Southern Weddings Magazine Shoot (at my house!!!)

A few weeks ago, my good friend Millie Holloman came over to hang out after a July 4th bike ride downtown. She loved my house and thought that it would be a great location for a photo shoot she was doing for Southern Weddings magazine. At first, I was hesitant. We were in the process of taking down the chair railing, painting the walls, and our drapery lady was still not finished. My house was/is still not finished. It was clearly not ready for a photo shoot. Millie assured me that it would be great. 

Again, the people in these photos are not me. They are the editors and contributors to Southern Weddings Magazine (one of my favorite magazines.) I was working the day of the photo shoot and did not have a chance to meet the editors, but with Millie Holloman and Jennifer Rose-Sandy in charge, I knew my house would be in great hands. 

This in my front porch. That swing is my favorite thing in my entire house. My Papa built it out of a single cedar tree from my great uncle's farm land. He made it as a house warming gift and every time him and my  Memaw come to visit, we sit out there and swing and talk. I'm so lucky to have such incredible grandparents.

This is the front entrance of our house. We had just painted the entire room white (it sounds easy, but the room is 16' x 50' and took forever to do) and I'm almost positive it was still wet when the Salt Harbor girls arrived that morning to style the shoot. The desk is from West Elm and those blue chairs are from Glenn Harmon. I have a white leather tufted sofa that I'll show you later, but I love that they turned this into an office scene.

My Papa and I collaborated on the design of these shelves. I sent him dozens of tear sheets and sketches and after a few long conversations, we came up with the final design.Once we had a plan, the husband and Papa went into his wood working shop and created this in a single weekend. There are so many shelves, it's a great excuse to buy small pieces of art work, design books, and other little treasures to fill these shelves.

Thanks so much to Millie Holloman for letting me share these images. 

Style Me Pretty Photo Shoot

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. I was in Banner Elk with the husband and friends and we had such a great time! It's always great to come back home, but the break from the heat was on point. 

A few weeks ago, Millie Holloman and Jennifer Rose-Sandy asked the husband and I to model for an Inspiration to Reality photo shoot they were doing for Style Me Pretty. We had such a good time and you can see the full story here. Here is a sneak peak of the shoot.

Off to the Mountains

Sorry I have been so MIA. I have been catching up with two years worth of errands, for real. This weekend, the husband and I are going to Blowing Rock with some friends for the weekend and I couldn't be more excited. I'll be back in full force next week with lots of exciting news!

In the meantime, Coco & Kelly gave me a little inspiration on what to pack for a mountain retreat weekend. Isn't this delicious? 

Bookcase Love

I'm loving all of these bookcases that I found here. My grandfather (we call him Papa) built a beautiful built in bookcase for our house a year ago and some of the shelves are still empty. Looking through these photos gives me a few ideas of what to add and what to take away. The husband tried to put a signed UNC basketball on the shelves and got "the look." Poor guy, he's learning. 

Happy Thursday!

Still Smitten...

Today is our anniversary. It's been three years, and I'm still totally and absolutely in love. I know I'm lucky to have such a great guy, especially because he puts up with me and all of my craziness. 

Our first anniversary we bought plane tickets  (the tradition is paper) and went to Costa Rica. We were so poor. He had just graduated law school and we left the day after he took the Bar exam. It was an adventure. We surfed, (I actually tried to surf, but ended up hitting a local in the head with my board and made a grown man cry. To be fair, I also was hit in the head and didn't cry), we ate great food, and we stayed in a really gross hotel room that smelled like a dead animal was in the drain hotel and I "roughed" it for the first time. Looking back, it is such a great memory. The husband wants to go back, but has realized that next time it will be for a "guys" trip.

The second year was a lot more romantic and I also got this fabulousness as my anniversary gift. Did I also tell you he is brilliant when it comes to gift giving? 

This year, we are saving for our trip to Paris. We are going to the most amazing French restaurant, Caprice, where they have delish escargot and make you want to slap your mamma they are so good pomme frittes. They are seriously that good. 

Happy anniversary to the most patient, caring, funny, darling man I know.
Everyday I love you.


xoxo

Emersonmade Clothing

One of my favorite cute couples is now making clothing. It's coming out in August and I couldn't be more excited!

See more of the goodness here

FOUND...

these cuties similar to the French Milk & Paper ones on an American website! Is it a problem that I'm thrilled that I just found striped baking cups? I'm just saying, they are pretty stinkin cute.

Baby Love

I'm starting to get the bug a little bit. My friends are having babies, and now that I have time to see what a weekend off really is, I've seen the cutest babies everywhere. Seriously, on Saturday, I saw the cutest twin boys ever. They were eating handfuls of sand  while their parents were chattin it up with their beach neighbors. It was seriously cute. You know what else is seriously cute? This photo by Adele Enersen. It is putting me over the edge in baby love.

photo via

La Tartine Gourmande

The celebratory weekend has concluded, my sweet family that came to see me with lots of champagne and cocktails have left, and now I am in full nesting mode. I'm thrilled to be at home and to be able to really relax and enjoy our home  and the luxury of time. Lazy Sundays are the best, and yesterday while the husband was  flipping between the X games and the DIY network, I  completely fell in love with a new blog discovery, La Tartine Gourmande.  

Bea, the author, has the most beautiful photos of her food and great recipes; I'm hoping it will inspire me to become a great cook. One recipe that I'm dying to try is the leek, zebra tomato, and blue cheese quiche. My mouth is already watering!

Mini quiches with leek, blue cheese and the last Zebra tomatoes of summer

(For 2 to 3 mini quiches, molds measuring 3.5″ at the bottom, and 1 1/4″ high)

If you want to make this as a big quiche, or 4 individual quiches, I suggest to double the quantities

You need:

Pastry crust 

3 small leeks, chopped (about 3.5 oz)

2 small Zebra tomatoes, sliced

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced thinly

1 garlic clove, chopped

A few coriander seeds

1 thyme twig

1 oz blue cheese, crumbled

2 organic farm eggs, beaten lightly

2 Tbsp whole milk

2 Tbsp crème fraiche

Nutmeg, freshly grated

Fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

Roll your pastry and place in molds; place to wait in the fridge, covered.

In a frying pan, or sautee pan, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil on medium heat. Add the thyme and coriander seeds, then the leek, onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook, without browning, for 7 to 8 minutes, until the vegetables are soft; set aside.

In a bowl, combine the eggs, cream and milk. Season with salt and pepper and add a touch of freshly grated nutmeg. Add the parsley.

Arrange the vegetables in the tart shells (make small holes with a fork first) and cover with the batter.

Add the crumbled cheese and slices of tomatoes. Bake for about 25 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before eating, so that the batter sets. The quiches can easily be reheated the next day.

photo and recipe via La Tartine Gourmande

Headband Love

Loving these goodies from Untamed Petals. Perfect to tame the "humid hair" that comes with summer.