top ten tuesday

The husby and I found ourselves in Home Depot this past weekend, on a mission for screws, nails, and various other items that Mr. M needed. As I wandered the aisles with him, breathing in the scent of freshly cut wood, it dawned on me- there's something very nice about the masculine scent of Home Depot (and all other home improvement stores for that matter). Maybe I'm crazy (I have been living in the dark twisted world of Christian Grey for the past few days), but I'd even go so far as to say the scent is a little sexy (again, blame it on Mr. Grey). I started thinking of other scents that I love, so I decided to try and list my favorite scents (in no particular order) for Top Ten Tuesday.

1. Home Depot - the manly scent of fresh cut wood and building materials.

2. Barnes and Noble - I seriously wonder sometimes if one of the reasons I've been so slow to jump on the Kindle/Nook/iBook bandwagon is a subconcious attempt to ensure the continuation of my frequent trips to B&N. I LOVE the smell of this store. The scent of hundreds of new and crisp books intermingled with the delicious aroma of Starbucks coffee. It is truly one of my favorite scents.

3. Orange Cinnamon Rolls - This scent takes me back to my childhood, to slumber parties at my friend Ashley's house. As we discussed during our recent brunch get-together, I literally cannot smell this breakfast treat without being transported back in time. After staying up late giggling about boys and gossiping about all the lastest small town happenings, we would wake to these orange cinnamon rolls prepared by Ashley's mom. I cannot help but associate the scent with nostaglic memories of good-times gone by.

4. Burberry - I love this classic fragrance. I wear it daily, and I lurrrrve it.

5. Tide - I'm not brand loyal to many household items (except maybe Heinz), but Tide is non-negotiable in my house. I honestly cannot remember ever using anything else. I love the smell of fresh-out-of-the-dryer sheets and towels after having been washed in Tide.

6. Winter candles - Bath & Body Works makes a seasonal candle called "Winter", and I adore it. It just doesn't smell like Christmastime around the house until I have these candles burning. Because I associate this scent with Christmas, I consequently also associate it with family, friends, togetherness, and general good cheer.

7. Sharpee markers - Odd, I know- but this smell reminds me of high school. Making posters for football games and working on class projects. Good times.

8. Freshly cut spring grass - This is a scent lost on me as the brutal heatwave enters the South and hovers for the duration of summer. However, before the heatwave arrives, when the air is still crisp and just starting to warm up, I relish in the scent of a freshly moved lawn. It signals that Spring is finally here and makes me want to pull out all of my summer whites and pastel clothing. It's such a happy scent!

9. Vick's Vapor Rub - There's no doubt that I love this scent even now for its soothing quality when I'm sick, but again- this is another scent I associate with childhood. It reminds me of my parents- before we became "adults", them taking care of both my brother and me when we were sick. And let's be honest, I kind of just like the scent event when I'm not sick. So cool and serene-smelling.

10. L'Homme by Yves St. Laurent - This is Mr. M's signature scent and I love it. It reminds me of his hugs and his cleanly shaven face because these are the times when the scent is most noticable on him. It's a wonderful fragrance no matter who wears it, but of course it's special to me because of him.

While a lot of these scents are nostalgic for me on some level, I also left a lot of others off: the "Grandmother" scent (a blend of peppermint, perfume, hairspray, and her home- don't they all have their own special smell?), the smell of my childhood Sunday school classroom (mostly pine wood and old books), the scent of fresh cut watermelon at backyard summer barbeques after spending all day playing in the yard, the smell of campfire smoke, the aroma of Mom's potroast when you come home from school, etc. I could go on and on... am I the only one who connects scents to memories?

What about y'all- what are your favorite scents?

wednesday love

A more appropriate question might be- what am I NOT loving this week?



{hunger games}
Not surprisingly, I LOVED "The Hunger Games" last Thursday night. I LOVE midnight premieres and I LOVE girls' nights!

{spring foliage}
I'm loving my little hand-potted flowers. In fact, I'm loving any yardwork or any excuse to be outside right now. The weather has been so fantastic, that even weed-pulling has become a welcome chore lately. I know this nice weather will be gone all too soon, and before we know it, it'll be so hot you could fry an egg on the patio.

{egg hunt}
The Stricklands, Mr. M, and I made a quick trip south this past Sunday for my friend Katharine's annual Easter egg hunt. Obviously the kids loved it, but it was also a good chance for me to visit with Kat on her VERY short visit home from NYC. Of course, I didn't remember a camera, so I swiped a few from Candace. I loved getting to watch all of the kids have so much fun; I loved getting to catch up with Katharine (albeit briefly); I loved spending more time with my favorite "niece" and "nephew"; and I loved just another excuse to be outdoors.

{anniversary}
I LOVED every part of celebrating one year of wedded bliss with Mr. M. Not only was he wonderfully sweet, but so many friends and family were also kind enough to send us good wishes and congratulations. March 26, 2011 will always be a date that I cherish- not only as the day I married my best friend, but also as a day when so many people that we love came together and helped make the event such a special memory for us.

Back to this year- my morning started off with a smile when I discovered on my way to work that Mr. M had tucked a very sweet and thoughtful card inside of my purse for me to find. The day also resulted in a beautiful flower arrangement and dinner at the restaurant where we ate the night we got engaged. My favorite part of the day, I must say, was coming home to have cake and champagne and to reminisce about our special day. I'll admit- I was a little skeptical about the cake, but it was just as delicious as it was a year ago!

Headed to dinner!

Package from outer space or our wedding cake topper? You decide.

A perfectly preserved flower that was still inside the cake box.

Thumbs up on the cake- even 1 year later!

Cheers to many more wonderful years together!

{funny}
I am loving this image because it makes me laugh and reminds me of a certain guy I know.

Mr. M loves him some bacon.

{saban}
I'm loving confirmation of something I have believed and hoped for all along.

Happy Wednesday pals!!!

the best thing

March 26, 2011

I can't believe how fast the past year has flown! As I reflect back on that special day a year ago, I'm overcome with love, happiness, and gratitude. How lucky I am to have found my perfect partner- someone who makes everyday entertaining and helps me remember to not sweat the small stuff. Happy Anniversary to the best guy a girl could ask for! I'm looking forward to many more years of love and laughter!

countdown

The countdown has officially started.

In two (hopefully short) weeks from today, Mr. M and I will be on a plane bound for here:

To celebrate this:

For the past week or two, my spare time has been spent like this:

All the work will be worth it though. Soon enough, we'll be enjoying a glass of bubbly here:

With this view.

Can't wait to celebrate a wonderful first year of marriage in such a beautiful place!

pretty proofs!

I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our full set of wedding proofs for a couple of weeks now- literally waking up every morning wondering if today would be the day that I'd get to see them. Well, today was finally the day!

To say that I was thrilled is a huge understatement! I've already mentioned how much fun and how stress-free it was to work with Brandon and Stacey, but the final product that they produced just reaffirmed that we made the perfect decision.

For anyone interested, you can see the photos from our special day here:
Gresham Photography
Click "Clients".
Password to our gallery is "hughey".

back in time part 1

In an attempt to hit the hit points during my blogging hiatus, here's a very quick January rundown!

The new year started out full of fun by rining in 2011 at the Hats and Horns New Year's Gala.




Later in the month, we enjoyed a wonderful engagement/dinner party at Cottonwoods Lodge with some of our closest family and friends.






Additionally, Candace, Calley, and Sarah joined forces to throw us a wonderful couples shower! You can read about it HERE.


That pretty much sums up our main events in January. The rest of the month was filled with me working in Orlando, other good times with friends, and more wedding preparations.

Which brings me to the wedding recap portion of our programming...

As a result of frequent wedding blog browsing, I became a HUGE fan of custom and vintage cake toppers. I decided a year or two ago that I definitely wanted one for my wedding cake and knew that afterwards it would be a keepsake I would cherish for years to come. I searched countless sites and communicated with many sellers on Etsy. One day, I happened across Bthanari's shop and instantly fell in love. I worked with Brandi over the next month or so to create a cake topper that resembled Clint and I and mimicked my dress and veil. To say that I was please with the outcome would be a MAJOR understatement. I am so thrilled to have this beautiful cake topper as a memory of our special day and as a family conversation piece in the future.

These are the up-close shots taken by Brandi:







And here's the topper on the Big Day!

THE dress

When it comes to getting married, we all know that it begins and ends with the dress, right?? I'm kidding. In reality, marriage is about so many more important things, but the dress is still pretty darn important. Doncha agree?

What I knew going in:
- I've known for years, literally since I can remember, that I wanted a lace dress.
- I've never been a ballroom, princess gown type of girl, so I knew that I wanted a more fitted silhouette.
- Although not entirely opposed, I wanted to try to stay away from strapless dresses.

Aside from those things, I embarked on dress shopping with a very open mind. My mom lives in Mobile, AL, so naturally that's where the dress shopping originally started. We visited a darling shop there called Something New. For any brides in the Mobile area- I loved this store and highly recommend it! I found a Priscilla of Boston gown there that I absolutely ADORED! It was gorgeous and so romantic. Although it was not lace, the shop owner convinced me to try it on because it had just arrived in the store that day. I loved it so much that I was thisclose to purchasing it! However, something was holding me back- maybe it was the fact that it was not the full lace gown that I envisioned myself in. I'm not sure what it was, but in hindsight, even though it was a gorgeous dress, I'm glad I did not jump the gun. I decided to do a little more shopping before making a final decision. After visiting Something New, Mom and I hit up quite a few more stores, but nothing really excited me or screamed "This is YOUR dress".

A few weeks later, Clint's family came to Birmingham to visit. His mom, his sister, his grandmother and I set out on another all-day dress shopping trip. We visited several stores on this trip, too, but most notably was Ivory and White. At this shop, I met Lauren, and little did I know that this would be the first of many meetings. I tried on several dresses at this boutique- all gorgeous gowns. At some point, I tried on a gown that Lauren had selected for me based on my description of what I liked. Wow. The minute I put the Liancarlo gown on, I knew it was THE dress. It was everything I had envisioned since I was a little girl and EXACTLY what I wanted. It happened to be strapless, but I was so in love with the dress that it did not matter. I sent my mom pictures and she loved it as well. The measurements were taken, the order was placed, and that was that. I officially had THE dress!


My dress was created by Liancarlo- an AMAZING designer out of Florida. Here is a sketch from his most recent collection- inspired by Natalie Portman's character in "Black Swan".




Here are a few photos of the adorable boutique Ivory & White located in Crestline Village (also HIGHLY recommended). Be sure to ask for Lauren- she rocks! :)





This photo was taken during lunch at Cheesecake Factory on the day I found my dress.




And finally, last but not least, here are my first photos taken in MY dress!




Note: My veil also came from Ivory & White. They carry a line called Mayra's Veils- absolutely gorgeous creations!