a 103 year old kitty...

kitty branch that is! my cute, cute grandmother had her 103rd birthday yesterday. she had a very low-key birthday with visits from her children and grandchildren, tons of lovely flowers, cupcakes, and homemade coffee ice cream. i forgot to take pictures last night, but i do have her sweet baby book!

for the record, i think all baby books should be this tiny with delicate ornamental flourishes. and the illustrations are my kind of style!

i adore my great-grandmother's (or possible great-great grandmother's) hair in the picture on the right! that's a gibson girl updo if i've ever seen one!

i love our grandmother. she is a true southern lady, no bigger than a minute with coiffed white hair and rouged cheeks. she loves to tell funny stories and giggle. she is a fan of dimples, red hair, coffee ice cream ( or any sweets for that matter), reading, list-making, the new york times crossword puzzles, braves baseball games, and fresh flowers. she is not a fan of cats, skinny babies, or pizza. 103 has never looked so good. happy birthday mama.

planetarium date night...

source: polyvore

i have suckered, sweet-talked my husband into going to the planetarium for a date night tonight. it's far too swelteringly, stiflingly hot to sit outside and look at the stars. and at four bucks a pop, we can enjoy the cold museum air conditioning while picking out our favorite constellations. back in the day i wanted to buy a star for ed. but i think that might be a scam... i'm not entirely sure. hope y'all have some hotsy totsy plans for the weekend.

the edge of love...

this is a film i have been dying to see since i saw the advertisements for it many moons ago. and i love love. and love stories. and while i was hoping to have a bright star experience, i found the acting and storyline to be...a little...bland? and all the "complicated" twists and turns within the love triangle, or ummm, love polygon... it just didn't win my heart. but i did fall for the clothing, props, and interiors! i felt like i was living in chelsea fuss's house with haylie waring's wardrobe. in fact, i think the cardigans were the main stars of this film!

dylan thomas's two fiery loves, his saucy wife caitlin and his childhood sweetheart, vera, a feisty cabaret singer.

caitlin and vera's friendship isn't exactly heart-warming. unusual, definitely. stylish, absolutely. i felt like i was watching a fashion editorial featuring a pair of giddy 1940s school girls painting england and wales red. their wardrobes make me long for fall! thick ribbed tights, chunky hand-knitted irish grandma sweaters, and silk floral bias-cut dresses. oh, and kimonos! all the boudoir scenes left me with a hankerin' for a delicate silk kimono. kinda weird since i have NEVER had any interest in owning a little kimono robe. and sienna wears some fantastic hats!

the love stories. eh. neither dylan nor william made my heart go pitter-patter. they're both a little too demented for me, in one way or another.

their welsh farmhouses might be the real leading ladies of this film. hubba hubba. the interiors made me melt. the white wainscoting, etched mirrors, wallpaper everywhere, dried flowers, rough-hewn tables, weathered leather club chairs... oh i could keep rambling on.

and all the props. really?! really?! i felt like i was flipping through a toast catalogue. heavenly. the colors and patterns of this film are sensational. such a gloomy palette of mustard yellows, hazels, cornflower and periwinkle blues, muddled greys, oxblood reds, and drab olives. a perfect welsh fall color story. yum.

well this film taunted me with fall. my favorite season. here in georgia that ain't happenin' for at least 2-3 more months. for now it is just record-breaking heat indexes. and hateful humidity. sob.

happy birthday to you...

happy birthday corrie girl. you know i love you to bits. i hope you don't mind that i had to cheat this pound cake and make it from a box. the homemade attempt had to be scratched... i had a flour weevil incident. flour weevils are the devil. but the blueberry and lavender buttercream frosting is the real deal, even if miss crocker is responsible for the cake part.

i'm glad i get to spend this weekend with you, birthday girl.

sweet tooth...

going...

going...

gone!

i have a fairly non-discriminatory sweet tooth. cupcakes, brownies, ice cream, s'mores, cookies, tarts, you name it. not moon pies though, not a huge fan. or anything that jiggles, like jello or pudding or flan. but man oh man y'all, freshly-baked blueberry pie in the summer is heaven. i even ate this crumbly, gooey, juicy bit of deliciousness for breakfast. yes, i am that gross. don't judge me!

*p.s my sister just informed me of my early christmas present... and let's just say it will make baking infinitely easier for me. and making meringue will be a snap! ooh la la, i can not wait for more desert adventures!

u-pick 'em and i'll eat 'em...

here's a little peek at our day at fleeman's farm, run by a darling, charming mom and pop. we were chased by some ominous, black clouds and flickers of zig-zag lightening, but we managed to come away with a bucket of berries and violet-stained fingers.

my husband even took me to a delicious dinner afterwards in athens, ga at farm 255. hard to believe we had an appetite after consuming mouthfuls of the yummiest blueberries we have ever tasted.

blueberries for sal...

...or really for me and eddie. or for anyone who wants some! we picked a gallon of the sweetest, tangiest berries yesterday. i have a few plans for some of 'em, but our cups overfloweth with these bad boys! we have plenty to share- neighbors? anyone? bueller?

i must admit, i am crushing on summer 2010 pretty hard. my one wish would be to teleport my sweet new york friends here with me. i am wishing extra big on that one. if y'all come i will fix you blueberries and cream for breakfast every day. pinkie swear.

peachy keen...

attempting to have a productive saturday. made homemade hummus and rosewater infused lemonade. started a georgia ephemera wall in our living room. soon-to-start sorting my thrifted findings from yesterday with momma stelling. stay tuned...

happy weekend to all you sweet peeps in blogland!

take me out to the ball game...

source: polyvore

hot dang, i am going to a BRAVES BASEBALL GAME tomorrow! i used to go all the time when i was a little girl, and i loved me some night games. my braves baseball knowledge from the early 90s is unstoppable. after that... not so much. but i hear we got a young stunner named jason heyward; bobby cox is retiring this year; and currently we are number one in our division. we're going with friends and i hope to drink some blue moon and eat some peanuts. maybe do the tomahawk chop and catch a foul ball. and hopefully not sweat to death. fingers crossed.

simple delights...

july has been a deliciously calm month. i've had time to play housewife, go on long walks, learn new recipes, crack open new sketchbooks, and make homemade iced lattes. i know the fall will bring hustle and bustle and tons of wonderful projects, so now i am soaking up every last play day of summer. i hope y'all are doing the same! here is one of my favorite tree blossoms of georgia. the crepe myrtle. happy summer y'all!

the peach state...

georgia, oh georgia. i have so many places i want to visit! my sweet momma-in-law found a whole magazine of georgia site-seeing and delicious tourist-stops! old grain mills, georgia gem mines, margaret mitchell house, tullie smith house, swan house, jimmy carter's old stompin' grounds, foxfire museums, whistlestop cafes, tallulah gorge and swimming holes, mayfield dairy farms, i keep batting my eyes at my husband, and i think he is slowly warming up to the idea of hittin' the peach highways and back roads. he's even taking me berry picking this weekend! we were going last weekend, but he had too much studying to do.

oh, did i mention he is taking the georgia bar exam in a few weeks??? grief. too bad you can't just pass it in one state and have it count for all. law is tricky stuff, so i hear.

sentimental heart...

polyvore collage

tonight is the she & him concert at the atlanta botanical gardens. i am over-the-moon excited! if you live in atlanta and will be attending tonight, look for me. i will be wearing a frilly dress with something ridiculous stuck in my hair. i will probably be swaying back-and-forth, with my hands clutched at my heart. like a big ole sap. my husband is such a good sport.

wanderlust...
today i am grateful for...

my grandfather's drawings. when i moved back to georgia, one of the treats my mother gave to me was his collection of travel sketchbooks. he and my grandmother traveled all over europe and asia together, and thankfully, poppa kept a visual record of their journey. i come from a long line of nostalgic folks. it's in my blood.

sigh. i want to mary poppins jump into these pen-and-inked pieces of paper.

i have been bitten by the travel bug. i want to go anywhere and everywhere! give me a map, passport, camera(s), a sketchbook and some pens, and i will be set! a drivers license might help too(but that's in the works).

take me anywhere! it can be in georgia, lebanon, maine, morocco, panama, wherever! i am game. i have a list of places in georgia that i will be dragging my husband to this summer. i'll start small and local, but dream big.

planes, trains, and automobiles. i want it all.

in the meantime, i'll hang some of these on my walls and just play make-believe. and maybe make a travel map like halligan's. best summer idea ever! i love looking at everyone's summer snapshots on all y'alls blogs. keep up the good travelin'!

old glory...

there was cake...

and fireworks on the water...

and reading and sunning and swimming and boating...
and blue ridge mountains...

and river tubing...

and sparklers. and barbecue. and straw hats and red lipstick.and kountry kitchens. and junkin'. and marching band music. and all the other glorious things that make me proud to be an american. happy birthday america, thanks for having me.