Today's To Dos

* Finishing up a couple of handmade gifts for my sissies.

* Still looking for those elusive riding boots.

* Exchanging a skirt at J.Crew

* Looking for cute tights (any recommendations?)

* hair appointment at 11am

What is everyone up to today?

xoxo

On a mission..in search of equestrian prep

Ahhh....equestrian prep. For some reason, it's one of my fave styles of preppy fashion. Maybe it's the fitted blazers. Maybe it's the horses. Maybe it's the boots. Ok, it's definitely the boots.

Today, I'm on a mission to find some fabulous riding boots. I do intend to take these up to north for Christmas so I don't want to break the bank. ::FYI Southern gals, snow and leather do NOT mix. Seriously, northern preps, how do you keep your fashionable sense of style while keeping your body temperature above freezing?::

Quick embarassing story: My first trip with Southern Hubby (Southern Boyfriend at the time) occurred in February. My bags were packed full of my super cutest. It was the first time I was to meet his family, after all. My winter gear consisted of black leather pointy boots and a chic black leather car coat ::both of which were the height of fashion at the time:: I don't think I need to tell you what kind of looks this girl got when she headed into town... I was mortified. And f-f-freezing. A cute leather jacket could cut it in Dallas, but these people were bundled up like eskimos. Everyone was wearing parkas and work boots.  I guess up north, it's survival/comfort before fashion. To this day I still get comments about the city girl trying to make her way in the snow.

Again, back to the topic at hand...I fully intend to find some boots online. ::I do not feel like braving the malls today. A J.Crew trip yesterday left me worse for wear. So, I'm all about staying in my flannel pj's with my hot cup of coffee::

I don't know if I can do it, but I want to stay in the $150-$200 range. I'll hit up the usual online stores but I plan on scoping out a couple of new ones I recently heard about. If I go in with a positive attitude, I know it will happen! Wish me luck!!

xoxo

Not feeling it

I don't know what it is, but lately I have SO not been feeling like blogging. Maybe it's the many many (many!) orders I got that I had to complete all by my lonesome. Maybe it's the tension and migraines that will not seem to go away. Maybe it was the Thanksgiving decoration that literally just came down last Tuesday (I told you I was busy!). Maybe it's that I'm still not caught up on laundry. (Y'all, it got so bad Southern Hubby volunteered to help me! Bless his heart- he can't fold a t-shirt to save his life. And I've taught him step by step- twice! But I digress...) But whatever it is, I've been neglecting my little blog, and for that, I'm sorry.

And I feel like I've been neglecting my home. (Seriously, how do you career women balance your home lives with your careers? It's been tough and any woman that works and manages to put a home cooked meal on the table in a neat and tidy home with joy still in her heart deserves an award in my book!) It's gotten to the point where I think I need to scale back on my business and re-focus my attention on home and family. After all, that is why I quit teaching in the first place.

Spiritually speaking, I also feel like I've been neglecting my relationship with God. I still pray and we attend church, but I don't spend time on prayer and in my bible studies as much as I used to. At this time last year, I was rising long before Southern Hubby, when it was still dark. I'd put on a pot of coffee, gather my books and my bible and spend at least one hour (often more) reading, listening to wonderful podcasts, taking notes, praying, journaling- anything that put my day's focus on God. And I did this every single morning. I didn't dread it. I looked forward to it and relished in the quite time with me and Him.

I've only got a week before my routine is distrupted again (we're heading to Southern Hubby's home state to spend Christmas with his family before coming back to Texas to spend it with mine) but I want to make that week as organized and as uneventful as possible. I'm getting/doing a couple of things to make sure that happens:

* re-vamping my Daily Checklist

* continuing my yoga classes at the gym

* just purchased this re-fillable monogrammed journal from Jenni Bick for my bible studies. (LOVE that place) Of course I got the pink. And not only is it re-fillable (hooray for less waste) but it's not real leather. Any time I can get simulatedleather for something, I'm totally game. Makes me fill less guilty for all my Kate purses, I guess. lol) Not only is my old journal almost full, but there's something about a fresh start that gets me excited about organization.

* going to library to look for books on how to start meditating. My doctor actually told me this may help my migraines. At this point, I'm ready to give anything a shot.

* Getting back in the habit of reading all the homemaking blogs that used to give me encouragement, support, ideas and make me feel good about being a homemaker, like this one, this one, and this one.

Wish me luck! :) I'll be back soon with our holiday decorations. Have a great monday, y'all!

xoxo

UPDATE: Just re-did my daily checklist and it totally kicks butt! Can't wait get time to post it for y'all! :)

Rolling Stone Magazing

I'm sure a lot of y'all have heard the news since I twittered the heck out of it (I was so excited!) But Dave Grohl, the lead singer for Foo Fighters and member of the band Nirvana, was featured in the December 10th issue of Rolling Stone magazine. And he happens to be wearing a charm that I made him!! Yes! Her Southern Charm is officially on Dave Grohl's neck!! lol! We were all so crazy excited!

I've zoomed in a little for you so you can get a clearer shot. It's the one circled. He wanted the Austin Framed Disc with the first letter initials of his wife and two daughters. I think it's so sweet and adorable that he wears it. ;)

I also wanted to mention that anyone was thinking of ordering a necklace from Her Southern Charm, please do so TODAY! I'm going to close up shop for the month of December. We are so bogged down with orders and I'm trying to fill them just as fast as I can, but I can't seem to keep my head above water. (Hence me being MIA lately.) So that I don't become a Grinch and miss all of the holiday season, I need to be able to get caught up- which means I can't take any more orders after today. I'll re-open sometime in January.

Hope y'all are enjoying the season!

xoxo

Can't Complain

Now that we are in the thankful spirit, let's remember that complaining is a sort of reverse thankful spirit. Complaining only serves to remind of us of how bad we think we have it. But we must remember the others of the world. The world is not just made of us and the people we interact with.

I came upon this letter that serves as a wonderful reminder of just how good we really have it. Read it and see if you don't feel like the luckiest person alive.

Dear Sisters,

“Do everything without complaining or arguing.” Philippians 2:14

How I hear these Words in my mind over and over, especially when I want to do one or the other. Mostly the complaining part. So within the last year I have had this imaginary conversation with a woman from the mid 1800’s; and when I am tempted to complain, rather than to thank God for His many goodnesses, I say this silently to her in her era:

How can I complain when I can hold the whole counsel of God in my hands and read it any time I want?

How can I complain when I can go to the sink and hot and cold water pours out for me at the flick of my wrist?

How can I complain when at the push of a button I can have instant heat on my stove?

How can I complain when it takes me minutes to load my washer and at the push of a button all the work is done for me?

How can I complain when I can get into my car and be at a market within 15 minutes?

How can I complain when I can have hot or cold air piped into my car while driving?

How can I complain when I can listen to the most beautiful music while driving?

How can I complain when I can see the doctor or the dentist on the same day I am suffering?

How can I complain when I can write a letter and send it to be received on the same day I sent it?

How can I complain when the shelves are so full of good things at my supermarket?

How can I complain when I can buy clothes cheaper than the cost of just the thread at garage sales and thrift shops?

How can I complain when I can turn on this machine called a vacuum and it sucks up all the dirt for me in my house?

How can I complain when I can sleep in front of a fan in the hottest time of summer?

How can I complain when I can go to the air conditioned library in the summer and use their computers for free?

How can I complain when I can talk to my mother in another state on a moment’s notice over a hands free phone?

How can I complain when I can soak away my aches and pains in hot water piped right into my tub?

How can I complain when I don’t have to use an outhouse, rather a lovely bathroom right inside my home?

How can I complain when I have this big above ground pool right in my backyard to jump into when it is so hot?

How can I complain when I have a closet full of clothes for my whole family?

How can I complain when I can turn on my t.v. and learn a whole new recipe from a celebrated chef for free?

How can I complain when I can buy canned food for my winter pantry already canned for me?

How can I complain when I can lay fully back in my chaise lounge chair on a heating pad when I am ill?

How can I complain when I want to go to a concert that I can listen to it right in my kitchen on a CD?

How can I complain when at the flick of a switch I can light up a whole room?

How can I complain?

How can I possibly complain?

“For if a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness…I say that a stillborn child is better than he…though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, even if he lives a thousand years twice – but has not seen goodness.” Eccl. 6:3-6

How can I complain when every day is such Sweet Sabbath Rest with Him?

Love,
Laine

Let's be thankful for all the little things we take for granted that are huge things to other people. I hope y'all had an amazing and special Thanksgiving!

xoxo

I'm a fabric addict

I'm so loving this new quilt store I found. I can go in there and spend hours just looking at the colors and patterns, dreaming of all the quilts I could make...if I knew how to quilt. But I did start making a little something.

After probably half a year of wanting to make a patchwork camera strap for my DLSR, I just jumped in a did it. That's the thing with me and crafts. I can't plan and plot and conjure up all these schemes. It will take me forever. I just have to jump in and do it.

And I did just that.

I see a lot of these under the tree this year.... ;)

Happy Monday, y'all!
xoxo

Churchill Winners!!

I'm so sorry  I am finally getting around to this. As you can imagine, the holidays have been keeping me busy. I've had so much around the house to catch up on after being sick for almost 2 1/2 weeks. I don't even want to think about the laundry pile that is slowly getting smaller or the fridge that is practically empty.

Anyway, on to the winners!

The winner of Swag Bundle #1 is.... LISA W. from Valdosta, GA.

The winner of Swag Bundle #2 is...ANNA S. from Germantown, TN

The winner of Swag Bundle #3 is...KATHLEEN F. from Charlotte, NC

Winners, please contact me! Again, thank you SO much to all the winners and those who donated to the swag bundles. Y'all are amazing! :) From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you! I plan on calling SA Animal Services tomorrow to see how Churchill is doing. I will report anything I find! :)

xoxo

Jennifer

Churchill ASAP!

Hey y'all! Thanks so much for all the sweet emails and comments. After my second doctor's visit, they decided that not only do I have bronchitis (which apparently takes forever to clear up) but I have a bad sinus infection on top of that. These past couple of weeks have been horrendous. Seriously.

Anyway, I've got a ton of things waiting for me when I get better...mounds of laundry, many HSC orders, and sweet Churchill!!!! I took off the donations icon as I'm no longer accepting them. If you missed all the mess, basically, I was unable to get most of the donations as I had to attach my bank account to the paypal. To me, that seemed a bit fishy. I wouldn't want to send money to some crazy dog lady whose bank account was attached to the donations page and I'm assuming y'all wouldn't want to either!! So... I'm praying those who got their donations back sent them in via snail mail. (I still have a list of the names for the drawing.)

As soon as I can get to it, I'll tally up the total of donations AND get the winners of the drawing out. We had sooo many good sponsors and soooo much awesome goodies. I can't wait to see who wins!!!

Click here for updated news on Churchill. ;)

Thank you again for opening up your wallets to sweet Churchill.

Happy Friday and thanks for your patience. I'll be back up and blogging again soon, I hope!! :)

xoxo

Preppy Blogger of the Week: EKM's Epigrams

Please forgive the lateness of this post. I went to the doc this weekend, and I have bronchitis. Bronchitis! Ugh. I'm so depressed. I've seriously been sick for almost two weeks now. The weather here is gorgeous and I'm missing it all. I'm so tired of being in my bed. My laundry pile is ginormous. I'm getting behind on my orders. And I miss hanging out with my friends. Ok, enough whining. I just had to vent.

On with this week's PBoTW:

This week, Hopsy and I chose EKM's Epigrams. After one of the greatest bbm chats eva, I soooo love EKM. She totally gets me and I love her for that. And her blog is such a great read...full of wonderful stories and positivity. Love that! So, grab some coffee and settle in for an interview with one fab gal. I promise, by the end of reading this, you'll love her, too. ;)

1. How did you come up with your blog name?

I am a literature/word nerd (read: major book worm!), and love alliteration and terms that mean witty things. I would've loved to have used 'musings' but alas, I needed an 'E' word so there came 'epigrams'.

2. What preppy item could you not live without; aka the one thing you would take with you to a deserted preppy island?

Assuming there is clean water and limes for me to have lime water... :); I would say sun block and I guess I would have to invest in a Kindle so I could read as much as I wanted!! And by deserted, I hope that means resort!

3. Who is your preppy icon?

Well one of the first blogs I read was Hopsy's (KappaPrep) and fell in love immediately with her charm and her cheerfulness! Of course, any one would be jealous of her TDF Lilly collection! I also really love Megan's (PrettyinPinkMeg) style. She isn't always "preppy pink and green," but she is definitely classy and can put things together I would never imagine!

4. Where do you find your daily blog inspiration?

Sometimes it comes from conversations (many gchats with Muffy!), what's going on in my life, what's on my mind (which could be who knows what because my mind has a million things on it at all times!), or just something I might have read. I enjoy reading inspirational quotes and try to live up to "weekly wisdom," but I do fail at posting consistently!

5. What is your favorite preppy photo of yourself?

This picture is from this summer when SilverFox and I attended a reception in Auburn for his childhood friend/college roommate. He married in St. Lucia over Memorial Day (we went for the wedding) and had a nice reception for family and friends in Auburn! I love this Lilly print and the halter is very flattering. I am wearing my pearls I received for graduation from high school and my pearl/diamond earrings match the same ring that I received as a present from my parents for my first debutante ball. My antique sapphire/diamond ring I received for Valentines when I was 16 and my John Hardy black sapphire bracelet. I wear this jewelry everyday! Probably too dressy, but it is sentimental and I love it. I feel "nekkid" without earrings.

6. If you could have one celeb's wardrobe including shoes and bags, whose would you get?

I'm not sure of a celebrity, but I would gladly take Shasta's (MyBlondeReality) or Megan's (PrettyinPinkMeg) any day!!!!! I really love classic pieces that are timeless and these lovely ladies own a lot of pieces I would love to have!

7. What clubs, societies, or volunteer organizations are you involved in? Were you in a sorority in college?

I am an Alpha Delta Pi alumnae! I am currently VP Hospitality of the Public Relations chapter here at Auburn and I am an assistant copy editor for the student-run newspaper. So that is a lot of time. I used to volunteer more, but can't find as much time for it now! I was on Lobby Board last year which is a part of the SGA. I also was presented in a couple of debutante balls, we tried to do some philanthropic work with that, too. I know my mother is excited for me to turn 23 so I can be in Junior League. She is a sustainer and I know she will love to have me as a member! I look forward to other organizations that I can be apart of in the future!

8. What were your plans for the weekend?

This weekend was Auburn Homecoming! One of my best friends was Top 5 for Miss Homecoming so I was excited to see who would win! Although she didn't, another great girl did and she is in the same major as me, which is great!! My sister and I have had a very relaxed weekend! She has had some sinus crud so we didn't want to do much. She is 7 years younger than me, so it is nice to catch up with her.

9. Describe your perfect preppy outfit. Don't forget to include accessories.

I am definitely a spring/summer wardrobe type of gal--I know it's been said, but I just love a classic Lilly dress! Shift, Halter, Strapless, whatever! I love Tibi, too. But can't go wrong with LP! I'd pair it with Jack Rogers and a cute clutch. Although I usually just have my blackberry and my Lilly keychain wallet with me! I also always wear my RayBan sunglasses and I have a cute green polka dot Tucker Blair headband (my favorite is the orange/blue stripped-War Eagle!). I'd of course pair it with said jewelry wardrobe.

The Last Straw

Today is the first day that I've felt like my normal self. Who knows what I had. Flu, cold, H1N172, I don't care what you call it; it was just pitiful.

So, when I woke up this morning and didn't feel like asking SH to shoot me in the head, I knew I was on the path to recovery. And what better way to recover than to start my first day of my green smoothie challenge? :)

Now, I'll be the first one to tell you that I'm not going to be able to do this like Sara really wanted us to. I can do the smoothies most mornings and I can stop drinking cokes (or pop if you're a Yank.) I will try my best to eat more greens, salads included but the whole no white sugar thing makes my head hurt. Yes, I know sugar is bad. Yes, I know it is one of the reasons I'm feeling so sluggish mid-day. But it's in bread, y'all! And I'm a bread addict. I can't help it. Baby steps.

I've decided not to set myself up for immediate failure and will begin trying to incorporate better things in my diet while leaving some of the bad stuff out. And I'll do it kicking and screaming with a smile.

My first smoothie this morning was not bad at all. It was quite yummy and I seriously drank the entire pitcher. But smoothies aren't too new for us...we've been drinking fruit ones for breakfast for a while now. The only difference is that instead of fat free milk, I'm using water and ice, and adding handfuls of spinach instead of this protein powder stuff that did nothing for me. (This morning, my fruits were strawberries, one banana, and some pineapple. Yummy!)

And now after reading this article, I of course want cuter straws. If you know me at all, you'll know that I drink pretty much everything through a straw. After buying a couple of hundred packs and going through them in a few months, I realized how irresponsible I was being. (We recycle of course, but I never knew what number those straws were so I always threw them away.)

So, I got a couple packs of those funny whistle straws. They work like a dream and are dishwasher safe. I keep them with my utensils so they are easily accessed. I've used them for about a year now and can't even fathom going back to the disposable kind. (I'm trying to get rid of all disposables in my house but that's another post.) I even bought a set for the trailer so I have no excuse not to use them when we're camping. Sure, it's a small step, but it adds up!

After looking around a bit, I came up a little disappointed. Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Williams Sonoma, Sur La Table, BB&B didn't have sqaut. Grrr. I've seen the Oprah steel straws, but those don't look fun to me. They look quite serious, for straws. I saw these on etsy...still a little un-fun to me but you know how much I support hand made. Plus, they're made of glass, so that's another good thing. I'm thinking of getting these since they're glass and come in my fave shade! :)

Did anyone else start drinking the green smoothies? I know there were several people that wanted to start and I got some emails, too. If I didn't get back to you, I apologize. Blame H1N172.

Hope y'all are having amazing weeks so far! Happy to be back!

xoxo