Pimm's No. 1 Cup

There's pretty much nothing better than a Pimm's Cup on a warm weather day.  Especially when that day was a long one!  Not a lot of people know about this drink, but it is amazing.  I'm not a big drinker, so this drink is perfect because it's not a hard liquor.  Also, it tastes just like summertime in a glass.  Here's how to make it:

1. Fill a tall glass with ice
2. Squeeze a slice of lemon & lime, and drop it in!
3. Add a sprig of mint
4. Peel a cucumber lengthwise, so you get thin strips, and add two to the glass
5. Pour in 2 parts Pimms and 1 part Ginger Ale
6. Tada!  You now have summertime in a glass

I also add sliced strawberries when I have them.  They are SO good to eat after the drink is finished and they have soaked up the Pimm's!

Bon Iver {Calgary}

Sometimes I hear a song that gives me that feeling in my chest.  You know?  I wish I was better at describing things, but it's kind of a fuzzy feeling I guess?  It makes my chest feel heavy, and when certain parts of the song hit my ears, I can't help but to close my eyes and take a deep breath.  Almost a gasp.  I wish everyone could feel this way when listening to this song.  I hope at least one of you does...

Wish List

 

Sadly, finding dresses at Anthro that makes me gasp has been rare.  But, today my hope was restored with this little gem.  A must have for summertime.  Debating on buying it now, or taking the chance to wait until it goes on sale.  Oh, what to do...

abc's rock

I saw these today on Etsy, and I'm usually not a fan of painted rocks but these are really cute!  I know if I bought these for my nephew he would most definitely use them as weapons, so I'll save them for my little cherry pie Nora {his baby sister} for when she get's older! But, if you have a little one that is learning their ABC's, this is a great way to help the process!  They are really different, and I bet your kids will think they are way more fun than flash cards.  They are made by Mama Tita on Etsy, go check em' out!!

banana {ice cream}

Ok.  This is an exciting post.  I know that looks just like chocolate soft serve, but it's NOT!!  It's actually frozen pureed banana!  My friend Jill posted about this on her {amazingly inspiring} blog "Reshape Your Life", and I just had to try it.  All you do is cut a banana into about four pieces and pop it in the freezer.  Once it's frozen, you just puree it in either a food processor or blender and it magically turns into soft serve ice cream!  At first it crumbles into little pieces, but just keep pushing it down off the edges of the bowl and keep pureeing until it melts a little and smooths out to a gorgeous soft serve like consistency.  I added cocoa powder to make it "chocolate soft serve" and it was delicious!  It's amazing how smooth and creamy it is!  It's hard to not feel guilty eating it because it's so good, but it's all fruit!  Jill said you can also add other fruit to it to make other flavors.  I can't wait to try more!  This is a great way to feed your picky eater little one's some fruit.  They will have NO idea it's not ice cream!  Especially if you put it in a cone with some sprinkles.  Thanks for this great idea Jill!

letterpress

{as if letterpress wasn't beautiful enough}

a southern wedding: danielle & franklin {March 19th 2011}

{Richard Bell Photography}

The lovely gal that used to be my hair stylist in Charleston got married in March, and the photographs are so gorgeous, I just had to share them!  She honestly might be the most photogenic bride ever!  It was such a pretty ceremony/reception and it was all designed and arranged by Danielle, who is also an event planner.  And of course she even did her own hair too!  I loved the color combination and the flowers.  And the bridesmaids "bouquets" were a very fun twist!  The whole wedding was just beautifully arranged, and photographed.  I love how sweet the pictures are!  Congrats Danielle & Franklin!

hey yo yo {my new favorite obsession}

As I was shopping for wedding shower decorations, I stumbled upon this store and I am hooked!!!  I am literally trying to come up with reasons to have parties now!  The store is called Hey Yo Yo and it is full of amazingly adorable party decor and odds & ends.  Those striped straws are all the rage right now, and this is the best price I have seen for them.  You can get 200 of them for just $30.  Everything is just so fun and full of color.  I am having a party this year {that needs to remain a secret for now}that is going to be "county fair" themed, so you can imagine my excitement when finding this shop!  Everything is really a great price, and I dare you to look through the shop and not want to have a party yourself!

bhldn wedding decor

BHLDN debuted an amazing array of wedding decor this week.  I knew they had something up their sleeve, following the launch of their amazing line of wedding and bridal gounds.  The decorations {and other odds and ends like thank you cards and keepsakes} are all charming and fit right in to the Anthropologie line.  I of course am very partial to anything Anthro, but being a DIY'er and budget party planner, I still don't think I would fashion an entire wedding with this line.  Especially since I found a store online while looking for wedding shower decor, that sells those striped straws for a quarter of what Anthro is selling them for {which I will share in my next post!}.  I will never fully bad mouth my Anthro though, and I do think that a few of the items are worth the price!!

roll & tumble press

I have been eying these two prints on Etsy for a while, and finally purchased them this week.  I am so excited to get them!  They are from Roll & Tumble Press on Etsy.  I think they will fit very well in my new room, with the design I am trying to achieve.  That project is a very slow process, but I like that since it is taking me so long to get to it, it's allowing me to acquire a nice collection of things to decorate with.  I've bought some amazing vintage pieces {and very inexpensive!}off Etsy, and plan to buy a few more.  I'm not sure when I will actually get around to putting my room together, but I'm sure it will depend on if I can get the room repainted or not.  Anywho, please check out this shop.  It has amazing prints that will add instant charm to any space!

ruche goes to the south

It was such a pleasant surprise to get Ruche's new lookbook in my email yesterday, to find that they did an entire {and unbelievably gorgeous} photo shoot in South Carolina.  They pretty much hit every one of my favorite places to go, and the photographs made them look even more beautiful.  They started out at Cypress Gardens {where The Notebook was filmed}, and then Boone Hall Plantation {also where The Notebook was filmed!}.  The image of the gal in the barn looking building is actually an old rice barn that is completely over the water!  So not only is it an awesome old barn, but it has amazing water views all around it!  They also went to McClellanville, which is a sleepy little shrimping town off of route 17 on the way to Georgetown.  I only found it once by reading about it in a magazine.  You'd never know it was there otherwise.  It's actually more like a big neighborhood with super old gorgeous houses and giant sweeping oak trees.  I will live there someday.  They also hit up all the best old plantations.  It was really an impressive look book for an online store that not a lot of people have heard about.  It also inspired me to get my butt in gear for my new business.  I'm not sure what that is yet, but there's been a fire building in me lately.  All fueled by everything old and Southern.