I'm Leavin on a Jet Plane . . .

In the morning I am getting up and getting ready to fly to TX to see my parents for a few days! I am really excited! It's been a few months since I've seen them, which is way too long!! If I have time while I am there I may be back to let you all know about what I am doing and post a few pics - if you even care to see, ha ha!

In the meantime, hope all of you have a fabulous, safe weekend as well!

Ta ta for now!

Nashville: Part 2

Wanted to post a few more pics from our trip to Nashville a couple weeks ago to see my lil bro . . . we ended our trip with some good food and good shopping!

This pic should have been posted in my Nash. part 1 - cuz it was when we were on our way there. Guess I'm kind of back tracking . . . oh well. The night we got there we went to see my brother's band play, that's in pt. 1, you can click here to view that post. The next morning we slept in a bit after being up so late after his gig, then finally got up and around and went to eat at Pancake Pantry. M and I HAVE to go here every time we are in Nashville, it's the best!!

My lil bro and his girlfriend Ashley

M got Sweet Potato pancakes. I tried a bite and they were mm mm good!!

Case and his Caribbean pancakes . . . . I hear they are Keith Urban's fav!

After breakfast we did a little shopping downtown!

Still shopping . . . .

It was SO hot out and we decided it was time to cool off with a refreshing drink, so we popped in this adorable cafe/bakery.

We were still SO full from our huge breakfast we didn't get any of their yummy looking treats, but I plan on trying something next time we go back! How cute are these sunflower cookies?

ahhhh - finally a cold, iced tea!!!

yummo!!!

And this is what our trunk looked like before heading home. My brother's girlfriend road with us so we had her stuff in there too. With all of our bags and shopping bags, you would have thought we had stayed for more than one night, ha ha!

White dress, black belt = classic style!

I am loving these dresses I saw on a few celebs on People.com. The one in the middle worn by actress Zoe Saldana is my fav!!! I'm pretty sure all of use have a black belt, now it's just the white dress we need!

I have always been a HUGE fan of black and white. You just can't go wrong with it and it's really hard to mess up these classic colors! I love b&w so much, it's what I used for my colors of my wedding!

Not Goodbye, but See You Soon

Once again, I have been M.IA. Unfortunately it's due to Mike's grandmother passing away. A week ago she was fine, and then Thursday night she went int he hospital for emergency surgery and never came out. The funeral was today. M is doing good and is at peace with it. While she was fine a week ago, she has had some health problems over the years and I think her body was just exhausted. She was 70, and some may think that is old, but she could have lived another 10, 15, even 20 years - but it was her time.

Some of M's family came over to our house after the funeral today and I had sand which stuff, baked beans, potato salad, corn, chips and dip, cookies and good 'ol Key Lime pie. Everyone enjoyed it and enjoyed being together! I was glad to do it for his family! When you lose a loved one and come together as a family, it makes you realize how short life is and what means the most in life . . .family!!

I will be back hopefully tomorrow with the rest of my pics from Nashville. For those of you who knew about the passing of M's Grandmother, thank you for your thoughts and prayers, it means a lot to us both!

The Beauty of BOOKS

Call me crazy, but there are so many things I love about books. All the knowledge, some full of use full information, and well . . . some useless information. The inside of a book, the stories, some true, some not so true, some fairy tales, some sad, some funny, some inspiring, some that teach us things, some that give us hope, some that are merely an escape for us. The right book can take you into another world, as it sucks you in, your eyes brushing every word and skimming the pages. Your fingertips turn the pages with anticipation and before you know it, you are half way through the book. Those are the books I love, the ones you can't put down. The ones that allow you to leave all going on in your world, even if it's only for a short time. A good book can be an escape.

{photo from Lonny magazine}

Books in my opinion are also pretty. I love pretty books, with pretty covers. I love buying a book and leaving it out as eye candy. I prefer hard back books. While they do cost more then paperbacks, they are just more substantial and I know over time I wont bend it. I like to use books as accessories through my house. There's nothing I love more then using books on a table with a picture frame sitting on top or stacking a few to ad height to a lamp or large candlestick.

{My nightstand}

I also love to fill a bookshelf full of books. Books can give a home such character and you can tell a lot about a person by the books you see in their home. You see what interests them, what they believe, who inspires them - so much you can tell about a person by the books they own.

{photo from Lonny magazine}

I have been known to buy a book not because of what it was about or who the author was, but because it was simply a beautiful book. Sitting a lovely book on my nightstand or coffee table makes me happy. I have purchased many books about other cultures, art, people, cities around the world, photography, decorating and design and many others all because of the beautiful photos inside the book. I may not look at these books everyday, but collecting books and knowing I can pick one up at any time and look at beautiful things makes me happy.

{Notice all the books displayed in Big and Carries apt. in SATC2. On the coffee table and in the background with the bookshelves . . . love it!}

"Wine" Down

My day started at 5:30 a.m. . . whew! Can't remember the last time I had to get up that early, ha ha! I had to drive over an hour to a photo shoot for the mag this morning. It was at Crown Winery in Humboldt, TN. It was amazing and I cannot wait for the Winter/Spring issue to come out! The table top, flowers, and scenery was just perfect. The beautiful vineyards were full of plump grapes and the surroundings made me feel like I was in Tuscany! The main building is amazing and looks like something you would see in Italy! They do weddings, parties and events and every Friday night they do a Friday "Wine" Down. I am wanting to go to that soon! Although it was warm, it wasn't as hot as it has been and we could not have asked for a more perfect day for a photo shoot outdoors!

After the shoot we did a little wine tasting and I couldn't leave empty handed of course. I came home with 4 bottles of wine. They were all quite tasty! I love going to a winery and purchasing local wine!! I am going to try to be good and not open any of them till my parents get here Labor Day weekend, which will be hard, but I can do it, right?

Cheers!

Nashville : Part 1

Last weekend we went to Nashville to see my brother and his band, Darling Parade. It was a short trip, but we had a great time. I took a ton of pics, so guess I'll start with pics of the first night there when we went to his show.

{Me & my hubby at my brothers place before heading out to see the show. I wore my funky shirt since we were going to rock out, ha ha.}

{On the way - so excited!!!}

{Bright Lights, Big City}

{My brothers girlfriend Ashley before the show}

{3 of the 4 band mates - my lil bro is the one in the yellow}

{My lil bro, Case, Ashley and my honey}

{ A lil guy talk}

{Lead guitarist Adam - he's so funny!}

{The show is about to start - doing a sound check}

{The cute drummer . . . my bro!!}

{They were rockin!!!!}

{Adam and I after the show}

{Mike and lead singer Kristin}

{Big sis actin a fool!}

{The guys showin off their big guns! ha ha}

It was a great night and I was so proud to see my lil brother do what he loves! Still got more pics so will share those soon!