this woman...

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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...