southern weddin, y'all.

i have been getting the martha stewart wedding idea of the day since 2007. just before i got engaged, through my wedding planning, past my wedding in 2009, and straight on through till today. i enjoy it. it comes 7 days a week. sometimes its content is a little meh, sometimes its brilliant.

sunday had this southern, south carolina wedding featured.

loved it.

thought i'd share it with you all.

it was on the bride's family's 1000 acre plantation.

they used an aviary theme throughout the whole thing. with quail feathers in the programs,

and boutonnieres,

and a beautiful book of birds for the guest book.

they used the "audubon's birds of america: the audubon society baby elephant folio".

i love the whole wedding but this was my favorite part. wish i would have thought of it. now they have a gorgeous tome to keep in their library or out on a coffee table with the signatures of the ones they love and the reminder of their day. love. it.

want the book, too.

they used the same quail feather deatils from above and images from the audubon book to line their envelopes for the wedding stationary. again, LOVE.

her dress was designed for her by a fellow charleston native, carol hannah.

remember carol hannah from project runway?

she makes a gorgeous dress.

another thing that really caught my attention:

the family sheep.

they were originally purchased for consumption but after the family raised them, they kept them as pets :)

a part of me loves my city living but another part of me wants a 1000 acre southern plantation to be able to have more ducks, chickens and lots of sheep running around. not for food. just for pets.

our birds are back in kansas city from their winter escape. i can hear them chirping in the mornings. spring is right around the corner! yay.

love.

JILL

{images via martha}

just what i needed

i just came across this book title as i discovered the book store on 57th street, rizzoli, mentioned on habitually chic today. it is just what i need to get me through the disaster i am currently sitting in. reentry is never easy. with a mix of half unpacked suitcases overflowing with summer and winter clothes, a dried out christmas tree with ornaments that look like they have been eaten by the tree, and a fish that didn't survive the trip, things are a bit out of order at our place...not to mention the half completed apartment projects, and the inspirational magazines that are stacked in the corner. i have to remind myself to take things one step at a time...

check out the book here and let me know what you think.

a bit more about it:

For all those who choose to live "imperfectly" with the messy things they love, this book shows how to do so creatively, happily, and with considerable style ideas from leading designers. A beautiful and inspiring volume, A Perfectly Kept House is the Sign of A Misspent Life focuses on living well with everything that makes a house a home. If you have been influenced by the picturesquely cluttered studios of Pablo Picasso or Alexander Calder, or by the art- and book-filled house of Vanessa Bell, this unique style book will stimulate you with its creative ideas.This volume explores how real-life tastemakers (photographers, textile designers, fashion designers, writers, artists) integrate their life and interiors to live well with their passions, histories, conveniences, and inconveniences. In inspiring essays, Mary Randolph Carter muses on such key housekeeping concerns as clutter versus mess; open windows; and unmade beds. Combining practical tips with liberating philosophy—"Don’t scrub the soul out of your home"; "Make room for what you love"—this volume celebrates living beautifully and happily, not messily. Lavishly illustrated with intimate photographs of different living spaces, Carter exalts in the beauty of imperfection and in living perfectly in our "imperfect" homes. Life isn’t perfect—why should your house be?

xoxo

elle.

dear santa...

i'd like this book in my stocking ;)

100 years of fashion illustration

by cally blackman

from greats like christian lacroix, vivienne westwood, dior, and lots more. it would look great on my coffee table, or perhaps a few of my favorites framed? oh, the possibilities.

JILL

out of africa....

what do you get when you mix my love for travel with my love for some great photography? oh and throw in some great luggage to top it off....

the new fall 2010 louis vuitton ad with dree hemingway (ernest's granddaughter).

photographed by carter smith.

africa (well, actually morocco, egypt, namibia, kenya and south africa) is on my husband and i's list of places we WILL go.... hopefully, cross your fingers, someday :)


my grandpa, back in the 70's and 80's went often. he did some traveling and some hunting... looking this glamorous i'm sure.

all images via habitually chic

these made me want to get there sooner than later. especially after i just finished the life story of idina sackville in "the bolter," by frances osborne (idina's granddaughter).

the bolter via amazon

she was a seriously decadent, sometimes scandalous, woman from enlgand who after the war, found herself in and out of love with a few men and living in kenya.

great story. but it too made me want to buy two tickets to africa.

happy thursday.

JILL