This weekend, my sister Candice and I had a fun dress-up party. We use to do this sort of thing when we were wee little ones, just now we actually know how to apply makeup and neither of us emerges from our play room with quarter inch long bangs (long story, if you want a serious laugh, ask either one of us about it some time)! One of the cool things about having a beautiful sister is that I don’t really need to hire a model! I mean, I might be biased, but heellluuu?! she’s gorgeous! Thanks sis, for being the bestest assistant ever and a damn fine model to boot!

The point of this grown up girly play time was to photograph a stunning piece from Etsy seller Pebbles and Paisley, aka Twigs and Honey, all of which are the gorgeous work of Myra Callan (she’s even got a fun blog)!


I fell in love with this headpiece the moment I saw it! Candice and I both thought the feathers, the lacy trim, the yummy velvet ribbon tie, the perfect vintage button details all lended themselves to a super romantic equestrian look…which I always thought would make a picture perfect wedding theme.




If you are looking for a beautifully crafted alternative to the traditional white veil, please run on over and check out what Myra has to offer! Her pieces really do add a striking bit of flare to any wedding day. As well as something you can wear for a fun night out on the town! I plan on rocking this piece to dinner dates, parties, and get-togethers galore!

I love sharing the love, so it was really swell when the lovely ladies at Exquisite Affairs Productions nominated me for this fun award called Blog Luv.  Those girls rock as do some of the other blogs and links I’ve posted below.

And the rules!

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received the award.

Here are my ten nominees in no particular order!

1.  The Wedding Chicks

2.  Offbeat Bride

3.  Perfect Bound

4.  Something Old, Something New

5.  Style Me Pretty

6.  The Bride’s Cafe

7.  Perfect Bound

8.  Oh, Joy!

9.  Elizabeth Anne Designs

10.  Wedding Bee Pro

Before January comes and goes and before this post gets away from me, I’ve decided to share one of my goals for 2009. I don’t make resolutions, because that seems way to finite, and in general I find it hard to resolve to do things. Instead, I love working towards goals. Something about reaching a goal is far more satisfying than sticking to my resolve. Am I right, or am I right?

2008 was pretty swell and I was able to wail on my list of goals. I made tons of advances and improvements and investments in this here business including renovating my office, setting up a more streamlined accounting and back end financial system, invested in more camera gear and computers, and so on. Not to mention getting to do some pretty cool personal goals! We traveled to Nova Scotia, held a couple parties, celebrated our second anniversary, Kyle turned 30, we started saving for our major home improvements, I was published in Artful Blogging magazine, and I spent a ton more of my free time reading. All of which were goals I set out to accomplish.

2009 is now here and I have a fresh new list! And the goal I am most excited and most scared about is….drumroll please! I am running a half marathon in June! Yup, 13 miles without stopping. OH BOY! I am so excited and so scared! But I’ve decided 2009 is the year I get super fit and I hope that sharing this goal on the blog will hold me accountable. I was thinking whenever I hit a milestone run, I could share it on here. And if anyone else is trying to get fit, please feel free to share your accomplishments with me. I need all the positivity I can get!! Oh, and if there are any experienced runners out there, I’d love to hear some running tips and techniques.

So, if you see me around, please ask me about my progress. I want to have some accountability with this, and if my friends and family periodically tap me on the shoulder and ask “how goes it?” I think I just might stick this thing out until the end!

This year for Christmas, I bought my husband a Gibson ES335 and I couldn’t have planned the delivery any better than I did. About a week before the holiday, I racked my brain trying to come up with some fun way to give it to him because honestly, how in the world do you wrap a guitar without giving it all away? So, I set a series of clues to the poem Twas the Night Before Christmas. It was so much fun watching Kyle read all the clues and have to find the next one and the next one and the next one after that. He finally made it to the end of the trail and I gave him the guitar. And once he opened the case and pulled back the hot pink cover, he quite literally convulsed with happiness. That moment made my whole Christmas.
And since then, Kyle has played and played his heart out on that guitar. He’s quite emphatically proclaimed it his favorite. You see, he has 4 other guitars as well. But this one, this baby, is his instant favorite.
Now that 2008 has come and gone, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite images from last year. Unlike my husband, it’s so hard for me to pick a favorite anything. So, here are a couple of those images that made my year that much brighter. And thank you to all my couples that made this year so incredibly special for me.

Thank you all SO much for making 2008 so memorable. As you can see, I’ve had so many favorite moments.