Pulling Weeds

 "You have made a place in my heart where I thought there was no room for anything else. You have made flowers grow where I cultivated dust and stone."

 - Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time

If this blog is a garden, it is definitely be full of weeds by now.  I haven't been kind to it, and to be completely honest...I've forgotten about it on numerous occasions and for long periods of time.  I know there aren't hundreds of people reading this; I mean seriously - five people checking out this site would be a good day.  But, being read by others is not really my intended outcome or achievement here, and I know that sounds ironic seeing as this is a public space and not an ongoing private word doc.

I do 'journal' on actual paper at home, and I fill it with mostly found objects, photos, quotes, etc. that inspire me in some way.  In fact, it looks a lot like this site in that it's mostly a record of what I'm feeling, loving, missing, wanting, and needing, shown through the images that I choose to post plus a written thought or paragraph from me.  Having a public space vs. my tangible notebook, however, keeps me accountable to the invisible few readers who happen to stumble across this site.

So, I'm going to try to spend more time in this garden, nurturing the inspirational blooms, the beautiful, the items and ideas which provoke thought and essentially, growth.  To that same end, I need to constantly be pulling the weeds, the empty spaces, the negative energy that can slowly take over if not tended to swiftly, and let it go.

Nurturing the growth and pulling the weeds -- maybe that's the purpose of this blog.  Constant care.  Consistent inspiration and ambition.  I can wander with purpose.  I can adventure while carrying 'home' with me, refuting the idea that 'peace' means I have to stay still.    

  


 Goodnight from this blogger/soon-to-be constant gardener.

xoxo

A

Shopping Just Got Intense

Okay, I LOVE shopping and watching for new trends.  I love wearing dresses, skirts, and 'girly' blouses.  Wedding dress shopping?  It's the most intense shopping I've ever done in my life!  Yes, it's wonderful to have champagne while shopping.  However, that doesn't help that I'm lifting 40lbs of fabric over my head!  I'm literally sore the next day!  I don't know how some girls can try on any more than 15 dresses - it's a workout! 

It's not a complaint, though, because I know how lucky I am.  With each dress I feel how blessed I am to be in love with the man who wants to spend the rest of his life with me!  I wasn't looking for him, and he wasn't looking for me.  But, He is good and He created and molded us into the woman and man we needed to be at just the right time.  If I were to count my blessings, I would have too many to stop!  The challenges I've faced and still face have shown me who I am in Him and who I am in this world, and one of the things I'm going to be is a best friend and partner in life to a man greater and more wonderful than anyone deserves. 

Alright, alright, I'll get back to the fashion.  That's what we're all here for, right?  :)

Here are some of my favorites, and I'm not sure whether it's the cut, color, fabric, or just the fact that it takes my breath away; I only know that these are the dresses that show up again and again in my dreams:

Jenny Packham - This is my original dream gown. The back of the gown is just as gorgeous as the front!

Not sure of the designer, but I know the silver on this dress is calling my name!

For someone who doesn't want a huge ballgown or any traditional elements, I was surprised I fell in love with this gown.  It's a work of art, and I can't deny that!  All of my rules go out the window with this gown because it's simply magical.  From Novias de Espana

Novias de Espana

Novias de Espana

This Lazaro gown has a simple corset bodice with a sweetheart neckline, but what I love about the gown is the textured skirt!  It's no secret that I'm not a fan of dresses with the everyday ruffle, lace or large cliche flower pinned to them; I'm drawn to the skirts with wild texture - texture that from a distance one can't quite tell if it's rosettes, pick-ups, etc.  I love deconstructed material and lines that are cut a little bit irregular to give the gown more visual interest.   

Decisions, decisions.  I guess we'll see what wins out in the end... :)

Bridesmaid Gifts: Wonderful or Wasteful?

I absolutely love giving gifts.  I love picking out items for other people that I know they'll use for a long time, and that's tough task if the gift is for someone in your wedding party.  It's very tempting to give things that refer to your specific date, but come on, who wears a shirt that says "I'm a bridesmaid!" after the wedding is over?

These are so soft and really handy! 

So, trying not to be wasteful means steering clear of gifts that adorn the wedding date, bride & groom names and even words associated with weddings or wedding party.  I thought to myself, "What do I use on a daily basis, and how could I personalize that item as a bridesmaid gift?"  Well, here's the first gift I chose: monogrammed cosmetic bags in colors that complement each girl's wardrobe/personal decor.  I made sure to use their first initials, as their last initial could easily change.  Behold, the outcome:

I love these bags because they're soft on the outside but durable and waterproof on the inside (in makeup terms that means they are super easy to clean!).  They even have a pocket inside for extra storage.  Each is a different color and has a contrasting stitched monogram.  I'm kicking myself for not buying one for me!  Five of them are for the bridesmaids and the sixth is for my officiant.  Our officiant is a dear friend of mine and would have been a bridesmaid but we decided that we would love for her to 'marry' us instead!

More gifts to come, and I'm even more excited about the next batch!  My hope is that each gift given during our wedding planning will be something that will be useful for a long time, whether it be a makeup bag or a goat given to a family on the other side of the world.

Street style I love

Journal entries with photo inspirations are becoming quite habitual, so I'll leave on the note of one of my most recent collages.  I figure that if I document my street style, it will be easier to decide on a dress.

Crossing my fingers, anyway...

D + A at the Hoover Dam

Ciao,
Anna
 
   

Flora and Philanthropy

Flora and Philanthropy:

How to use your wedding to link them

When I think of weddings I've been to this past year, I think of how pretty the bride looked and how joyous a celebration the event was.  I may remember the color of the bridesmaids' dresses or possibly the linens.  I might remember how sweet the cake smelled or how handsome the men looked dressed in their suits.  However, I couldn't tell you anything at all about the flowers.  The color, the type, the arrangement; my brain just doesn't remember those details.

Planning and budgeting my own wedding has made me realize two major things:

1) There are going to be flowers everywhere and man, they are not cheap!

and, more importantly,

2) I feel guilty about using so many beautiful flowers for such a short period of time.

So, keeping in mind that my fiance and I have been looking for opportunities to give back during both the planning stage and the actual wedding, I searched for ways to use our flowers toward our goal of being socially conscious and as 'green' as we can.  Luckily, the Washingtonian's "Bride & Groom" publication had an article on getting the most use out of your flowers and how to shrink your florist bill at the same time!  Here are some suggestions:

Buy local! (Gnome not included)

Choose flowers that you can buy locally from a neighborhood florist.  You'll be giving back to your local economy, plus saving money by using gorgeous flowers grown in your area!  Buying locally reduces your carbon footprint and increases your community spirit.  (Added bonus: using local flowers is a great way to show off the unique natural resources of your city or state to friends traveling from other parts of the country)

I love how each one is so different and gorgeous!

Try to only use flowers that are in season!  Chances are you can find at least a few different types that can tie in with your color scheme, and it gives you the opportunity to give your bouquets and arrangements character with the many textures and adornments that flourish during that season.  For example, check out that Fall bouquet.  It's so rich in color and texture and fits right in with the season!  The cost is lower when you buy in season, so you can choose to buy more flowers or use the extra cash to boost another area of your wedding.

Look at those poor, sad flowers wasting away on the floor

 


There are several ways you can reuse your event flowers.  The easiest is to use the bride's and bridesmaids' bouquets to help round out the decorations at the reception.  You could quickly put them in vases for the head table or use them to surround the cake or guestbook.  Another way to reuse your floral arrangements is to have them delivered after the reception to somewhere special to you, like a nearby hospital, nursing home or women's shelter.  An easy yet memorable way to brighten someone's day by not being wasteful!

A very green thumb planted these lovely stems!

 



Finally, you can plan ahead to use your garden and green thumb to plant what you'd like to use in your wedding.  This is something that I personally am terrible at (gardening is not one of my talents), but there are several family friends I may call on to see if they could plant a specific bed filled with flowers that I would be able to freshly cut the morning of the wedding.  How special would that be?  Less flowers will go to waste and, as a bonus, it decreases your cost!




Using one or all of these techniques can save you stress and money while still delivering the lovely wedding flowers you've dreamed of!  I'm sure years from now I may forget the names of the flowers at my wedding, but I'll never forget the way they framed the joyous occasion.   Going 'green' never looked so gorgeous!

Ciao,
A



 

Valentine to Valentino

Valentine to Valentino by asebourn featuring a valentino perfume

Valentino floral cocktail dress
$5,510 - brownsfashion.com

Valentino studded jacket
$890 - theoutnet.com

Valentino short heels
$870 - jades24.com

Valentino leather clutch
$1,740 - harveynichols.com

Valentino black gold necklace
forwardforward.com

Meredith Wendell short necklace
meredithwendell.com

Valentino bangle jewelry
yoox.com

Valentino bangle jewelry
forzieri.com

Valentino perfume
bloomingdales.com

Valentino body moisturizer
nordstrom.com

Valentino beauty product
valentino.com

Tricky Trend: Boho Floral Hair

Tricky Trend: Boho Floral Hair by asebourn featuring wedding flower hair accessories

Bridal flower hair accessory
etsy.com

Flower hair accessory
etsy.com

Bridal flower hair accessory
etsy.com

Bridal flower hair accessory
etsy.com

Wedding flower hair accessory
etsy.com

Bridal flower hair accessory
etsy.com

Bridal flower hair accessory
etsy.com

Bridal flower hair accessory
etsy.com

Aso
$19 - asos.com

Oasis flower hair accessory
asos.com

River island
$9.70 - riverisland.com

Flower hair accessory
shopruche.com

Flower hair accessory
ebay.co.uk

Prom hair accessory
$58 - rocknrose.co.uk

Wedding flower hair accessory
etsy.com

A White Diamond Christmas

Christmas lights around the gate

This was the best Christmas I've had in my entire life.  That's a pretty bold statement, because twice I've gotten new cars Christmas morning from my sweet parents.  Christmas is always very special because of the incredible event that it marks - the birth of Christ. 

Taffy, our cat, looking quite festive next to my watch

However, this Christmas, I received some pretty amazing gifts, particularly the jewelry.......................
my parents gave me a new beautiful Marc Jacobs watch! --------->


Okay, okay, yes the watch was gorgeous.  It's not what made this Dec. 25th the best Christmas I've had so far.  I'll let my story continue with photos:

My amazing boyfriend became my fiance!  A beautiful proposal on my front porch while it was snowing on Christmas afternoon led to me saying "Yes, of course!" and then crying many, many tears of joy!

 

  

David is excited and keeping it together.  I'm excited and crying like a baby, haha  Thank goodness for waterproof mascara!

A ring he designed especially for me, and it was made of conflict-free diamonds (something that's important to us both!).  He had some help from my sweet friends and family, too.  The result is the above: a gorgeous symbol of a promise to spend our lives together!

We just couldn't pass up the opportunity to celebrate in the snow!  We haven't had a white Christmas in a long time, so the weather made this day even more special.  The mistletoe didn't hurt either... :)

A very snowy candy cane heart.  It was really coming down at that point, and we were freezing!

This is my favorite shot of the night.  He said "I want to dip you" and I replied "umm..okay?" kind of nervously.  But in this moment, I completely forgot the camera and pretty much the rest of the world except for the two of us.  Looking at this photo now, I still get caught in that moment.  

 

 So, that's my Christmas story.  I started the day happy and thankful, and I ended it happy and thankful, but also blessed to be able to say that I'll get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend by my side. 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and yours!

XOXO,
Anna

Inflight Enjoyment

Guess what?  You can now follow my blog with Bloglovin'

Such Great Heights 

This is somewhere between Little Rock and Cincinnati

I know flying is an anxiety-ridden task for most people.  I even have close friends that would rather drive 1,000 miles each way than get on a plane!  So, maybe I'm just strange for saying this, but I love traveling by plane.  And this is not a new obsession, because I've been a frequent flyer with skymiles ever since I can remember, but it's the breathtaking (literally) view that you can only get when you're flying so high that you look down upon the clouds. 

Purple haze filled the atmosphere yesterday

On my first flight yesterday, I hit the jackpot by being able to sit over the wings and watch the sunset just as we were clearing the clouds.  It's incredible to think that there was so much cloud cover that separated the passengers from everyone on land.  I loved that moment when all of a sudden you break through the "turbulence" to look down upon it and see it in a whole new way.  It doesn't look turbulent at all!  From above it's a fluffy, soft blanket that moves in quiet, slight waves.  With the appearance of the blinding sunset, the blanket has beautiful highlights and shadows and the sleek wing of the aircraft reflects what's becoming a softer light as the sun sinks lower below the clouds.

Now, that's a view you definitely can't get on a road trip.

My carry-on bag always includes a light & funny book, the latest issue of Vogue and my laptop.  However, these are my air travel essentials: 

Sunglasses that block out sunlight for a nice inflight snooze

A chunky cardigan, usually w/ a fun print

Moisturizing hand lotion and lip balm

You can find these items here:

*LA Boutique's The Giselle Cardigan

Fossil sunglasses

Burt's Bees Basics  

Save travels to you all, whether by plane, train or automobile!

Ciao!