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?  

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. 

12 Before 2012 update!

Hey y'all! I just thought I'd drop in today to share a quick update with my 12 Before 2012 progress!  

• I finished reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets last week, and am about halfway through Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The funniest part of my experience while reading last night was a reminder of my 12 year old obsession. This newspaper clipping fell out while I was getting my HP on:

Oh yes, I was madly in love with Ben Afleck (think Pearl Harbour)! This is part of the reason why I love re-visiting things from my childhood!

• I made 2 bracelets two weekends ago, but never got around to sharing them with you. Here they be: 

Beads, wire and a clasp.  

Braided yarn with a clasp.

• I've lost 5 more pounds since my last weigh-in, which brings me to 65 total pounds lost! Only 10 more to my goal weight! I think I can manage that before the dawn of the new year!

That's all I wanted to share today. I'm so glad that I'm slowly ticking things off of my "to do" wish for this year- it makes me feel as though I'm accomplishing something! 

{top image via/text edit by pinkazaleaparadise}

words of wisdom

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Just a few wise words that I love today before I run to work after a long working weekend. Saturday I worked, then yesterday I spent the day sanding, priming and painting for my parents. Let me tell you, I am EXHAUSTED! There's no rest for the wicked, eh. I never feel better or more accomplished after a long hard day's work though. I hope you all had a relaxing weekend, and are geared to go for this last "unofficial" week of summer! 

rules to live by

Just a quick post this morning before I run off for a day out with my mom and sister. Rules to live by. So simple, yet (sometimes) so hard.

{image via/ text edit by pinkazaleas}

12 Before 2012

Image via/text edit by pinkazaleaparadise

Recently I've felt like I've been running around in circles and not really accomplishing anything.  Does that ever happen to you? In order to motivate myself and to also encourage some self-satisfaction, I compiled a list of 12 items that I want to complete before 2012 begins. That gives me about four and a half months from now to accomplish them (not in any particular order). For accountability, here she blows:

• Re-read the entire Harry Potter series
• Have an afternoon outing by myself- Go out for lunch and a movie shamelessly solo and enjoy it!
• Finish the in-class portion to my final year of University 
• Put $500 away for my “someday” fund
• Lose my final 20 pounds for a total weight loss of 75 pounds
• Get professional photos taken 
• Go to an antique flea market (like Aberfoyle) for an afternoon of inspiration and unique purchases
• Bake a pie from scratch (pie crust, filling, and all!) without Mom’s help
• Make some major decisions about where I want to be next year with my career (this obviously will be an ongoing process, but I want to have a semi-concrete idea about my plan by the end of this year)
• Invest in a few high quality wardrobe staples (i.e., a pair of leather shoes, a structured handbag, and tailored blazer or jacket) for pleasure and profession 
• Get crafty! Make home bracelets like the ones here, a necklace like this one, a DIY dry erase board, and other goodies that I come across in my travels (cough, cough Pinterest)
• Attend a cultural event (like a symphony or a theatre production) ... and get dressed up! 

Yes, yes I did include re-reading Harry Potter... what of it? :) I will include updates on here as I tackle these headfirst, one by one! xo

Sleeping Beauty

 I need complete darkness when I sleep, and that's hard to get when I'm home with my parents for the summer. There is a giant street light that glares directly into my bedroom, seeping in through my blinds. So imagine my joy when I re-discovered a sleep mask I purchased at our local department store. 

Oh yes, I am Miss Sweet Dreams...

It's just too bad I don't look like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's when I sleep... how does she manage to look so glamorous? 

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Tea is the cup of Life

...why not spend a dreary Sunday afternoon sipping tea out of a pretty tea set like this one? I'd love to start collecting teacups and saucers because they are so beautiful and elegant. It's a trend that I wish would come back to fashion.

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Decorating with teacups is a genius way to display beautiful craftsmanship, and it infuses a space with feminine, whimsical charm.

This shelving unit displays gorgeous and intricate teacups and saucers. 

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 Using teacups in your drawer helps you organize your jewelry. What a genius idea!

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 Placing arranged stacks of teacups in a vignette with other fantastic elements on a mantle creates a cozy, cottage-like feel.

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Have a wonderful and relaxing end to the weekend, darlings! 

Mary McGee in High Gloss

The latest issue of High Gloss went live today and to say I was excited is a bit of an understatement. I grabbed myself a cup of coffee (my ritual while reading my online mags) and then cozied up for some eye candy and heart palpitations. Overall, to my disappointment, I was not intrigued by much that the issue had to offer except for this:

L.A-based designer Mary McGee's home is an oasis of white walls, fabrics and accessories. Her use of texture and pops of colours to make white interesting and comfortable is essentially my ideal style. I may have died and gone to heaven. 

{All images from High Gloss}

Currently digging...

I am officially obsessed with Atlantic-Pacific. Bee is absolutely adorable and her sense of style is something that I could only dream of pulling off! She plays with accessories, patterns and colours in such an amazing way that the result is to die for. 

Amazeballs. Wish I could look that effortlessly chic everyday! 

{All photos via} 

I'm Re-Modeling!

As you have probably noticed, I just made some changes to the layout and appearance of my blog. I think it looks more streamlined and it's so much more me. See the fun signature which will appear at the bottom of every post? Yay!

 I still have to work out a few glitches (i.e. get that darn title centred in the image header) but it's almost complete. Of course I think that change is a good thing, so don't be surprised if you see a few more changes around here! :)

{image found on weheartit via unknown}

Jeffrey Fisher Home

When Nancy of Marcus Design raved about Jeffrey Fisher Home in this post, I knew I had to further investigate. Born in Nova Scotia, Jeffrey and his sister Deborah work as a team (he's the designer, she's the publicist). His work has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Canadian Living, Style at Home and Veranda magazines, as well as on Sex and the City! His design is the perfect combination of modern and traditional. While visually appealing, I can still see the spaces as being totally livable. (I also totally apologize for the crappy screenshots of these rooms, they deserve so much better, but I didn't know how to - if you know how to do it, let me know!) 

I mean, holy bananas, right?! WANT! 

All photos from Jeffrey Fisher Home via