Red cup.

I'm officially in the Christmas spirit, thanks to this little red cup and A Very She & Him Christmas. We've finally started our Christmas shopping, and I love bundling up, grabbing some coffee and heading out into the cold with my love to shop for our family and friends. It's such a happy time of year!

If you're wondering why I haven't been around lately, let me tell you. I had four tests and lots of homework. I have been working on three articles for the paper. My best friend came to visit for the weekend. We went to the opening of a world-class art museum, which opened in my town last weekend (more about that later); went to Eureka Springs; ate lots of good food and shopped for books; spent hours in my bed, talking and laughing about old times and reading David Sedaris stories to each other and drinking wine; and just had a really great time together. Basically, I've been super busy. It's that time of the semester when everything starts getting really stressful, and hard tests/projects/papers become a daily occurance. Sigh! Thankfully I will be done with this little thing called college in May.

How are you?

I like where I live.

I love it here. I love sitting on top of the mountain with Richard, drinking coffee and planning our future together. And that last picture? That's the view of our favorite mountain from the other side of the river. We think it's beautiful.

Oh, and I love fresh flowers, too.

*Even though we got a fancy camera last month, I still love taking photos with my iPhone. ♥

New Orleans

Yesterday, I flew down to New Orleans to be with my boyfriend who's been working here for a few weeks. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with New Orleans. Most of the people here are friendly, the history is so rich, and there is nothing in this world that can compare to the French Quarter. But the humidity keeps my hair inexplicably frizzy and the sheets on our hotel bed feeling clammy, and I'm not a fan of the rotten smell of the stagnant water in the French Quarter. I can absolutely get over that, though; I'm so excited to spend this weekend eating great food, exploring my favorite historic places, and finally being with my love again!

Here are some of my favorite photos from my last visit to New Orleans:


Charbroiled oysters with shrimp and mushroom fondue at Drago's.


St. Louis Cathedral - my favorite.


Eerie St. Louis Cemetery #1.


Beignets and iced cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde.


The sweetest home in the French Quarter!


Bee Sweet Cupcakes. This was the first cupcake shop I'd ever been to, and it started a long, unhealthy obsession with red velvet cupcakes for me.

A little vacation in Louisiana.

{Spanish moss at the St. Francisville Inn}

This past week, I went down to St. Francisville, Louisiana with Richard, which is where he will be working for the next two weeks. I'll be honest; I've never really been a fan of Louisiana. I'm not big on humidity, swamps, alligators, or land so flat that you can see for miles (gotta have my mountains in sight!). But this trip changed my mind a teeny, tiny bit. I'm definitely not considering relocating, but I kind of fell in love with the historical homes, Spanish moss, and soul food (fried chicken, collard greens, cornbread, oh my). Plus, I'm all about a change of scenery from time to time.

{This is what happens on a Friday night in St. Francisville. In a town with 1,500 people, no Walmart, and only three restaurants, you kind of have to make your own fun.}

{We passed by this cute church on an evening walk through downtown Jackson.}

{My love at the Magnolia Cafe. We loved their crawfish salad and Mag special sandwich.}

{And guess what we did on Saturday night! Yep.}

{Beautiful Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge just before dusk.}

{That place is huuuuge.}

{Downtown Baton Rouge is lovely.}

{Byeee, Baton Rouge. Byeee, Richard.}

What do you do on the day your love leaves for a month?

You crawl back into bed, pull the covers over your head, & skip your class to sleep for hours because you are cold, sad, & sleepy. When you finally wake up, you immediately start shopping for plane tickets to go see him in a few weeks. Then you leave the house only to go get a gigantic cup of iced coffee which you drink while reading a stack of magazines on the couch. You fill the living room with flowers so you won't be sad every time you walk in the front door. You paint your nails, go to the gym, clean the kitchen. You wash, dry, fold & put away every piece of laundry in the house. You drive aimlessly, go to your parents' house twice, eat three cupcakes.

That's what. And that's only half of it.

There are 733 miles, 4 states, & roughly 30 days between us. I am not a fan of business trips. Not at all.

*photo via weheartit

Have a happy weekend!

This weekend is going to be really good because:
a. I get to see my lover for the first time in three long days.
b. I got a 98% on the really awkward play I wrote for my theatre class.
c. I have no homework.
d. We are (hopefully) going to the mountains!
e. Weekends > weekdays.
f. We've been working out a whole lot lately... so we're going to reward ourselves with lots & lots of unhealthy food. Like cupcakes, pizza, a burger & enchiladas. Yay!

My love leaves for Michigan for a whole stupid month on Monday. So we will definitely be cramming as much as possible into two short tiny days. I miss that handsome fellow already.

I hope you all have a happy, safe, relaxing weekend with someone you love!

*photo of one of our favorite places in the whole state, Petit Jean Mountain. We're obsessed with those views!

a love letter

Dear Lover,

I love your back rubs. back scratches. back massages. and foot massages, too.
I love it when you wear that blue v-neck shirt I got for you. It is very sexy.
I love your bed time prayers and words.
I love that you never, ever complain about always being the big spoon.
I love your silly songs, and I love that you love my silly songs, too.
I love it when you play with my hair while I'm driving.
I love it when you load the dishwasher/take out the trash.
I love how much you love my parents, sisters, grandparents, aunts, etc.
I love how much they love you, too.
I love how excited you get about cooking on the grill.
I love that you know how to fix everything.
I love that you don't mind having tea parties with me.
I love that you talk British sometimes.
I love your gigantic shoe collection, even though they're huge (size 15) & take up too much space.
I love how you tell me that I'm a good singer, even when I try to sound bad.
I love that you are always up for a spontaneous road trip.
I love that you are big and manly and tall and tough and strong.

I love your faith. I love your sweet spirit. I love your weirdness.
I love your kisses. I love your face. I love your hands.

And really, Lover, I just love you.

ice skating!

Let me just begin by saying this: I was definitely not meant to be an ice skater.

Richard & I took Maci & Hali ice skating, and I don't remember this last time I saw my little sisters laugh so hard. It was Richard's first time, and he is a natural like Maci. They're so cute spinning around on the ice as Hali & I literally can't force ourselves to let go of the side.

And all those blurry pictures? That's us falling. Whoops.

And do you see how beautiful my sisters are? It amazes me. I love them.

a few thoughts

1. richard & i agreed to keep our valentine gifts minimal. he surprised me with two perfect bouquets (he said one was simply not enough!), the silver nailpolish i'd been dying for, & some sugar scrub which was also on my wish list. the flowers are still so pretty & have served as an excellent pick-me-up this week.

2. i've had christmas music stuck in my head for the entire week. i'm sure richard must be so tired of me singing & dancing round the house to "jingle bell rock" & "rockin' round the christmas tree" especially because i don't know all the words & i keep repeating the same part over & over.

my funny valentine

i love love. all kinds of it!
but i won't lie, i'm not too fond of valentine's day.
i'm all for continuously displaying affection 365 days a year rather than obnoxiously exploiting it on february 14th with over the top jewelry gifts, giant teddy bears, chocolate hearts, and especially roses.

my love and i are having a tiny celebration with my sisters, brother, and cousins. tonight we're going black-light bowling and to play laser tag.

richard DID buy me my dream yellow coat, though, and i'd love to get some pretty flowers. no roses though! seriously, no roses.

{photo via weheartit}

happy birthday richard!

my love's 21st birthday was friday. i spent weeks planning a big party in fayetteville for him & lots of his favorite people. but by the time friday rolled around, we were completely snowed & iced in & unable to leave the house, much less drive two hours to fayetteville! i couldn't even get the poor guy to a liquor store so he could make his first legal alcohol purchase. :(

it was a big letdown, but i think i helped him to make the most of it. we went on the longest hike of my life even though it was frigid (he thinks we are bear grylls people) & discovered a beautiful cliff overlooking the river. we went sledding on saturday morning up in the mountains with my sister & two precious little girls. my niece hailey was such a good sport on our two-mile trek even though she was up to her little knees in snow!

it was quite inconvenient, but i absolutely loved our snowy long weekend together.

count your blessings.

i've been in a funk. its just been one of those months
when everything seems to be going all wrong.

i didn't get the grades i wanted.
(it's odd that the classes i completely blew off,
i got a's in,
and the ones in which i worked my little tail off,
i got quite the opposite of an a)
i've been unbelievably busy.
i've not worn real clothes in weeks,
and i've never been one to go out in sweats.
i've lived in this apartment for over a month,
and it is still not completely unpacked nor clean.
i've parted ways with one person in particular.
someone who i swore would be in my life forever..
i've been grumpy. sad. worn out. stressed.
i could keep going, but i think you get the point.

i've been having a hard time, and it's been a constant struggle
to be aware of all the wonderful things present all around me.
i've been absurdly blessed, far beyond what i deserve.
and here are just a few things i'm so happy to have in my life:

my crazy, huge, lovely family, especially momma and those beautiful girls called my sisters. my hilarious, loud, supportive friends. this boy named richard; he is perfect. my health. my apartment. a closet full of clothes and shoes and purses. books and movies and records and iphone and ipod. faith. cupcakes! having a strong sense of what i want to do with my future. beautiful memories. forgiveness. nights that are spent with coffee, music, and collage making. trips to alabama to see spice. meaningful phone calls and cards and words. christmas. & really, just my life.


(pssst! i have a new hair color. it was supposed to turn out dark brown, but it is totally BLACK.)

i adore these beautiful little sisters. you can call them candlyfloss and babycakes.

cold/FUN day of riding roller coasters.

sisters at build-a-bear. we visit this place far too often.

nawlins

hello, lovelies!
it has been a while.
school, road trips, and (most importantly) finding my new APARTMENT
have kept me an extremely busy girl.

last weekend i flew down to
new orleans/nawlins/nola/la nouvelle orleans
to hang out with richard.
umm, it has got to be the most diverse city in the country.
the french quarter is beautiful,
but it literally stinks. like really bad.

my weekend was full of cupcakes (!),
food that i did not like (oysters/mussels/clams, ew),
walking and driving those scary streets,
visiting historical buildings and cemeteries,
seeing the ninth ward (the area hit hardest by hurricane katrina),
speaking to real french people (!!! i was unbelievably excited),
and lots of fun!



photos: st. louis cathedral, st. louis cathedral, french quarter home, st. louis cemetery