Our Wedding on SMP Texas!

Yay for weddings!  When I was planning our wedding I visited Style Me Pretty daily (and, admittedly, most days since our wedding.)  So when our amazing photographer, Jenn Lindberg, contacted me to say she wanted to submit our wedding to SMP, I almost died at the thought of it being chosen.  How exciting!

Lucky for us, our wedding was published today.  I'm blushing because of Abby's sweet words about us and got all teary-eyed looking at the photo-montage of our photos.  I'm so happy our day and Jenn's fantastic photography can be shared with so many!  Jenn was truly a gem to work with: her ability to stay centered and calm left me feeling happy and relaxed even in those moments I could feel my anxiety starting to bubble.  Paul and I both tend to get self-conscious in front of the camera, but Jenn and her adorable husband, Jim, put us both at ease and captured such sweet and touching moments.  Plus, she customized a photography package to fit our budget.  Jenn & Jim, are so lovely and we really adored them. 

So,  visit the SMP Texas site today and leave a comment about your favorite part of our day!

xo,

steph

{image by Jennifer Lindberg Weddings}

new look + fun news!

Morning + happy Friday!  Do you like the new look?  I hope you do!  I'm still working on some of the details, so hang in there while I tidy my space up a bit more.  I ended up pushing my blog re-design because of some very exciting news I have to share with you later today!

Until then, you can admire the gorgeous peonies I picked up the other day; they make me ridiculously happy.  And so does the new issue of Veranda, which is a.m.a.z.i.n.g.  More on that later, too!

xo
steph

{image: meyer on the wire}

loving...

Joy's nursery mood board for her upcoming bundle of joy!  What a lucky little girl, no?

click here to view sources for these fun items!

xo,

steph

99 on June 9

Today is June 9 and the heat index is 99.

There are many reasons this is depressing, but I'll spare you and just list two:

1. 99 degrees with 45% humidity is, in one word, nasty 

2. This is actually cooler than it has been here lately.

When it is this hot outside I make every attempt to stay inside unless there is a pool or lake within arm's distance.  It's really better for everyone's sake that I do this since I can get pretty bitchy grumpy if I'm forced to withstand long periods (over 10 minutes) in the Texas heat.

But, I'm working hard on a handful of things in my air-conditioned confines and one of them is a little blog face-lift, yay!  I really want to add this Lindsey Adelman Chandelier DIY to my indoor activity list, too.  I think it's pretty amazing.

Stay cool, peeps.

xo,

steph

{image source: lindsey adelman studio}

p.s. A few people asked about me about following my blog.  I'm embarrassed to say the followers section has always made me self-conscious.  But, today I caved and added the little gadget to my sidebar.  So, follow me...I promise you, it will make my day!  

Paul's Artwork

Sacred Hoop

Today I'd love to share my talented husband's artwork with you.  Paul paints on canvases and uses materials such as plaster, resin, paint, burlap, wood and other found objects.  His paintings are highly textured and feel almost sculptural.  We have several hanging in our house and I love how each one looks different depending on the light of the day.

Ballad of Saint Rose

Prey

On Returning to Worship the Ruins

Progress

Saint Quebrantahuesos

Pathetique

This Thursday, an art benefit is being held in Paul's honor.  This is the first showing Paul has had in his hometown, and we are both nervous and excited.  We are also blown away by the support we have received since Paul's accident, and overwhelmed that so many people came together to organize this event.

You can view more of Paul's artwork here.  I'll be sure to post details on the benefit!

xo,

steph

p.s. Thanks for all of your sweet and thoughtful comments.  I was thinking late last night that I had failed to mention the outpour of love and support so many of you were a part of when Paul was in the hospital and during the hardest parts of his recovery. As difficult as this time has been for us, the love we've felt has turned a traumatic event into a profound experience.  From the bottom of my heart, I thank all of you.

A new start

Dear friends.  It's been a long time and I'm so happy to return to my little blog.  My last post was on March 11, nearly three months ago.  Two days later, on March 13, my husband Paul was painting when the scaffolding that his ladder was on collapsed.  He was alone, but based on the area he was painting, he is thought to have been between 25-28 feet high when he fell.  His accident was life threatening.  A blood clot in his brain nearly took his life.  But, today, he is alive, he is well, and he will heal.

There is so much I want to write about our experience.  During it all, I found myself retreating to the smallest circle of family and friends and focusing on taking each moment at a time.  And it seems I've remained within the confines of this little refuge for quite some time.  For better or worse, this tragedy changed the course of our life.  It redefined us as a family and as individuals. Over the past months, I've thought a lot about my little blog.  I've considered posting several times, but always found myself unable.  It was as if I didn't recognize myself anymore.  The person I was, was no more.  Everything seems different now and I've had a hard time seeing anything other than what our life used to be like; what our family looked like or how we interacted before Paul's accident.  It's strange, but our life after the accident has seemed almost foreign, like I'm peering in from some place else.

But then today, I got an email with these...

And I realized: We made it.  We are a family and we made it.

And, the part of me that was still standing in that trauma room, feeling small and helpless, considering the fragility of my sweet husband's mortality, pondering what life would look like from that point forward: just let go.

We have been given a new start.  And we are so grateful.

xo,

steph

p.s. These photos were taken Mother's Day weekend by the amazing and adorable Wendy of Blue Lily Photography.  Wendy is one half this talented photography couple, her husband Tyler completes the team.  We love the photos and loved our photo shoot with Blue Lily!

happy {spring forward} weekend...

As a working mom and a devoted member of the "people who sleep >5 hours a night and are also 'morning people' are crazy" club, I don't take losing an hour of sleep lightly.  But, can I get a woot-woot for day-light savings this weekend?  I mean, I am o.v.e.r. dark winter nights (for all you northerners, I use the term 'winter' here loosely.  Sorry some of you still have snow on the ground.  Come visit...the redbuds are blooming!).

Here's to dinners on the porch and longer days for little {and big} weasels to play outside.

Links to love...

The March*April issue of Lonny is live!  Yay!

I love these.  {confession: they make me ridiculously happy}

It's pricey, but works magic on those pesky under-eye circles.

Still loving Wayne Pate prints.  Dylan has one in his room and loves it too.  Kid approved.

These beige summer sandals are comfy and go with everything in my closet.  Plus, they're less than $100.

These easy, breezy hair tutorials make me miss my long hair.

10 Commandments of Flea Marketing in France.



xo,
steph

{image via lonny}