a year in review

I ended last year with a Boston trip in December

and then there were lots of adventures in the spring...

and a whole summer romping through europe...8 countries, 15 cities...

and of course there were birthdays, and little trips to the lake

and yardsales, and work to be done at the shop

and parties in the fall, with bands comprised of boys i've known my whole life...

and moments, lots of little moments, sometimes with cookies...

and small town traditions, and the best BBQ of all time...

and friends stopping by the shop

and pie parties, food, fires, and...more food

there was work  and lots of fun with sarah before she split for the wild unknown (forbach, france)

and boys learned...photos can be fun!

there was mail...

and mums...

and friends falling in love...

and new members of the family...

had some random, special halloween weekends

and halloween day adventures in mini vans, and old cities with cool bands...

and cozy homes, and adventures in the attic...

and great art shows...

and thanksgiving goodness at my late great grandmother's farm

and dinner at my parents...

with lovely visiting friends. and what better end to a 70 degree thanksgiving morning than a snowy thanksgiving night.

and then a little thanksgiving visit to louisville

and some quality boy time with my cute little family..

keeping warm and cosy near christmas

many cold "2 dog nights"

and chicken experimentations...

a silly photo shoot or two with aud

and breakfast..

and finally, a more optimistic new year...

happy 2011, yall.

i'm obsessed

officially. i've been wistfully looking through these photos of brooklyn apartments by a nyc photographer  on her tumblr from me to you. all the photos have a particular look and feel, it can only be described as enviably creative/simple/chic. her work is fabulous, and (virtually) flipping through her stuff has led me to several other neat sites, designers, and people.  take a look. happy weekend :)

here along the way

my cousin Maranda is the coolest. she is, above all, a super awesome person who is always inspiring me and teaching me things, even if she doesn't know it. she is a mother, a really talented artist, a writer, a learner, and a fabulous cook. she is a printmaker, bookbinder, and an overall cutie. she is doing a residency in Wyoming currently, and blogging about it here, at herealongtheway. she also, after a great run at the Renegade Fair in Chicago, listed her hand-bound journals for sale on etsy. not only are they the perfect little book to write down your thoughts and tape your favorite things and photos in, but they all have original and unique stories on their covers thought up and sewn by Maranda. They are called cloudstorybooks and you can find them here, on etsy, or here, on Main st. in Murray, Ky.

brighten up my day

prints are just the best. i think a home really feels like a home when it is covered in random things that feel special to the individual. i have never been much of an arteest, but i'm pretty talented at tearing things out and sticking them on walls. right now my house is pretty much bare, how sad, i think i've been going for that whole minimalistic thing, i guess.

sometimes i like things that are a bit more abstract, but these adorable prints from the wheatfield etsy shop are just too happy to not share.

this is neat

I recently stumbled upon this site pinterest, and was gushingly overwhelmed by, aside from all of the beautiful and inspiring photos and endless links to blogs, how user friendly and welcoming it is. Basically, it's one of those virtual saving's account websites for things that you like. I don't know if I will actually get into using it myself, but it sure is fun and cozy to see what things make other people happy. I guess that's basically what blogs are anyhow, but it seems this site is really personal and enormous at the same time. I kind of like that. It is a bit overwhelming at first, at least for me, because there are so many awesome photos of things i'm interested in, mainly cute clothes, comfy and attractive homes, recipes and cooking ideas, art, and people who seem to be enjoying themselves, all while looking effortlessly stylish.

I first saw pinterest on Kate Miss' for me-for you, she is just the best, isn't she? Anyhow, thought I would share as well.

I'm having trouble posting any photos directly from the site, so if you click the shot it will be from the original website, which is how it should be i guess, right? You'll just have to check out pinterest for yourself. Hope you enjoy.

is it wrong to blog at 3am?

I don't think so. I've had a wonderful night. Random, but lovely, and not what i had anticipated, which is always fine by me. Skipped the whole Halloween party scene and spent time with my grandparents, got some amazing, super sexy blouses i can't wait to wear(!) and picked up some sewing tips. Realized my phone was dead, and that i was locked out of my house, and the shop, and my boyfriend, who has the spare key, was nearly four hours away driving home to Louisville for the weekend. Went to stop by my friend katy's house who luckily had another spare set of keys to my house and store, and, to my surprise, there was a nice, big, super official Halloween party happening at her place. She was bar-tending, and doing a totally legitimate job, so i stayed for a while, took some great photos, had some nice conversation and lots of questions about the store, and then was on my merry way. After getting back in the house, doing a bit of laundry and tending to things, I stopped by my boyfriends house to say hi for a bit. Ended up sitting around and singing great, sad country songs all night, even some  Townes Van Zandt, songs that  felt so unbelievably beautiful and real and sad that it hurt in my bones in a way that i had really been missing. I just listened to his record High, Low, & In Between two weeks ago, but it was nice to really get to sing the songs, and with other people as well.  Made me a bit nostalgic for the nights when things like that were the norm. Now, i'm blogging from my boyfriend's bed, and i'm perfectly content with that.

I did miss my awesome best friend Audrey tonight, she's at a party in the middle of a field right now, and i'm sure she's the most adorable cat anyone has ever seen (she's not actually a cat, however). Luckily, we will see each other tomorrow, as the plan is a gang of us are going to hear Deer Tick play in St. Louis. I got on here to blog about a blog, but what i really needed to say i think ended up spilling out anyway.

So, here is the lovely blog i stumbled upon a bit ago, cool stuff, i will have to check out more tomorrow. Sweet dreams, kids.

Reviving Revival Boutique

the top photos are of the shop now, literally just today, and the bottom are of the semi-beginning renovations to the store in mid september. this is actually after all kinds of work, time, and thought had gone into the entire process. first, there were months of debating whether or not any of this was a possibility. then there was a huge ordeal meeting with the city, having a zoning board hearing, getting all the proper licensing, etc. the building was once a tattoo shop over five years ago, and word on the street is the former tenant, stash(yes, that was his name),had smoked stogies. that really gave the fake, foam tiles a lovely hue of poop brown. one evening i decided to take a peek and see what was under one of the tiles. at the first sight of natural wood i went a little crazy. an hour or so later i had the entire foam ceiling in pieces on the floor. after the ceiling was done, it was time to start removing all the unnecessary junk. a huge, broken arcade game got the boot(i think it was one of those with the giant claw to grab stuffed animals and other strange treasures), as well as a sink, two large built in wall "stations" (basically, two long, obtrusive pieces of plywood nailed to the wall), and a lot of other creepy junk found in the back(child's nightgown and blow up mattress, anyone?).

at the top are a few shots of the, uh, interesting choice of paint that had been used in the tattoo shop. a 'hot' pink and black 'crackle', what a lovely choice. the back walls are actually the original color of the paneling, a light bluish gray, and the pipes were a purple. the last photos are of the three paint hues that were finally, after much debate, decided upon(with the help of my long time friend, katy of kp art). the front of the store is a bright white that was tinted with a black pigment to give it a hint of gray. the back, smaller half of the store is a nice, bright, dark (ha) called 'high speed steel', and an original mix of paint samples was combined to create a special version of chartreuse for the pipes lining the back walls. the boutique is open now(!), but there is still so much to do. every day i feel like i figure out a bit more, and things seem to slowly become more natural for me. so far, it has been a very enjoyable learning experience. sorry for the ramble, yall.