All The King's Horses

The past couple of days have been a little crazy with Porter Flea preparations and the like. (Don't forget! We'll be set up from 11am til 6pm tomorrow at Marathon Music Works for the event! Huge Honeybean sale, too!) But we have been managing to squeeze a little down time in here and there. The other night we watched Paulie as a family and I pretty much just bawled the whole time. Mike likes to make fun of me when I cry profusely in movies, but c'mon! That movie is just so sad! Any movies do that to you?! (I'm looking at you, Fox and the Hound!) 

Is it crazy to anyone else that it's already the last day of November?! Insanity! There are so many holiday crafts and recipes I want to try. I'm really looking forward to taking some time off from working and just go spend it with family. Luckily tomorrow is the last Honeybean event of the season so we'll be closed up until Spring for the most part. With the exception of the new designers we just brought on, we'll be packing up and shipping back most of the inventory we've had for the past 13 months. Bittersweet (and a lot of work!) but exciting to bring on 100% fresh talent! Honeybean will be less of a major focus for our family in 2013 but it'll be fun to see what that allows us to get into. 

I nabbed this dress (and a matching one in a different print) in ModCloth's Tis The Season sale on Thanksgiving. I couldn't pass up that rich brown color and the equine print. I had the hardest time trying to decide what to wear it with though (mainly tights wise). I really wanted to wear my woven Litas with it but it just didn't look good. I'm glad I finally found these tights in my dresser (which fell apart as I was looking through it... Seriously. 2 of the drawer facings just fell off. Sigh. Should've known it was junky before putting several hours of work into it last year! haha Poor thing never even got handles...) Overall I'm happy with the final outfit, even if it is mega matchy-matchy. I wore this out and about for a family trip to JoAnns. Seems like the silliest thing, but it's always more fun when you make it into something special.

Just a heads up to let you know: Kaelah's Closet 2.0 will go live on Instagram on Monday, December 3rd! Just a few days away. I'm sorting the last bit of clothing + shoes (!!!) so I'll be posting as I'm photographing on Monday. First come, first serve. If you don't have Instagram on your iPhone or Android, you can now access it online. Follow along and pick up a pretty piece or two!

Here's to hoping you all have a great last hoorah for the work week, and enjoy your weekend. If you pop by Porter Flea tomorrow please come say hi! I'd love to meet ya! xo

Luck Be A Lady dress (in Equine) via ModCloth

Forever 21 cardigan

Target tights

Charming Charlie purse

Vintage loafers, thrifted

Things I Love Thursday

Happy Thursday folks! Here's the latest edition of Things I Love Thursday. Hope you find lots of entertainment in today's post! Let me know what you loved best ;) Here's to a happy and productive day for us all. xo

♥ Licia Ronzulli has been taking her daughter to European Parliament for 2 yrs! ♥

♥ this adorable picture. ♥

♥ this! ♥

♥ this is beautiful. ♥

♥ married couple finally pose for wedding photos, 88 years later ♥

♥ wouldn't it be neat if horses had pastel manes? ♥

♥ this man dresses as a giraffe to do good deeds! ♥

♥ this cat nurses orphaned hedgehogs. ♥

♥ this is the sweetest. ♥

♥ this photo made me cry the first time i saw it. big time. ♥

// Spending part of my days prowling shoe stores for the perfect gift since the husband has been bitten by the shoe bug.

// Every few days I like to check the user gallery on Jux because the variety of posts and photos on there is insane. People going through breakups, getting married, talking about their kids, traveling the world, etc. I know I've asked for your usernames before, but leave them again so I can officially follow you if I don't already! Here's mine if you fancy following along. (notbeingpaidtotellyouilikeit. ijustreallydo!)

// We (Honeybean) got a little mention by the fine folks over at Southern Living magazine! We're excited about Saturday's Porter Flea Holiday event (we fixed our tire yesterday! Finally!) and we are having a pretty huge sale, too. All Hive + Honey hair pieces + all apparel will be super marked down. Pop over at Marathon Music Works from 11am til 6pm and come see us! 

// Do you love cats? How about some Cats of Instagram goodies? It's probably my favorite Society6 shop.

// Quick Friendly Gift Guide: for the coffee lover -- for the snow lover -- for the interiors (+ iphone) lover -- for the makeup lover -- for the written correspondence lover -- for the novelty christmas ornament lover (me!) -- for the "less is more" lover.

// Have you heard of "small living"? How is THIS for small?! It's kind of fascinating and I keep falling down the internet rabbit hole.

// Blowfish is having a week-long sale on their boots! 15% off with the code 15OFF until Sunday!

// Today is your last day to get entries in for the ShoeMint giveaway! 3 winners will each win a pair of shoes of their choice! Winner will be drawn at 11pm CST!

// Wishlist Wears: the perfect blush colored dress (with a bow!) -- perfect holiday dresses : silver + shimmer, copper sequins or some holographic sequin! --  these heeled saddle shoes -- puppy platforms (to match my kitty litas!) -- skull studded loafers (!!!!) -- 100% sequin blazer (holy moly) 

// Pantone Holiday Ornaments! Be still my heart!

// Foodie Finds: Stuffed Pepper Soup (!!!) -- Baked Black Bean Salsa Egg Rolls -- Brownie Walnut Pie -- the BEST looking Roasted Veggies -- Apple Pie Salsa + Cinnamon Sugar Tortillas -- Garlic Grilled Tomatoes 

What are you loving this week?

Triforce + Trifecta

Lately I've been thinking about how glad I am I went back to being a brunette. My hair care routine has dwindled down to nothing but washing it, and that's awesome haha I feel very "me" with brown hair. I know I've said that about red and pink and even blonde, too. But sometimes a good ol' fashioned brown will do the trick. The only probably I'm having now is my hair being an insane amount of tangled in just a day or two. Particularly the back of my head (where I sleep on it, of course). I use Biolage Detangler in the shower (and it's a heaven send!) but my hair is so dry during normal wear 'n tear that it tangles with fervor! I don't use any hair product at all (no hairspray, pomade or anything) but I still can't fight it! Anyone have any recommendations?  I'm so over pulling out a ton of hair as I try to comb it out in the shower haha

(I feel like I should elaborate on what I do just a smidge so that can be taken into consideration: I use deep conditioning masks on my hair about 2x a month, and my hair is silky smooth from the BedHead product I use in the shower, but then my hair gets mega oily from it, so I use dry shampoo to clean it up a bit, then I'm back to square one! haha There doesn't seem to be a middle ground! :P)

So I have something to admit about this outfit... I wore it a lot this weekend. A lot. I wore it Friday for our Honeybean event, then after the crappy morning we had on Saturday I put it back on to go out and about with Mike. Thennnn I maybe put it back on for just an hour (or three!) to run to Costco and the like on Sunday. There are a lot of triangles in this outfit, which make me think of Zelda (anyone else?) and then I just think "Triforce!" Hence the name of the outfit. Do you think I'm totally gross yet? haha Luckily I did do laundry Sunday morning, but still. I'm that girl. Outfit repeater to the extreme!

Today I plan on listening to New Found Glory and Blink 182 all day! (Anyone else see them on tour together in ~2002? Yeah, I was 14 but my mom took me (coolest mom ever) and it was amazing.) Nothing gets between me and my old school pop-punk. Not sure I'll get any work done between all of the singing and chair dancin' I'll be doing. Wish me luck!

Dress c/o LuLu*s (last worn here!)
Lace collar cardigan c/o SheInside
Walgreens tights (50 cents! Thanks Maya!)
Triangle brooch c/o Romwe
Triangle necklace gift from Moorea Seal
Forever 21 bracelets
Charming Charlie purse
Taia flats c/o ShoeMint

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was one of those "emotionally draining but still kind of great" weekends. Friday morning we set out to a Sip 'N Shop pop up event we were putting on with a few other local shops in East Nashville. It was freezing! We didn't want to set up in full force because we'd only be there for 4 hours due to a prior photoshoot we had booked, so we did a half-set up and hunkered down for a few hours. There were people, and we made some sales (and met some blog readers!), but it was very underwhelming. We had higher hopes for Saturday for sure. We packed up and towed Honeybean home, then went and shot a super cute family at Sevier Park. I don't even remember what we did after that, but I know I lacked all sorts of productivity! haha 

On Saturday morning we woke up and got ready to pull Honeybean back out for the second half of the Sip 'N Shop event. We pulled her out to the road but kept feeling a "thump". Mike hopped out of the car to inspect and saw we had a flat tire. Awesome. We didn't have a spare or Fix A Flat but we he went out and tried to remedy it. To no avail. Seems we picked up some nails on our trek to or from Friday's event. Crossing our fingers we get that bad boy situated before this Saturday because that's a huge event for us. We ended up having to skip Small Business Saturday (wahhhh!) but tried to make the best of it regardless. Toby went to visit with his grandparents for a few hours so Mike and I spent the day together. We went out on a little lunch date, stocked up on shop supplies and display items, popped into a few shops and picked out a few gifts for Toby's birthday and Christmas and even some gifts for other folks on our list. After we picked Toby up we decided it'd be fun to decorate the Christmas tree together. Toby had a blast! He was quite good at it, too. You know, minus bunching them up on the same branch at the very bottom of the tree haha I think we're all very happy with the outcome of our tree. Our living room doesn't really have a great place for it, but it worked out just fine. 

Sunday was a day of cleaning! Oh boy, cleaning. Our house needed it since all we've been doing lately is rotating Honeybean product, painting and shipping wooden signs, and trying to prepare for another Kaelah's Closet cleanout. We bleached our comforter in the bathtub (dog slobber. Ugh!), washed a million loads of laundry, sorted several bags to toss, donate or store, etc. Our house looks like a home again haha Afterwards we headed out on some family errands. We took advantage of some sales around town and picked up some new clothes for each of us. We ended the day with a quick pop into Costco and that was that. We came home, ate homemade chili and set up "camp night" (Fort Flynn!) for Toby while we all watched Ice Age together and I painted signs. 

Overall I felt like I took a few hits as a small business owner this past weekend. Some of my own doing, some out of pure misfortune, and some out of the disrespect of others. I think it was a trying kind of weekend on that front. Luckily Mike and I talk about these things almost daily so we're always reassessing our stance and our "plan of attack" for the future. Sounds so vague but I'm not sure how to otherwise put it! haha 

Today is for responding to loads of emails, sorting my closet and office, and working on some more product for Honeybean this weekend. And lots and lots of packing and shipping at the post office. It wouldn't be Monday without the post office, right?!

Just a heads up on a few things! The wood bunting above will be making it's debut at Porter Flea on Saturday! I'm happy to fill any orders via email if you'd like to nab one. They're 10 pennants long, and 10'. You can adjust the width between the pennants yourself (ours is adjusted to 6' wide!) They're $15 + $2 shipping. I also still have some signs up for grabs that are guaranteed by Christmas! Seriously, get your orders in quick and I can have them done by the end of the week! The Cyber Monday discount on sponsorships also ends tonight at midnight! 20% off ANY size sidebar ad (including XL/Featured!). Email kaelahbee@gmail.com if you'd like to snag any one of these dealios! Happy Monday!

PS; Don't forget to get your entries in for the Shoe Mint giveaway! 3 winners will get a pair of shoes of their choice! (I added an extra way to enter, too!)

Small Biz Saturday - Holiday Gift Guide

Happy Small Business Saturday! I'm excited for holiday shopping this year because we're buying almost all of our gifts via small businesses (well, aside from those that we're making). I think SBS is one of the best new traditions our economy has and I'm so stoked to be supporting some amazing artists. Today I wanted to celebrate by sharing a gift guide that could appeal and apply to so many of those people you may be buying for! I've worn/purchased/received or used something for each and every one of the people below, and I stand by them 100%. The quality, the craftsmanship, the experience. I'll just let you see for yourself!

Crystal makes these amazing state illustrations where she went in and drew each county in it's respected shape. We've had the Tennessee ones in Honeybean for a bit now and people just love them. We also have some Nashville map prints with the candy! She's happy to customize to suit any city, and she can even make the state prints any color (or combination of colors!) It's a simple gift but it seriously says so much. We love having something so sweet for Nashville. ---> Click here to shop!

I've talked about these collage prints a hundred times I'm sure, but I love the ones we have on our walls. We have 4 (I think!) and I adore them so much. There's something so playful and sweet about them. They come in a variety of sizes so there's a little something for every occasion. ---> Click here to shop!

We also carry Molly's line ViviDot in Honeybean! I love the variety of fabrics she uses for her fabric covered button pieces. One of my favorite sets is the cheeseburger hair pins! (Seriously, come see Honeybean today and pick up a pair!) I think I really do love silly novelty prints + accessories! (The coupon code was borrowed from PaperNStitch's big annual sale post!) ---> Click here to shop!

Of course I'll include my own best friend. But not because of that alone -- mainly because I love the little products she creates. This fox earwarmer piece is no exception! She just listed tons of new styles + pieces in her shop so head over and see what she's got! ---> Click here to shop!

Another dear friend: Beca! (and Doug!) I've had a pair of their sunglasses for well over a year and they're still as good as new! Toby likes to wear them when we're in the car, even though they swallow his head haha The heart shaped Lolitas are so dreamy, but my favorites are the cherry oversized round ones! They're offering a nice little discount for the holiday so see if any tickle your fancy! ---> Click here to shop!

If you don't follow Lauren of Emerging Thoughts on Twitter, you should! She's a total hoot. She also runs one of the most successful independent online boutiques! Always full to the brim with dainty dresses, ridiculous accessories (I love my Kanye quote necklace!) and pretty bits, it's a one stop shop for all things independent! ---> Click here to shop!

Love the bohemian style with a little bit of an eclectic edge? Moorea's jewelry is just that! I love my Galaxy ring. It's the perfect amount of "spunk" for any given outfit. She's been molding her own arrowhead rings as of late, too! The free pair of earring deal is good for today only so head over and stock up! ---> Click here to shop!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Hope all of you fellow small biz owners have a happy + successful day today! If you're having a sale in your shop, leave a comment below with the details!

Honeybean, Sponsor Discounts and More!

Just a heads up about where we'll be camping out this weekend with Honeybean! Get your Black Friday + Small Business Saturday shopping on with us! We'll only be at Fanny's today from 10am - 2pm as we have a photoshoot planned after, but come hang out and say hello :) We'd love to see you!

I'm also offering a holiday ad sale for this weekend only! Book + pay for your LCH sidebar ad spot by Cyber Monday (the 26th) and get 20% off of the price! Including XL/Featured ads! Email kaelahbee@gmail.com for more info! (Please note I may be a tad bit slow to respond due to the events, but as long as you get at me, I'll honor the discount!) Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

If you're still wanting to book a last minute Him + Honey shoot, let us know! Our holiday discount is good until December 4th as long as it's paid for in November. It's almost December, y'all! What?!

One last thing: Honeybean will be back at Porter Flea next Saturday (December 1st) for the Holiday Flea event. This is one you don't want to miss... not even for Honeybean but for the tons of other amazing handmade + indie vendors. I love love love setting up for Porter Flea and I promise it's worth it to come out. Hope we see you there!

Things I('m Grateful For) Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving, American friends! And Happy Thursday to the rest of ya! Man, I feel like I really have a lot to be thankful for this year, and even just two sentences into this post I'm tearing up. (I'm a sap though, so just overlook it). This has been THE BEST year yet. Never could I have thought that at this point in time I would be married, with a kid, and living my dream life. I'll just forewarn you that I'll probably say most of the same things come NYE haha Here's a little list of things I'm grateful for:

1. My amazing husband. (Ha! Husband! That's still so weird + fun to say) Mike is a man who constantly puts my needs before his own. A guy who brings me a cup of coffee every morning, helps me in any and every way he knows how, and shares an ultimate goal. He lends me his socks when my toes get cold, and cooks delicious meals when I act (and sometimes am) incompetent in the kitchen. He also doesn't make fun of me when I cry at the drop of the hat while watching a sappy AT&T commercial. He's pretty great. Not to mention he's an incredible father.

2. Toby. Man, so much can be said about that little dude. He's easily the most frustrating, sometimes infuriating, but cutest in every way kid. I've learned so much about patience and selflessness by having him as part of our family. The way he greets me with "Mommy!" when he's excited to show me something, and his little hugs + kisses before bedtime, and the way he tells me he loves my dress or that I "look like a beautiful princess" when I spend a little extra time on myself in the morning. No words can share just how thankful I am to have this opportunity to be a loving daily figure in his life.

3. My parents. They are amazing. Their love + devotion to one another is truly inspiring. You can tell they're best friends. My mom gets the credit for everything I've ever done because she raised me, and my stepdad is the best dad ever. They help take some of the load off with Toby at times, to give us a little breathing room, and they treat us to family vacations and let us use their pool all summer. Can't forget that RV! :P It's not all superficial of course. They are incredibly supportive of my often "non traditional" approach to life and work, even if it's the opposite of anything they've ever done themselves. But the number one reason why I'm so thankful for them is simple: They were and are so welcoming of Toby. They love him so so much, it's almost annoying. Toby is so lucky.

4. My Nana. I spent so much time with her growing up, and I'll always have fond memories of The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune. Seeing her now with my little cousin Kaylie reminds me so much of the time I spent with her while my mom worked. Plus she makes a mean Stuffed Cabbage (any Polish people out there a fan?! I love!)

5. Mike's family. So much can be said about that crazy bunch. I've always felt so welcome with them, like I've always been part of their family. As intimidating as Mike's dad was when I was 18, I can now see he's a big ol softie at heart. Mike's stepmom Terri has been a constant source of inspiration on how to be a proper and compassionate lady. Plus she's an amazing cook! Mike's siblings (all of them!) are so wonderful in every way. Maggie is hands down the reason our wedding even happened. I can't even express my gratitude. Laine is the most adorable thing in the world and I just love her to pieces. Ryan has been living in Thailand for the past 2+ years, but I totally cherish the Skype chat Mike and I had with him at our rehearsal dinner. Christy is so nice and wonderful, plus Toby loves his 2 cousins. Can't forget Grandma Ginny either. I've never met a kinder soul. We definitely miss Mike's grandpa on the regular. I'll never forget him having me "pet" his eyebrow at the Easter dinner table the very first time I met him!

6. Friends! Friends who traveled from all over the country to share in our wedding. Friends who go out for margaritas with me in the middle of the day in the middle of the week (Maya!). Friends who sing karaoke with you in a dive bar. Friends who plan awesome shindigs, make awesome plans, and are just generally all around awesome (see where I'm going with this?) Friends who keep in touch no matter the distance that separates you. I have some incredibly awesome friends and I love all of them so much.

And for the less serious crowd...

I'm thankful for: Netflix ♥ Having the ability to do work that I love for a living ♥  Richard Photo Lab ♥  Clients who challenge me ♥ Novelty salt and pepper shakers ♥ the internet ♥ Uniball Vision Pens ♥ Post-It Notes ♥ Jeffrey Campbell Shoes ♥ Picklesickles ♥ the Autumn season ♥ Diet Pepsi ♥ things shaped like cheeseburgers ♥ coffee in novelty mugs ♥ Loquat ♥ glitter ♥ having the chance to come here on LCH and rant and rave about silly things day in and day out ♥ Honeybean ♥ BUST magazine ♥ Martha Stewart ♥ our iPad ♥ Georgia and Pipkin and Enid (I love them so much it's almost pathetic) ♥ future RV vacations

What are you grateful for?