Things I Love Thursday



Better late than never! (I mean, it's only 3pm, but still!) Check out this week's fresh crop of all things radical and fantastical (yeah, I said 'fantastical').

♥ this graphic! muppets = angry birds?! ♥

this pretty pretty picture. ♥

♥ this incredible looking breakfast! yum! ♥

this dress! (via danihampton & susannahbean) ♥

♥ this picture of bret & jemaine! ♥
*how many times has flight of the conchords made my tilt list?! love them!*

♥ this google search. they always crack me up. ♥

♥ these! fierce. ♥

♥ this interesting depiction of tumblr users. (what's your take?) ♥

♥ this pup. georgia's soul mate?!?! ♥

this dress! (via emmawho) ♥

this interesting ad campaign.. uhm... ♥
(yes, tattoo an ecko logo on yourself to get 20% off for life. wow..)

What are you loving this week?

23 Before 24...

This birthday has been spectacular, and nothing extravagant has even happened! I love the little things in life. They make everything totally worth the while! We signed the lease for the loft (hooray!) and we've spent the day picking out paint colors and patterns for our new little home. We are overjoyed. So now I'm going to share with you my 23 before 24 list of goals I'm hoping going to achieve by my next birthday!

click to see full size!

Mike's favorite is totally number 12! (/sarcasm) haha I know it's important to balance out tangible goals with the not so tangible, but these are 23 things I find to be important at the moment and I have a whole slew of other things to add to it! I'll probably need all of your help! Well, however helpful you can be through the internet!

Do you have a list of things you want to accomplish before you turn a year older? Share some of them with me! (Or link me over to your post!)

PS; Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes today! You've made it absolutely fantastic and the overwhelming love and support I have from y'all is amazing!

PPS; To clear up confusion about #21: I did graduate. Well, I finished college in December, but O'More doesn't have winter graduations so I have to wait until May to walk at graduation and to get my degree. :) haha It's a special day because graduation day is also my mom's birthday! Having your only child graduate college is a pretty rad birthday present right? So I don't have to buy anything?! *kidding* :P

Happy Birthday to Me! Here's to Being 23!

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I'm twenty-three today! I have absolutely no doubt that this year will be the best yet, but twenty-two will be hard to top. I'm starting this year off on the right foot and I hope it just continues to get better and better! I'll share my "23 before 24" list of goals later tonight! Right now I'm off to snag me a loft! xo

PS; I love urban typography, so peep those pretty Flickr photos!

Movin' On Up!

If you follow me on Twitter or Tumblr, then chances are likely that you know we have decided to not move to Wilmington, North Carolina. ::breathe:: Okay, it's not because we don't love it, and it's not because it's anything shy of the perfect little town, but on our most recent trip earlier this month we realized just how many independent boutiques already exist. Two of them were identical to the shop I hope to open, and there were several others I didn't get to go into. So while the demographic was awesome, it's just not a good business plan to go into a flooded market and try to survive. Upon our initial heartbreak, we thought about other places that my shop might flourish. Then I realized how much I missed living in Franklin. I was tired of seeing the same faces and same places always, but I've officially been living outside of Franklin for 11 months (whoa!). I miss it. I do. Immediately we started researching houses and rental properties to move back. Downtown Franklin has the perfect area for a boutique, and there isn't anything quite like it existing already. The only problem: rent is insanely expensive! Also, Franklinites tend to be rather snoody and conservative. (Read: very snooty!) Still, they have money to burn. Of course I'm not thinking of a brick and mortar for several years, but I felt inspired by the area so we've opted to stay put a little while longer. Maybe for good, maybe for a year or so. Who knows!

We wanted to live in downtown Franklin, the Belmont area of Nashville, or East Nashville, but everything that came up was a bust. We walked around homes, called and emailed tons of people, and nothing worked out. But apparently my relentless internet scouring paid off! I found a factory-converted-loft in downtown Nashville up for rent! The timing was perfect. The price was perfect. And it was just neat! I immediately emailed the lady, set up an appointment for the next day (yesterday) and Mike fell in love with it right away. We drove up to Nashville yesterday for the day. We viewed a home in East Nash and it was just... awful. Then we headed over to the loft. We were early so we ran into a gal that would be our neighbor so she talked to us, showed us around, took us down to the loft available and the gal that was living there invited us in, told us everything there was to know about it and we were SOLD. We loved it. Other people showed up to see the place and that's when we knew we had to make a decision fast. Mike practically met the landlord at her car when she pulled up! We definitely weighed the pros and cons, and while it was a whole month earlier than we had anticipated moving, we put in our application because it was too good to pass up.

We spent the rest of the evening at Merissa and JT's house, and then we stopped by Bryan's work in Franklin on the way home. We woke up this morning to good news: The loft is ours! We go sign the lease tomorrow (my birthday!) and then move in this weekend! We're very excited and glad to have found something that appeals to us, in our price range, in a new part of town. I'll definitely share more photos as we decorate and such, but the next week will probably be just as hectic as this past one, even though I didn't even do anything! Please hold tight!

Here are a few listing photos of the space! The curtains on the lofted bed are my favorite! The porch you see is a community porch (there are 8 lofts in the building) and everyone is very much an artist. There are painters, guitar restorers, woodworkers, etc! It's like the coolest artist community ever and Mike and I are so excited to move in! The gal above us has her Masters in Sustainability and she rips old wood from barns and builds tables and mosaic countertops... all that jazz! As for the loft, we'll be decorating in a much different manner, but the best part: it is SO twinkle-light friendly! My dreams are coming true! I can't wait to go get the keys tomorrow! Hooray! Happy birthday me! :P

(the photos are awful listing quality, i apologize!)

Thanks to everyone who kept their fingers crossed for us! xo

iPhone Photo Dump

The past week hasn't been too condusive to updating the blog or doing anything fun and exciting. I'm still battling the pericoronitis and I missed both nights of work this past weekend due to it. It has not be fun to be laid up on the couch, ibuprofen pumping through me, and missing out on a whole week's worth of pay. Frustration station! I'm still in a bit of pain but I've taken all of my antibiotics and this morning I learned that antibiotics and coffee do not mix well on an empty stomach! Yeesh! Mike and I are about to head to Nashville for the day to look at a few rental properties including a factory-converted-loft. He's been applying to a bunch of places to snag a new job so hopefully the universe will come together and something good will happen!

Until then, I'm leaving you with some iPhone photos (mainly of the pups) from the past week or so. Nothing too exciting, but I promise I'll have something fabulous for you shortly! xo

















If you've ever been curious, well, now you know! I am indeed that creepy lady with a million pictures of her dogs on her phone. Yikes. But c'mon... aren't they precious?!

MIXTAPE MONDAY: the old 97's

Janelle left a comment on the Wedding Wednesday post with Mike's View last week saying this song reminded her of our little story. I quickly purchased it on iTunes and I love love love it! So for this week's Mixtape Monday I'm sharing a video with the song and lyrics. Maybe you'll love it, too! (The video is not the official video. Instead it is a music video made by a fan!)


Question Old 97's from George Ambrose on Vimeo.


What songs are special to you right now?!

Sunday Spotlight - Artist: Nick van Woert

I've been on the hunt for an artist with work that just stuck out. Work that made you want to click through every last link in his/her portfolio until you've explored all that is available to you. I've also really been on the look out for a sculptor or artist that worked with a 3D medium, but was vastly mutli-faceted. Cue Nick van Woert. I can't tell you where I first stumbled upon his work but I'm sure glad I did. No two pieces are the same. From 3D installations to "2D paintings" with hair gel, van Woert brings a fresh spin on art in every perspective. You'll see exactly what I mean below!

Nick van Woert was born in Reno, Nevada in 1979 and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. The first piece of his that I saw was "Poor Me" and that alone had me hooked. I can imagine an ultra swanky uptown loft featuring his work in the most stunning of ways. I'm quite literally just speechless! My favorites are by far his work with colorful polyurethane plastic and plaster busts! They are quite exquisite.















"Poor Me" as seen below! Check out this amazing work of perspective!





You can view more of Nick's work on his personal website, as well as clicking through to see other brilliant artists that he links in his links page!

What do you think? Know of some other  brilliant artists and designers than deserve their own Sunday Spotlight? Feel free to speak up! xo