Under Foot

The in-laws will be arriving next week to spend some much needed time with The Babe (Grammie has been having serious grandbaby withdrawal since leaving us in November) and so we've been trying to add a few touches to our apartment just to make it a little more polished. You know, a curtain here (over the floor to ceiling window door that looks in on where they will sleep), some lighting there (so we can finally have light in the hallway and kitchen), maybe a rug for the living room. When we first bought the couch, I really really wanted a flokati area rug to bury my toesies into on long, cold Danish nights. 

image via Mix and Chic

But then The Babe discovered Cheerios and the cosy cloud like dreaminess of the flokati lost its charm as I imagined trying to get countless broken cereal bits out of its fluffy depths. It seems that an inexpensive flat weave rug is the way to go so that when our little angel spills something on it there won't be any crying over it.

Just to remind you, this is what we're working with:

And here are the contenders.

Option One

 The Alvine Rand from, you guess it, Ikea. 

Is it TOO much grey in a room though? The folks at Ikea don't seem to think so, as evidenced by these two images found in their catalogue. I'm not convinced.

Option Two

The Rand's more colorful sibling, the Alvine Ruta 

via Fitz + Honey

I really dig this room. 

via Maxima Interiores

Love the Weimaraner.

Option Three

The plain Jane Erslev

 

I like to think of this one as the blank canvas of floor coverings. 

Just look at what a stencil, a little paint, and some time turned this baby into...

via Green Street Blog

We like this Endless Knot motif stencil from Sunny Paint.

Thoughts anyone?

Memorial Day

AP photo by J. David Ake

I have only been to my nation's capital once. It was in college and I was part of a small chamber choir that went on a mini tour to D.C. and colonial Williamsburg. With the exception of one particularly uncomfortable moment (at Blair House, if memory serves) when I got a serious, eye watering tickle in my throat that made me exit the stage in the middle of a song, I remember almost zero about the performances. What I do remember with sparkling clarity was driving past the Marine Corps Monument.  

Both of my grandfathers served in the Pacific during WWII. My mother's father was an ambulance driver and only talked about his experiences there once that I can remember. I'm not sure what my father's father did. He couldn't or wouldn't talk about it at all. I don't know their stories but I thought about my grandfathers that day and my grandmother and all the countless other brave men and women, so much braver than I, who have served my country. As we drove past that monument there was a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes that far surpassed that earlier tickle.  And I was grateful.

 I am still so very grateful. 

Thank you.

photo by Marianne Todd

It's been a pretty rough couple of weeks for me as I've been wallowing in a bland mixture of sadness, apathy, and frustration. For over a week now I've been working on a really long post addressing all these emotions in the hope that writing will somehow purge everything from my system. It's dark and negative, though, and perhaps something best published when I feel more myself and I have a little more perspective. 

As you might have noticed, my blog has gone through a metamorphosis these past few months. I'm trying to grow this little space of mine, trying to connect more with  readers, trying to find my voice and vision. It's difficult. Sometimes it's discouraging. I want to thank you all for reading my blog, especially those who have left a comment. It's beyond nice and so very much appreciated. Today I would especially like to thank the following for giving me some much needed positive reenforcement this month:

Pioneer Woman Ree for choosing my Piggyback Groom Race photograph as a semi finalist in her action photography assignment

Christina of Divas and Dreams and Shutter Divas Flickr group for choosing The Flood, a collaboration between my mom and I, as a pic of the week for her Mothers photography assignment.

Bridgid Gallagher who tweeted this lovely comment about my blog...

I wish you all a happy weekend. I'll see you on Monday.

Dream Bathroom

Once upon a time I dreamed a dream of a large, luxurious bathroom. I imagined a big walk in shower, a big bathtub for soaking, two sinks, tons of storage, and, since it's a dream bathroom, a big window that would look out into an small enclosed garden.

{ love the green tile in that HUGE shower, the white, the hardwood floors}

{exposed brick with wood and an old fashioned tub, be still my heart}

{gasp! Behold the awesomeness of this very zen shower.}

Alas, our bathrooms have all been less luxury and more simply functional in nature. And small. Really, really small. For example, here is the bathroom in our London flat.

See? Tiny. There was practically no storage at all - just one small three shelf corner cabinet and the small closet in the alcove which was also home to the hot water tank. There wasn't even enough space to fit in our clothes hamper. Things are somewhat better here in Denmark. (I'd show you a picture, but two lights need replacing so it's pretty dark in there right now. You can get a sense of our current bathroom situation here.) We no longer have a tub, but we do have more storage. The most awesome part of our Danish bathroom is the washer and, for the first time in 4 years,  DRYER! I cannot tell you how much this appliance has changed my life. I know that it's much better to hang clothes to dry. I know that they will last longer that way. But you know what? I can do laundry in a day now when it used to take me 3 - 5 days. That's a lot of our week! And our house looked completely trashed with drying racks and dripping clothes hanging everywhere during that time. So, yea! dryer. There is a lot of lint due to said dryer (booo!) which is a little troublesome to get up since it's in the bathroom and somewhat damp, but this is a detail that I can live with. 

Anyway, what I've learned from having small bathrooms is that I really don't like cleaning bathrooms. So unless that big fancy bathroom comes with someone else to clean it, I think I'll take something small but nice. Something like this bathroom I found on Alvhem Makleri. This has everything on my dream bathroom wish list except for the window with a garden view. I love pretty much everything about it.

 I love the white tile/exposed brick combo and slate tile floors. 

I love the dark wood countertop and look at all those drawers!

{Yes, I know that rhymes. It's like I'm writing an ode to this bathroom.}

Oooo... spa bath and...

... a separate shower. It's right there! How very Japanese.

It even has something I think EVERY one bath apartment/house should have - a 

separate room for the toilet with a second sink.  

So small. So simple. So brilliant. 

The first three pics were filed away pre Pinterest, so if anyone has attributions, I'd love it if you could share. 

My Southern Wedding

Three years ago today The Boy and I said "I do" again when we made our vows to each other in front of the friends and family who had gathered to celebrate our wedding with us in Natchez. It was an  extraordinary and unforgettable day that I would (finally) like to share with you.

And to my love, my best friend, my husband: I am awe of you every day. I am so honored to be your wife, to be on this crazy adventure called life with you. I love you all the way to the moon and back. 

Sometimes life reminds me of a song.

Once I thought I’d never grow tall as this fence. Time dragged heavy and slow. But April came and August went before I knew just what they meant, And little by little I grew, And as I grew, I came to know how fast the time could go.

Once I thought I’d never go outside this fence. This space was plenty for me, But I walked down the road one day, and just what happened I can’t say. But little by little it came to be: That line between the earth and sky came beckoning to me.

Now the time has grown so short; the world has grown so wide. I’ll be graduated soon. Why am I strange inside? What makes me think I’d like to try To go down all those roads beyond that line above the earth and ‘neath the sky?

Tomorrow when I sit upon the graduation platform stand, I know my hand will shake when I reach out to take that paper with the ribboned band.

Now that all the learning’s done, Oh who knows what will now begin? Oh it’s so strange, I’m strange inside. The time has grown so short; the world so wide.

                                                                                                ~ Laurie's Song

                                                                               from Aaron Copeland's The Tender Land

Fields of rapeseed in Denmark.

I Feel Fine.

OK, so, not that I think it's gonna, but just in case the world really does come to an end today at 6 pm EST, I just wanted to let you know that it's been real. I've had a blast. I hope you have, too. Thank you so much for reading my blog.

And now, to be completely obvious, I think I'll let REM take it from here. 

Enjoy your last day! I'll see you on Monday.

Seeing Auras

On warm sunny summer days in London, The Babe and I would spread out our picnic blanket under a row of lovely trees at the Old Royal Naval College and practice rolling his ball until The Boy came home from The Wharf. Sometimes The Babe would practice so much he'd fall asleep and I would have a few moments to myself to read or think or just stare up at the sky. I loved the sky in London. The sky, the air, everything at home in Mississippi has a haze to it. A thickness. I guess it's because of all the humidity. In London, though, the sky could be crisp and clear and so spectacularly blue that it made every other color in the world seem more vibrant somehow. 

On days like that it was easy to become mesmerized by the branches above us as they swayed and rustled gently in the breeze. As I lay there staring, listening to my little one breathe, I saw that as the sun flashed through leaves and those backlit leaves  would have a kind of electric aura surrounding them. It was something I had never noticed before, or never taken the time to notice, and I thought it was beautiful. 

It's funny. Since The Babe's birth, I often feel that I have so very little time and sometimes I get frustrated about that. But then I look at pictures like these and I am reminded that I never noticed the small things before he came along. I didn't take the time to really see the world around me.  It's one of his many gifts to me, I guess, this really seeing the world. And I am grateful. 

 

A Southern Wedding

Well, hello there. Today I have a very very special wedding idea to share, one that's been a brewin' in my head for a very very long time. Years ago when my Grandaddy was still alive he and my mother took me to visit friends at Laurel Hill, a timber plantation in Natchez. The main house, which was originally built in the 1770's and added to over generations, burned to the ground in 1967. Some of the support buildings remain and a few were converted into a home. In the 1830's the owners of Laurel Hill built a beautiful private chapel in the gothic style that survives to this day. I fell in love with that little chapel on that visit and often imagined what a wedding there might look like. Picture Southern gothic meets The Great Gatsby meets The Life and Death Brigade. (Yes, I am a big GILMORE GIRLS fan.)  

This is Saint Mary's Chapel on the Laurel Hill Plantation during the day via flickr
Just look at that moss covered tree!

(click the pic to link)

But this wedding takes place at night and by candlelight. And in November, because otherwise the Mississippi weather is just too dang hot.

via Ben Chrisman

Gorgeous, right? Yes, that really is the same chapel.

I love this ultra glamourous 1940's inspired dress by Johanna Johnson
 via rangoli jewellery.

The Wendy veil by Sara Gabriel via Novelle Bridal

Sweet Christian Louboutin shoes found here

Two Birds Bridesmaid dresses 

Our antique cameo bouquets are inspired by this centerpiece from Martha Stewart

flowers include pink ranunculus, garden roses,  peach calla lilies, ruffly bottlebrush and grevillea, dinner-plate dahlias, spindly spider lilies,  vintage velvet swirls,  and European privet berries and smoke-bush leaves 

Ranunculus and smoke bush boutonnière  via flickr

(click pic to link)

And now for the reception. Think chandeliers hanging from those old oak trees and dancing under the stars - kind of rustic glamour.

via The World According to Issa

via Wedding Bee

via Snippet and Ink

I love the way this space is divided.

 instead of cake, a fall dessert table found here

And at the end of the night, guests gather around fire pits

to make s'mores. 

image via weddingproject.com

I hope you've enjoyed a little peek inside my head as a young girl 

dreaming about her wedding day! 

It rains a lot in London.

That's not a just a cliche. It really does rain a lot in London, especially in the springtime. Days of soft steady rain would stretch into weeks and before I knew it the grey sky above my head would seem to have been permanently replaced by this cheerful yellow umbrella that reminded me of sheets my mom had when I was a little girl. When the skies opened, this became my view of the world as The Babe and I ventured out on our daily walks to explore our little part of London.

*** Submission for Shutter Divas Week 27: Umbrellas on Flickr***