Sunday Thoughts

I had the most amazing time celebrating a dear friend Rebecca's marriage yesterday. We drove up to Chattanooga and then just came back this evening. It was a beautiful and simple wedding which had gorgeous details. Since the wedding was early afternoon, she brought in a coffee and doughnut cart for guests. It was a unique approach that I haven't seen. I know food trucks are a growing trend with weddings, and I loved the coffee and doughnuts. They also had other finger foods and tea. We went out to dinner afterward and had amazing burgers at Urban Stack in Chattanooga.

Every wedding I attend makes me think about my own now. Hearing my friends say those same vows makes me overly emotional. Marriage is such a huge thing to promise someone, and I have such hope and joy for my friends. I can't help but reflect on my wedding and that inspired the poem for today. One of our readings was from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet. I love the sentiments in this poem. To me, it highlights the importance of the individual within marriage. Our other reading was Carry Your Heart With Me by e.e Cummings. That poem is my favorite, as evidenced by the name of my blog. These two readings have different ideas of love and marriage, but I think it is important to have a balance between the two in any relationships.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. 

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

I tried to think of what piece of art best represented Rebecca. She and I met while studying abroad in Verona, Italy. She is a wonderful person, and perhaps one of the best representations of true Christianity I have ever met. She is so loving, forgiving and full of grace. I immediately thought about Michelangelo's Pieta in Rome. It depicts Mary cradling Jesus after the crucifixion. It is beautiful and also heartbreaking. 

via

I was lucky enough to see this statue in person in Rome. It is even more breathtaking in person, and anyone who visits Rome should be sure to go to St. Peters to see it. 

Quickie Post

It is almost 11:00 and I just got home from a fantastic wedding in Chattanooga ( more on that tomorrow) but I saw this video and HAD to post it. 

This is Katy Perry performing at the U.S Naval Academy. She chose one lucky sailor to reenact this famous picture. 

via

I love the crowd's reaction and think it was so nice that she went and did a show for them.

It's Friday and I'm in Love

It is time for High Five Friday with From My Grey Desk. Here are my favorite parts of this week. 

1. I read Tina Fey's Bossypants on the plane home yesterday. It was brilliant. I laughed so hard I got looks from other passengers around me. I then tried to suppress the laughter which resulted in shaking/ convulsing while tears streamed down my face. It is such a good book. I love her sections on Photoshop and her recounting of the Gov. Sarah Palin impression days. If you haven't read it, go run and get it immediately.

via

2. My D.C trip was spectacular. I got to eat all my favorite things and see all my favorite people. It was so nice to pretend I had my old life for a few days. I went to visit my old office and they were so nice and happy to see me. It makes me feel good that I can maintain those connections even though I am now far away. I also got to visit the House and Senate Galleries to watch speeches and debate about amendments. The political science part of my was geeking out.

3. I had dinner and coffee with my dad last night while we waited for my sister to finish volleyball practice. We had two hours to just chat and remember old vacations and stories from my childhood.

4. Bad T.V time. My friend's DVR was stocked with the last few episodes of Revenge and Once Upon a Time. I got caught up on all the drama and deliciousness.

via

5. The weather! Oh man it feels good to be warm. I got sunburned walking around Georgetown on Tuesday and it was the happiest I have ever been about being burned.

I hope everyone has had an equally enjoyable week. Today I am soaking up time with my family and heading to a Piedmont Park Arts Festival. 

Lessons From Real Simple Magazine

The only magazine to which I regularly subscribe is Real Simple. This month's issue is one of the best in a while. There was an incredible story about creativity by A.J Jacobs. One of the best lessons I took away from the article was fact that most of the bests artists were extremely prolific. Picasso created thousands of pieces of art, and some of them were not that great. The important thing is to keep trying, to keep expressing new ideas.

via

I think that there is so much pressure to appear perfect. From our clothes to our houses everyone wants to look like a magazine shoot. When looking at models, we have to remember that they take a thousand pictures and can pick the best one for the magazine. So many houses on Pinterest have been styled and designed by professionals with unlimited budgets. I believe that we can create gorgeous houses without those budgets, but we have to be willing to take risks and try lots of designs. We have be willing to try something, see that it doesn't work but still try something else.

via

I love Real Simple because they have articles like this. If you aren't a regular subscriber, I would highly recommend picking up this month's issue. There are great cleaning tips and the wonderful Jacob's story.

Pinterest Wednesday

Hello Wednesday. I am having a great time in Arlington and excited to head home to Atlanta tomorrow. Today I am linking up with Jamie at This Kind of Love for What I Am Loving Wednesday.

 I am Loving seeing my friends and enjoying all the aspects of D.C life I have been missing. I had Sweet Green for lunch and stopped at Red Mango for frozen yogurt.

I am Loving the warm weather down here. I wore a sundress today and it was glorious.

I am Loving the fact that I will see my family this weekend.

I am Loving the fact that we get the keys to our house on Thursday. I am so tired of temporary housing and can't wait to unpack.

I am Loving my husband for moving all of our stuff out of storage without me.

Link Up number two is with the always wonderful Michelle at The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting. I hope y'all can handle more home decor posts.

Today I stopped into Anthropologie, Crate and Barrel, West Elm and just generally imagined that I had an infinite budget for decorating.

Pinterest- New House

I love this color palette. The lamp is such a great shape. I have become obsessed with frames with large white matting. Ikea has some cute and very cheap versions. 

Via Pinterest- Kitchen

I love these West Elm kitchen towels. The patterns are so bright and cheerful. We have a red color scheme in our kitchen, so those red towels would be perfect. 

Pinterest- New House

I love this gold mirror and the hydrangeas. This room is so fresh and light. I love all the plants and think they add so much to the room. I am going to get some succulents and other easy to care for plants for the house.

Pinterest- New House

I love these Anthropologie hooks. They would be adorable in the front entryway. I want to get WELCOME  but am trying to find a cheaper version. 

Pinterest- New House

I still love the chalk board trend. Some people have done an entire wall in chalk board paint, but I think I want to do something smaller like this. It would be so fun to change the message for parties or just with the seasons. 

Pinterest- New House

Our bed is a dark wood with crisp white bedding. I love the look of this room, but the blue walls are probably out of the question. We can paint the house, but only if we want to repaint before we move out.

Pinterest- New House

 I love this gallery style wall, and it also has the larger matting that I love. I am in major nesting mode, and can't wait to get all my belongings out of boxes. 

I plan to unpack like crazy for a few weeks so we don't lose motivation. I am afraid if we put it off, stuff will just stay in boxes for years. We have to fight our inner pack rats and make sure we go through everything. 

I would love any tips about unpacking or setting up a house for the first time. 

Arlington Fun

I made it safe and sound to Arlington. The road trip was easy and relaxed. I got Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me on audio book and it was perfection. Hilarious stories and a Venti Iced Chai were all I needed to cruise the six hours to Northern Virginia.

via

 I got more and more excited as the thermometer started to rise. Y'all, 85 degrees has never felt so good in my life. After a few months in the frozen tundra, this warm weather is amazing. 

This warm weather has made me think about swim suit season. I have seen some adorable swim suits that other bloggers have posted, and am definitely inspired. I need to get a one-piece for those times I don't want to be showing too much skin. Events with Lane's unit for example. 

I love this one from Target. 

via

Does anyone else feel like they need to cover up more when they are going to a work related pool/beach/lake event? 

Living Room Inspiration

We are only days away from getting the keys to our house. Although I am hundreds of miles away, I am constantly thinking about the upcoming decorating. The living room is one of the most important rooms in the house. This is where we will entertain as well as settle in for relaxing evenings at home. We have a big over sized white chair, and are getting a dark brown leather couch. Here are some of my ideas, all from my New House board on Pinterest.

Close approximation of the couch, and the chevron pillow is perfect. 

Over sized white chair.

I love how calm and peaceful this room is. I love the pops of color on the coffee table. 

I want to get some really fun pillows to tie the room together. The walls will be white, and I am not sure if we are going to get a rug or not. My plan right now is to pick one or two accent colors to use with the pillows and window treatments. I love the idea of navy blue or emerald green. 

I LOVE this pillow. I think this with a few navy patterned pillows would be beautiful. 

These are such fun patterns, and would bring in white and a bright color. We need to find a coffee table and figure out the window treatments. The basics are there, now we need to find the fun pieces to bring the room together. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I think that y'all can expect lots and lots of house posts this week. I am thrilled to visit family and see a good friend get married, but the house will be on my mind.