the wilderness downtown

I'm sure most of you have done this already,

but if you haven't...do it!

it will blow your mind.

http://thewildernessdowntown.com/

xo arcade fire.

good morning!

{photo provided by papertissue}

how are you lovelies this morning?

i have already been awake for a couple hours,

i jumped into a 6 am yoga class and it was awesome.

i have really been using my time exercising to worship the lord.

and this morning was especially great.

the windows of the yoga room face the east so we watched the sunset as we brought healing and strength to our bodies.

i think i might do it ever tuesday morning :)

i'm enjoying a cup of coffee right now after a 2 mile run/walk with the dogs and my plans are to help my friend kelsey move into our guest room, work on the novel and go get a public library card and check out some books.

xo

update on dress.

i still haven't 100% committed either way on the dress.

Most of you are saying i should keep it and i'll regret if i don't.

but honestly,

i'm not one to even normal keep clothes around.

i loveeee purging.

in fact i donated like half of my wardrobe to goodwill today and i really believe you should give away anything you havent used in 3 months.

so.

i put it on yesterday, and it still fit. but it doesn't hold any magic.

i definitely had a love/hate relationship with the thing anyway and when i pulled it out it was more of a

"ohh you again..."

response rather than

"OMG I LOVE YOU"

and again,

we cant afford to get it boxed up and if i'm going to keep it, i'm going to want to really preserve it.

but, it's an amazing dress in itself,

having survived for so long.

being in only two weddings in 60 years is kind of sad.

so in that sense, i would rather see it used and loved and passed on again.

if i do sell it, i decided i'm not going to use the money on bills, or debt.

but rather put the chunk into savings,

so that we can use it for something we have thought out rather than getting out of a bind.

the other argument is "oh if one day i have a daughter who wants to wear the dress..."

i don't live my life in the "what if" category.

plus, if my daughter is anything like me,

she will want her own dress.

and that is what i want for her.

did you know?

i recently signed with a talent agency here in nashville.

and so far it hasn't done anything for me ha.

i'm pretty selective with what i deem worthy of shaved legs.

i've been writing a fictional young adult novel for two months now and have over 20k words written.

i need over 50k for it to be the real deal.

i overly enjoy editing.

i printed out my first half of the book and have torn it to shreds with a blue pen.

and loving every moment of it.

i'm drowning in student loan debt.

i regret ever going to college.

{i would never have met ryan if i hadn't though...}

today ryan and i saved baby aria from being trampled to death by an idiot 3 year old boy and his stupid dad at the park.

i love looking at old photos of myself...when i was fat.

that i am OCD about how the bed is made, and the way the opening of the pillowcases need to face...

the outside, duh.

i call it "bed anxiety"

i'm pretty sure taylor swift used my wedding as inspiration for her video "mine".

allow me to explain...

on january 26th, 2010 i was enjoying some coffee and food at bongo java with my friend jenny.

when BAM.

t. swift walks in.

starstruck? unfortunately.

anyway, she ordered the same thing i had.

she overheard jenny and i talking about our upcoming weddings and when jenny went into the bathroom said,

"are you getting married?"

TO ME!

and so i was like,

"yes" huge smile...

she ended up asking about my wedding, ie: where it was - answer- the anchor fellowship, pre civil war, oldest building, downtown. - asking about my dress - answer - vintage dress, everything vintage, blah blah.

we both gushed over love and my impending nuptials

she was sweet and so genuine and nice.

sooooo her new song "mine" comes up and i'm like WHAT. kinda reminds me of me and ryan.

then the video comes out, didn't think much of it until i saw an interview about it.

she talks about her fascination with love and couples and marriage...

{inspiration ya'll?}

and the church in the video is PRE CIVIL WAR, HISTORIC ETC.

oh,

and the dress she chose.

VINTAGE.

common people.

as a song writer (in a previous life, cough age 5-20), a novel writer, screenplay writer (circa 2009) and actor -

when trying to create something you rip your mind apart for any sort of inspiration, or something that reminds you of what you're looking for. so was our conversation a little inspiration for this new hit, or just plain coincidence?

I think you know what I think.

i'm in...

la la love!

to sell or not to sell? {le wedding dress}

lately i have been tossing around the idea of selling my wedding dress,

and i would like your input on it.

pros:

~it would easily sell since i got 46 emails of offers to buy it after being on Oncewed.

~it's just sitting in my closet, unprotected, and i don't want to/can't afford to do the whole preserving blue box thing.

~ i probably can't fit in it now, nor will i probably ever be able to again and it will just taunt me for life.

~if i pass it on, it will be the third wedding it has been in {first was in 1950 and then mine in 2010}

~i got it for cheap, and fully restored it, which wasn't cheap and could definitely make a lot of cash off of it.

~we are dedicating everything to getting out of debt and i feel the money from the dress would help long term instead of it just sitting around.

~if i even have a daughter, she will more than likely not want to wear it {as i didn't want to wear my mom's} but have her own dress. plus she might not even be able to fit in it.

~i might not even have a daughter.

~if i get too attached to it, there is the possibility of losing it in a move or a fire or something crazy.

~i'm never going to wear it again, plus it's such a process to put on, and i have a million photos that will remind me of our day.

~if i only have sons, i don't want to be a mother in law that puts it upon their future wives to maybe wear.

~i don't need the dress to remind me of our wedding, it is a material object, but our love is what makes that day special, not the dress.

cons:

~it is my wedding dress and was there at our wedding {ryan's point, he is attached}

~it has it's own story and is one of a kind.

~i put a lot of time, money and stress into it.

~maybe i would want to show my {maybe} daughter it someday.

~on paper, it looks sad that i would sell it to help us get out of debt, or to make some cash...that we need.

~i would never see it again.

~it has the potential to be a family heirloom, it is already 60 years old, by the time my kids get married it could be anywhere between 80-90 years old and when their kids get married...it's the same thing with the necklace from ryan's great grandmother that i wore in those photos and the diamond in my engagement ring.

~when my great great great grandchildren see photos of me, they will have something tangible to touch and imagine what i was like.

thoughts?

love.

also, we're attractive.

aria mae

a couple days ago i shot some photos of little aria mae.

she belongs to my good friend mandy,

who also has a daughter named marley.

anyway, she is about 5 weeks old and is amazing.

here are a few of my favorite shots.

our wedding in print.

i almost forgot to tell you.

ryan and i were approached by a southern based wedding magazine to be their featured wedding for the fall issue.

of course we said yes!

weddings unveiled magazine only produces FOUR issues a year,

so we are definitely honored to have been selected.

check out the magazine here:

weddings unveiled

on thursday i did an hour long interview with the journalist for our feature and she sent over the first draft yesterday and i'm really pleased with it.

i'll of course let you know when it's available.

where the hell have you been?!

I tend to go through waves of absence on this thing,

unintentionally of course.

so here is an update on my life.

I have been nannying a lot.

our friends got married.

{see below}

so we drove 14 hours to south florida to be there.

and of course to see other friends too.

other than that, life has been pretty normal.

ryan left this morning to go out of town for work until friday.

so i got up at 430 to drive him there and have been facebook stalking since.

{it's now 6:12 am}

and i'm meeting my friend kelsey for a run at 7.

YIKES.

it will be interesting after not exercising all weekend and eating like i just didn't care.

so i warned her.

the dogs are driving me insane,

i swear, they are like children.

and we are still trying to find the perfect home for copper.

she is seriously such a perfect dog,

i don't know why we're having such a problem with it.

after running with kelsey, i'll be going to my friend mandy's house to take photos of her new baby aria.

in exchange for an hour massage.

score.

have a great tuesday!

update: kelsey backed out of the run, so i took the pups instead ;)

natural water birth.

after watching the business of being born,

i have been obsessed with watching creative and beautiful home birth videos.

here is the best one yet.

the mother is documenting her son theo's

{who is born in this video}

first year of life on her blog.

read and look at all the beautiful photos

here.

118.

the heat index today was 118 degrees.

why can't i live in that photograph?

what's for dinner?

tonight i made this.

thank you smitten kitchen.

however, i was not impressed.

ryan liked it but i thought it was a tad too spicy.

so very sad.

the first of august.

happy august!

where has this summer gone?

august is my favorite month of the year.

in tahoe, maybe not nashville - since it's so hot here.

don't mind that photo.

it's just us being weird.

enjoy your sunday and the first day of my favorite month.

for all you ladies

i'm currently watching this documentary and it is changing my life.

i have a few friends that had home births and others who have used the vanderbilt midwife center.

whenever i have a child,

i will not be using an ob/gyn but definitely a midwife.

anyone who is pregnant or plans to be pregnant one day and cares about their health

and the health of their future child.

you need to watch this.