swoon worthy...

BHLDN you make me drool!

busy days

here's a little peak at the treasures captured by my phone these past few days...

finally met our friends little girl lucy * squirrel being pretty * delicious noms * dental checkup for me!

oh ya know, just some cute puppy goodness!

presents in the mail from a friend * new sneaks * plenty of rain clouds * puppy tail hole!

dog sitting great danes * smoothies * whipped up some bunting for the bedroom * big doggie snuggles!

tonight evan's bff, and our old brooklyn roomie, gets into town. he's only here for a night so we've got to jam pack the evening with quality hang outs and delicious vegan eats! should be a great night with friends...

i've had a realization...

i need a baby polar bear...

all silliness aside, i must apologize for the crickets here on the ol' blog these past few days. this past week has been one of the busiest i've had in a really really long time. we had friends in town, then my parents, i've also been dog sitting, have had a hoping etsy shop (thank you southern living magazine!) and am helping my girl steph finish up some last minute DIY goodies for her wedding. things are starting to get manageable again though, and i promise to give some full updates once i catch my breath...

hope all of you lovies had an amazing easter weekend, and now i'm off to walk some great danes! yeah, it's kinda a sight to see :)

stitch machine giveaway winner!

huge congrats to diana for being the winner of the super adorable stitch machine hair bow. you are a lucky lady :) and thanks so much to everyone who played along!

and here's a beautiful little video to share on this lazy saturday. it's our friends seth & scott playing a sweet heartbreaking song for a small group of friends on seth's birthday...

Monkey & Squirrel in Southern Living!

as promised yesterday, i've got some exciting news to announce. a monkey & squirrel hook has made it into the may issue of Southern Living magazine! i've known for a little over a month now that they were going to be using one of my horse hooks in a story, but i wouldn't let myself get too excited. things like this can fall through at any time and i didn't want to set myself up for sadness. low and behold, the other day a magazine size white envelope appeared on my doorstep, and lookie what was inside...

eeeeeep... so very stoked about this! i've never had anything is such a large print publication before, and i could't be happier about it! huge thanks to Southern Living! i loved your magazine before, and i love it even more now :)

photo dump...

tofu scramble * friends band * roller skating bridal shower * saving squirrel from a tree

*sleepy sleepy pups*

view from the hammock * vietnamese nibbles * stitching party with steph * good fortune

*more puppy cuteness!*

*proper hammock lounge attire*

stitching up an order * big smarties lollipop * snuggling siblings * editing photos

i'm so excited because our friend lesli and her boyfriend dave are coming into town today from NY... and they're bringing their dogs! it's always fun having lesli around because she likes to gossip, and talk smack, and drink wine with me. good times! it's going to be a crazy full house here for a bit, but it'll be absolutely worth it! barkley has a big time doggy crush on moods (that's one of the pups), and they always run around like maniacs and exhaust each other out, which leaves us with sleepy puppers, and that is always nice :) this will be mirabelles first big doggy play group too, so we'll have to see if she can hold her own with the big guys.

i've got some very very exciting news to share tomorrow, so be sure to stop on back!

inspiring interiors

a few of my favorite rooms i've been collecting...

one thing is clear... i do believe i'm coveting some white walls!!!

sources

1 * 2 * 3 * 4&5 * 6 * 7 * 8

ps... don't forget to enter the stitch machine giveaway going on now!

stitch machine giveaway!

i'm so excited about todays little giveaway!

fellow charlotte, nc crafter sarah of stitch machine, is offering one of my lucky readers a chance to win this super adorable floral bow hair clip.

i actually purchased one of sarah's satin hair bows for myself last summer and i absolutely LOVE it! it's the perfect simple hair accessory for summer. this flower pattern though is making me swoon and now i'm thinking i just may need to expand my collection!

it even comes wrapped up in a sweet little box! who doesn't like receiving presents in the mail, right?

here's how to enter...

you should be a follower of my blog. then take a visit over to sarah's shop and leave a comment below telling us your favorite hair goodie in her shop!

for extra entries you can...

tweet, facebook, and/or blog about about the giveaway

follow me & sarah on twitter

follow sarah's blog

thanks so much for playing friends, the winner will be announced friday... let the spring giveaways continue!

nautical giveaway...

and we have a winner!

huge congrats to miss sarah baron for being the winner of the nautical giveaway!!! you've got a lovely little collection of beachy goodness heading your way!

happy saturday friends!!!

vegan comfort food

a few months ago while evan and i were visiting my parents in atlanta, my mom busted out her beef stew recipe and veganized it for us. i think evan had been craving it every day since! so last night adam and steph came over for some cooking and hang outs and we whipped up a big ol' pot of stew. good lord was it yummy! it goes a little something like this...

VEGAN BEEF STEW

2- packages of gardein beef tips

1- 16oz bag of baby carrots chopped in half or so

1- bag of celery cut into 2" pieces

1- large onion chopped

2- bay leaves to be removed before serving (we actually didn't have these and it was still delicious!)

2- envelopes lipton onion soup mix

1- carton veggie broth, or 2 cans

there is really no exact way to do this so you can adjust and flavor to your liking as well.

first brown the beef tips in a bit of oil, this will give the gravy a bit more flavor. once browned, set aside. add broth and a few cups of water (start with 2 cups and add more later if needed) to a large pot. then add all veggies and bay leaves and bring to a boil. reduce to simmer and let cook for about 40 mins until veggies are tender. add beef tips, salt and pepper to taste (we added lots of pepper but no salt since there is a lot in the soup mix) and simmer for another 20 minutes. in a separate bowl mix corn starch and water together and slowly add it to the stew to thicken the gravy. definitely do this slowly because it thickens quick!

we served it over bow tie pasta with a side of crescent rolls (also vegan!) and it was the ultimate comfort food! it fed the 4 of us last night (and evan and adam can do some eating!) and we still have leftovers today. that's the kinda cooking i like! let me know if you give this a whirl. my momma would be so excited!

also, don't forget today's the last day to enter the nautical giveaway. i'll be announcing the winner later on... happy friday!

neawear...

is easily my favorite of all the stitchers in the land of etsy...

browse her shop here and prepare to be amazed!

oh... and have you entered to win a fabulous little collection yet?

business decisions...

lately i've been doing quite a bit of thinking about the direction i would like to be taking my etsy shop. april 9th was my 2 year etsy anniversary and it just felt like the right time to start making plans. if you browse my shop often, you may have noticed the sudden disappearance of my accessories section. i was always unsure as to whether or not i should be mixing brooches and headbands in with home decor, but i loved making them so much that i just tried to make it work. lately though, i've really been feeling like they didn't belong there. i was making them because i love to, but they weren't really the items that were drawing people to my shop, and i began to feel like they were a distraction. so after much contemplating, i took them out. i think what i'm going to do is make a select few, really special pieces, and set up a separate shop for those. perhaps even doing it on big cartel, because i've really wanted to look into that site a bit more.

so my focus will be strictly home decor, and i'll be expanding my line to include more custom made items, and many more embroidered goodies. i can't say just yet what exactly that will entail, but i've got big plans going on in this brain of mine and i'm really exciting to get started.

the other day i was actually looking back at some of my very first etsy sales and i completely forgot about some of my favorite key hooks, jewelry hangers and picture frames that i made early on. why did i ever stop doing these? i can't for the life of me recall! i loved making them, and i never really gave them a chance to grow as a line.

so perhaps i'll be revisiting some past ideas, reworking them, and seeing where that takes me. we should never be afraid to change things around a bit. a fresh shop is what will keep customers coming back... and that's always the desired result! so here's to experimentation, change, and growth. i'm excited to see what this 3rd year on etsy has in store, and of course share it all here with you!

trampoline vintage

i'm absolutely in love with this etsy shop...

trampoline has so many amazing vintage finds and each items photographs are like a work of art in and of themselves. i love the minimal feel of her whole shop and how she kind of breaks the typical rules of etsy by having a short profile page, shop announcement and descriptions. just goes to show you, that if you're products and photos are amazing, you don't need all the other fluff to sell it. kudos to you kim... keep on hunting down these treasures!

ps... don't forget to enter yesterdays nautical giveaway!

spring giveaways continue!

in honor of this past saturday being my 2 year etsy anniversary, and today being 88 degrees here in charlotte, i'm bringing you a little something extra special. for the first time ever...

what you can win...

a collection of cast iron nautical hooks to spruce up your home! the winner will receive...

1- cast iron starfish hook

1- cast iron seashell hook

1- cast iron seahorse hook

perhaps it's the beautiful weather making me loopy, but today i just wanted to give something back to my lovely readers. so have fun playing along, and good luck to everyone!

here's how to enter...

you should be a follower of my blog, and just leave a comment below telling me your favorite thing about summer. i have so very many of them! gardening, beach trips, vegan chocolate peanut butter ice cream, dog parks, sangria, cookouts... summer is my absolute favorite. even when it reaches 99 degrees here!

for extra entries you can post on your blog, twitter, and/or facebook page about this giveaway. just remember to come back here and let me know which ones you did in a separate comment for each.

thanks for playing friends!