I'm back!

I spent most of last week in Atlanta for work. My brother happened to have an appointment in Georgia at the burn center the day before I got there, so it worked out for him and my mom to meet me in Atlanta and hang out for a few days. Even though I was working most of the time, we still had a blast! We ordered room service, stayed up late talking and laughing, and even visited Anthropologie:) Once my meetings were over, I rode with them back to NC to spend the weekend with my family. It was a nice, somewhat relaxing trip and I was so very happy to be able to spend time with my brother.

He is doing great! His burns are healing well and his disposition is positive. His leg (where they took the skin for the graft) still has a long ways to go, and is very painful, but that is to be expected. It was wonderful to spend time with him and to be able to be involved with his care (in person).

My brother and I at our grandparent's house

Drake and I went out to Tamarind Seed in Atlanta for dinner one night. It was delicious!

One of my favorite meals is biscuits and gravy, and one of the things I love and look forward to the most when visiting my family in NC is my Nannie's biscuits and gravy. Yummmmmmm!

For as long as I can remember, my granddaddy has grown roses. He tends to them thoughtfully, and is always so proud of them. Even at 83 years old, he still has the best looking roses around!

I hope you all are doing well. I'm off to catch up on my favorite blogs. With hundreds of posts in my google reader, it may take a while, but I am looking forward to it!

Quick OOTD and my new Kindle

I hope you all have enjoyed the weekend. Guess what I won? I new kindle!!!! I am so excited! I have wanted one for quite some time, but never got around to getting one. When I flew to Colorado a couple of weeks ago, I took along the book I was reading, which is a 600 pg hardcover, and I quickly realized just how nice it would be to have some kind of reader. Sil from Compiling my Closet recently posted about her boyfriends new website, Niqbid. The idea is that he places an item up for auction and the bidder with the lowest unique bid wins (and then he hopes to recoup the costs, plus maybe make some money by advertising on the site). Interesting, right? So, I placed my bid (0.27 cents) and ended up winning! I was so excited when I got the email and even more excited when the kindle showed up on my doorstep (straight from Amazon) 2 days later!!! I have been learning how to use it and reading all weekend! Let me know if you have any good book recommendations, or any kindle cover/case recommendations.

This is my OOTD from today. I spent most of the day hanging out at home, just relaxing and getting a few things done. Ben and I went out for a late lunch/early dinner at Miss Delta. They have some of the best southern comfort food around. Our meal included lots of sweet tea, fried okra, and collard greens. It was delicious!





Top: Anthropologie
Jeans: Joe's via Anthropologie
Shoes: Indigo by Clarks Plover (I just picked these up a few weeks ago - they are super comfortable and are on sale at 6pm for $39.60. I really like the red color too.)


The sunset last night was gorgeous. Aren't the colors just lovely?

Engagement/family photos!

We recently got out engagement/family photos back. I LOVE them! I'm so happy we were able to work in a session with Kjrsten before she relocates to London later this month (check out her photography blog here and her fashion blog here). I love that she uses film only, no digital. She is beautiful, sweet, and oh so talented. See for yourselves:











































Dress: Anthropologie Spinning Lace Dress
Cardigan: J. Crew Jackie
Belts: J. Crew
Shoes: Chie Mihara Loti and All Black via Anthropologie
Bag: Vintage (a gift from Ben a couple of years ago)

Japanese Garden

Quick update on my brother - he is doing great! He actually got to go home this week! He was so excited to get out of the hospital:) He had to return to the burn center today for a check up and everything went very well. He's healing quickly and will be fully recovered in no time (aside from scarring, of course). It makes my heart happy to see him doing so well and recovering so quickly.

Ben and I went to the Japanese Garden yesterday. It is such a beautiful place. It's typically very quiet and peaceful, but for some reason, it was extremely crowded yesterday. We had a nice visit and even managed to get a few OOTD shots, despite the large crowds. I definitely prefer going when it's a bit more quiet, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. In addition to the Japanese Garden, we also enjoyed crepes and lattes for breakfast, a walk downtown, a visit to Powell's bookstore, and an afternoon nap. It was a great day!



















Dress: Anthropologie Tuileries Dress
Cardigan: J. Crew Jackie
Bag: Anthropologie Lavender Era Bag
Shoes: Anthropologie

Glassflower

Hello lovelies! I hope you all are having a great week.

I was recently contacted by Smashion to do an interview. Check it out here! Do any of you have any experience with Smashion? It is a really cool concept. Lori from Lorispeak picked up the Caranday dress from Smashion for only $45 (read about it here).

Did you all have any luck with the big sale yesterday? I made it to my local store a few minutes after they opened and was able to pick up a few items. I even ran into Andriea from le blackbird cafe! I saw her with the Slylark Bouse and had to try it on myself. I ended up loving it and of course it came home with me! I also picked up the Lavender Era bag (thanks again Andriea:) and the Wisteria Halter dress.

These photos were taken on yet another trip to a local nursery. Ben seems to have gone a bit crazy with our landscaping this year (well, every year). It seems like every time I look outside, there is less grass and more plants:)











Tee: Anthropologie
Cardigan: Liamolly via Anthropologie Glassflower cardigan
Jeans: Joe's via Anthropologie
Sandals: Anthropologie

Verdant

Happy Saturday! I hope you all are well. I've had quite a busy week, but I'm happy because the weekend is finally here, the sun is shining, and my brother is doing great! He had a rough few days earlier in the week, but seems to be doing really well today. He had a skin graft surgery on Tuesday and another surgery on Thursday. I won't go into too much detail, but the skin graft surgery ended up being more intense than they originally thought (they had to take more skin than expected). So, as you can imagine, he was in terrible pain afterwards and wasn't able to move around, etc. He has gotten a little bit better each day, and seems to be feeling great today!

I spent Wednesday and Thursday in Denver, Colorado. I was there on business, and only had a few hours to walk around/explore. I have to say, it wasn't a very pleasant experience. I have been to Colorado before on vacation, camping in the Rocky Mountains, and I absolutely loved it. It was gorgeous, green, and vibrant. Denver, not so much! I'm sure it was just because I was in a crappy part of town or something and really didn't have time to figure out where to go (I just started walking). Anyways, I was very happy to get back to Oregon on Thursday night!

Last Saturday, Ben and I drove out to Joy Creek Nursery to find some plants for our front yard. I think the Verdant Slip dress fit right in:)




















Dress: Anthropologie Verdant Slip Dress
Cardigan: J. Crew Jackie
Belt: Anthropologie Snakebite
Tights: J. Crew
Shoes: Anthropologie
Necklace: Gift