Nashville Scene

This weekend I tagged along with Nate to his residency interviews to check out Nashville. While Nate was at the hospital on Saturday morning, I ventured off on my own to see what the city had to offer. I discovered cute shops near Vanderbilt and absolutely fell in love with Retropolitan, an adorable home store with bright textiles, fabulous art and vintage furniture!

A mid-century sofa covered in white corduroy ... genius!

Next up was Social Graces, a stationary store full of some of my Rifle Paper Company and Voluspa favorites ...

Afterwards, I picked up Nate and we went downtown for some barbeque and fried pickles followed by live music at Tootsie's! This, hands down, is the best part of Nashville.

Downtown Music City is a great weekend get away ... go for the live music.

Spring Style: Blush Blouses

Ever have those moments when you look at your closet and decide that you don't like 90% of the items you own?! Yesterday, I felt just that and spent some quality time on Shopbop looking at blouses for Spring.

One of my absolute favorite colors is blush {as evident in our wedding} and this season it is absolutely everywhere. Serious. fashion. bliss.

Here are a few of my favorite blush blouses ... some more blushy than others ...

See how good it looks with just about everything?! Hello, the girl above is even pulling it off with red pants ...

All of the above are from Shopbop

With so many options I'm having trouble making decisions {per usual}!

Jetset: Nashville, San Francisco & Wine Country

Nate and I are all over the map this year with trips lined up for work, play and weddings! As we hop around the states, I'd like some advice on what to check out. If you are familiar with Nashville, San Francisco or California Wine Country, I'm asking for your advice this week as we will be headed to these places shortly!

Looking forward to some local's advice ... I will report back!

Treasures from Thailand

A little about me ...

I love an apartment that looks collected over time, that rings with memories and peaks interest. I am completely terrified of furniture sets, cataloguesque rooms that lack character and fake plants/flowers. I am constantly in search for unique items that I will not find in my neighbor's apartment and that make me smile every time I look at them. I find decorating to be a journey and love "the hunt". I understand that this may not be you ...

To me, travel presents the perfect opportunity to bring one-of-a kind pieces into your apartment. On our Thai honeymoon, Nate I searched for accessories for our home and came back with the below. I now realize that I have a major obsession with elephants and am putting myself on a little elephant probation ...

Do you have any awesome travel finds?

The Half Bath

Our guest bathroom is neglected. Completely neglected. Other than our hand towels, the closest thing to decor is the Meyer's soap. Scary.

I have some major peeves with this bathroom so I think that's why I haven't invested anything in it {including time}. The lighting looks like cyclones and the previous tenant left a few things that I don't care for, including a plastic hook for towels on the light switch plate. It's in a really awkward place and could start a fire. Stupid girl. It won't come off and no matter how hard I try to keep the towels away from the hook, a guest always puts it there anyway. Drives me nutty!

I've decided I'm going to put a few things into the bathroom to spruce it up! First up, a brass lion door knocker, like the one I found on Etsy below, for my hand towels! I think its going to be both practical and add some character!

Also looking to add a cute curio shelf {another Etsy find} to hold my crystal bud vase and a good smelling candle. All bathrooms should have candles ...

Last but not least, this little closet of a bathroom needs some art for color. I'm think about taking my vintage pinnups out of hiding!

Goodbye lame bathroom ...

Wedding Wednesday {on Thursday}: Dress Sketches

Yup, this post is coming a day late. Got a little caught up yesterday but didn't want to wait until next week! So, let me preface this by saying I LOVE my wedding dress, totally had that moment when I first tried it on ...

However since the wedding is over, it's going up for sale {I know some of you out there are probably gasping right now}. See, it is currently sitting in a box next to my bed because I have no place to put it and my mom, another serial bulldozer/purger, refuses to keep it at her place. I figure this ... I will never wear it again, my future daughter will never wear it and it is going to sit in this fricking box forever. So, might as well put some cash in my pocket and purchase another awesome dress that is socially acceptable to wear on another occassion. Oh, and give someone else the opportunity to wear my Vera Wang Erica Dress {sigh, she's so purty}!

The plan is to keep my shoes and sash {having this cut down shorter so that I can wear with an LBD}. I've also decided to have a sketch done of my dress. This way, my dress will live on and I'll have something to pass on {picture a sketch of my dress next to my future daughter's vanity}. I've rounded up four Etsy shops that I think do a stellar job at sketching dresses all for different reasons. Check them out!

I love the style of Gown Sketch; all of the lines look very clean. While I wasn't sure I was a huge fan of seeing a face, the artist does a nice job of still making it feel anonymus. Prices are $90-$100 and she will even draw your shoes if you ask!

The detail captured by Dress Sketch is AMAZING; I feel like they are true designer sketches. Costs are approximately $85-$130, the higher end being for images of the front and back of the dress.

 

Me & Belle Couture is a more affordable option at $65 a pop. I think the sketches look fabulous and of the same quality as the other options.

 

Love the drama of the Illustrative Moments sketches. Of all of the artists on Etsy that included detailed faces, this is the only one I chose to feature. For $125-$145, you get a sketch of your dress. This shop also sticks out because they use color instead of your basic black sketches.

What shop do you prefer? And, who do you think will be able to capture my dress with the most design integrity?

On another note, check out my pics from last week and email me if you are interested in my dress. I will likely post it on Pre Owned Wedding Dresses sometime within the next week but the blogging community gets first dibs!

CaraNate2011@gmail.com

Today, I wish my living room looked like this ...

Inspired by the Kilim rugs and pillows I was drooling over on Saturday night {yes, I was that lame this weekend} and my new favorite West Elm rug.

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I heart elephants. And this is why ...

TGIF!!! Thought I'd share a little piece of our honeymoon with everyone. Nate and I went to Thailand - Bangkok, Chiang Rai and Phuket - and had the most amazing time.

By far our favorite place was Chiang Rai/The Golden Triangle. Less touristy than Chiang Mai, it is situated in the jungle on the border of Burma, Laos and Thailand. We stayed at the Anantara Golden Triangle and had a once in a lifetime experience with their one-day mahout training. A mahout is an elephant keeper and trainer who is bonded to his elephant and stays with him for life {kinda like me and Phoebs}!

Our morning started by picking up the elephants in jungle, where they sleep in the evening. Within the first five minutes of meeting them, we were on their backs riding them down the side of a mountain. Holy **** am I really riding down a mountain on an elephants neck!? Yup! The rest of the day including us learning how to steer and mount the elephant, feeding and trekking and yes BATHING the elephants. Check out Nate and I bathing our elephants - Phuang Laup {mine} and Wood Huang {Nate's}!

THIS IS ONE OF THE COOLEST EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE!

The Anantara & Golden Triangle Elephant Foundation perform street rescues to remove elephants from crowded cities and provide a safe place for them and their mahout's family to live. Visit their website to learn more or donate to the cause!

Spiked Flats .... Yes, Please!

Normally when you mention spikes in reference to shoes, you think of a mean pair of heels. But, that is not the case here! Today, I'm loving the Jeffrey Campbell Martini Flats for their ability to achieve feminine edge with their spikes and great colors {apparently sherbet hues are going to be a big deal this Spring}!

 

My general philosophy for shoes is the higher, the better {hello, my 2011 resolution was to be more glamorous}. But with a foot that is acting up a little bit, I'm going to try to embrace flats a little more ... and these puppies are my point of entry! That's not to say that heels are out the window; I'm just going to try to wear flats a few times a week to give my feet a break!

Are you as head over heels for these flats as I am!?

Wedding Wednesday: Our Wedding Reveal!!!

10.9.11 is the day I married my best friend and love of my life. After dating for over 7 years, Nate and I invited our best friends and family to Napa to celebrate our marriage. It was the best day of our lives.

To all of those girls getting married in 2012 {including two of my best friends}, I have two pieces of advice. First is to cherish every moment; it goes by SO fast. Second, just dance!

I'm going to apologize upfront for the massive amounts of pics I posted. This was not my original intention, but hey, a girl loves her wedding day! I blame our photographers, Tim and his wife Bethany of Tim Tab Studios, for giving us too many amazing photos!