what to wear no. 052810

I haven't owned a white dress since my sorority days at JMU (shout out Tri Sig) and we had to wear them for initiation things. I mean, aside from my wedding dress, that is...which could also be called my most favorite dress ever. It still gets a small hug when I walk by it hanging in the closet. But it feels so summery outside and I have another farmer's market tomorrow morning (same booth - by Bang and South Street Brewery) and so I'm feeling a little white dress love today. You'll likely find me there tomorrow in a black one...but, I mean, oh well. Plus we've already covered that I get to dream in fashion on this here blog. Especially on fashion fridays.

white dress | gray cami | belt | boots | laurel denise smile necklace

shower curtain blues

So it turns out getting a nice, white lace shower curtain might not have been the best move. It happens to be one of the most beautiful things ever, but maybe it would be better placed in a bathroom that no one uses? There are large yellow-ing circles appearing all over. I guess there's not much one can do to avoid moisture in a bathroom, huh? And that moisture shows. And it makes me look dirty. Gross me out. I'm going to attempt the dry-cleaning route, but if that doesn't do the trick, I might need to invest in another shower curtain. And in my extensive search for shower curtains this morning, it turns out that when it comes to bathroom decor, the time for tacky to shine is in full bloom. I think I've seen my share of sea shells, light houses, and SAT word memory games for, um, a lifetime. Seriously, people?! What I'd like to have hanging in my bathroom are curtains that look like these window curtains...but that gets tricky with the whole shower curtain liner situation and what not. Hmmm...thoughts, friends?

1. gray ruffles | 2. floral | 3. yellow curtain | 4. coral leafy curtain

floor mirrors

Currently, there is no long mirror in the Laurel Denise/Cute Husband household. If I'd like a view of the entire shebang, I have to tuck the shower curtain into the tub, step on the side of the bathtub, balance there without falling, and look into the bathroom mirror. You laugh, but it's the truth. These things happen here on a daily basis. So, yeah, I think it might be time to invest in a full-length-non-college-style-stick-to-the-wall mirror. And I do believe these fine selections might do the trick. I think number one is my fave, what do you guys think?

one | two | three

vintage brass numbers

If I were planning my wedding again, I would definitely-one-thousand-percent have to use these for something. Anything, really. Because they are oh so cool. Around the napkins, maybe, tied onto the programs, perhaps, helpful hints in the table assignments? Loving their simple vintage happiness a lot. I mean, a lot.

one | two | three | four | five | six

weekend no. 052210

Oh happy stay-at-home weekend, I love you so. I mean, any weekend that starts with homemade super duper fresh fish sushi eating gets a gold star in my ledger, you know? A bright, huge, happy gold star. And to say that this sushi eating was following by hours of Gilmore Girls watching and wine drinking is almost too much. Cup is flowing over and it's only Friday night. Saturday morning brought perfect Farmer's Marketing weather and, seriously, I get some of the nicest shoppers in the world coming to my table of goods. Thank you to everyone to stopped by to say hello and have a chat. I had a great time and think I managed to convince my 16-year old niece that getting up at 5am from time-to-time might kind of be okay. The rest of Saturday found me sleeping with some of the coolest dreams ever happening in my head and Cute Husband occupied himself with some man dates (there was talk of brownies the size of my Blackberry. Jealous.) After that we welcomed a new friend to town for the summer with some good old JMU-style Bw3 wing eating. That's right. Sunday was Portico church in the am, then watching my beautiful mom get a standing ovation to accept an award (tears, friends, there were lots of tears), and...and...I can hardly get the words out...a good bye to Lost with our friends Amanda and Brad. What. An. Episode. I still can't quite decide how I feel about it, but it was a beautiful episode of television (or movie) and I'm so happy to know my Oceanic Flight 815 friends are blissful and together and in love. So very in love! Who knew that would be the theme for the end of Lost?! Heart.

what to wear no. 052110

Oh happy, happy Friday, my friends. Let's see, on the books for this lovely Charlottesville weekend Cute Husband and I have a date night with one of our favorite couple friends, Brett and Nathaniel, tonight. Saturday morning starts bright an early for us with another city market showing on Saturday morning (please do come by and say hello - I'll be there with my adorable 16-year-old niece in booth 99 again), followed quickly by an afternoon nap I'm sure. Sunday we have church and I have a coffee date with one of my friends from college in town for the weekend and then we are hosting a very small "lost: the super bowl" gathering with another favorite couple friend, Amanda and Brad. Those Lost writer "friends" of ours have a lot to cover on Sunday night, but I'm thinking that they should be able to do that in, oh, the four hours that have been blocked off for coverage.

denim bow tie skirt | white tee | sam edelman hamilton shoe | straw hat | simple joy laurel denise leather | love laurel denise leather

studio tour no. 052010

It's been a pleasantly busy, but not frantic, week in Laurel Denise-ville. Counting catalogs, sending out the first round of showroom samples to The Simblist Group in Atlanta, hosting a meeting with the lovely ladies and gent in the Craft Attack crew, making some custom bridal earrings (a task that found me shakin' in my boots as I like to say - this bride has style and so does the groom and I don't wire wrap...this was a first for me, for sure...so I wasn't absolutely positive about what I was doing), making some custom brides maid necklaces, and...finally...receiving my new beautiful postcard with a typo included. Fail. Fail. Fail. I seriously do this all the time. With every printed thing ever. I rush in my mad dash to get something, anything, checked off of my to do list and then I print things with errors. Always. So that was a nice little donation I gave Vista Print. Love when I do that. Did I mention fail?

print love

Let's see, how many posts can I write about that involve me needing to hang art in the place I live? Not quite as many as my love of cream and gray clothing, I guess, but still. Sorry, friends, but the walls are still empty (minus some cute coat hooks from Anthro) and all of our artwork is still leaning against the dining area floor. Classy. I'm thinking the reason the are all still on the floor is because the artwork we currently have isn't as cool as the artwork above. Like, not even close.

Yee Haw farmers market print (which is so much cooler in person - spotted it at my new friend's place in Richmond last weekend) | Yee Haw wood type print | Yee Haw sunny side print | farmers market bike print | freya art birdie love print | love is the new black print | think happy, be happy print

wapa on etsy

I think Creature Comforts posted about this beautiful work last week. I'm almost positive. It's gorgeous, isn't it? Wapa on Etsy. Check it out. It's delicious.

weekend no. 051510

I should have a million pictures to show you guys this Monday. Unfortunately, I'm staring into the face of my first weekend fail here, friends. Weekend fail. I had a girls night (watching one of the worst girly movies, um, ever), we went to Richmond to the most beautiful house for an engagement party (featuring some of the best breakfast sandwiches I've ever tasted), we explored Carytown in Richmond, Va with its most adorable vintage shops, we made some new friends, we tried the new brunch at Eppie's, we went to church, we took naps, we had friends over to watch games, we tried a new Thai place...I mean, y'all...things happened this weekend! And what do I have to show for it? A picture of two signs and a menu. Wow. Jewelry designer blogging fail. It stings, friends, it really does.

what to wear no. 051410

Oh happiness happiness that it's Friday! This was a full and busy and slightly hectic week and I've been longing for the weekend for a few days now. And we have quite a full one planned here - an evening out with the ladies for me tonight (we're going to see Letter's To Juliet...girly movies make me smile) and a night of man friend-ness for Cute Husband, a trip to Richmond, Va tomorrow for an engagement party and a quick dash return home on Sunday morning in time for a special event at Eppie's in Charlottesville followed quickly by some good lovin' at church. Lots of to and fro. Hopefully somewhere in that mix our ceiling will stop the rain from coming inside our house. That would be fantastic. The tap tap tapping is slowing/quickly driving me insane.

Outfit note: This is my attempt to not feature something blue/gray/cream. Hope it's working...although I haven't owned anything red since college, I think.

red dress | skinny jeans | gray shoes | laurel denise miracles happen necklace

studio tour no. 051310

I can't believe we're here at another studio tour Thursday. The first question I have is how on earth is it already May 13th?? The second question I have is what did I do all week? We all know all I have to do is refer to my color-coded to-do list iCal thingy to answer that second question. I mean, duh. Is it possible that I'm still working on samples for my sales reps? It is. It is possible. I finished up those purity night necklaces and shipped them off yesterday. What a pleasure and an honor to get to be involved in that kind of special event. I hope the girls that receive the beautiful words of their choosing love them as much as I loved working on them. Those cute little ducks you see up there are part of a necklace for my momma on Cute Husband's side. She loves ducks so I made her a necklace with seven little ducks - one for each of her sons, their ladies and the cutey baby in the family. I also made a little sample test of a silhouette necklace for the lovely Le Papier Studio - the store I work with on custom pieces. Not sure if we'll launch these cuffs right away, but I do know that we'll be doing some sort of leather creation and maybe a sterling necklace or two. Just maybe. More news on that in a few months. Also received word that Chasing Fireflies is going to plan on selling my custom leather bracelets (and a few from the general collection) and Wireless Catalog is going to sell a piece from my simply stated glass line this fall. Happy news!

not so green thumb

Much to my mom's true disappointment (a true gardener), I don't have the greenest of thumbs. Cute Husband seems to love on our plants a bit better than I do - giving them names, following a dedicated watering schedule and attempting a living room "adjustment" so that the dear plants can get the light they need to survive. In January, we lost our one and only plant. His name was Sideshow Bob (just Sideshow for short and, yes, like the Simpsons) and I do believe he met his final fate alone on a moving truck that was parked outside in the middle of winter with Sideshow and the rest of our belongings tucked safely inside. It was a sad day to see those frozen leaves, let me tell you. Since then, we've gotten Two (as in, "Sideshow 2"), Thore, and most recently Elmer. But, seriously, these plants need some prettier dresses before they make themselves at home in my home, is all I'm saying. And, according to this post and my color preference this morning, I guess this dress has to be either yellow or gray. I promise that happened entirely by coincidence until I needed to fill the number 6 spot and started looking for another yellow one, just to keep everything organized. Hilarious. Me = creature of habit.

one | two | three | four | five | six

felted pebbles

I saw some gorgeous felted pebbles at a shop in town recently. They were, oh, you know, about $99 each or something like that. Just couldn't bring myself to make that sort of purchase, friends. So I came home and did what any respectable crafter might do - I searched you tube videos on how to create those for myself. For more like $9. Turns out felting takes a long, long time and a lot of patience and poking. Enter the land of Etsy and google searching where I found these beautiful felted pebbles all laid out for my purchasing. Not sure which ones I like best yet, but I think these would make the most beautiful and simple table display.

one | two | three

weekend no. 050810

Well, after I only burned one thing for my little birthday dinner on Friday night (balsamic chicken, you are so moody), I knew the weekend was going to be a good one. To start it out with good friends, good sangria, good snacks and only one food fail is kind of the way to start a weekend if you ask me. Plus I got the adorable and beautiful orchid you see pictured above. We named him Thore. Jedd's a fan of the name, so I let him name the orchid since that little name is most certainly not going on our "list." On Saturday, we headed up to Northern Virginia to spend some time with our family there who I miss so much and even more so when we've just returned from 48 hours of non-stop laughing, loving and fun with a delicious meal or two mingled in. Overall, this Mother's Day and birthday weekend mixed into one was a huge win. One of those weekends were you feel like you might be the luckiest and most loved person, um, ever.

what to wear: birthday weekend no. 050710

So, okay, I wear a lot of blue and grey with some sort of skinny pant. In fact, maybe I should rename this Friday post "how to wear blue and grey and maybe a little white" or something? Oh, and my accent color of choice is definitely a mustard yellow. You know, in case ya hadn't noticed. But it's my biiiiirthday weekend and I can wear neutral and happy and calming colors if I want to. That's how the song goes, right? I plan on making this sangria recipe (you're the best, Marcy) and eating lots of small fancy foods - including, but most definitely not limited to, a baked goat cheese with fig dish. That's right. That's what I said. Let's be real, that dish will only be included if I can figure out exactly how to make it. I'm still not sure.

electric blue flowy tank | white camisole | slate cardigan | skinny jeans | yellow heels | laurel denise faith necklace

studio tour no. 050610

All I know about the laurel denise studio this week is that every single day when asked "how was your day," my reply has been "insane." But, sitting here this morning trying to recall exactly what I've been insane with, I can't really come up with much. Oh how I love when that happens. Busy, busy, busy work. Lots of adorable husbands calling and emailing this week to get their wives' a Mother's Day gift - so many rushed Elements pieces called for in these projects. A few graduation and Mother's Day wholesale orders sent out the door and more sample gathering for my sales rep teams. Hard to believe that the second wholesale show season of the year is only a few months away. Time to tuck that realization away in my brain for a few more weeks before my day becomes "insane" again when it's barely in the 8 o'clock am-s. Oh! Fun! I also got my copy of the wedding book Wedding Planning Made Easy that featured my cross-stitched reserved signs. I blushed and felt all giddy and happy inside and sort of wanted to dance around the kitchen when I got my copy. What an honor. Oh and double fun! I started sketching some new leather pendant ideas for the Texture collection - I'm so excited about these and hope to the highest hopes that I can get these done in time for that wholesale show season I just mentioned. Not likely, but I'll give it my a-game.

texture collection additions

Welp, here are those new leather bracelets I promised everyone about two weeks ago. Oh how I heart technology fails. Really and truly. Guess it happens, even to the best of us, right? And especially to people like me who are so not the best of us when it comes to technology fails. I don't, um, handle it well...most of the time. This time I remained pretty calm, clear and collected though if I do say so myself. Kind of a miracle. I added about 12 bracelets to the collection. Check them out here! Free shipping on these until Monday with code "mom"...because I heart you and all.

hobo international

I got a brand new wallet. And it's fabulous. And it was purchased as an early birthday present from me to me at O'Suzannah this weekend. Can anyone here understand the joy of getting to clean out and reorganize your entire wallet system? I mean, is there anything (not favorite food of the moment consumption based) that's better in the entire world? Such a happiness does not come around the corner ever day, my friends, and I relished in it on Sunday afternoon.

weekend no. 050110

The biggest news of the weekend was most definitely the Craftacular event on Saturday. What a fun way to spend the day - with all of the lovely, talented, nice and amazing ladies and gentleman (just one) of the Craft Attack crew. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and purchased and chatted and just said hello. We had so much fun and I can't wait for the holiday show planning to begin! The other big news is that Cute Husband and I somehow and someway remembered that we purchased Brian Regan show tickets for Sunday night. We really and truly almost forgot. It took walking down the mall, seeing the sign on the Paramount theater box office and hearing a loud click in the depths of my memory loudly sound to remember that we had plans to go to the show. I'm so thankful for remember because, I'm not kidding, I haven't laughed that hard in ages. That guy is definitely a talented comedian and his opening act, Jim Colliton, was awesome, too.