LET IT BE

DON'T STOP

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:01:00 +0000

I once packed an entire apartment in a single night.

I was living in East Austin by myself that year. I came home after a long night of drinking and literally packed boxes until the sun came up and moved out the next day.

How is that possible?

After a weekend of ballet recital activity and an all day power outage, not a single box got packed. I started the week determined and attempted to pack Carson's playroom yesterday. Attempted.

Of course everything that went into the box came right back out due to renewed interest.

The day went like this:

paper dolls
glitter glue warshak art
stamp collage art
general cutting and mess making
play doh
finger paint
poster paint
a much needed tub

The good news- Carson's first official day of summer home from school was packed from beginning to end with activity. The bad news- the boxes remain empty and unpacked in the playroom.

This packing business is totally different with kids! Pauses and distractions are endless. My sweet girls complicate the process that I have perfected over the years. Packing used to kind of be my thing. Maybe I need a new approach?

My current plan of attack:

be patient
pack only what we love
donate the rest
encourage Carson to do the same
enjoy the bottle breaks and goodwill runs
keep going
label EVERYTHING
stop when I'm tired or drink wine for renewed energy
listen to the Bonnaroo playlist for needed motivation

Sorry in advance for the lack of posting and pinning around here. Read above for my list of excuses. Promise to post lots of pics of the new place as soon as we are in.

image: The Things We Say

INKS + THREAD

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:36:00 +0000

How beautiful are these scarves?

Maggie Pate, of inks+thread, is a new Pinterest friend for me. After months of repinning loads of her found gorgeous images, I was happily surprised to find a thoughtful comment she had left here on the blog. She offered kind words of encouragement about adoption.

I am grateful for the new friendship and completely inspired by her.....and so I wanted to share.

I am Maggie Pate just a girl in my late twenties prolonging the entrance into my adulthood with playful projects. Current project, inks+thread is textile and scarf collection aiding my obsession with patterns. It is also a collaboration effort with other talented painters and makers.

These lovely scarves are her latest project. She truly has the most consistently gorgeous images on Pinterest. Her boards are incredibly well edited and curated, her writing witty and insightful.

Read more about Maggie here, follow her Pinterest here, or visit her shop here.

Other news.......I am currently packing up the house. We are moving in a week and a half, yikes.

Most of our belongings are headed to storage and we will be renting a TINY little house for the summer across from some of our favorite people in the world. All of this is in preparation for our BIG move to the Pacific Northwest.

Oh, also.....we just made plans to go to Bonnaroo. It should be an exciting summer, stay tuned.

all images & text: Maggie Pate

BEAUTY

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:17:00 +0000

all images: my Tumblr, Archive

more beauty images: my Pinterest, Beautification

FLEAMADONNA

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:26:00 +0000

It is so refreshing when you discover something new and fresh, different from all the same that is floating around out there on the internet. It can be truly thrilling.

I first learned of Fleamadonna while on one of my favorite new online shops, Inverted Edge. The site offers unique contemporary ready to wear from some incredibly talented and talked about independent designers from across the globe. Not only can you shop the collections and limited edition pieces from the featured designers, you can also read their personal stories and inspirations.

Fleamadonna launched in 2007 and very quickly took South Korea by storm with its fresh combination of vintage chic, glamor and diva glitz. More Euro than Seoul, Korea, Fleamadonna is eccentric, fun and playful, with its witty use of shapes and unexpected selections of fabrics.

I find the collection to be incredibly charming in a simple unefforted way. The silhouettes are sweet and modern at the same time, a lovely lady with a bit of an edge. Perfection!

Read more about Fleamadonna here, shop here, or check out their website here.

text: Inverted Edge

all images: Fleamadonna

BEAUTY

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:18:00 +0000

all images: my Tumblr, Archive

other beauty images: my Pinterest, Beautification

JOANNA FOWLES

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:32:00 +0000

How gorgeous are these images of Joanna Fowles beautiful textiles and inspiring process?

Joanna’s work is primarily process driven with a focus on hand elements and mixed media within digital textile design. She experiments with large-scale mark making, wood, paint, dye, shibori, photography and screen-printing techniques to produce abstract geometric digital craft designs.

Discovered on Pinterest, of course, I had the best time browsing through her lovely sites. If only I lived in Australia and had loads of free time on my hands. Taking classes from someone so talented would be such a dream!

Shop her gorgeous scarves here, check out her inspiring blog here, or visit the main site here.....enjoy!

In other news..... I am so proud to have been featured on D Moms Daily this past weekend! My super talented friend Joslyn Taylor is the editor of D Moms and shared our adoption story with readers. I have gotten the most incredible emails and notes about our adoption. I am so thankful to have such a happy story to tell and to have such amazing friends enjoy it with.

LAGI NADEAU

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:40:00 +0000

Personally, I struggle with embracing color.

There are certain people that just look amazing in bright and vivid colors, but I am sadly just not one of them. I prefer neutrals, which can at times feel predictable and even worse boring- but I would rather call it classic.

While I may stick with a formula when it comes to color, I absolutely love to mix fabrics and textures. Heavy wools, knitted cashmeres, washed silks, prints, embroidery, quilting, even sequins. I love it all! I am always drawn to luxe fabrics and so I am forever gravitating to lines that put an emphasis on such details.

Enter Lagi Nadeau. A few weeks ago while at Nashville Fashion Week I was lucky enough to see the line in person. While the shapes and silhouettes were charming, it was the beautiful fabrics that kept my attention. It reminded me immediately of a German line I love called Schumacher.

After the show I went up to introduce myself to Lagi, who was equally charming and adorable. I am so happy to finally share this lovely little line with you. Based in Chicago, Lagi was chosen as one of the six designers in Residence for the 2013 Chicago Fashion Incubator program. How exciting!

The above images are from both her Fall 2013 collection. Shop her collections here. Check out her posts on Nashville here, here, here and here.

all images: Lagi Nadeau

BEAUTY

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Wed, 01 May 2013 15:44:00 +0000

all images: my Tumblr, Archive

more beauty images: my Pinterest, Beautification

BEGIN AGAIN

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:35:00 +0000

Just days after the first failed adoption I got my second tattoo.

I needed a battle wound, a scar to show what I had been through and survived. I wanted a visible reminder of what I could endure, and so I got Begin Again. On my arm, where I could see it every day all day, in a place that others would see it too. It felt important to not hide it.

Starting over is something that we all have to do, again and again and again. It is a process I am very familiar with, a process I love/hate. Often I don't feel capable, but usually I don't have a choice. Almost always I am grateful in the end.

As with most sad endings, I was reluctant to move forward and start again. We were stubborn to let our first birth mother go and tried endlessly to work things out. Classic case of denial.

Cloudy with anger and resentment I felt too hurt to go back to the beginning. I did not want to begin again, at all.

But then I did. And thats when it happened.

Just days after deciding formally to move forward we got the call. A little girl already born, in the hospital, mother gone, just 45 minutes from our house. In an instant my loss was replaced with hope.

Within 24 hours we were holding her. Ten days later we cleared our revocation period and had a champagne toast over her crib. My pain vanished. I was full of joy! My faith in fresh starts was renewed.

This entire experience has changed me forever. I am different now- not just because of the ink on my arm or she sweet baby in my life. My perspective has changed, even my approach is new. I am grateful to have learned so much about myself and about others.

If you are reading this and struggling with infertility my wish is that you find comfort in knowing that you are not alone. If you are down in the trenches, I hope our story might bring you new hope and maybe our happiness will inspire you to keep going, searching for some of your own.

Thank you to all the friends, family and followers that have supported me along the way. Thanks for reading this week, while I finally share our story without being afraid of who might be reading it or what they might do. Now that we are official I am excited to share more about our sweet girl Sawyer Nell.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments about adoption. I am no expert, but I am an open book, anxious to encourage others.

images: Kate Belle, the most amazing photographer and loveliest person
wardrobe: my dress, Thakoon Addition, from the amazing girls of Les Novelles

WISHES DO COME TRUE

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 03:10:00 +0000

There was a time or two (or ten) during this journey that I felt like I simply could not go on. It is amazing to me the strength that your children can give to you.

I have never cared enough about what people might think to follow through with something when I truly felt defeated. While I have always cared more then I should about other people's opinions, my fear of judgement was never strong enough to overcome fear of failure.

Everything changes when the eyes watching you closely belong to your child. Suddenly you don't have a choice. Giving up is not an option and excuses are worthless. Actions always speak louder then words and in our home we try hard to lead by example.

At times during this process I lost hope, but more then I wanted another baby I wanted sibling for Carson. It was what she wished for every time she threw a coin into a fountain, and even though I always made the same wish hers was far more important.

I will never forget telling Carson about the first adoption falling through. She choked back tears and put on a brave face. It crushed me. I felt like we failed her. She was determined to stay strong because that was what she saw us doing. Luckily we were able to keep our worry and tears tucked away until after her bed time.

The best part of bringing Sawyer home was seeing Carson with her. The child that never stops talking was silenced. She held her in her arms and stared at her and then immediately put on matching pajamas. She had been waiting so long to be a big sister.

One day, when age and maturity come between my girls, I am gonna remind them of this special day and tell them how incredibly lucky they are to have each other.

all images: Kate Belle

AN AWESOME LOVE

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:58:00 +0000

If I was a dinosaur

And you were a jet

Theres a chance,

A good chance.

That we'd

Never have met.

If I was a river

And you were the sky

If I was down low

And you were up high

Or if I was an apple

An you were a sundae

If you were a Wednesday

And I was a Monday

If you were spring seasons

And I was

The fall

We might never

Have

Gotten together

At all.

But we aren't all of those things

Your're you

And I'm me

And we're as together

As together can be

And you know

I'm aglow

With a smile on my face

When I wonder

What magic

You'll make of this place

Of this town

Of this world

You'll transform your surroundings!

That spirit inside you

Is truly astounding.....

And when I'm beside you

I'm leaping

And bounding

So proud

I can hardly

Contain my heart

Pounding

I LOVE YOU

In so many ways

Over thousands of years

Over billions of days

I love you so much

I would scream it from mountains

And dance like a fool in

The coldest town fountains

I LOVE YOU!

I would paint it on walls

In colors so bright

That they'll glow in the dark

With "I love you" all night

I would march through the rain

I'd jump out of a plane

Put

The

World

Back

I'll

Still

Race

Down

Train

And I'll stand down whole armies

Defending your name

But you know

That's not all that this love is about

Sometimes it's a whisper

When you feel you could shout

Or just

Being around

When the others

Have gone

Or about

Letting go

When you want

To hold on

It's about living life

With such strength and emotion

And knowing that waves

Are just part of the ocean

And that ocean

That ocean

Goes on

For forever

Just like the love

That has brought us together

I LOVE YOU

When I'm holding your hand

I LOVE YOU

When you're making a plan

When you're thinking a thought

When you're dancing a dance

When you're just hanging in

By the seat of your pants

I LOVE YOU

I'll say it again

Tell all the strangers

To tell all their friends

Make it a song

And we'll all sing along

I LOVE YOU

You make me feel strong

You make me feel

Younger

You make me feel

Brave

You make me

Feel Something

These words can't contain

And if you were the future

And I was the past

If I was too slow

And you were too fast

If you were a cloud

And I was a ghost

If you were long distance

And I was up close

I'd still love you

No matter what sense

It would make

I'd love you whenever

Whatever it takes

I'd love you no matter

'Cause You're you

And I'm me

Together forever

In love as can be.

Dallas Clayton, An Awesome Book of Love

image: Kate Belle

A DAY

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:15:00 +0000

Last Tuesday was our Adoption Day.

A year and a half ago we made the decision to adopt. It has been a long and windy road, but one I would happily travel again.

In October Sawyer joined our family. On Tuesday the state of Georgia made it official. There are no words. Well maybe there are a few words......relief, gratitude and joy.

I am excited to finally share our story with you. Here are just a few images our incredible photographer took in and around our hearing. Much more to come.....

all images: Kate Belle (photo no.6 Judge Newkirk and our attorney Lori Surmay )

BEAUTY

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:03:00 +0000

So my first day in Nashville was spent at daytime shows full of evening wear and wedding dresses. The weather was gloomy and rainy, my favorite kind. The shows were in the Belmont mansion. It was the perfect setting for dramatic gowns shown during the day.

My favorite part of the show was the hair. All twisted up and pinned, it was romantic. More soft then severe, more boho then bride. I chose to ignore the fake ivy crowns and silk flowers they mistakenly added and focused on the soft curls and subtle makeup. I grabbed a few photos to share, enjoy.

all images: mine taken at Memeka by Gustavo Castile, Nashville Fashion Week 2013

THE LAWLESS SISTERS

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 03:12:00 +0000

Both of us girls kept Lawless as a middle when we married. How can you get rid of a name like that? Neither of us are as rebellious as our maiden name suggests, or at least not anymore.....but that's an entirely different story.

I spent the majority of last week in Nashville with my sweet and very talented little sister. It was literally five days of non stop fashion. When we were not attending events we were at home hunched over our computers or in Mary's closet lying on the floor. It was incredibly exhausting in the best possible way.

Even with good intentions there were very few photos taken. On the final night, however, after a bottle of champagne we became determined. In a hurry we snapped these shots before we dashed out the door. Inspired by Mary's confidence in front of a camera and armed with some of her great advice I have plans to start posting style shots. Not all the time, but occasionally.......I hope.

I have much more to share about Nashville and the seriously talented people that I met. More on that soon, promise. For now, hope you have half as much fun looking at these as we had taking them. Oh, and Mary- thank you. I feel so lucky to have you in my life and share this passion with you. Love you sister!

Follow Mary here.

PINNED

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:52:00 +0000

all images: my Pinterest

YOUR LIFE

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:10:00 +0000

image: Caitlin Peters

DAVID HICKS

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:22:00 +0000

Weeks ago they started digging my family's land. Beautiful red and blue clay is carried off the property buy the truck load. My father sends me photos of the holes in the earth in the fields around the house. He talks about the ponds that will be seemingly lake size.

It has been the same for so long, it frightens me a little to imagine what it will look like after they are finished. Change can be hard to accept sometimes. There will be new beauty there to replace the old, I'm sure of it. I have been thinking about how romantic it will be to go to Marshall Pottery and buy pots made from soil from Lawless land.

David Hicks makes beautiful sculpture and lovely collections and arrangements of clay objects. As much as I love the slick metallic pieces, I am especially fond of the unglazed pieces where you can really see the gorgeous natural color of the clay......it reminds me of that rich red color I would see along the highway driving out to dads.

all images: David Hicks Studio

BEAUTY

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:37:00 +0000

all images: my Tumblr, Archive

more beauty images: my Pinterest, Beautification

PINNED

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:25:00 +0000

all images: my Pinterest

MALLORCA

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:06:00 +0000

Yes, please........I'll be ready in five!

correction: I need a vacation, not a boyfriend. Just to clarify.

image: Pinterest, via Heather Taylor

MSGM

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 02:08:00 +0000

How gorgeous and exciting are these clothes?

MSGM is a line carried by one of my new favorite stores Les Nouvelles. Not only is the shop packed full of all of my favorite designers, brace yourself.......it is actually based out of Atlanta. Shocking, I know!

I was lucky enough to meet the two lovely ladies who own the shop last week for coffee. They just returned from New York and Paris fashion weeks, sigh, and shared some of their adventures. We are hoping to work on some projects together in the future. Can't wait to share!

Until then check it out for yourself here.

images: MSGM

BEAUTY

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 01:27:00 +0000

all images: my Tumblr, Archive

more beauty images: my Pinterest, Beautification

BELONG

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:19:00 +0000

image: Anthony Burrill

GRETCHEN JONES

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 01:22:00 +0000

Totally in love with EVERY. SINGLE. PIECE. So freakin talented!

Not to brag, but the last time I posted about Gretchen she wrote this:

Gretchen said...

well I totally appreciate your gushing over my work! Im just so grateful to have had to opportunity to take advantage of some doors that opened so I could keep creating...and hopefully be dressing women like you.

XX
g

So then my heart grew even fonder.

The Fall 2013 Collection might be my favorite yet.

all images: Gretchen Jones

NIENKE KLUNDER

noreply@blogger.com (stephanie) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 01:47:00 +0000

I have been feeling a little tired and run down lately. This series of photos by Nienke Klunder makes me smile.

Pretty incredible. Thoughts?

all images: Nienke Klunder Projects, Sequence 3