guest blog-all of our love

hi friends! i hope everyone is having a wonderful week. today i'd like to introduce you to my friend lindsay! she and i go way back, when we both had our blogs on livejournal. the community at livejournal is like none other...and me and lindsay, and a handful of other gals filling in for me this week, all met there and have stayed forever friends because of it. lindsay is a beautiful mama and a top notch photographer...her blog is a lovely place with stories from her life with her 3 boys.

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When Katie sent me a message telling me that she would be traveling to Cape Hatteras, and asked me if I'd like to write a guest post on her blog in her absence, I was tickled and immediately went into bossy mode. "You must do this and that, and oh yeah, you need to do this too!" Then I realized that I should save my bossy pants for my guest post, where I can pour out my heart in regards to my most favorite place to visit in the summer--really, the entire year; the very place she was headed--the Outer Banks.

I'll start by saying that I live in southeastern Virginia, but my husband and I consider ourselves to be "locals" of the Outer Banks. Perhaps this is silly, as it takes approximately two to three hours to get to the island from where we live, depending on the time of year and how far you venture in. As children we each spent time with our parents on the beaches of North Carolina, building sandcastles, splashing in the surf, body boarding and surfing. As teenagers, each year there was (and still is) "Beach Week" where scores of high school students head down to a rented cottage to spend time doing what unsupervised teenagers do best. Now, as we are a married couple, we still look forward to the moments when we can steal away to our special place. 

As I've written about on my own blog, the Outer Banks is magical. As you travel onto the island, traversing through miles of farmland and scatterings of billboards advertising everything from fresh produce to quality hammocks, there is a notable charge in the air. A feeling that you're traveling through time and space to a place that, despite hoards of tourists during the summer time and police lurking around every corner (be sure to watch your speed!), remains mostly unchanged. Sure, there are more chain restaurants than before, and the Cape Hatteras lighthouse has literally moved to prevent permanent damage to this truly breath-taking beacon, but overall, there is a peace I find there that encompasses me that I cannot find anywhere else in the world. It's truly a home away from home.

But that magic isn't reserved for us quasi-locals. It is for everyone who invites it in. During my most recent trip in July, I was surprised to find scores of cars with out of state license plates--everywhere from New York to Florida to Indiana and yes, even Ohio. I'm not sure why this surprised me until I realized that when you are settled in, you feel that wherever you land is yours and yours alone. Despite the people around you, you can set down temporary roots in the form of toes in the sand, and sun upon your shoulders.

There are Outer Banks traditions: quite possibly the best milkshakes in the entire world at John's. An incredible brunch menu and fantastic Bloody Mary's at the highly decorated Jolly Roger. Soaring above the dunes at Jockey's Ridge. Then there's the things money can't buy: sunrises only being on the East Coast can  provide, the intense majesty of Corolla's wild horses, not to mention the briny sea, the fantastic feel of salt air in your lungs, the soul-soothing crash of waves day and night, the scores of pelicans skimming the Atlantic for supper, and the glimpse of dolphins playing tag among the waves. All things that make up any other day in the Outer Banks.

As I am now a mother of two young boys, I have relished in bringing them to this special place. I delight in watching them sink their toes into the wet sand, crash into the waves, and run along the shoreline. My heart is full in sharing this with them and hope that they too will share this with their children and continue to capture the magic of the Outer Banks for a long time to come. 

More photos from our years in the Outer Banks can be found on my Flickr.

guest blog-alphabet

jane from alphabet is another ohio gal that i absolutely adore! her and her sweet guy are two of the most creative and funny and adorable couples i know. she is as crafty as the come and a real sweet friend.
to help me out while i'm away, jane sent over some of her favorite pictures and happy things about her summer.

what are some of your favorite things about your summer?

guest blog-stylebook

marissa from stylebook is a dream gal! she's loaded with style and wit with good looks to match. her blog and vintage shop is full of inspiration and all things cute...with sweet little peeks at her life on the side.

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i'm so happy to pop in on katie's pretty corner of the web!  i'm marissa and i do my thing over at stylebook.  i don't know about you guys, but with summer's end drawing near, i find myself panicking to squeeze in as many vacation-y things as possible.  every year since high school graduation, while i was spending summers taking college classes or working a 9 to 5, i've found myself nostalgic for those three responsibility-free months that i had as a kid.  my reaction seems to be jamming as much fun into the evenings and weekends as possible: day trips, picnics, themed parties (i'm notorious for my themed parties.... it's why katie and i are kindred spirits!).  this summer was extra special because i've been able to spend it at the beach with my brother and sister, just like when we were younger!  now that we're adults we all live super far apart and sometimes only see each other once a year, so these last couple of months have been pretty magical.

i always love when katie posts about hanging out with her sisters, because siblings really are our best friends.  (seriously, call yours tonight!)  thanks for having me, katie.  and thank you readers, for not teasing me for being so very much shorter than my younger sister and brother!

guest blog- the flowerchild dwelling

hey everyone! today i have kelly ann from the flowechild dwelling stepping in for me today! kelly ann and i go way back to our early blogging days. this gal is a constant source of sweetness and inspiration for me. not to mention, she is one talented lady with impeccable taste and style...from music to photography to art and current trends! her blog is a must read!

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When I look back on this summer (so far), it’s such a jumble of things. A lot of stress, emotions, and feeling so overwhelmed. My heart has hurt, I’ve cried some tears, and I’ve been stretched and challenged to the point where it’s taken everything out of me, and I am left feeling deflated, tired, confused, and defeated. I know that I’ll look back and appreciate this time - this 24 year-old did some growing up. Lessons were learned. And I’ll be a stronger person for it. I have to believe that. I feel like I’m slowly seeing that bright, wonderful light at the end of the tunnel. And while I’m running as fast as I can toward it, I’m trying not to miss the moments that will heal my heart along the way.

For example, one thing that stands out to me about this summer... are the quiet, calm moments. Sometimes, those moments are the best. And I’ve realized that those moments are crucial. We need them, they're good for our hearts, minds, and souls. Even if it’s just five minutes. Even if it’s just turning your phone off, or stepping away from your computer for a day (or two or three), or looking at your to-do list and telling yourself, “maybe tomorrow”. We need moments where the only thing we focus on is our breathing. It’s not easy... especially if you’re like me, with a brain that goes about 4 million miles a minute in every possible direction. It’s hard to turn your thoughts off when you have so much going on. But it can be done, if you keep trying.

Some of my favourite quiet moments this summer include: reading before bed, under twinkle lights, until I fall asleep. Sitting on the floor of my office listening to records with the window open - no phone, no computer, just me and the voices of Neil Young, Bon Iver, and Billie Holiday. Not checking my email for an entire day. Staying up all night watching reruns of Ally McBeal and drinking chocolate milk. (The beverage of grown-ups, am I right?) Going on long walks with my best friend. Taking a three-hour nap and waking up to a sweet text message from someone who makes me smile. Sitting in silence after a good, hard workout... feeling accomplished, calm, and strong. Going on bike rides at sunset. Writing letters that will never be sent. Finding a song that makes me feel inspired and listening to it on repeat for 2 hours. Having a good cry, sometimes for no reason at all. Hearing God clearly whisper to me, “it’s going to be okay.”

My challenge to you is this... find those quiet, calm moments and hold on. Without guilt. Without the urge to do 500 things. It’s okay if you don’t finish that project today. It’s okay if you reply to those emails tomorrow. It’s okay if you call that person back next week. It’s okay. Just be. Quiet moments are good, refreshing, comforting, and inspiring. Journal for twenty minutes, take a walk by yourself, let a few tears fall, let many tears fall, buy yourself a new book, rediscover an old book, watch your favourite movie without any distractions, take time to savor every single sip of coffee, pour yourself a second (or third) cup of coffee, read an issue of Vogue - cover to cover, make playlists, peruse a record store slowly and thoughtfully, get under the covers and stay there all afternoon, sit in the sunshine for 5 minutes and soak up some vitamin d while doing absolutely nothing.

Find peace and quiet, and just be. You'll be glad you did.

xo, Kelly Ann from The Flowerchild Dwelling

guest blog- the incomplete works of anselm

 meet naomi! her blog, the incomplete works of anselm, is one of my favorites! she documents her life full of babies and food and love in such a fun, colorful way. 

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As soon as June begins, the countdown begins with it: the longest day of the year. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. It's finally summer - what seems universally to be the busiest season (though I guess we think that at the end of every season). We rush through it like a fun obstacle course: First jump through the sprinklers, stop at the table where the popsicle-eating contest is going on, climb up the slide, make the biggest splash, race to the other end of the pool, and after you've won the barbeque cook-off, capture the flag and proclaim your victory.

But by the time the first day of August hits - even though it's too hot to even hang out in the kiddie pool - it feels like summer is ending. "Where did it go?" I'm sadly thinking. "I didn't do any of the stuff I always do during the summer: I didn't collect shells; I didn't chase the ice cream truck (though my husband may have once or twice); I didn't wear a cute polka dotted one-piece with three yards worth of ruffles on the butt; I didn't get one single gum ball machine tattoo." 

My summer just doesn't look quite like it did when I was 7. Sometimes I feel sad about that. But there's so much I missed out on then, too. How can I be sad?

In those days I was too preoccupied with sculpting my magnificent sand replica of Jem's Glitter n' Gold Roadster to really appreciate the alliance of peaches, papaya, and candied ginger in a perfect crumble.

I was too distracted by my older brothers chasing me with water balloons and a flagrant disregard for the "no face" rule to really savor the sticky sweetness of an iced mango green tea.

I was too busy collecting sea glass and discreetly (or not so discreetly) shaking sand out of my swimsuit to really enjoy the prickliness of a kiwi smoothie popsicle.

This summer every memory I've dog-eared centers on rolling the tastes of the season around on my tongue as my friends and I watch our kids busy themselves with things we busied ourselves with twenty years earlier. Sitting with my husband on the concrete underneath fireworks, and gulping those fireworks in edible forms. To everything, there is a season: a time to jump through sprinklers, and a time to lay underneath the stars and savor the treats I can only find when the air is sticky. My summer was food.

Though I wouldn't mind a (fair) water balloon fight before the season is completely over.