Royal Union

Who else got up at 4:00AM to watch the Processionals for the royal nuptials? Okay, so when the alarm went off at 4:00, I hit snooze for 10 minutes and THEN got up. The wedding planner in me was excited, the little girl in me who still believes in fairy tales was excited, and the part of me that realizes what a momentous occasion this is was excited - the Royal Wedding of William {Arthur Philip Louis} to Catherine {Elizabeth}will be one of those events where people ask in 10, 15, 20 plus years from now "Do you remember the wedding?" and "Where were you for the wedding?" etc.

Some observations from the wedding:

1. She did her own makeup and still looked beautiful {as always}

2. Loved the bright colors everyone was wearing, esp Queen Elizabeth in yellow

3. There was lots of excellent HAT inspiration for things like Gold Cup next weekend.

{Princess Beatrice}

4. Alexander McQueen lives on...Beautiful dress!

Side note: For those of you who didn't know already, Kate is short for Catherine, but with a "C", not a "K". I am also a Catherine with a "C" but Kat with a "K". Even cooler still is that the new Princess and I also share the same middle name: Elizabeth. Kate Middleton is Catherine Elizabeth who spells her nickname with a "K", just like ME!

{I <3 my calligrapher, Jenny}



And so, I will now use the Royal Union as inspiration for a few fun Union Jack finds:

{Clockwise from top left: Abbey Carpets UK, Dan Marty chair at Ben Sherman,

Alexander McQueen booties, Keep Calm Poster via Style at Home, Bespoke Pillow, Andrea Sholl Interiors ottoman}

And two beautiful rooms using various Union Jack pieces:

{via Well Appointed House and House and Home}

Finally: a special congrats to a dear friend who is also getting married today.
Congratulations, Heather and Tony!!

{Now I'm off to Starbucks to help me wake up. 4:00AM is EARLY for me!!}

Elegant Emails

Wouldn't you love to get these "handwritten" notes in your email inbox instead of boring old text? You can send them to everyone you know!

This design may look familiar. I posted here about Lucite trays at Iomoi and this pattern is at the top of my wishlist. If you'd like to sign up for a membership at Iomoi, head to their website for more info!

{disclaimer: no, Iomoi is not a sponsor of City Southern and I do not receive any financial benefit from sending you to their webiste. It was just something fun that I wanted to share with you!}

Wordy Wednesday

I'm up to no good up to my eyeballs in planning A's bridal shower and I'm starting to get super excited about it. I hope she is too! I've been trying to keep everything a secret from her. Today I ordered the **** and picked out the ****. Then I wrote the **** and made all the ****, well almost all of them. I think I finalized the design for the **** but I am still playing around with it a little bit. Last night I wanted to try out one of the hors d'oeuvres so I made it for dinner. They were the most delicious little **** skewers and even Hubs loved them! Now all I have left is ****, ****, ****, ****, ****, and ****. Oh! And ****!! How could I forget that! The one thing I CAN share without ruining it is that there will be some delicious bubbly to drink. So, today's Wordy Wednesday will feature a fabulous little quote that is also available for purchase on Etsy as an art print! She's on vacation right now but supposed to be back today...definitely check it out!

Happy Easter!

{via pinterest}

Tablescape Tuesday!

Thinking Beachy Thoughts on this Tablescape Tuesday.

Whats a tablescape and the beach all rolled into one package?...a "beachscape"!

{via Modern Bride}

Introducing: Wordy Wednesday!

As I search cyberspace, I come accross lots of quips and quotes, and plain old pretty writing. I have posted some of my favs in the past and have even written my own manifesto. I think by now I've collected enough wordy wisdom to do a regular feature. So, starting today, Wednesdays {maybe not every Wednesday} will now be known as Wordy Wednesdays.

{via pinterest}

TRADhome Launch

Two Posts in ONE Day?! ...Shut the front door. No really, the launch of TRADhome is today and I just wanted to remind everyone who RSVP'd for the event to check it out and report back! And then I clicked on my link to see the premier issue and it didn't work, and the link on lonnymag.com didn't work, and the link on Traditional Home took you to the RSVP page. I'm dying to see...is anyone else having difficulties?!

If you are unfamiliar, I am talking about the new "love child" of the editors of Lonny and Traditional Home. It's the latest online magazine, and once it's working - go check it out!!

*****UPDATE*****

I got it working now!

 {Sorta}

 Go HERE and if it doesn't work or gives you the "OOPS" page, just click the link at the top left that says "MAGAZINE".

Tablescape Tuesday!: Raindrops on Roses

It is raining today {yuck}. The Starbucks within walking distance is closed for renovations {double yuck}. That last statement is completely irrelevant to this blog post but I just felt the need to whine about it for a minute, so thanks! The first statement is completely relevant because it goes hand in hand with the theme of today's Tuesday Tablescape!!

Hopefully you are all familiar with the movie Sound of Music or at least with the song that goes "these are a few of my favorite things..." {aren't you glad you can't actually hear me sing!!?}. Well, Amorology Weddings took that song and designed an entire wedding around it. Some of you have probably seen it floating around blogland over the last year but I absolutely adore it and must share. I will start with the tablescape but hope you don't mind if I share all the details - there's just too much lovely!

{"Raindrops on Roses"}

{"Bright Copper Kettles"}

{They had signs with the lyrics like "Raindrops on Roses" and "Brown Paper Packages tied up with String"..."These are a few of my Favorite Things"!}

{even the flower girls were "girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes"}

To see more of Jamie Hammond's pictures from this amazing wedding and read about all the other details, check out the Amorology Blog.

Happy Birthday to...

ME!

I will be celebrating with a little bit LOTS of this stuff:

{images via pinterest}

Pour Me a Cold One

The weather keeps getting nicer {except for today's rain...yuck} which makes me think of partys on the patio and delicious summer libations. Time to break out the pitchers and drink dispensers! I have several very lovely beverage decanters that get used a LOT. You may have noticed a picture or two in my recent post on J's Bridal Shower. People ask me all the time where I got it or if they can borrow it. So here's a little background: My mom has a pretty one from Horchow. My bridesmaids were going to borrow it for my bridal shower. They needed more. KH and I researched them and she found a good deal at some online store I'd never heard of. She bought one and I bought one. Ever since, they seem to always get used together. Either at an event that both of us are attending or one has to borrow the other's. Since my shower I've added to my collection {and still have to borrow hers!} and I'm sure I'll buy a few more at some point. They're relatively easy to clean and can be used for so many things!

The place I bought the original one from no longer carries them but this is the exact same one:

{and you can buy it here for $44}

And some others that are similar:

{Apothecary style for $49.95}

{24 inch Apothecary for $64.95}

And some that are different:

{Lismore style for $49.99}

{Crystal Dublin for $75.99}

{Savannah for $69.99}

{Georgetown for $69.99}

{Chantilly for $57.99}

Most of these drink dispensers are available in a smaller size ~ usually 1 gallon or the size of a water pitcher.

I'm heading over to check out the second issue of High Gloss Magazine which came out yesterday. I promise to report back ASAP on all the lovely I find!

That's all for now, friends. I have super-fabulous things in store for me this weekend {Sunday is kind of a big deal}. Hope you all have a little "super-fab" of your own!

OMG, LOL

OMG....is now in the Oxford English Dictionary, lol {that's in there too!} I <3 these new additions

{oh yea, <3 made it in there with OMG and LOL}

Thanks to Tory Burch blog for alerting me to this news!

Grassy Goodness

I love the look of grasscloth and I think the place it looks best is on the walls. I am not the biggest fan of wallpaper but there are some looks that cannot be achieved any other way. Having said that, I'm sure some paint-genius has perfected the technique of faux-grasscloth-wallpapering, but the average Josephine isn't going to know how to do it or want to invest the time and energy.

What I can't decide is whether or not this * trend * is coming or going or staying! Regardless, It all sure looks pretty. What do you think?

{images via Houzz & Decorpad}

Tablescape Tuesday

It's the summer of weddings! {maybe I should say the decade of weddings?} Anyway, several of my favorite people are getting married this summer and I'm very excited about it! Today's tablescape is from my file of inspirations for one of these weddings. Just a little somethin' pretty.

{source unknown}

J's Shower: Part II

Earlier I posted here about the fabulous food we had at J's shower in early March. One thing I did mention was that the shower was in Atlanta and neither myself nor my co-hostess lives in Atlanta - Logistical challenge numero uno. One thing I did not mention was that we {my husband, KH who was invited as a guest, and myself} decided to drive down from DC instead of fly. The main reason was to have the ability to transport everything I needed. We had serving pieces, plates, glasses, favors, prizes, crafts, misc decor, etc in addition to luggage for three people. We had originally reserved a Tahoe for the trip but decided it wouldn't be big enough and upgraded to the Suburban. Thank goodness we got it all to fit!

I didn't do a very good job of capturing images since we were running around to get ready and didn't have a charged battery for the SLR, but here's some of the lovely we had going on that day:

 

{sign: "Jamie loves her engagement bling and Jamie loves shoes. Pick the one you love the most and take it home with you!". The rest of those Kate Spade green stripe plates were in the other room displaying some of Lauren's yummy food}

{hand sanitizer: "I love BLING" and "I love SHOES"}

{the favors were shower loofahs and I suspended them from an actual shower curtain hanging on the wall!}

{tied to all the shower loofahs: "Thank you, with Love... from Jamie's shower to yours!"}

{prizes for the winners of the shower games}

{Everyone contributed a favorite recipe to get the bride started}

{this was used to display the "bling on a string" for one of the games we played}

{J is not known for being crafty but she helped make some POMS for my bridal shower, so KH and I returned the favor and made some. The hung in several places throughout the space but these were suspended over the corner of the couch where J opened all her gifts}

{J loves mimosas and they were the drink of choice for this afternoon brunch shower. So, my co-hostess Lauren and I stuck with the theme and gave J champagne flutes with her new monogram}

{very fuzzy picture, but some hot pink gerberas in bud vases made a centerpiece for a lot less}