pardon our progress...

friends.

i've missed you so!
squatter's manse is all packed up & i'm at the beach with my girls for a few days while our stuff makes its way across the country to sunny socal. 
as of next tuesday, i'll be the judge of whether the west coast is in fact, the best coast.
anyway. 
all this moving and traveling has got me thinking about new beginnings.

fresh starts.

you know when you start a new job or a new relationship,

move to a new city (hiooooh!),

start a new school year (sharpen your pencils and clean out your trapper keepers, y'all!),

get married or have a baby, or

begin a new diet and exercise plan (this time its gonna be different, i swear!...she wrote, while eating the last of the chocolate-dipped madelines)?

so often these new beginnings making promises we know we'll never keep.

to ourselves.

and that's no way to live.

if you can't trust yourself, who can you trust, i ask you?!

we all have the best of intentions, we really do.

at least i do.

most of the time i live up to the expectations i set for myself.

but who am i kidding?

i expect a lot.

just ask the voices in my head.

anyway.

there are some changes a comin' with this little blog...but we'll talk about that later.

when i have time.

*honesty*

there are some changes a comin' in my life, and i thought tonight i would share some images from my inspiration file; those that ignite the fire inside, driving me to live a more purposeful, meaningful, focused life. 

(via nateberkus)

 
(via tumblr)

(via pinterest) 

(via pinterest) 

(via pinterest) 

(via pinterest)

(via weheartit) 

(via designsponge)

(via maxwanger)

 

(via pinterest)
 
(via designlovefest)

(via realsimple)

(via nateberkus)

(via weheartit)

there are undoubtedly failures to come as well, but so often, i find, the lessons are just as delicious as the act itself.

if not more.

here's hoping its not another (long!) week til we talk again.

xo

delicieux

this morning, i had a quiet moment to relax over a cup of tea. 

ok it was a double espresso, 

but tea sounded so much more gentile. 

as i very often do, i clickety clacked on over to the fabulous vogue.com, and was positively transported. 

most days i am quite aware of my place and station, so to speak, but that doesn't stop me from constantly daydreaming; 

and when i do, i often find myself here. 

i just didn't know it was here until i saw it, then read about it in such gorgeous composition. 

does that ever happen to you? 

ever see a place so incredible, so breathtaking that you literally gasp and then stare, open-mouthed at its pure beauty?

this, my friends, is the grand trianon in versailles.

and she is a grand beauty, indeed.

couture week in paris recently concluded in pure opulence 

with a black-tie gala and exhibition. 

le xviii au gout du jour was put on by the city's two incredible fashion & costume museums, and, per hamish bowles, "explor[ed] the enduring influence of eighteenth-century style on couturiers and designers from Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain to Vivienne Westwood, Christian Lacroix, and Nicolas Ghesquière." 

can you imagine? 

i die for this creation. mourir.

venez voir les invites:

farida khelfa, christian louboutin, dita von teese

didier grumbach, vivienne westwood, andreas kronthaler

tasha de vasconcelos

handsome hamish with dvt

the grand finale was celebrated via golden fireworks over an enormous expanse of lawn and formal gardens,

set to--bien sur--french court music. 

le sigh.

i urge you to click this link and read the delicious article 

for yourself. 

i devoured it slowly, word by word; perhaps as one would savor one of laduree's newest flavors. 

et voila. strawberry mint!

mais oui, s'il vous plait.

(both courtesy of laduree)

ooh la la. 

maintenant, its back to reality pour moi--packing.

think i can convince mon monsieur to move to paris in lieu of la?

doubtful.

i will, however, be listening to the edith piaf station on my pandora, burning mon favourite diptyque, and just moved the princess of montpensier to the top of my netflix queue.

xo

song of the south

i'm all weepy. 

about a week until the move and i've started saying my goodbyes. 

its bittersweet; everyone goes through it. 

i've done it before, but that was molly bc, before children.

atlanta, and all that is the south, 

is all my girls have ever known. 

which is one of the many reasons i'm thrilled to have the opportunity to live on the west coast.

but its also why it makes me sad.

will they remember what it sounds like to walk into the varsity, then order a "red dog walkin'"? 

(via accessatlanta)

and ps that is not a red dog walkin. that looks like heavy dog all the way, a chili steak, some strings & a ring one on the side, and God willing, that's a V.O.)

will they remember what the honeysuckle smells like in the spring? (if the pollen count isn't infinity?)

(via pinterest)

will they recall the skyline from piedmont park as the sun sets?

(via flickr)

will they look back with a smile on attending a southern tailgate at UGA (even if daddy is a gator), or even really know what its like in the SEC on any given sunday? 

(via google)

i imagine this is what my future tailgates will look like...

(via tommyhilfiger)

(fabulous. but i'm the young one with the basset hound, 

not candice bergen. k?)

will they grow up with an affinity for all things sweet tea, grits, peaches, pecan pie and coca cola?

(via pinterest)

(via pinterest)

(via saltwatergrille) 

(via google)

probably. because of who their parents are... but still. 

i love dixie.

(via etsy)

she's evolved a lot since my childhood, 

and still has work to do.

(via theexaminer)

(via georgiadailynews)

oh, the irony, aps.

 

(via projectqatlanta)

(via wrightandleftreport)

but i'm going to miss her.

(via buyoilpaintings)

mostly though, its the people.

they say it takes a village to raise a child. 

"they" couldn't be more right.

(except about the whole "men with big feet" thing. they aren't always right.)

(via buckheadchurch)

we have been blessed with an amazing village; a group of family and friends who have supported us, helped us, grown with us, shared with us, given of their time and resources, and loved us fiercely and generously. 

we couldn't be more grateful. 

(via flickr)

i hope my girls retain the plucky grace that so many southern women have; the strength and beauty which allow us to simultaneously seduce with just a look, while in a dress made from (metaphorical) window treatments; their ability to charm the seersucker pants off of a man, while also having the knowledge and drive to exceed his business aspirations; their knowledge of which peachtree road to take (there are 71) as well as their grandmother's biscuits and gravy recipe. 

(via google)

i yearn for my girls to see the world, to grow and experience and learn learn learn all that is out there... i just hope they will always remain steel magnolias at heart. i know i will.

(via etsy)

time to finish packing and get excited about all that california has to offer. 

there may be no big pig jig...yet.

but just maybe i can at least find some decent bbq.

and i mean southern bbq, not some dump in koreatown.

will they mock my subtle southern accent? 

think i'm a stalker when i bring the neighbors cherry pie?

have no idea what i'm talking about when i ask where the nearest chick-fil-a is?

frankly, my dear, i don't give a damn.

xo

ps. that giveaway i mentioned, plus my first up in a new series of interviews with incredible women at the top of their game, coming soon!

WORD.