I had the absolute honor and pleasure to be in Courtney and Drew's Oklahoma wedding this weekend! It was a beautiful wedding, and an even more stunning bride. The details of the day were spun from love, you could tell. I'll let the photos do the talking.....by Clayton Austin.
Click HERE for the photos.
Last weekend I had the privilege of making Drew and Courtney's wedding shower cake. It was a delicious red velvet with cream cheese filling and cream cheese icing. I gave it a whipped, unfinished look; which complemented the shower's decor. Cake topper and photo by the talented Stacey Ramsey.
My new friends have started a too cute design studio - Covey Studio. They are quite talented in many, many ways! Check out their blog for more info! Stacey and her team beautifully styled Drew and Courtney's shower, be sure to check her website for all the amazing photos!!
Cake season is in full swing! I recently made a fabulous 80's cake for a friend of mine, and from there received FOUR new orders! So very exciting! I've slowly but surely improved my skills, and am excited to take another class at a local bakery.
Here's just a bit of work I have done so far.
Check out this great initiative, The Fun Theory:
Last weekend I had the chance to go to Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes, CA. I took two of my best friends, Dani and Katie, and we had an absolute blast! Friday we took snowboarding lessons, and by the afternoon we were able to go down the mountain. I'll use that term loosely in regards to me, I had some "technical difficulties". Let's just say I prefer summer sports over winter sports. Let's also say that almost a week later I'm still sore. ;)
We had a great time checking out The Village, Main, Eagle and Canyon Lodges, The Yodler (they will roast marshmallows for you!) , The Auld Dubliner, the list goes on and on. Katie flew out from Nashville to join us in our little jaunt north to Mammoth, and I was so excited! Any trip is better when your best friend is with you!
My favorite part of the trip was probably when we took the gondola all the way to the summit of MM. We lucked out with that! We were prepared to pay the $25 ticket to ride to the top, but for some reason we just hopped right on! We weren't about to complain! The video below was taken from the summit.
Tons of memories were made, girl time was had, and I can't wait to go back. Maybe this time I'll stick with skiing. ;)
I loved how the snow looked on all the charming houses that line to downtown of Franklin. Of all the years that I lived there, it never snowed quite enough to cover anything. I remember one freak snow on birthday, which is in April. Tennessee has some strange weather, that's for sure.
Anyway, Ian is a dear friend of mine and incredibly talented. Just wanted to share what he captured of my favorite small town.
I've been thinking a lot lately about home. Not in a home-sick way, but remembering things I used to do, where I've come from, etc. It has made me miss the way things were. Isn't it funny how life ebbs and flows? Sometimes things overflow from the past, and sometimes they get stuck in a memory. Kind of like a fallen leaf in a stream. It flows with the current until something causes it to stop.
I miss the smell of the field in the fall, jumping out of the hay loft in our barn, the tacky feeling on your hands after cutting tobacco. Red wing boots and the smell of the horses. The liberation of an afternoon free after school. The dusty smells of the county fair, walking to church. Muddy Truck day at school, learning to drive in the field (and backing my dad's truck into the barn, oops!).
I miss Sonic Tuesdays, jeepin' with Jon, Leiper's Fork on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Going to the lake in the summer, creeping through the woods around Halloween. Lining up pumpkins on a back road and running them over. Sitting outside around a bonfire, talking about life and how crazy it is.
Now, my life is different.
I love bonfires on the beach, SoCal sunsets with my friends. Line dancin' with my girls and traveling all over this great state. Camping in the desert, climbing crazy rock formations. Taco Tuesday anywhere is the best, and having warm sunshine every single day. Seeing the ocean, and just being amazed that I live here. Experiencing new things in LA.
I never thought I'd be in this place, but it's just another current in the stream of my life. And I'm ok with that. :)
Last night I went to see the movie Country Strong. I loved it! I love it when actors can successfully transition from acting to singing, and vice versa. I thought each actor portrayed their characters very well, and that all of them had incredible voices.
My favorite was Garrett Hedlund. No, not just because he's a cutie, but because his sound is so unique. As soon as I got home last night I purchased the soundtrack on iTunes! Now, there are two soundtracks out, and I bought the one with the actors singing the songs that they sang in the movie.
Be sure to check them out!
Photo by Kevin Luby
That's a lot of snow. Can't wait to go play in just a few weeks!!!!
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas weekend, and an exciting New Year! 2011 is going to hold some very eventful things that I'm excited to share. Until them, eat to your hearts content, laugh til it hurts, and love one another.
Merry Christmas!
Many of you have asked that I document the crazy experiences I had growing up on a farm. Many of my California friends haven't heard these stories, so it's my pleasure to introduce them to you today. Although they are much funnier when told in person, I'll do my best to capture each moment.
THE LAGOON
We lived in Bagdad, Kentucky (yes, Bagdad). The town consisted of one general store, one bank, and one feed store. Every good rural town has to have a feed store. Our home was at the base of a large hill, and most of our land backed up to it. Across the one lane road was a creek, and the farm next to us had beautiful horses. For some reason, my parents thought it would be a fantastic idea to move the house, yes, the HOUSE, to the back of the property; which was on top of the hill. So, it began in the late fall. Construction workers created a driveway up the steep hill, and soon our house was amazingly moved to the top of the hill.
Now. Let me remind you that this was in the middle of nowhere. It isn't quite as simple to get water, electric, etc. when you move your home in the dead of winter to the top of a hill. Mom? Dad? Are you out there? Why did you do this to us?!?!
Some official person suggested along the way that we create a "lagoon" of sorts off to the side of the house. So, they came, they bulldozed the trees, they went. The lagoon began to fill with water from the rain and snow, creating a perfect ice skating rink. Again, for some odd reason we had a collection of ice skates, and off we went to skate in the winter.
The Lagoon also made a perfect rise in the land to target shoot. Shoot, as in guns. Gasp, yes we grew up with guns. Yes, we even killed animals. So one sun shiney day, my parents asked me to take my then 4 year old brother out to shoot the bb gun. We climbed the side of the lagoon, stood on the embankment and aimed for the trees. I showed Sam what to do, then turned the safety off. My sweet, precious, innocent little baby of a brother declared: "I'm gonna shoot you!" So what did I do? What any 10 year old sister would. I RAN. I ran and ran and ran and wouldn't you know it, I heard the 'pop', felt the pain, and crashed to the ground. While Sam I'm sure was clueless as to what he had done, I stood up, felt the back of my head, saw the blood and ran for home.
Yes. My four year old brother shot me in the back of the head. While I was running. He's in the Army now. Nice aim, kid.
I love Coldplay. I love Christmas. I love Coldplay and Christmas together. Enjoy.
I am so very excited! Today The Pioneer Woman, aka Ree, announced that she has finished her novel and it will be released in February 2011!!! How exciting is this! The book is the story of how she met and married her 'Marlboro Man', and moved to a remote ranch in Oklahoma. She began chronicling her journey via her blog a few years ago, but ended the short chapters at her wedding. She is adding those chapters, and continuing through her honeymoon and first year of marriage.
Click to pre-order "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels".
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, PW began a blog a few years ago. It has now blossomed into an award winning, recipe posting, life chronicling, hilarious blog. I love it so much because she just writes. Simply writes how she feels. Since Ree has gained national (and I'm sure worldwide) acclaim, her followers are into the millions each day. There's even been a rumor of a movie one day. I'd go see it. :)
A friend told me about her crazy blog shortly after it began, as a friend had told her. We kept it quiet, on the down low as if we had found a nugget of gold amongst the riff raff of the Internets. But alas, we've all shared her site with our friends and loved ones, and now the secret is out. She came out with a cookbook last year, and I had the privilege of standing in line for three hours meeting her.
I love Ree. I love reading about her life, her kids, the ranch, the cowboys.....and I dream of the day I could live on a ranch...with a cowboy....and the kids......
Hey! I can dream, right?
The crew at Jen's on Thanksgiving
I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! I wasn't able to return home to Kentucky this year, but am so thankful for my family of friends here on the West Coast. I split my day between my family that I work for, and my friend Jen's house. She hosted four Marines from Camp Pendleton who are finishing their training before shipping out to various locations across the world. It was such a pleasure to honor them, hang out with them and just love on them for the day. We had so much food, played pool, games, watched football, the works. They were too sweet and we all enjoyed getting to know them.
I joked that they were modeling the "Fall 2010 Marine Wear"
I was able to accompany Jen back to Camp Pendleton to drop the guys off, and we got to talking about how much more we as a people can do for our military servicemen. Some of the young men and women who serve our country do not have families who can visit them, or do not have family at all. I encourage you, if you live near a military base to contact the local YMCA or MWR on post to see how you can get involved. Upon further investigation, I have found that the YMCA on Camp Pendleton has over one THOUSAND families who have signed up for the Secret SANTA program this year. They are still looking for donations for over 350 families. Below is an excerpt from the Director of the program:
"Our Secret SANTA (Support And Nurture Those Americans who serve) program focuses upon junior enlisted families with children who are the ranks of-5 and below. These families have provided the Armed Services YMCA a wish list is then assigned to a donor family, organization, or business so they can shop, wrap and personalize gifts."
I am so excited to be involved in this program, as my younger brother himself is a serviceman, the least I can do is help out. If you are based in the Southern California area and would like to help, please see the contact information listed below.
Program Contact Information
Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA
Phone: 760-385-4921
Suzanne Tabrum Director of Events and Community Relations
Still, never even dreamed that I would be here.
But here I am, a year and a half later, and I have to say...
I LOVE IT.
Don't get me wrong. I'm going back to my homeland someday, Tennessee, that is. Just not today.
In this season of thanksgiving, here are thirteen things that I am thankful for living in Southern California.
-Daily dosage of sunshine
-The ocean
-Bonfires on the beach
-Sandcastles
-Churros (Ps-didn't even know what that was until I moved here)
-FroYo!! (See above comment)
-The abundance of parks
-Being within driving distance of some of the most amazing geological creations
-Disneyland (Come on, it's awesome and you know it :)
-Breathtaking views of the city
-Standing still, with the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other
-Having an amazing job that made this move possible
-Being blessed with the most incredible friends a girl could as for
There you have it! Of course I have a million other things to be thankful for, but I thought I'd give some props to my Cali experience thus far.
Last weekend the crew and I loaded up for a camping trip at Joshua Tree National Park. We had an absolute blast, and the weather was perfect, albeit a little chilly in the evenings. The stars were INCREDIBLE! I wished I could bottle them up just to see them sparkle all the time. I've been on a few cruises in the middle of the ocean, but somehow seeing the stars this time around was more profound than before. It seemed as if you could see the galaxies, so amazing!
Ok, call me crazy, but doesn't this look like a fish?!
So many beautiful rock formations.
We picked a route and just went for it. We were inside little rock caves, climbing up and over huge formations, you name it, we did it. We came to this one formation that the guys were determined to conquer. I really wanted to as well, but sadly... I have little legs. Ah, to be tall.
Half of the crew
Climbing inside of the rock formations
We only suffered one injury, and that award goes to Grant. He was Spiderman over all the of rocks, conquering his fear of heights pretty quickly! The last formation he was coming down, he fell and sprained his ankle. We had to cut our explorations a little short, but we didn't mind. The other guys in the crew were so sweet to take turns helping Grant out of the park. Now I now why people could get so lost out there, it's really hard to stick to a trail!! Next time, I'm bringing walkie talkies. :)
Nothing better than a fire...
The crew.
For my Nashville friends...notice someone behind the lead singer? Look familiar?!
GO COLIN! :)
A Nashville musician used records to shingle his outdoor porch! How cool and resourceful!
Halloween was quite the blast, a friend hosted a fantastic party, complete with ghoulish martinis! So cute! Everyone got all dolled up and decked out, so much fun!
Dani, Courtney and I
Courtney and I
A group of friends bought tickets to Go Fest, the local country radio station's festival. We had lawn seats, but snuck into the Terrace level and had oh so much fun!!
Only half the crew!
My dear, dear friend Jessica married her sweetheart in an adorable outdoor ceremony in Huntington Beach. It was a super small wedding , and I was so honored to be there as her guest. Congratulations Josh and Jess!!
Mr and Mrs. Fowler
One of my favorite highlights from the past few weeks would have to be scoring tickets the to Tennessee Titan/ San Diego Chargers game! I took my friend Dani, and we had an incredible time. Our seats were nosebleeds, but we didn't mind! We were just happy to be there.
Our Seats
On the way to the stadium, we met a few fellow Titans fans on the train to whom we gave some of our temporary tattoos. So fun to meet new friends, especially when they've lived in Tennessee!! They mentioned that they had field seats...
Trent, myself, Dani and Tom
And offered to move us down with them if there were extras.
There were :)
We were the luckiest girls that day!
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