I've started a craft that I love doing, but LOVING something does not equal being GOOD at something.  I'm just not sure how to figure out where I fall on the spectrum.  I'm asked people like my parents, friends, husband, other family members; I feel like all of them may feel required to say that I'm a lot better at something than I actually am.  But, maybe they're telling the truth -- may I am good at what I love to do.

Who knows.  The more I do it, the better I am anyway, so at least I'll get in some good practice, haha.

These aren't the best photos of some of the cards I've made, but use your imagination.  Creating these bring me so much joy, and isn't that what your life should be about: finding what brings you joy and doing it?!  Obviously there are other things I like to do more like travel and work events, but my health doesn't always cooperate.  (Hopefully I WILL get to travel in a few weeks, so yay for that.  Astana is gorgeous, and the people and arts are beautiful there.  I can't wait to hear those magical words "Yes, you're healthy enough to leave the country!")  Please, please, please.  Making these are something that's calming and pretty unaffected by my health.

 

I'm a great collector of quotes, which means I don't give many worth much myself.  Anyway, I always feel like signing off with a quote, so I'm going to seize the day.

"The strange power of art is sometimes it can show that what people have in common is more urgent than what differentiates them." 
-John Berger  

I love what this power of art says about not art, but people.  We WANT, we NEED to be brought together and what we choose to help us do just that is art a lot of times.  A beautiful thing.

xoxo,
A

A late look at some favorite wedding moments

Hi all,

I just realized that I didn't really post wedding photos on here...I know I haven't gotten all of them in, but I have gotten some that made me smile, cry, and a LOT that made me laugh hysterically!  Of course it's nice to have posed photos where everyone's hair is exactly in place and heads are turned a certain way, etc.  But honestly, the photos I love the most are the ones where I can just tell someone had just told a dirty joke, or one of the little girls did something silly; they show us as, well, US!  Here are some of my favorite photos that I looked through today and made me smile.  To make up for not posting in awhile, I'm putting these photos on here first before anywhere else.  I hope they put a smile on your face too, even if you don't know any of us :).

{ALL PHOTOS IN THIS POST ARE BY MELANIE MERKLING PHOTOGRAPHY!}

Our playlist: we had Spice Girls, Destiny's Child, TLC, Journey, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Sisqo, Queen,...you know, basically anything we ever learned all the words to or memorized the dance from a music video back in our junior high years.  It was only fifteen years ago...

Required food for brunch in bed: croissants, Cheez-Its, fruit, coffee, tea, mimosas, chocolate chip cookies, etc.  Basically all sleepover/hangover remedy  food.  Also a requirement: must eat while still in bed.  What's a sleepover without a bed that can fit six of your closest friends?   

 I have to brag on our sweet flower girls.  They didn't know each other before the wedding and they were pretty shy at first, but as soon as we had to wait in the green room together while the guests filed into the space, they started sharing snacks, twirling around the room, complimenting the sparkles on each others dresses, and playing on the iPad together.  I love that kids can go from total stranger to immediate pals with a simple 'I like your hair bow.'  And they were just the most adorable pair walking down the aisle together, each carrying her sparkly Winter equivalent of a flowerball.  I say this not because I could see them actually walking down the aisle because I was 'hidden.'  My husband told me this, verbatim.  If a guy describes their adorableness like that, I can only imagine how I would react - I mean, I was close to tears just seeing all the bridesmaids lining up.  I would be a sobbing wreck!    

 One of the things that I love about D is that he can connect with anyone.  He hadn't known my girlfriends for a long time like I had, so he made a point to get to know them.  He made sure to ask for all of their opinions on proposing to me and even on engagement rings.  He called them about wedding timelines to check in and make sure they knew where to be and when.  So, I've known some of these girls for around 16 years and we're all pretty protective of each other and the people we date (we have to make sure these 'outsiders' are worthy of being with our best friends, of course!).  Even though D's been an 'outsider' to my group of best friends, I think the girls have found him worthy :).  This photo proves that they're pretty comfortable around him, and that means he's 'best friend- approved.'

                                                                                                                                                                       

Since I wasn't exactly present for this photo, I can't explain just what these men were doing.  I can, however, attest to the fact that they are respected professionals, most with loving wives and children.  Whether or not this photo tells the same story, I'll let you decide.  (I must admit, we have one very flexible groomsman there on the left side - do you see his legs hoisted on someone's shoulders?!  He could be in the circus!)

The thing I said about D getting to know my best friends goes both ways.  He has three brothers and several groomsmen he's known since elementary school.  Now they live in all parts of AR and some in other states, but I was lucky enough to get to spend time with most of them when the two of us started dating (this was before they became husbands, fathers, etc.).  They made me feel like one of the guys, which is a good and not so good thing, but I can say that I never felt excluded.  In fact, the only time I've ever played beer pong was when I was in grad school and I drove 1,000 miles to AR to visit D for the weekend.  I was 22/23, and learned how to play my first and only round of beer pong at the house that D shared with two of his best friends and groomsmen.  Thanks for letting me into your club, fellas.  I promise to take care of your brother for you, and to have scotch ready anytime you guys want to come over and visit. Love you, brothers! 

 I have absolutely no idea what we're looking at or why we're so surprised, but I do remember that during cocktail hour I went upstairs to change to my reception dress and D & I were able to eat a little dinner by ourselves.  I don't remember what we talked about, but I do remember both of us remarking over and over "wow...we JUST got married!"  It felt surreal, because we were sitting there in these beautiful clothes eating amazing food and it felt almost awkward because moments earlier we were two single people and now we were eating our first meal...married.  He kept saying how strange it felt to have a ring on his finger.  We've been married now for almost five months, and last he said that for the first time, he had taken it off to do something and that his hand felt naked without it.  I don't know why, but a huge smile crept over my face when he told me that.  

Well, that's the end of my exclusive 'in the moment' wedding photos.  We have hundreds more, but where's the fun in sharing them all at once?

Here's to life!  May you be blessed with one that's filled with love, laughter and people who can bring you both.

xoxo,
A 

NWA Novice: Manifest(ing) Destiny For Dummies

NWA Novice.  It's a fairly accurate description of me.  I can get myself from Bentonville's 21C to the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, but I can't tell someone the best (or even a good) coffeehouse in Rogers...or Bentonville...or in all of NWA, for that matter.  My parents wanted to gift David and me a night out for Valentine's Day, but when asked where we liked to eat dinner I couldn't even squeak out the name of a chain restaurant; if I could, it wouldn't have been much better considering "Red Robin" is the only restaurant chain that comes to mind in NWA because of the gluten-free offerings, but it's not exactly romantic dinner material.  I need to up my familiarity with my surroundings if I'm to convince anyone or, more importantly, convince myself that I live in the area now.

So, I'm going to go out and get lost.  Really.  It's the best way to actually learn your way around and the method works particularly well in helping you to find place with which you fall in love.  I can't wait to fall in love with all new breakfast spots, vintage stores, art galleries, bookshops, tiny boutiques, local music, etc.  Bring it on, NWA.  I'm ready to gather some friends paint you red.        

Next post, I'm continuing the LBD 'miniseries,' with pondering/creating the perfect arsenal of little black dresses. Maybe I'll find a friend or two to talk LBDs with me!  Plus, March means the start of NWA Fashion Week.  I know...we have one!  Not the same as DC, but definitely worth the adventure into the fashions and fashionistas of NWA.  To see the full schedule of NWAFW events, check out http://www.nwafw.com/.  


For now, here are some of my favorite things about my old 'hometown,' DC (and more specifically, Adams Morgan).  It'll always be at the top of my most loved hometowns list, and these are a few reasons why:

My 1920s rowhouse with my lovely roommate Elizabeth.  We could walk to so many of my favorite places in mere minutes from our door, and still miss being in a city where that's possible.

Adams Morgan has a great festival called, creatively, 'Adams Morgan Day.'  Just two blocks from our old home, vendors line the streets selling handmade jewelry, paintings, adorable clothing, knick-knacks, ceramics, anything you can think of.  Food, ranging from healthy to 'funnel cake' category' and from varying countries all over the world (and actually being made by someone who has lived in the country of origin), is cooked and served fresh.  Live music performances that would make an ethnomusicologist shriek with joy.  Local businesses stay open later and offer great deals.  Performances happen all day, all weekend, by all different types of talented people, some some performers literally dancing in the streets.  Crowds of people turn out to fill the neighborhood with DC locals and not tourist groups.  One of the best parts of the fest: after taking in a long day of fun, I could walk back to my house and arrive in less than five minutes.  Perfect. 

The Newseum - no, it's not a museum that hangs framed newspapers.  Of all the major museums in the District, this one rotates in and out of my #1 spot and is always a favorite to show to out of town guests.  Most of the tourists coming to DC think Smithsonian when planning their dose of culture for their trips and who could blame them?  It's the name and collection that has become synonymous with the phrase 'DC museum' and, technically, it IS the US national collection (it includes more items, buildings and acreage than anything you can fathom).  However, if I had to choose just ONE cultural institution membership in DC, I would choose the Newseum...and I have art degrees!  This museum is one that I absolutely love spending time in and am always down for visiting with anyone, any day.  From a portion of the Berlin wall to the late great Tim Russert's desk at 'Meet the Press,' from 'Anchorman' the Exhiibit (yes, the FILM 'Anchorman!') to the 'Unabomber's' cabin - this museum doesn't just tell a history of newsmaking and reporting...it houses it!  Inside are collected and curated items straight out of the headlines, and it's the perfectly crafted theme for a museum because just like the news, the items on display are always changing.  That reinvention is what puts it at the top my cultural institution rankings and why it quickly earned a spot on my DC favorite places list.  The view from the patio (above) sure doesn't hurt, either!

About 3/4 of a mile walk from my front door was an amazing upscale chocolate shop that imported chocolates from all over the world.  You could walk there on a beautiful Saturday with a friend, create a mixed box of say, five pieces, that includes anything from dark rum chocolate screen printed with skulls like above to chocolate flavored with tobacco or bacon (yes, they're both actually delicious), share your box with a friend on the way back home and you would have a) taken in a scrumptious custom dessert, b) enjoyed a lovely walk outdoors and an always hilariously fun time checking out the world of upscale chocolate designs and chocolate combos and c) both eaten and worked off your dessert by the time you arrived home.  A decadent and harmless treat, at least one visit to this chocolate shop was on my 'must' list for any out of town guest we entertained.

xoxo

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

Adventure (after tea, of course)

Adventure after tea by asebourn on Polyvore

Always Plan Your Life In Pencil - Never Pen

Plans change.  And though the plans that change sometimes involve the smallest of details, I've found it best to just accept that I should always use a pencil while planning.  The last several weeks have brought on a significant amount of decision-making and changing of plans, most having to do with our wedding in December, but it's all worked out better than I imagined.

My original Wedding Inspiration Board...Things have definitely changed!

For instance, I've been looking for a wedding dress over the past few months.  I knew what 'look' I wanted, I was up for doing something daring with the cut and especially the color and I had my photos of my favorite dresses cut out and pasted into my personal 'lookbook.'  However, most of the dresses were nowhere to be found and those that were ended up looking not quite as nice as I'd hoped.  By the time I got to my third dress boutique, I was exhausted and not expecting to find anything I hadn't already seen.  I was almost ready to give up and just order the Jenny Packham gown in my size straight from the designer, using about 1/3 of our wedding budget to do so, just to be able to end the process.

Five star rating in Rogers for this shoppe!

All I can say is THANK GOD for our wedding planner Heather at Inspired Grace Weddings who knows us as a couple (David and me) inside and out, has memorized our thoughts and expectations for the tone of the wedding, which would include the tone of the dress, and was able to bring excitement to the experience that day so I could really enjoy being with my mom and my aunt.  My consultant at She Said Yes
Bridal was also amazing; she was a sweet and very intuitive girl who really loved her work and made sure to pull dresses with Heather that incorporated elements in the dresses that I highlighted heavily in my book. Admittedly, I didn't end up buying any of the dresses I had pasted into my 'lookbook.'  However, I WAS able to buy all of the beautiful attire that I'll be saying my vows in and also have a first dance my new husband and celebrate all night long with my best friends. 

To check out more updates on our wedding (sorry, no sneak peeks at white wear), fun photos of the wedding party, beautiful images and info about the unique venue and historic accommodations, and little humor from the groom, go to www.InventingTheEngles.com

This is one of my favorite quotes, and I've been having to learn it over and over recently.  It's going to continue be a challenge for me to not just accept where I am but try to grow and flourish while I'm here.

-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... :)

Kerouac quote

Kerouac quote by asebourn on Polyvore

American Dream - Fashion Editorial - Profile with models, designers...
fashionmodeldirectory.com

Lost Highway Kati Nescher and Garrett Hedlund Go On the Road
vogue.com

Baby Love for "Baby Watson"

I love when my friends have kids. I get to spoil the parents and I get to spoil the kiddos! I don't have any siblings so I don't have actual nieces or nephews, which means I get to love on my friends' kids like they're my family. Here's to the newest member, the sweet (yet to be named) "Baby Watson!" I'm excited to meet you!

Hiatus from the blog: Unplugged

The thing about a hiatus is that it's often unplanned. I don't usually go this long without posting/blogging about something that's on my mind, but what's on my mind right now has caused my hiatus.

My great grandmother is 99 years old, but you'd never know it. She's amazingly intelligent, extremely well-traveled, sweet but witty, and does the newspaper crossword in pen. There's an infinite number of things I love about her, which is why it's so difficult to suddenly have another not so lovable quality added to her list: Cancer. Again.

A few years ago it was breast cancer. Now it's lung cancer.

Writing that "c" word is difficult for me. Understatement...it makes me want to kick and scream and throw a tantrum like a two year old. It makes me want to ball up my fists and punch something.

I'll be unplugged for awhile longer. Keep this amazing lady in your thoughts.

Dear Valentine, I made this for you

To all my valentines (my friends, family and loved ones),

XOXO

This is my last Valentine's Day as a 'single' woman, and even though this is a silly Hallmark holiday, I still feel the need to celebrate. Over the past year, I've learned a really difficult lesson: it's impossible to love someone else unconditionally without first unconditionally loving yourself. I've been carrying around so much self-doubt and unnecessary, displaced guilt that I wasn't able to love any of you fully. I can do that now, and I hope that you embrace and love yourself unconditionally so you and I can have the loving relationship that we deserve.   





The more love you accept and have for yourself, the more you can show for others.  I truly believe that.  Love you all dearly!

Love always,
Your Anna

PS: I went a little craft crazy, so I really hope you all like homemade cards :)

XOXO
A

A Passion for Compassion: Give Your Heart This Valentine's Day, No Roses Included!

I've had a longtime love affair with Heifer International, and Valentine's Day is one of the best opportunities you have to use Heifer to show unconditional love to your sweetie!  Most Valentine's Day gifts involve chocolates, roses, romantic date nights, etc., but I dare you to give an unconventional gift...something you'd never think could be even remotely romantic: a goat.  Or, a cow.  Hey, even a chicken!

Give a gift that's life-changing this Valentine's Day.

As wacky as this seems, I believe there's no better way to show love for your valentine than honoring that person by giving a gift in his or her name that could not only improve but possibly save the lives of a family or an entire community of people you've never met.  Have a passion for compassion this holiday by checking out this amazing organization and giving what you're able.  I promise, ladies like a man who has a giving heart!

Gift Different.  Give Heifer.

XOXO,
A


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Inspiration Photo: Winter Wonderland Wedding

Inspiration Photo: Winter Wonderland Wedding by asebourn featuring chunky necklaces

Sveva chunky necklace
$645 - farfetch.com

WEDDING INVITATIONS Winter PRINTABLE - Winter wedding invitations
etsy.com