Tonight I would like to illustrate a story

Last weekend was a pretty special weekend for my lovely mother. She had her 30 year class reunion! For some reason I felt like I was sending my mother off to prom or something, and I was all about taking pictures. The weekend before, we went to pick out a dress, so I was excited to see her wear it.

First, of course, she had to get her hair and makeup all fancy-like. She wasn't excited about me squeezing in the bathroom with her to take the pictures. Sorry, mom!

Yes, that's me in the mirror...looking GREAT in my workout gear (that's sarcasm in case you didn't catch that).  I never realized how wrong I hold my camera. Seriously, that looks awful.

Lotion on the legs, dress and jewelry on, shoes on the feet...time to take pictures! Why won't mothers smile? Ok, some mothers smile, but mine won't! She just bends her mouth up the slightest bit...but no teeth. Come on, mom! I think she's still getting used to the fact that her daughter sticks a camera in her face all the time.

I think her outfit looked gorgeous. That dress was super flattering on her, and I know she was the most gorgeous woman there! I picked out her bracelets and earrings. I wanted to keep it pretty minimal since she was going to her 30 year reunion (not 10 year...ya know?). Anyway, you looked great mom!

Have fun, mom!

Thanks for reading/looking at my story. I enjoyed helping her get ready, and I know she had a great time at her reunion. I hope I look that good at my 30 year reunion!

Ruffle Necklace

Remember the necklace I mentioned in this post? Yeah, it was just yesterday, so I expect you to remember. Anyway, I wore the ruffle necklace today! It really is a wonderful little necklace. I love the length and especially the color. I am really glad I finally got a necklace made with some fabric. It's every bit as wonderful as I thought it would be.

top: clothing swap

skirt, tights, boots: Marshall's

necklace: PrettyThingsByMeg

 

Today was a BAD hair day. This whole no-heat thing is really hard because my hair looks like junk without a straightener. Anyone out there on the interwebs have some good no-heat styling tips? I'm pretty desperate at this point. 

Rhett was over this afternoon so I got him to take my pictures for me. He's getting so good at it! Pretty soon I'm going to turn him into a little-mister-photographer. I took some of him while I was getting the exposure right. Now I have matching pictures of us!

Also, I finally took the time to make a little button for my blog. If you want to link to me, you can copy the code below the button (over on the sidebar) and paste it wherever you want!  I'm planning on getting buttons for some of my favorite blogs to display down the sidebar...so get excited about that.

Mustard

My favorite color at the moment is definitely mustard yellow. A while back I found a bridesmaids dress on Etsy that was mustard yellow, and that began my obsession. (Sidenote: that dress has disappeared from Etsy, and I could cry) I'm sure my closest friends are freaking out right now since every one of them probably hates that color. No worries, girls. I'm not even engaged! I'm sure my favorite color will be different by the time I get married, but for now...

This adorable ruffle necklace is now in my possession! I can't wait to wear it, and I will definitely post pictures when I do.  You can find this at Pretty Things by Meg

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I really want this for 1-2 day trips that I take pretty often (*hint*hint* Rhett!)

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mustard yellow AND geometric? Score!

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I've been eyeing this clock for a LONG time. I think it would look great in my bedroom with the bright blue accent wall. Your thoughts?

What are some of your favorite colors right now? Am I the only one that flip flops my favorites? Am I asking way to may questions for one post?

Some Favorites

I don't know if I'm cut out for the "fashion blogger" thing. For one thing, I don't feel like I spend a lot of time putting my outfits together. Second, I feel weird posting pictures of myself in outfits. I do, however, enjoy having documentation of the things I wear at this point in my life. My memory is so bad that I wouldn't remember otherwise. I'm going to try it a few more times...but I may stick to photographing other people :)

I always end up being really critical of how I look in my "outfit photos." Maybe it's a good thing for me to do this and learn to be ok with the little imperfections that jump out at me. I mean everybody is probably seeing the dirty shed before they see my double chin anyway.

Random: When I got my hair cut the other day, Diane told me that if I don't use heat on my hair for a year, I'll end up with more curl. I don't know where she heard it, but I think I want to try it. I haven't used heat for a week, so we'll see if it will last. I've never cared much about how my hair looks, so I don't think it will be hard. Right now I just have a tiny bit of wave, so I'm hoping I will have a nice bounce after a year! Has anyone else heard this before?

shirt: Simply Vera at Kohls

jacket: SJP Bitten (from Heather)

necklace: Forever 21

pants, watch: Target

shoes: Marshall's (they're too big)

This jacket is so amazing BUT it's soooo small on me. Heather was giving it away at a clothing swap and I couldn't resist even though she's like half my size. I decided that I didn't care it was too small...raising your arms is over-rated. And the pants are my favorite work pants. I searched high and low for the perfect pair of slim black pants with just the right fabric and fit. I finally just gave up after 2 failed pairs and a useless trip to the tailor. Then a few days later I'm strolling through Target and I happen upon the perfect pair. And the kicker? Only $12. Seriously?! I was excited and annoyed all at once. Why didn't I just look there in the first place? You know you always find things when you stop looking <3

My Heart Skips a Beat

I read a lot of vintage clothing lovers' blogs, and I see them say that certain places and pieces make their heart speed up. A room full of 1930s dresses will make their palms begin to sweat and their stomach do flip-flops. Well, I get that way when I find vintage cameras. I wasn't interested in collecting them until I inherited about 10 of my grandfather's cameras. I've started searching for them in the stores around my town and I've got quite a collection going! My built-in bookshelves are becoming my camera display area.

I found this little treasure this afternoon and I'm SO excited. Not only is it the sexiest camera I've found, I can actually get film for it! I ordered some as soon as I got home, and I can't wait to try it out. 

When I saw this on the table,  I had no idea what it was. I didn't see the box under it, and I thought it was a cigar case or something like that. Anyway, I just decided to pick it up and look at it and I noticed the Polaroid manual underneath it. That's when my heart started skipping, and I realized what I had in my hands. I have a weird obsession with things that are this practical. I LOVE that I can fold it up and stick it in my purse.

This is how I'm displaying it. I just love the brown color! 

I'll hopefully have some images to show you soon. 

Does anyone else have this camera? How do you like it?

Birthday Cake for Jeremy

Mix the cake and crush up some Heath bars!

Bake it up!

Cut off the excess and get ready to do some stacking

Spread pudding between the layers and ice the outside of the cake

Sprinkle your Heath crumbles and there-ya-go! 

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

Ok, so this was actually on the 6th of this month. I was just really slow about getting it posted. 

Sorry about having two food posts in a row this week! I'm sure you don't mind though, right? I guess I should give credit where credit is due: Paige did most of the work on this cake. I spent all my time taking pictures. I did make the pudding and crush the Heath bars though! I hope Jeremy enjoyed his birthday cake and friends. We sure enjoyed the cake!

Fall Food in Summer Temperatures

What is wrong with Tennessee? Why doesn't it know that yesterday began Fall? Yesterday the temperatures reached the high 90s. Luckily, there's like 0 humidity, which is a huge problem in the dead of summer. It's not absolutely miserable outside, but I'm definitely ready for the mid 70s Fall temps to make their appearance.

Fact about me: I attend a home church called Sovereign Grace Fellowship. We have church in my living room, so I have no excuse to skip every once in a while :) Our structure is modeled after the New Testament church, so we do things quite a bit differently than the churches I grew up in. Well, all that to say, our church family basically IS family. There are 4 families in all, and 2 of the families used to come over all the time for dinner on Wednesday nights. We haven't been carrying out that tradition for a while, but we started it back up last night. Tabitha made a DELICIOUS kielbasa dish, that I seriously could not stop eating. Amanda brought some great asparagus, which was the perfect compliment. Don't you love our classy dinner ware?

I was in charge of dessert and since it was the first day of Fall, I decided to do a pumpkin recipe! I love love love pumpkin pie, so I thought pumpkin trifle would be an easier substitute. I ran in and out of Kroger after work and rushed home to make this little dish. Sidenote: If the Kroger employee tells you they don't have canned pumpkin until October, ignore him.

I barely finished before everyone arrived, but everyone was very happy with their sweet treat after dinner. We also had some AMAZING Costa Rican Tarrazu coffee to go with it. (Thanks Brian!) The good food and wonderful company was just what I needed for a pick-me-up in the middle of the week.

I got all the milk glass pieces at an antique store outside of town. Trifle is typically made in clear dishes, but I didn't have any...it still tastes the same, promise. Here's the recipe I made.

If you want an easy but super tasty Pumpkin dish to make at the last minute, I definitely recommend this. My only suggestion is to put way more ginger snaps in than you think you need because all that creamy texture needs some crunch to balance it out. Let me know if you decide to make this! I'd love to hear how it turns out.

Giveaway Winner

I've got a winner for my celebratory giveaway! 

 Congratulations to CB of the citybirds nest. This bike-lovin' blogger is one of my favorites! Make sure you check out her blog and Etsy shop.

New Prints at Home

Over the last few months, I've really been putting more effort into decorating and making this house more like a home. Remember this post? Well I finally purchased that print! After reorganizing my built in bookshelves, I had an empty frame that needed to be filled. I inquired about the size I needed and Siiso whipped it right up for me!

The picture doesn't do it justice (had to use my old camera because I keep leaving my new one at work). It's a GORGEOUS print. You can get one for yourself here.

I also wanted something else to hang in my dining room. I've got a long way to go in there. There's still a TON of blank wall space, but I'm so happy about the new print I got this week. I think is looks wonderful hanging in the big frame with my other print. What do you think?

The newer one is the small hanging in the center frame. It's called Sparkle by abbytrysagain, and you can get one here. The out-of-focus lights are so dreamy and the blue tint looks great!

I'm pleased with my recent print purchases, and I hope that ties me over for a while. I'm living on a budget here! Thanks to Siiso and Abbytrysagain for being exceptional Etsy sellers!