a whole lotta loving, and other wonderful things

this woman...

2010-05-09T13:16:00.004-04:00

is the kindest, smartest, prettiest, most hardworking, most selfless woman in the world.

and deserves every good thing this world has to offer.
you raised two daughters who couldn't be more proud of you.

i love you, momma!

and happy mother's day to a pretty awesome nana! (i won't post pictures because i know you'd kill me)

umm...i'm speechless

2010-05-04T20:23:00.011-04:00

i don't usually post about weddings on here
(since i know no one is as obsessed with them as i am)

...but...

awesome (texan!) photographer clayton austin captured this couple's wedding, and everything about it is absolute perfection.

the colors, the vintage postcards, the globe centerpieces (see: my infatuation with globes here), the cake, the amazing photography. i lost it.

and eric...i told you.

see the full collection of images here. clatyon, can you just follow me around and photograph my life forever? thanks.

fat hippo (sunday brunch week 1)

2010-05-03T12:01:00.006-04:00

hope everyone had a good weekend!

sunday i took a break from studying for finals and went to brunch with my friends nicole and jon.

this seems to be a fairly regular weekly tradition of ours, so we decided that beginning in august, when everyone returns from summer trips, we will begin our sunday brunch series (*needs a better name, any help?)

every sunday, we'll visit a new brunch place anywhere in manhattan or brooklyn, and we cannot repeat restaurants. after eating, we'll take a few hours to explore that neighborhood. then, i'll come back and blog about the restaurant, the food, and what we found during our neighborhood exploration!

SO......

this sunday, per nicole's recommendation, we went to fat hippo on the lower east side. the menu has typical brunch foods ranging from sweet to savory breakfasts and hearty lunches. i got the country style blueberry pancakes, which were amazing. the syrup tasted homemade and the pancakes had that crispy-on-the-edges thing going on. nicole ordered the rum french toast, which was super sweet (almost too sweet) but delicious as well. jon had the eggs american. loved it. the waitress looked like my roommate and was quick to refill water glasses (something my entire dining experience is contingent upon...i know, it's weird). so points for her. fair nyc prices for a ton of filling food.

the restaurant is small and wasn't busy, which was surprising since every brunch place on sunday in new york seems to be busting at the seams with people. but part of the charm of the whole experience was that it was sort of tucked away and it's relatively new, so few people have even heard of it.

(forgot to take pictures at fat hippo, but photos will be a part of the sunday brunch series in the future.)

after brunch we went to an amazing little cupcake bakery called sugar sweet sunshine, ala magnolia without the pretentiousness and with way more walking space. their cupcakes are delicious and have that rich, homemade, full-of-butter taste to them. and for only $1.50 they may be one of the cheapest (and yummiest) cupcakes in new york.

i mean, come on, top 10 reasons to eat a cupcake?! sold!

apologies for the lengthy post. will try to have some sort of format for future sunday brunch posts.

what is YOUR favorite nyc brunch place? we'd love to check it out!

a very special ring

2010-04-30T10:42:00.004-04:00

no, not that kind of ring...

this time last week i was on a plane to houston to watch this guy:

dunk his newly-acquired "aggie" (class) ring in a pitcher of beer and race to finish his pitcher bef0re his friends finished theirs.

it may sound silly, but it's an honored tradition at his university. truth.

the following night, we went to a dance, almost like prom, in celebration of all the seniors who had gotten their rings this semester!

(i wore a peter soronen dress (designer to michelle obama, SJP and jennifer hudson, among others) that he let me keep! he's a pretty cool guy.)

and we had fun. :)

thought bubbles

2010-04-29T22:08:00.004-04:00

isn't this lovely?

katie is an artist in new york who puts hand-made thought bubbles on walls of brooklyn buildings. when someone walks past at just the right moment, she snaps a picture. watch the video for some awesome results.

i love that she's putting joy into this city one little art project at a time!
(found on rachel thurston photo)

young love

2010-04-27T22:28:00.003-04:00

i love young love.

especially when two people are committed to making it work and having some fun together along the way.

loving this real engagement shoot featured on once wed, shot by beaux arts photographie.

go kiss someone you love!

long hiatus & pretty pictures

2010-04-21T20:10:00.005-04:00

i am welcoming myself back from a long (unintentional) blogging hiatus, though i'm pretty sure my absence affected no one, as i don't think anyone reads this.

however, i am inspired and excited today by a lovely find, and therefore shall share, since that's what this blog is about!

i'm jealous of all you oklahoma city-ans who have easy access to this awesome photographer.

carl zoch is this awesome photographer.

he shoots engagements and weddings primarily, but i think his outdoor shots are his best.
(and i have a sneaking feeling these are his favorite to shoot as well, but just a guess!)

i've never met him, but i can already tell you two things about him that are evident from his pictures: aside from photography, exploring/adventures outdoors and his woman are the things he loves most (and he loves photographing them, too!). doesn't get more pure and simple than that.

i have a feeling he could make even the dreariest of days look awesome.

if you like what you see, you can purchase a lot of these prints at carl/was//here.

there are four in there i have my eye on...

romper love

2010-04-15T00:06:00.003-04:00

as summer is quickly approaching, i've been doing some major online "window" shopping.

one of my favorite summer essentials is the romper.

i want more of them in my wardrobe.

how about a pretty cotton floral one?
(lulu's)
or maybe a nautical themed one?
(forever 21)

for a fun dinner date...
(lulu's)
or a summer night on the town:
(revolve)

sweet and simple

(shopbop)

sooo many ways to wear them!

(shopbop)

which romper is your fave? what are you summer clothing staples?

easy like sunday morning: weekend roundup

2010-04-11T19:50:00.011-04:00

this weekend was lovely.

perfect weather, celebrations, good food, good finds, great friends.

saturday was my lovely ghana roommate gillian's bridal shower! she's getting married in august and i am SO looking forward to her wedding!

(in tamale, ghana, west africa - april 2009. see our adventures in africa together here)

the rest of the weekend looked something like this:

and this...

some friends and i spent a leisurely sunday in williamsburg brunching (it's a verb now) and shopping in all our little vintage stores.

i picked up this old globe at stella home, a new home store right around the corner from me.

i love the colors of globes
pink, blue, red
perfect.
i think i'll start collecting them.

as the weekend was winding down, my friends and i headed to the east river, where williamsburg overlooks manhattan.yup, i'd say this was a good weekend.

what'd you do?

things i loved about today!

2010-04-08T18:20:00.006-04:00

the title pretty much explains the post...things i LOVED about today!

this beautiful SUNSHINE, warmth and blossoming trees!!

getting an A on a paper

lunch with a friend

strolling down st. marks

union square bustle

cherry blossom trees!

gay williamsburg hipsters in suspenders and pink shorts
(and being a total creeper to get this picture)

fresh manicure and pedicure
(i match my bedspread!)

and being blessed with another lovely day on this earth!

what was your favorite part of today?

happy easter!

2010-04-04T23:27:00.005-04:00

this weekend i hopped on a plane to texas to celebrate the holiday with my family and the man.

the weather couldn't have been more perfect, and i was loving the texas sun and being able to wear shorts for the first time in 6 months!

it was filled with the most beautiful country wildflowers

small towns

cousin volleyball games

family

and this guy

life is so, so sweet. He has risen!

remembering paris

2010-03-31T22:49:00.002-04:00

(august 2009)

i love vacation. excited for summer trips and weddings!

mariemerin

2010-03-31T10:46:00.002-04:00

it is no secret that i love weddings. all things wedding.

so much, in fact, that i've been working for the last few months with mariemerin productions, a new event planning and production company started by two fabulous young women in new york city!

one of my favorite parts of working with MMP is getting to surf wedding blogs all day, finding the latest and greatest in wedding and party planning ideas.

we want to get the word out about MMP, and have therefore started a giveaway(!) on their website! the randomly selected winner will get a year's subscription to either the knot or the nest magazine--awesome for all you engaged and married couples out there!

so check out their site, share the link to the giveaway on your blog, twitter, facebook, etc. and link back to it in a comment on the MMP page!

happy giveaway-ing!

small pleasures!

2010-03-29T11:22:00.018-04:00

yahoo recently posted this list of 101 small pleasures we can all enjoy every day.

it's nice to be reminded of these simple, beautiful things in life which always are sure to make us smile.

below are some of my faves from the list.

coloring

via

crisp cotton sheets
sleeping in
a genuine compliment (giving or receiving)
a handwritten letter

movie theater popcorn

via

an afternoon nap (do we see a trend here, people? i like to sleep)
inspiring blogs

a bear hug

via

staying in your pjs all day

finding the perfect piece of clothing...on sale

via

really great advice
green lights all the way home

the sound of rain hitting the windows

via

holding hands
love letters

sitting at the counter of an old-fashioned diner

via

girl scout cookies

via

kissing someone you love

a spoonful (or 2 or 3) of peanut butter straight from the jar
your softest t-shirt
bacon and pancakes cooking on a saturday morning.

did i miss anything? do you have your own small pleasures? see the full list here and add your faves in the comments!

rainy days happy surprises

2010-03-23T23:43:00.004-04:00

while i'm not all about this rainy weather nyc seems to be having (which, of course, started as soon as i got back from texas), i am all about the quirkiness of this great city.

i mean really, where else will you find dog shaped bike racks (laguardia place)?

or a randomly painted heart (bleecker street)?

only in nyc!!

my man's idea: playlist roundup

2010-03-22T10:13:00.004-04:00

one of my man and my favorite things to do is drive around and listen to music.

we don't have to be going anywhere. in fact, it's better if we're not. we just listen and talk and talk and listen and enjoy having nothing to do but be in each other's company.

since we can rarely agree on the music we listen to, i decided to make him a playlist with music we BOTH like, or that has some meaning to each/both of us. HE suggested i make it a blog post to see if yall love/hate any of the songs. what a blogger-to-be he is becoming!

check it out below:

1. fireflies by owl city
2. lovely tonight by joshua radin
3. small town kid by eli young band
4. lollipop remix by framing hanley
5. say hey (i love you) by michael franti
6. aint no sunshine by bill withers
7. trouble by ray lamontagne
8. she is love by parachute
9. normal life by july for kings
10. just the same by big dismal
11. hearts burst into fire by bullet for my valentine
12. hallelujah by jeff buckley
13. haven't met you yet by michael buble
14. handlebars by flobots
15. taps by justin king
16. bottom of the barrel by amos lee
17. guinevere by eli young band
18. float away by july for kings
19. today was a fairytale by taylor swift
20. you said by shane and shane

so there it is. what do you think of this playlist? love/hate any of the songs?

are you out there? i know people read this (i have my ways), so come out and play...comment and share with me!

crazy girl (houston rodeo)

2010-03-20T03:35:00.005-04:00

tonight my boo and i went to the houston livestock show and rodeo.

fun and {lots of really bad} food were had by all.

a giant hot dog

an equally giant corn dog + the largest plate of fries ever
(*insert obligatory "everything's bigger in texas" comment here)

inside we watched some crazies bull and horse ride, as well as some little kids chase cattle and ride sheep for money.

oh texas.

best of all, the eli young band played some great songs, including this new one, which i love:

(video not mine, not even taken at the rodeo)

'twas a night of good ol' texan fun before heading back to nyc in a few days!

happy spring!!

2010-03-18T19:31:00.006-04:00

it's time for a happy post!

i am home for spring break and wanted to post a few pictures to welcome in spring!

boy am i welcoming this season with open arms. it's the perfect weather here in texas, and from what i'm hearing, it's great in NYC too!

me and my man walking his puppies today (LOVE wearing tank tops!)!

and here are just a few lovely spring images found here

thank you for continuing to pray for the moroccan orphans
and enjoy your first days of spring!

MOROCCO media contact list

2010-03-10T14:28:00.005-05:00

Thank you all for your overwhelming support! We are receiving good news that perhaps because of the backlash Morocco is facing they have slowed down or halted the expulsion of other children's home's workers in the area!

PLEASE take time and continue to reach out to your local news, as well as your congressmen and Moroccan and US embassies here and abroad.

Here is a great list of media contacts. Let's bombard these inboxes with our concerns. There's strength in numbers and someone has to listen! CLICK HERE FOR MEDIA CONTACTS.

Keep praying over these children and these homes. Not only VoH but all over Morocco.

MOROCCO VILLAGE OF HOPE UPDATES

2010-03-10T00:28:00.004-05:00

It has been over 24 hours since 20 workers (most, parents) at the Village of Hope were taken from their children, unexpectedly by Moroccan officials. They were given thirty minutes to pack their belongings and leave the country, with no guarantee of ever seeing their Moroccan children again. The Village of Hope has been in compliance and worked with the Moroccan government for ten years. As of January 4th, Morocco has a new Minister of Justice (ironic) Mohammad Naciri, one who feels he must exercise his power in order to shut down the Village of Hope because he believes "Christians are proselytizing."

Chris Broadbent (a New Zealander), one of the expelled Village of Hope workers and their primary media contact, sent out the following email yesterday, Monday March 8th. It is also posted on their website (Save Village of Hope):

March 08, 2010 17:27 GMT

Dear friends    We have just been called together by the authorities and told that all 20 foreigners at VoH must leave the country. They have not told us how long we have left, but it will be between 1 and 3 days. The reason given is that the abandoned children in the care of VoH have been proselytised to by us, that we are trying to make them Christian. This is despite the fact that we have always been open about our faith to the authorities, and for 10 years they have allowed VoH to take in and foster children abandoned by this society, children who would otherwise be killed or placed in state run ‘mega’ orphanages.

For us we leave friends, memories, hard work, but we leave with our children William and Samuel. For others it is not so easy. 33 children have just been abandoned again by the actions of the Moroccan state. Their foster mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers, must now leave them in Morocco and return to their home countries. These 33 children have never known another mother. Some of them have been here for 10 years, since the start of VoH. One of the older children just said to Tina, ‘Why couldn’t I have real parents’. Watching the children be told by their parents that they had to leave, that they would maybe never see them again, is the most painful thing I have ever witnessed.  Please pray for the children of Village of Hope, and for their parents and foster siblings who they must now farewell.   

And underneath are the everlasting arms.  

Yours faithfully  

Chris Broadbent

We are blessed with such a large and diverse community who cares for the Village of Hope. Many of the people that went with me on my mission trip to VoH in March 2009 live in New York and L.A., but are from all over the globe. This is amazing, as we have a unique opportunity to reach out to our home communities and spread the word!

As of today, we have new updates on the children, as well as progress on our efforts to get this story to the media, and most importantly, to government officials who can take action.

Tina Broadbent, Chris' wife, spoke to us, letting us know the children are being kept by some of their teachers, which is good news as it means they are with people who care for them. This, however, will only last for ten days, after which they will likely be put back into orphanages. Tina is concerned the Moroccan government will break up family groups (groups of orphans who are siblings under the same family) when they are put into orphanages. Pray that this does not happen.

Our team is working to reach our contacts at the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the State Department, The Vice Consulary General of Morocco here in NY, the UN, the Moroccan embassy in D.C., members of Capitol Hill, the Department of Justice in DC (specifically OPDAT), as well as our local representatives. A member of our team is in India for a year with International Justice Mission (IJM), and is working hard to gain press coverage on that side of the globe. We are literally working around the clock and around the world to gain as much coverage and attention to this terrible injustice as we can.

Things to pray for:

-The children, who are undoubtedly terrified and scared. That they would not feel a sense of abandonment. That they would know their parents love them so much and would never, ever leave them by their own will. That they would be able to remain together in family units if placed back in orphanages. That those with disabilities or medical conditions would get the proper care (care that often their parents only knew how to give them), and that their health and safety would not be neglected.

-The parents, who are gut-wrenchingly torn away from their children indefinitely. Many of their children have been with them since birth (children who are now 10), and their hearts are broken. Pray for their guidance as they figure out what to do next and how to deal with the Moroccan government moving forward. Pray they get to see their children again.

-The Moroccan Government, including the King and Minister of Justice Naciri, that God would move in their hearts and change them. That they would see what they have done and repent, and bring these parents back home to their children. These people need grace just like us, please pray for them.

-Our government, that they would take the necessary steps in doing their part to correct this wrongdoing. That our president and leaders would have guidance and discernment led by God to move forward as appropriate.

-The people of Morocco as a whole. We just got news this might be happening to other children's homes there as well as Christians in general there. Please pray for an immediate change in the heart of Narcisi.

-For our team, who is working tirelessly for these children. We will not give up. We will not.

What you can do:

SPREAD THE WORD. You have my full permission to repost to anyone and everyone you know, as well as give them my contact information below. I am willing to talk to press, officials, anyone, anytime day or night, to bring awareness to this issue. The press release in the last post can also be forwarded to media outlets, congressmen, whomever.

Frequently Asked Questions (answers from Chris Broadbent):

What do they think will happen to the kids, and how did they leave them? In someone's care or alone at the facility? We asked this time and again, and were simply told that the ‘state’ would take care of them. When the parents left the site under guard at 10.30pm, there was, to my knowledge, no one with the children apart from a group of about 20 male police (gendarmerie royale) who were just standing around outside or going through files in the admin office. We have heard nothing since. All of the employees have been told by the police that they are sacked. **We now have more info, as stated above.

What is the nature of their expulsion? Permanent or "pending charges." No ‘charges’ as such, they simply read out a formal declaration to us saying that we had been proselytising, and therefore were breaking the law, so our residency was revoked on the spot meaning we were now illegally in the country, and would be deported.

Will charges be filed? Not that I’m aware of, and all foreigners are now out of the country.

Will funds/facility be seized? Yes. At our reckoning there was about 260,000dh in the accounts, and about 30,000dh in the cash box on site. This is all money donated to VoH by overseas donors for use to operate the organisation or fund specific projects.

These very children I'm hugging in the pictures in the previous post no longer have parents, wow. Feel free to print and forward these as well.

Many thanks and blessings,

Elizabeth Shelby

elizshelby@gmail.com

morocco

2010-03-09T01:03:00.005-05:00

Dear friends,

Last spring break (09) I went to Ain Leuh, Morocco to spend a week working with a non-profit called The Village of Hope (http://www.voh-ainleuh.org/), along with 20 students from the Navigators Christian fellowship at NYU. Please see my blog entry on my time in Morocco here: How He Loves Us. The mission of the Village of Hope is "to establish a home for orphaned and unwanted children up to the age of 18 years. The facility will become a permanent home for the children. We will seek to provide these children with food, clothing, shelter, and personal care by adult foster parents." These foster parents, ten couples who come from all over the world, commit to spending 18 years at this small village in the Atlas Mountains, raising these 33 children as their own. As of today, they have been kicked out of the village and the country by the Moroccan government, leaving these children parentless, indefinitely.

Please review the press release below.

MOROCCAN AUTHORITIES INVADE CHILDREN’S ORPHANAGE – EXPEL PARENTS FROM COUNTRY

On Monday, March 8th, Moroccan authorities raided Village of Hope (VOH), a children’s home in the Middle Atlas mountains of Morocco, originally founded by two Americans in 1957 as a home for orphaned children. The authorities arrived during the school day, entered the classrooms and told the adopted children their parents are being told to leave the country and will be leaving the children behind.

In the ensuing chaos, officials told the parents at VOH that they are being expelled from the country because they have been talking to their children about Christianity.

In 2002, the Village of Hope registered with the Moroccan government as an official Christian organization and received permission to talk about Christianity to the children in their care. Under the Moroccan government, it is illegal for anyone to talk about their Christian faith without first being asked. In the case of these parents, they had gotten permission to do so from the government.

As the secret police raided VOH, children cried out hysterically for their parents who were being forced to board a bus to the airport 30 minutes after receiving this news. The authorities are not allowing the parents to take any of the children with them which leaves behind 33 children who were in their care.

The staff at Village of Hope had moved there to dedicate their lives to adopting unwanted and orphaned children. In Morocco, it is only legal for Muslims to adopt children so the parents were acting as “foster parents” but in actuality the children considered them to be their parents.

The staff were told this directive came from the new Minister of Justice for Morocco, Mohammed Naciri.

Contact from Village of Hope: Chris Broadbent, 212 650 731 307 kiwimaroc@gmail.com

These children's parents have been taken away from them by the Moroccan government. Please, please do your part to spread the word about this injustice. Feel free to link to my blog, copy my post or the press release, and get the word out HOWEVER you can. We cannot let these precious children become orphans, again.

Please email me day or night for more information on how you can get involved or if you want to be signed up on an email update list. Thank you: elizshelby@gmail.com

happy friday!

2010-03-05T12:43:00.006-05:00

is anyone else SO glad it's friday?

i am!

here are a few lovelies that i've found online the last few days. i love all.

i could totally rock this moxie necklace during the summertime:

and then sleep in this bed alllllll day:

{via anthropologie}

oh how i wish i knew what street these flags are on:

{via 20X200}

can't wait to fill in the blanks with this custom made planner i won(!) in a giveaway from julia bender photography!

what are your plans this weekend? i'm celebrating three of my dearest friends' birthdays! let the festivities begin!

water, and much prettier things

2010-03-04T15:31:00.007-05:00

hello my followers! after a LONG hiatus from this blog, i am back!

in case you were wondering (i don't think you were, since i'm pretty sure the only people who read this are my mom, grandmother and boyfriend, who all already of know the saga i'm about to tell) where i've been since my last post, which was from our first night in boston 2 weeks ago, well...our apartment got a little waterlogged.

and by a little, i mean a lot. while i was in boston and my roommate wasn't home, the apartment two floors above us caught fire, causing the fire department to come and spray, like firemen do, that entire apartment with gallons and gallons of water. which meant the apartment below them (above me) got that water coming in from their ceiling. there was so much, it even came down through their floor into OUR ceiling...and yes...onto and through our floors. since neither my roomie nor i were home, and weren't aware of the fire until at least 6 hours after it happened (thanks, super) most all our stuff got soaked. long story short, we have been relocated to another apartment while ours is being torn up and remodeled. this is a blog about things i love. and i do NOT love this. but here's a picture to get your sympathy vote:

BUT, on to MUCH prettier things.

these past few weeks have been stressful, no doubt, and new york often drives me crazy. but i cannot deny i love this city so much, and am so fortunate to live here. sometimes i just need a little reminder.

like this! a short film by sam o'hare, this video is made to look like a miniature version of a day of life in new york city. but in fact, this is not shot on film but with a series of still snapshots, using some fancy schmancy lenses. and these are actual images of the city made to look like a miniature version of nyc!

how absolutely beautiful is this?

do yourself a favor and watch the whole thing from start to finish.

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

mmmm. i just love it.

and if that weren't enough to feed my "i love new york" mindset today, the union square subway station had the BEST subway guitar player ever down on the L platform. i see him occasionally on my way home from work or school, but he especially caught my attention today because he was playing an amos lee song. amos holds a special place in my heart, because my man and i went to an amos concert for christmas three years ago, and it was by far one of the best shows i've ever been to.

amos makes me smile. and so does this guy's rendition of amos' song "seen it all before."(excuse the intermittent subway lady giving updates over the loud speaker, and the poor cell phone quality.) and don't worry, i gave this guy some money because frankly, he really deserved it.

that is all, friends! glad to be back. :)

boston love

2010-02-19T20:56:00.003-05:00

greetings from boston!

on a weekend trip with my cousin. had to get out of that crazy nyc.

more pics to come later!

lovelovelove

timwill photography

2010-02-18T14:58:00.008-05:00

time for my favorite photographer of all time!!

his name is tim willoughby and his company is timwill photography, of south carolina.

i am so excited to share with you this guy's amazing work. please check out his website and support him! he just had a baby with his beautiful wife, and they're doing awesome things. but first, here are just a few of his lovely, lovely images. swoon.
(click on image to enlarge)

his new son!

tim willoughby's talent is only matched by his heart.

as of this week, he has decided to team up with five non-profit organizations, and will donate ten percent of every dime he makes on ANY service to the charity that client selects. how awesome is this? to read what he's doing straight from his mouth, read his blog post here:

timwill giving back.

the organizations he's donating to are:

charity water, operation smile, CNEWA, partners in health, and acumen fund.

please check out these links and donate if you can, and visit tim's blog to see his latest work!

LOVElovelove

the greatest Love story

2010-02-18T01:42:00.004-05:00

did yall give up anything? and if you did, why? i find it funny when people give up their excessive habits for forty days just to pick them back up the day after easter.

do we pay attention to what lent is truly about? repentance, forgiveness, refocus, and love. the truest Love of all.

in case anyone is wondering, i have given up wedding blogs. not all blogs (like photo or friends'), just awesome wedding blogs specifically, like style me pretty and green wedding shoes and wedding blogs which lure me in and make me check the time two hours later realize my whole evening is gone.

at the ash wednesday service today the pastor asked us rhetorically: what does your mind wander to when you have free time? what do you fill that time with?

my answer, easily: wedding blogs. only for the simple smiles they bring me. the habit is not bad. it is excessive.

he then asked: if i were to give that [whatever you fill your time with] up, what would you fill that time with? something more valuable, more life-giving hopefully.

this wasn't meant to be a spiritual post, but if this blog is about love, the ash wednesday kicks off the greatest love story ever told.

...speaking of love stories, i will post my fave wedding photog post tomorrow (a day late, yes) and maybe we'll be reminded, once again, of what love really looks like.

a little brooklyn lovin'

2010-02-16T22:27:00.005-05:00

as i said in my first post, one of the little pleasures in life that gives me the most joy is good photography--of couples, of weddings, of people, of life. but it's gotta be good. i follow a number of photo blogs from amateurs and professionals in all fields of photography and love opening my computer every night to find new, pretty images!

so, needless to say, i nearly drooled over these next pictures which green weddings shoes featured today. taken by the awesome kyle hale, who is located out of atlanta, this engagement shoot was in brooklyn! right in my very neighborhood of brooklyn, no less. it was quite a pleasant surprise to look at these sweet images taken right where i live. literally! in one set of images my street is featured (friends and family who know where i live, can you guess the image(s))? these literally made my heart flutter. this is talent. beauty. love. and a little bit of the BK which i love so. check out the images below (click on the images to enlarge):

friends, check back tomorrow because i will be posting a photo feature of my favorite photographer of all time. i won't tell you who it is now, it's a surprise for tomorrow! i'll just say this--he does beautiful work and has a beautiful heart and WILL be taking some sort of pictures for me in the future. even if i do have to fly him all the way from charleston, s.c. (okay, there's one hint!) any guesses as to who it might be?

lovelovelove

anthro love & my love

2010-02-15T21:27:00.008-05:00

i don't think i know any girl who doesn't love anthropologie. their little gems are covet-worthy. but, alas, their pretty pieces come at a high price and force me to admire from afar. afar being through my computer screen. sigh. leave me a comment below and let me know which piece is your favorite! and head to anthro's website to check out more prettiness.

now, as promised, here is the story of my REAL love, the man. he and i met my freshman year of high school (his sophomore year) at a church car wash. though we didn't do much besides throw soap suds at each other at the time, we later got to know each other on a mission trip to jefferson, texas. he and i had been randomly placed in the same group, and he was the only other person from my church in my group (we had teamed up with several churches). i remembered him from the car wash. it's a funny story because the whole time he was actually asking me for tips and advice on how to impress another girl in our youth group. i thought he was so sweet for being so concerned with impressing her, but i kept my distance and remained his friend and advice-giver for the next year or so. we started dating the end of my sophomore year of high school, and the rest is history (almost five years later)!

well...almost. you see, since yesterday was valentine's day, i thought i'd make a little post about our unique valentine's day situation. since my man is a year older, he went off to college an hour away while i was still a senior in high school. when it was my turn to leave home for school, i chose to go to new york, given i'd probably never get the chance to live there ever again, and nyu is a great shool. needless to say, we've only spent one valentine's day together in all four of our valentine's days together. this is a picture from our very first v-day (in 2006):

we were babies!

this is us in january at a texans game(the most recent picture i have of us), before i left for school again (nearly four years later!) the yellow roses in the post below are from him this valentine's day. he sure does know what i like :)

hoping you all had a weekend of love and rest!

lovelovelove

i love

2010-02-12T19:26:00.001-05:00

welcome to my brand spankin' new blog, friends!

this is where i will share my latest loves, finds, and inspirations. a fun little place where we can all share these things together.

i thought it fitting in my first post to introduce you to what i love, since it was just valentine's day, and since this blog is titled "a whole lotta loving."

i love: this man

i love: these women

{via la vida azul}

i love: texas

i love: love letters{via: Pretty Little Tangents}

i love: pretty photography, like this:

{via luna photo}

and this:

{via tim will photography}

and this:

{via brion hopkins}

i love: yellow roses

i love: manhattan
i love: traveling.
to places like this:
paris
morocco
togo
greece
ghana {see my ghana elizabeth blog here}
turkey

i also love:
blue doors
beautiful weddings
long naps
junk food

manicures
the color teal
vintage postcards
not stressing
learning
love
the south
country music
living for the moment
and
the big guy (both of them)
[and so much more]

check back later for a post about my valentine's day weekend, and why me and my man were apart (for the fourth time) ha.

lovelovelove