on facebook and blogs which is typically what I do when sitting on the couch with my laptop.

Okay, I'm getting off topic.... getting back to my new found love, OneNote.  Microsoft Office 2010 did not come on the new PC but I did get an offer through work to purchase it for $9.99. Awesome, huh?

OneNote is like having a five-star notebook on the computer. I am a person who loves to collect journals, notebooks, etc. and write different ideas, thoughts, recipes, decorating ideas, etc. in them. But you know what happens to them? They become unfinished, unused and stuck on a book shelf only to be picked up when I clean.

just a few of my notebooks

OneNote is going to provide an alternative for me. For those of you have yet to discover OneNote, maybe this image will help give you an idea of how it works:

I love the colorful tabs. Currently I have General, Decorating Ideas, Recipes & Helpful Websites.
I already have a few pages under each tab. Under recipes I was able to quickly paste a picture, the recipe and the link where it came from onto one page which I can later print or share with others. The great thing is ... it won't get lost in a cookbook or notebook I rarely pick up. It will be right there on my computer to keep (or delete if the recipe is a bust).

If anyone else has OneNote, I'd love to hear about what you chose to use it for and what your tabs are labeled as! I know, so nerdy but who cares.

Goodbye Summer

Living in the north I have realized that summer really does end after Labor Day. (Goodbye white pants). Temperatures dropped significantly this weekend giving us a preview of fall. In the South we usually don't cool off until October. Where my family lives in NC, it finally dropped from the 90s down to the 80s this weekend, and as you can imagine that was quite the relief from the dog days of summer. As a lover of warm weather, I still struggle with the cooler temps of the north but it is nice to truly experience the seasons (i.e. lots of beautiful colored leaves in the fall decorating the trees, multiple feet during snowfalls and a good chance of a white Christmas, beautiful flowers blooming throughout spring and summer.)

So as we say goodbye to summer, here are a few of my favorite things that came out of this Summer 2010:

My favorite refreshing treat:

McDonald's Smoothies! My favorite- the Wild Berry Smoothie.

The resurgence of my favorite baseball team: The Atlanta Braves:

Currently holding on to first place in the NL East

and last but not least...winning an affordable honeymoon to Hawaii on an auction site:

Can't wait, less than 2 months away!