AMERICAN WOMAN

Last week the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute held its annual benefit and gala. This year, the theme was American Woman: Fashioning A National Identity. The dresses were auctioned the next day, with proceeds going to the Costume Institute. I know a lot of these images have been floating the blog world lately, but I just wanted to share my favorites.

Love the cut and color of this dress. The fitting sweetheart top with a flowing, full skirt looks gorgeous on her. [camilla belle in jason wu and with jason wu]

ahhh....gold and neutrals! [jennifer lopez in Zuhair Murad]

I have to admit, Anne Hathaway is not my favorite but I love this dress. The cut is very similar to the first picture of Camilla Belle. I have a thing for sweetheart cuts. [anne hathaway in valentino]

Love the one should + the all while. Very summer chic. [emma watson in burberry with christopher bailey]

Oh, if all these dresses were affordable to the "everyday" woman. 

ARTIST: COURTNEY KHAIL

I previously posted about my recent obsession with watercolor designs. At the time I searched all over my files for this specific designer and somehow I seemed to misplace her information. Apparently, I follow her blog and the other day while thumbing through a few I stumbled upon hers! It was quite a nice surprise.

Courtney Khail recently launched her new website and blog and it is fabulous. I absolutely love her combination of pen and ink. It is so refreshing and original. I have been trying to incorporate a combination of mediums in my recent work, but she achieves it beautifully. Here is an excerpt describing her technique from her website:

"Created specifically for you, each 100% cotton card combines hand drawn illustrations, ink, and watercolor to produce a unique hand painted work of art where no two are exactly the same. We strive to create pieces that are truly representational of you and your event; pieces that are not tossed away, but instead saved and cherished. That way, you do more than just send a letter or invitation—you give the gift of art as well."

Here are some of my favorite images of her work:

BACHELORETTE GEAR

I designed an invitation, t-shirt, and koozie for my friend Jessica's bachelorette weekend. The party was at the beach (Destin, Florida) and I wanted to incorporate the location into the look without being too "beach-y" generic. Blue is the main color in Jessica's wedding so that was our (the fabulous MOH, Deidra) start. The designed morphed into a 60's, retro, sunburst feel and I really dig it, do you?

[this was my first picture collage so I apologize for any quality issues.]

You can check out Jessica's full re-cap of the weekend here and here. It was a pretty awesome time if you ask me. Jessica's wedding is next weekend and I can't wait! I also designed Jessica's wedding suite and I will share those pictures later. They are beautiful, if I have to say so myself.

P.S. if you check out Jessica's blog, I designed her blog header too :)

DESKS

Recently, I purchased a desk for "my" office in one of the guest bedrooms. Brandon has his own desk in the study with his computer, filing cabinet, etc. But, don't be fooled, his ever-so-beautiful [laminate] wooden desk that he COULD NOT part with was found outside the Sigma Nu house because it was going to be thrown away. (side note: I did not discover this secret until Brandon was bragging on it to his Uncle about 2 months ago! The whole time I basically thought this was a family heirloom from his childhood!) . I think Brandon asked himself, "How could anyone throw this beauty away? This is a gem!" and since then she has made her way from Auburn to Montgomery, to now Birmingham where she rests. Hopefully she will R.I.P. oneday! ;)

The room is painted a mauve gray and I want to accent the room with lots of golds and white so I wanted something simple and not too harsh. I collected desk images of designer's and blogger's work areas to inspire me. Oh the day when I can work at my desk all day and blog and design as I desire. Until then, here are some of my favorites:

[aubrey road]

[coco & kelley]

[cafe cartolina]

[nest egg]

[unknown]

[nate burkus' desk via cote de teaxs]

Obviously, I am attracted to the sawhorse desk and that is the direction I decided to go in. I ordered this desk from West Elm:

I love the sleek black frame and the glass top, plus it fit the designated wall perfectly. Now, I just need a chair. Any suggestions? I am looking for a white fabric tufted chair. Until then, I am temporarily using 1 of the 2 dining chairs we have. 

I have also been collecting images of offices in general and focusing on the storage supplies, arrangements, inspiration boards, filing cabinets, etc. and will share those in a future post. I have basically set up my office and will post pictures asap. 

BEAUTIFUL BABY ROSES

It has been a mystery as of what type of roses were growing up Melrose's mailbox, but this past weekend the mystery was solved! We had our first few blooms and they are too stinkin' cute! How do I know it was mystery roses growing up the post? That is because my mom, with the green thumb, spotted tiny thorns along the stems and knew exactly was they were.

I can't wait to see the entire bush full of roses! There are tons of buds on the vines so I am sure they will be blooming very soon. The roses are very petite and their color matches perfectly with Melrose's front door. As for the other plants and flowers around the house, our azaleas have all fallen off (now it is time to trim them back), the tulips have bloomed and deceased, the hard rain this past weekend knocked the petals off of 2 of the 3 sets of yellow flowers, and the squirrels keep digging holes in the soil and bark chips around the flowers. Goodness, I never realized keeping up with flowers was so much work!

For the future, I hope to plant a tea olive bush in a gap outside the front door and some hydrangeas in the backyard. I LOVE the smell of tea olives - they may not be that pretty but they sure do exhale a fresh, springy scent that makes my day.

You can clearly see what is left of our azalea bushes on the brick walkway. Sad day. 

[please ignore the crazy pink ghost that decided to make an appearance in the photos, and the quality - taken from iphone]