spring summer 2013 preview

6.26.2013

 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013 spring summer 2013
spring summer 2013

I finally have pictures of my spring/summer collection! I am sooooo late! It's actually just starting to really feel like summer around here. The roses are blooming and let me tell you it is hottt. Summer is here and it will be gone before I know it. Always happens this way, though I can't say I mind. The collection this year is more of a transitional collection. I think most of these garments would work nicely for summer and fall. Just throw on a cardigan, perhaps some tights and you are set! So, really, you don't have to just wear them for a few months before packing them away. I also threw in some sleeveless collared tops, as they are nice when the heat of summer is unbearable. I am particularly pleased with how the cotton lawn dresses turned out. They are perfectly cool and easy to throw on! I do hope you enjoy looking through my new collection. I had so much fun making it!
Coming soon!

xoxo

two years

6.18.2013


Today is our two year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has already been two years! I am so very happy I met this man. We have come a long way since the day we met (almost) four years ago. I'm so glad I get to spend the rest of my life with him. He makes me very happy. To end, I thought I would share our wedding vows with you. They are simple, but they mean so much to us. I kind of tear up every time I read them. And yes, I cried at my wedding! So embarrassing!!

Our wedding vows from June 18th, 2011:

I, Anna, take you, Jed, to be my husband, my best friend and confidante, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to treat you with kindness, to respect and honor you, to seek the truth with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live. 

I, Jed, take you, Anna, to be my wife, my friend, my trusted companion, and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family, and friends, I solemnly vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy and in sorrow. I promise to love and defend you, to be patient and understanding as we grow together in the Lord, to be both quick to forgive and quick to ask for forgiveness, and to cherish each moment with you for as long as we both shall live.

xoxo


(Photograph by John Allen)

june 8th

6.10.2013

29th birthday! 29th birthday!
 29th birthday! 29th birthday!
29th birthday!29th birthday!29th birthday!29th birthday! 29th birthday!29th birthday!29th birthday! 29th birthday! 29th birthday!29th birthday!


I thought I would share some photos (and a video clip using an 8mm vintage film app on my iphone!) from my birthday last Saturday. Jed and I had such a fun time celebrating! I can't believe I'm 29 years old! Some would say that is young while others say it is old. I have given up figuring out which one I am, I'm just happy to be a year older! I don't think anyone should be unhappy about their age, whatever it is. I say, embrase it! Although I've often thought that I might be able to pass for a little girl if I tried, at least it would be fun to see if I could pull off what Ginger Rogers did in the adorable 1940's film The Major and the Minor. Do you think I could? ;)

For this birthday I made a chocolate chiffon cake with pink frosting, and it turned out quite good I might add! My cake making has been hit or miss in the past couple years and I think I've finally found the perfect cake recipe! Maybe my taste buds are changing but anymore I find that cake recipes are way too sweet or heavy. But this cake has the perfect lightness to it and there isn't an excessive amount of sugar (I even omitted a quarter of a cup, just to be on the safe side). I love how fluffy it is and the frosting is the best I've ever had! I didn't have rosewater, as the recipe called for, so I used almond extract instead. It was delicious! I gave away most of the cake after my birthday, otherwise I know I would eat it for every meal for the next week! I also made strawberry frozen yogurt. I think I have discovered the recipe I'll be making this entire summer. It's truly the best frozen treat I've had yet! And it's so simple to make, I almost can't believe it turned out so well. I used traditional Greek yogurt and I really think that made all the difference. Next time I'm going to try different types of berries or a mixture of several different kinds. I bet raspberry would be to die for!

I wore a new dress I purchased a month or so ago, which really worked out perfectly since the day wasn't too hot, but a tiny bit chilly. The heels I chose reminds me of footwear from the late '60s. I just love the chunky heels and how comfortable they are! I would wear them for more than just special occasions. I believe in fashion AND comfort when buying clothes and footwear!

I'll be spending my summer back home in Iowa, starting next week (can't wait!) so I'm thinking up a fun pajama party, complete with some silly 1960's beach movies. They make me nostalgic for my 16 year old self. My friends and I LOVED watching the fun girly beach movies back then. Perhaps even a Nancy Drew party is in order, since Mildred Wirt Benson was born July 10th (incidentally, her hometown is also in Iowa). And you know how much I love Nancy Drew! ;)

Have a perfectly lovely summer everyone! xx


(My birthday outfit- Dress: Uniqlo x Celia Birtwell, Shoes: Bass Amberly, Hair: hot rollers.)

happy june!

6.01.2013

Happy June! Happy June! Happy June! Happy June! Happy June! 

 June is here and along with it comes the hot weather and pretty roses! I don't really care for the hot weather so much (especially our humid hot weather) but I adore the blooming flowers! I've always felt I was fortunate to have been born in June. I absolutely adore roses and it happens to be this month's flower. On my sixteenth birthday I received an heirloom garden rose from my parents. Too bad it mostly died one harsh winter! But it was so pretty when it was alive and blooming. Loads of pedals and buckets of the most delicious scent! Someday I would like to plant my own flower garden complete with old fashioned roses. Perhaps someday that will happen, but for now I'm happy to visit the rose garden at my parents home. There happens to be one particular climbing rose that has taken over, which I am dying to see when it starts blooming. Any day now I imagine! xoxo


(Outfit I'm wearing: hat: aerie, sunglasses: anthropologie, top: zara, skirt: uniqlo, bag: cabbages & roses x uniqlo, flats: bloch