let's get down to business

The other day I was scrolling through my board Favourite Places & Spaces and  noticed that I've been pinning office spaces with similar styles, consciously unbeknownst to me. 

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These images tell me a few things. A) I love Mac computers (or everyone else does). B) Neutral palettes with hints of colour through accessories and flowers make me swoon. C) A collage or cluster of framed photos above a desk is the most conducive for creative license.  

My new Girl Crush

I don't know where I've been, but I've just recently become acquainted with Briony, from the blog A Girl, A Style, and I am seriously girl crushing hard on her! She's friggin adorable, lives an envious life of glamour and fashion, and she's clever! A transplant in the U.K., I will not only be taking fashion lessons from her, but gathering intel about life in the U.K. before I traverse there myself! 

Check out these adorable pictures of Miss B from The Glitter Guide...

"Whenever you have a spare day, act as though it’s your birthday. Eat cake for breakfast, dance around the room to your favourite songs, throw a frou frou tea party or movie night for your best friends, go to your favourite places… do whatever it is that makes you smile out loud." ~ Miss B

Words of Wisdom

Well, another year older, another year wiser. It was a fabulously low-key birthday with lots of red velvet cake and television. And so, because I'm now older and wiser, today I'm going to share a quote from the one and only Samuel Taylor Coleridge that I really, really think is applicable to everyone. Sometimes, advice is better given in smaller, gentler mannerisms than in loud and brash terms.  Just something to think about. 

{image from here/text edit by pinkazaleaparadise}

My Southern Life... feat The Front Porch

I thought I'd continue my fantasy southern life by making this a little series entitled "My Southern Life." Any southern home is incomplete without a front porch with some rocking chairs. It's the space where you unwind after a long, hot day, and sip some sweet tea with your honey bee (rhyming ftw).

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Kick off your shoes and stay awhile. 

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Love the white and blue. Also, I would love to have a swing on my front porch, just sayin'.

Okay, these next three images from Emily Jenkins Followill are just bananas. I cannot even express how insanely perfect this home is. It's my southern dream! 

Imagine this view at sunset! 

A front porch, or even better, a wrap around porch is on the list of must haves for my future southern home. 

All of this day dreaming is fun! So now I have my southern front porch, and my kitchen. What space should I do next? Bedroom? bathroom? Front parlour? I can't decide! 

My Southern Life... feat. Country Kitchens

Everyone who knows me will not dispute the fact that I have a certain affinity towards country livin'. My ultimate dream, of course, is to live in the South, with my cowboy husband, and greet visitors on my front porch with a big ole jug of sweet tea. All while saying "hey y'all" of course. 

These are a few of the swoon-worthy kitchens that I hope will be brought to life in my future southern home...

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Rustic, worn cupboards with feminine touches like flowers, wallpaper and a valence are just what the doctor ordered. Someone has to whip a cowboy's place into shape, right? 

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This gigantic inset farmhouse sink is my kitchen dream. It just screams country!

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This kitchen is straight outta the 50s. Can you picture those curtains ruffling in the light, Southern breeze? I can!

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An eclectic mixture of new and old kitchenware. Hopefully hand-me-downs from my cowboy's grandma. Tradition is all part of country livin', if you ask me.

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Charming breakfast nook, suitable for Sunday breakfast with my cowboy husband. 

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The view out this window, will of course, be of our sprawling Texan ranch.

Siigghhh... A girl can get really swept away in her fantasy life... My country kitchen will be the heart of my home, where friends and family gather, and I'm a domestic diva/superstar/creator of delicious comfort food. Cornbread, anyone?  

Words of Wisdom...

Some words of wisdom for this very early, very dreary Wednesday morning.

{image via/text edit by pinkazaleaparadise}

Decide where you want to be, and put that goal into action! Happy Wednesday loves! 

bel espirit

LOVING this cute ensemble from Anthropologie. 

The scent of fresh earth and flowers surrounds her senses; the gentle breeze tousles her hair as she sip lemonade out of a pink straw. Innocence manifested... all with a hint of je ne sais quoi. 

Ruche strikes again!

I love Ruche. I can always go to their website and sigh with desire. Every image is a true piece of art that is simply gorgeous and breathtaking.

Take, for instance, their Winter Lookbook for 2011, entitled Cherished, A Romantic Winter... 

Okay, and if these photos weren't enough to make you swoon, watch the behind-the-scenes- video. 

It's enough to make you want to cry! The romance they are able to convey in 2:09 is unreal. Better than Stephenie Meyer was ever able to convey in 4 books...  

Words of Wisdom...

{image via/text edit by pinkazaleaparadise} 

For Auld Lang Syne

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The beginning of the new year is a time to reflect on the previous year, and consequently, the future. For Auld Lang Syne literally means "for the sake of old times." I've reflected on my past year, and I'm in the mood for great things. It's Monday. It's the second day of the New Year, and the holiday season is officially over. I'm ready to begin my new mantra of living life each day to the fullest and making the most of it. 2011 was a great year for me. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was the best one I've had so far, and I'm not being cliché. 2012 however, has been forecasted as the year that I've been waiting for my whole life. You see, this is the year where I graduate from University; where my dreams of becoming a teacher will finally be realized. Such big changes are just around the corner, and are impossibly inevitable in 2012. It's exciting. It's scary. It's overwhelming. Sometimes it makes me want to freeze time in place and remain where I'm comfortable. But that's not going to happen. I've always had big dreams- ones where I sometimes become too complacent to actually follow through with. Not this year. 

Dream big, Do big things. And that starts today. 

Happy New Year!

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New Year, new beginnings. Think of each day as a new page. You always have the ability to make it interesting, full of love, and wonder. Embrace it! 

autumnal bliss

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Fall Porch Decor

Fall is just around the corner, and I am slightly obsessed with seasonal porch decorating. There's something so home-y and inviting about a wonderfully bright and textured entry to your home. The vibrant colours of fall make me want to snuggle up with a good book and a tea. 

Here's what my friend and I did at my parent's house last year:

After browsing through the interwebs, however, I have an itch to try something new! Maybe something like this:

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Or something artistic like this:

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Or something rustic and country like this:

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I'm feeling super inspired with all of these lovely photos. There are so many different ways to decorate your porch for fall, but they all leave me with warm and fuzzy feelings!