Wedded Bliss: Something Old, Something Sweet

Last Sunday I attended the loveliest garden wedding and while the entire event was so sweetly planned and orchestrated, there was one design element that stood out to me and I wanted to share. Believe it or not, the bride made all these gorgeous cupcakes. I can’t imagine dealing with all the potential stress of a wedding day plus making from-scratch sweets for hundreds of people.

I’m not really too surprised though…my friend, the bride, is a regular super woman. She gives Martha Stewart a run for her money, that’s for sure. Her wedding was a unique expression of her personality and faith.

The sweet part I wanted to share is this little doll-sized cabinet that was used to display her confectionary creations. The note says the cabinet has been in her family for three generations, previously belonging to her grandmother Margaret.

I love this so much! What a sweet way to add something nostalgic in an unexpected spot. Do you have any heirloom items like this that could be used as part of a tablescape? It’s all about seeing things in new ways.

Happy Wednesday friend!

Sorority Life: Zeta is Forever

Last week I went to a meeting of my college sorority alumnae group. Held at the home of one of my dearest college friends, the get-together was attended by members of Zeta Tau Alpha of all ages and stages of life. Some of us are newly graduated from the collegiate experience, some are young professionals, or engaged to be married, some mothers and wives and others grandmothers and retirees.

Our most senior member is in her mid-70s (I think) and while watching her win the trivia game we played, I thought about that could be me someday. I can’t imagine how different her college experience was from mine and I can’t imagine how different mine will be from the experiences of women who haven’t even been born yet, but will one day be part of our group.

Sorority life isn’t about joining a group of people who are cookie cutter versions of yourself. It’s not about partying or living it up in college. It’s about being part of a sisterhood that binds us together across age, race, life stage and experience. I love being part of something with such a rich history that I know will continue on long after I’m gone. 

Do you belong to a sisterhood of some kind? It doesn’t have to be a sorority, that’s just my experience. I have other friendships that I liken to sisterhoods, without any formal membership. If you were in a sorority in college, was it something you’re glad you took part in?

My Style Adventure, part 1

This post is the first of what I’m hoping will be something of a series, though I’m not sure how many parts it will include. I’m sort of calling it ‘my style adventure’ as it is based around ideas of fashion and I hope you’ll join me for the duration.

From a young age, I loved clothes and dressing up. I believe we are all born with some kind of personal style even if everyone doesn’t share the same love of fashion.

Because of my lack of confidence in the area of fashion in more recent years (or possibly lack of effort), lately my clothing choices haven’t really been what I would call an expression of my personal style. I’m not even sure I’ve ever fully known how to express that style through fashion.

Part of my problem has been that I have gotten in a bad habit of buying whatever clothes I could find that happened to be a) my size and b) on sale ….not thinking at all about what they might express or how they would make me feel.

Then last summer I stumbled upon a new healthier way of eating and through that experience, have gained new confidence in the realm of fashion. My dilemma? I have a closet full of clothes that I can’t figure out how to wear in a way that really speaks about who I want to be. So I end up wearing the same three or four outfits all the time, “saving” other items for some special occasion down the road and feeling pretty much uninspired every day when it’s time to get dressed.

Instead of brushing this off as trivial or settling for a lifetime of boring outfits, I decided to call on a professional. My friend Brianna Lamberson is a fashion stylist extraordinaire as well as a health coach, artist, writer and champion encourager. I’ve seen enough of her stylings on display at the consignment boutique she manages to know she could help me.

Mind you, I don’t want to copy her style (or anyone else’s). I just want some help in the form of a fresh perspective and Brianna is someone who can offer that. We had our initial consultation to discuss things last week (more on that in a coming post) and I’m so excited already. Who knows what this style adventure of mine will bring!

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a style rut? If fashion isn’t your thing, what other ways do you express the beautiful person God made you to be? Have you ever sought the help of a professional when you didn’t think you could make any progress on your own? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Grow Your Own Garlic

When I first started living on my own and cooking for myself, I was slow to experiment with different spices and flavors. Over the years I’ve gotten some good practice which has made me a whole lot braver in my flavoring, but a staple in my house is and always will be garlic.

When I read that it was fairly easy to grow your own, I decided to plant a crop of garlic in my patio container garden and since today is National Garlic Day, I wanted to share the progress with you.

Much of what I read advised fall as the best time for planting garlic, but I decided to try a spring planting. After buying a bulb of organic garlic at the grocery store, I separated it into cloves and planted about seven of them in a large pot.

If you decide to grow your own garlic, make sure to plant your cloves with the pointy end facing up. Garlic likes full sun and moist, well-drained soil.

My cloves have already started sprouting little stalks or scapes which will need to be removed before they bloom. This will help the cloves be bigger come harvest time.  Truth be told, I only planted garlic for the scapes so we’ll see how they turn out.

When the leaves turn yellow and die back, I’ll know my garlic is just about ready for harvest. I can’t wait to see how things progress. Are you growing anything yummy this season?

April Showers

“When the clouds shake their hyssops, and the rain
Like holy water falls upon the plain,
'Tis sweet to gaze upon the springing grain
And see your harvest born.”

{image via Traditional Home, excerpt from Ledwidge’s A Rainy Day in April}

Remembering Eudora Welty on her 103rd Birthday

Have you ever come across a work of writing, or perhaps music that spoke so directly to something inside you that it stirred feelings as if it must have been brought to life just for you? This is how I felt the first time I listened to an audio recording of Eudora Welty reading her short story Why I Live at the P.O.

There’s something about the narrator, Sister, her lively family (including Papa-Daddy, Stella Rondo and Uncle Rondo), and the predicament they find themselves in that entertains me to no end each time I give it a listen. Now it’s impossible for me to read it without hearing the words in Ms. Welty’s Mississippi drawl. If you haven’t read the story, you must do so at once.

Maybe I relate to Eudora Welty because she once described herself as a natural-born observer. I, too, find myself quietly observing much of the time, often at the annoyance of my dinner companions when I am distractedly listening to other diners’ conversations or wondering what their stories are. I like to think this points to the fact that I’m meant to be a writer…or it could be I’m just terribly nosy. 

Today would be Eudora Welty’s 103rd birthday. As it were, she enjoyed a long, rich life and lived to a ripe young age of  92. More than most, Ms. Welty connected with people on a deeper level and had an innate gift for bearing witness to the intricacies of the human spirit, illustrating different aspects of life through both her writing and her photography. To see examples of her photos, visit the Mississippi Museum of Art website.

I shouldn’t speculate, but I like to think Ms. Eudora Welty is having a wonderful birthday today, complete with a giant slab of chess pie and an angel choir. And if you’d like to drink to her memory, that rascal himself Mr. John T. Edge shared a wonderful sounding concoction with a sweet story attached, all of which I think Ms. Welty would approve.

Happy Birthday Eudora Welty & Happy Friday friends!

Just Say Thank You

I’ve encountered something a lot lately and it’s really been bugging me. I feel like many of us (myself included) fail miserably at receiving compliments. So many times recently I’ve witnessed someone be complimented, only to refute the other person’s kind words. I think it must stem from the idea that we are supposed to exhibit modesty, but so often, I can tell the person (or myself) is just being falsely modest…almost as an attempt to get more compliments?

A compliment is no different than a gift. If someone came to your birthday party with a lovely wrapped present for you, would you tell them to take it away? I think we really must start viewing compliments in the same way. A simple “thank you” is a good start. I’ll admit this can be a challenge, especially when someone pays you a compliment you truly don’t feel you deserve. The trick is just accepting it without argument. Maybe eventually you’ll begin to believe it.

Think of the last compliment you were given. Did you receive it or toss it aside? Often it gets to be such a habit, I don’t think we even realize we are doing it. I challenge all of us to be a little more conscious of this and the next time someone pays us a compliment, instead of arguing the case for why it isn’t true, just smile and say thank you.

Now I shall climb down from my soap box and let y’all get on with the day. Happy Wednesday friend!

{image via}

Spring in the South: Dining al Fresco

Since the weather in East Tennessee has gotten nicer, I’ve been bitten by the outdoor bug. Well, sort of. I’m not what you’d call an outdoorsy type, but lately I’ve wanted to eat as many meals as possible outside. Maybe it’s because it feels luxurious or a bit like vacation. None of the food I eat is particularly fancy, but even a plain Jane peanut butter sandwich feels a little more special when enjoyed with the breeze in your hair and the sun on your back.

I’ve noticed myself choosing restaurants based on whether they have a patio option…last night the beau and I dined at Panera for a simple salad, but munching on the patio made it feel sort of like a treat. I’m sure everybody doesn’t love dining al fresco as much as I do, but I’m curious how you feel about it!

Do you have a spacious patio or porch at your home that allows for outdoor dining? This is my dream, so if you do I’m totally jealous!

{image via flickr creative commons}

A Time to Bloom

This post is actually from a little over a year ago, but the sentiment behind it is not time sensitive and for some reason, I wanted to share it again.

The weather is warming up here in the south and we all can’t wait for the coming of spring. I’m always amazed at how plants undergo such transformations as the seasons change. The above image might not look like much of anything, but would you believe that the picture above and the one below are the exact same shrub?

Everything necessary for these gorgeous blooms (Viburnum if you’re curious) to form is present inside the small brown buds pictured above. The only thing not present is the right conditions. If these bushes had a brain, they could desire to bloom with all their might, but until the conditions are right…nothing more than twigs are going to be growing here.

That’s another thing about the brown twigs above…while it looks like not much is going on with them, they are growing and living, preparing for the time when the blooms will burst forth.

I don’t know about you, but this encourages me so much. I’ve definitely experienced periods in my life where it felt like no growth was taking place. Not growth in the physical sense, but other types…spiritual, creative, emotional. I believe that, like these plants, I already have everything I need inside to be something beautiful. And when the conditions are right, that beauty will become more evident. If you are going through a period where it feels like you aren’t growing, take heart. Your time to bloom might be just around the corner!
Happy Thursday friend!

A New Home for My Ironstone Collection

For several years now I’ve been collecting English ironstone china. I think it’s one of those types of collections that looks better when displayed all in one place, but without a hutch or cabinet, my pieces have been scattered around with no home of their own. That is, until this past weekend, when my ironstone collection got a new place to live.

I stopped by an estate sale that was sort of a bust except for this wonderful wooden shelf/hutch/cabinet. It’s all solid wood (none of that pressed board) and perfect for my growing ironstone collection. I was going to stain it a darker color (and still might) but for now, I’m happy with it. Did I mention it was $15? This belle loves a bargain.

So what do y’all think? Should I go with a dark stain, keep it as is or paint it a color? The image below (from Country Living) is sort of the look I’m going for, but I’ll need a few more years to add to my collection. Of course that is the fun of collecting, isn’t it?

Hope you’re having a wonderful week!

Anti-Recipe: Easy Vegan Arugula Pesto

I’ve mentioned that cooking is a stress reliever for me and one of my favorite things to whip up when I’m feeling spread a little too thin is pesto. I’ve actually been making my pesto vegan for some time, not even really meaning to. We just happen to like it fine without cheese. Today’s anti-recipe is for easy vegan arugula pesto.

Arugula is great for pesto because of its strong, peppery flavor. As usual, I don’t have any exact measurements.

Pack a few handfuls of rinsed arugula into your food processor (or blender). Pour in olive oil while blending until the greens are chopped finely. At this point, I dump in several teaspoons of minced garlic, salt, pepper and a few handfuls of pecans. The pecans (or any nuts) are what give the pesto its creamy texture. You can add cheese, but I promise it’s really tasty without it.

Depending on your preference, you can add more or less oil to change the consistency. I pack my pesto in clean glass jars and freeze it for up to a year. It’s wonderful over pasta, spread on fish, in bean salads, or atop bread like a bruschetta.

I also made a batch of cilantro pesto (shown below) using the same process with really great results.

I’m even attempting to grow my own arugula this year in a container garden, but we’ll see how that goes. Do you make pesto or sauces and freeze them to enjoy later? Got any tricks up your sleeve that make this process smoother? We’d love to hear from you!

Building Fences

I love this photo because it reminds me of my great grandpa’s farm and the fences he built around it. He wasn’t a cowboy, but he believed in a job done right so I think he’d have liked this poem.

{photo credit}

Wednesday Wordle: Spring in the South

Spring officially started yesterday and in honor of the occasion, I asked SBS Facebook fans to share favorite things about spring in the south. Here are your answers, wordlefied! Hope everyone’s springs are getting off to a great start! Happy Wednesday friends!

Anti-Recipe: Sunshine Salad

While my kitchen is usually my favorite place to decompress after a long day at work, there are some days I come home and the idea of stirring a pot on the stove just doesn’t appeal to me. On those kinds of days, I love to throw together an easy salad like this one…which I’m calling a Sunshine Salad because it’s so cheery and bright.

Toss together a few handfuls of salad greens (I’m loving baby kale right now) with some chick peas (drained, from a can), several sections of a navel orange, pecans and a few raisins. Basically you can adapt this recipe to your liking any which way.

Greens + citrus fruit + beans + nuts + dried fruit = Yum!

I make my own dressing in a glass jar with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, spicy mustard and garlic.

The taste is wonderful, but this entire concoction is so good for you…when you eat it, your cells will have a party because of all the vitamins and nutrients it brings to ‘em. My southern beau was particularly fond of this one which, because of the beans, is quite filling.

Happy First Day of Spring friends! Hope there’s lots of sunshine wherever you happen to be. 

Wednesday Wordle: Southern Eats

This week’s wordle is made up of your responses to the following question: What three foods best capture the essence of the south? I posted the question on the Southern Belle Simple Facebook Page and these are the responses I got. If you didn’t get a chance to weigh in this week, hope to see you next time for another burning question!

I guess I’m not surprised that fried chicken was such a huge choice, although I was kind of expecting to see more deviled eggs and pimento cheese on the list. I suppose it’s hard when I ask y’all to narrow it down to just three. If you’re curious, my submissions were biscuits, cornbread, and red-eye gravy. Don’t see your favorite southern delicacy? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!

{here’s the link to the wordle if you want to grab a larger copy for yourself!}

Saying Goodbye to a Era

Today begins the last official week of the 20s…not to be confused with the roaring 1920s, but my 20s. As in, come Sunday I’ll be turning the big 3-0. I guess the reality hasn’t sunk in yet or maybe it won’t, but it’s funny how we pick and choose these milestones to mark in our lives. From one day to the next nothing particularly changes, but it sounds like such a huge leap, from my twenties to my thirties.

How have you dealt with this issue in your experiences? Do you feel older and wiser or do you still feel like the same clueless 18 year old much of the time (I will admit to this). Was there any birthday/age where you felt completely different about yourself? I’d love to hear reader wisdom, which I know there is much to speak of.

In a way, I’m glad the twenties are coming to an end. College dramas, uncertainty of young adulthood, ‘finding yourself,’ blah blah blah…some of that was hard stuff. Some of it was also wonderful and because I know it made me the person I am today, I can’t look at it with too much disdain.

I feel very blessed to be exactly where I am…even though I’m sure there are always things that will change and evolve (as they should). I’m grateful for the last decade, the lessons I learned and the people I’ve encountered along the way. I’m hopeful for the next decade, looking forward to the adventures it will bring and taking it, as always, one day at a time. As my dad says “crossing each bridge as I come to it.”

So if you have any insight or just something to share, please be my guest. And thanks for humoring me while I waxed rhapsodic a little bit here. Happy Monday.

I heart art: Andrew Saftel

I’ve been a huge fan of artist Andy Saftel ever since I first saw one of his paintings hanging over the bar in my neighborhood Ruby Tuesday. His thick use of encaustic-like paint and the way he attaches found objects to the canvas reminds me of another favorite artist (and southerner), Jasper Johns. Saftel is from Massachusetts, studied art in San Francisco, but has called East Tennessee home since 1985. His work is highly collected and I often stumble upon pieces of it on display.

Chosen as this year’s Dogwood Arts Limited Edition Print, his work Scenic Road (shown above) was inspired by a postcard written in 1951 by someone who had taken a trip to the Smoky Mountains. It depicts a small ramshackle cabin in Saftel’s signature style, with whimsical shapes and patterns surrounding it. The postmark, taken from the original piece of mail that inspired the work, overlaps the words “Mama said let’s go home,” also from the card.

I love it because it reminds me of my people, where I come from, and what feels familiar to me.

In describing Scenic Road, the artist mentions the theme of “how people move through time together; how they interact and communicate with each other; how important the hand written word is; how handwriting communicates more than what is being said; what is lost between humans as time moves on; what replaces older methods and materials in our modern world; and how people find hope in different ways in the face of a complicated world.

I know museums are filled to the brim with art, and as a student of art history, I was taught to look at all different sorts of works and see something to appreciate. It’s just that there aren’t nearly as many pieces out there that I’d want to hang on my wall and look at every day. Andrew Saftel’s work is that for me. It just makes me happy.

You can purchase a copy of the work here for $100, printed in a limited run of 750. I know I plan to. To read more about Andrew Saftel or to see more of his amazing work, visit www.andrewsaftel.com.

I feel pretty, oh so pretty

I’ll never forget the first time I saw the film West Side Story. I was around nine years old and my grandpa rented it for me during a weekend I was staying at his house. I think I watched it on repeat for the next 48 hours, dancing around singing along to every musical number, especially Maria’s famous song “I Feel Pretty.” I pretended to be the gorgeous Natalie Wood, swirling my skirts and stirring up gang warfare as a response to forbidden love.

That’s not really the point of this post, but feeling pretty is. When is the last time you felt pretty (or handsome, if you’d prefer)? Based on my observations and the things I overhear, very few of us ever feel truly good about ourselves, or at least our looks.

“I’m so ugly. I’m fat. I hate how I look. I’m the least photogenic person I know. I haven’t liked the way I look in 20 years. I don’t believe it when people compliment me.”

I’ve heard different people make each of these comments this week and it makes me so sad. Even sadder is the fact that they believe these things are true about themselves. If you’re reading this post to see what steps I will outline as the solution for this problem, I fear you’ll be disappointed. I don’t have a quick fix solution because there isn’t one.

We judge ourselves harshly in so many ways. We are often our own worst critics. At the end of the day, do we take stock of instances where we might have shared a kindness with someone or brightened his day? No, we hate ourselves for eating a piece of pie AND a slice of cake. We beat ourselves up for failing to accomplish every task on our never-ending lists. We think we aren’t good enough because our house/car/life isn’t as nice as the next guy’s. And we continue to believe the lie that we are not enough.

The only way to change this is to change our belief. In order to feel like you are a certain way, you must believe you are that way. I can’t tell you how to do this. I just know that it is possible. I love the Bible verse that says “For his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” (Luke :45). If our hearts are filled with love and compassion, it shouldn’t be too hard to speak compassionate, loving words about ourselves. {Funny, this still feels hard sometimes}.

How do you deal with this in your own life? Do feelings of being “good enough” plague you or is this something you’ve long ago figured out. I’m just curious to see where y’all are on this topic. If you have something to say, please leave a comment. If you’d rather chat privately, feel free (as always) to email me at southernbellesimpleblog AT gmail.com.

I’ll leave you with another favorite verse of mine, one that always helps give me some perspective on what I believe is really true about me (and you!). 

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; And my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:13 & 14

Talk Southern to Me, part 2

 

It’s been awhile since I blogged about southern sayings, so I decided today would be a fine time to share some old favorites and see if you have any good ones to add to the list. I collected and compiled these over the years, and credit several southern wordsmiths as sources. While I might not completely understand the proper usage for every single one of them, each makes me smile.

 

Some are simply expressions to describe a particular person or situation:

• Crazier than a sh** house rat
• Busier than a one-legged man at an a** kicking contest
• He's only got one oar in the water (crazy?)
• He could thread a sewing machine and it a runnin' (my personal favorite....don't we all know somebody this nervous and high strung?)
• His bread ain't buttered on both sides
• Useless as teats on the boar hog
• Busy as stink
• Old as Cooter Brown (variation Cootie Brown)
• Pretty as a speckled pup
• He’s as tight as Dick’s hatband (means he is cheap)
• They was in high cotton, but they got moved to the hind teat (things were going well, but now they aren’t anymore)
• He ain’t got a pot to pee in (very poor)
• As slow as molasses in January
• As cold as kraut
• Brown as toast, brown as a biscuit, or brown as a hoecake (the few times in my life I’ve ever had a tan, I loved receiving this compliment)
• As full as a tick, about to pop (when you’ve eaten too much)
• Grinning like a possum eating a sweet tater
• She looks like death warmed over (she isn’t looking well)
• That girl’s just a fart in the wind

Others offer a word of advice:

• If you're going to hoot with the owls, you've got to soar with the eagles
• Hoe your own row
• Many hands make light work
• When cows start flying, you've just gotta shoot 'em (referring to a cow that constantly gets over or through a fence....also a new fave of mine!)
• You'll lose a crop that way 
• If you sleep with dogs, you'll wake up with fleas
• Tell the truth and shame the devil
• If you run with trash, you're gonna smell like it
• Don’t mess and gom (as in “I’ve just cleaned the whole house so you better not mess and gom in there”)
• No matter how thin you slice it, there’s two sides to everything
• The best way to go fast is to go slow
• Don’t sell your mule to buy a plow
• If you don’t straighten up, I’ll jerk a knot in your tail

Still others just offer a random sentiment:

• In for a dime, in for a dollar
• It’s never cost what it’s worth (referring to alcoholic beverages…cracks me up!)
• Some drive a Cadillac, some drive a Ford, some ride a donkey and swat it with a board, but they all get where they’re going eventually

 

This list is by no means complete, so feel free to add your favorite southern sayin’ in the comments! Happy Monday friend!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

I grew up reading and loving the ridiculously wonderful tongue twisters of Dr. Seuss, as did many of you. Since today is his birthday, I thought I’d share some images from a recent event I attended celebrating him and the new Lorax movie (which is in theaters now).

Yours truly and the Lorax himself (I can’t help thinking he looks just like Wilfred Brimley). The event was decorated in the most adorable way, with furry Seussian trees and gorgeous flowers everywhere.

I hope you have a magical day and an enchanted weekend! I leave you with my favorite passage from one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, Fox in Socks.

When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles 
and the bottle's on a poodle and the poodle's eating noodles...
...they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle 
bottle paddle battle.