Franklin Bound

You're back!

Ready for that stroll through Franklin, like I mentioned?

Then let's be off!

For the duration of about two hours, our party of six drove past scenes like this,

before arriving at our first stop...an antique shop, on the outskirts of Franklin.

There I found the most extraordinary doll house I've ever set eyes on!

The exterior was covered with tiny colorful, pebbles, and some of the windows

were made of green and red glass.

There were two stories, and a balcony!

Aspen stands next to it for scale...
she is about, oh 5.4 I would guess {Correct me if I'm wrong dear.},

and it is taller than her!

Shall we have a look inside?

This is the front door entrance...there is a room off to the left...

....which houses an lovely ceiling light and a sweet little 'hanging' painting.

The other door you saw front the entrance,

leads to a flight of stairs in the back... shall we see where they take us?

Look!

It is an adorable little stage with a painted backdrop and a chandelier!!

I mean, how cute!

This upper room was all open and very large...at least for dolls.

While the details were darling, and while most interesting, overall I found it slightly creepy.

So I didn't get it. 

Not to mention it would fit in my suitcase.

And not to mention it cost over $200.

Yeah...not worth mentioning.

BUT...

I did find a little souvenir!

I finally converted to a tea cup lover and collector last year,

and have slowly been building my collection.

I found this old, slightly stained, but still so pretty cup and saucer.

I know...they don't match.

But they are both blue, and they were together, so I went with it.


After a bit more driving we found ourselves in the heart of downtown Franklin!

Some pretty, old brick buildings.

One of our first stops was the amazing store, Anthropologie!

I've always loved the style and look of their merchandise, 

but this was the first time I had been in one of their stores...it was amazing!

Look at this scrumptious collection of vibrant dishware!!

I was completely in love.

These tea cups...I mean...*sigh*...they have little legs!

We went into many more shops...but it was so busy and full of people,

I forgot {or was too camera shy} to snap shots of each one.

I'm really not the type that feels comfortable carrying a camera around 

and taking pictures, but I always wish later that I had, so I'm working on changing that. 

 

We stopped for a sit down on the steps of an old church, I think it was,

which was home to this gorgeous blossoming Magnolia tree.

It was dripping with full, creamy blooms.

 

The bud pods were fuzzy, isn't that interesting?

Our final stop of the night was supper at Whole Foods Market.

Oh. My. Word.

I had never been in one of these stores before,

and I'm telling you, it was pretty amazing!

Any sort of healthy, natural, organic, gluten-free food can be found in this

Wal-Mart sized wonderland of edible goodness!

Oh, how I wish we had one near us.

If you live near one, please, count yourself supremely blessed.

Because you are.

Like I said,

I'm not used to carrying a camera around,

so this concludes my photographic documentation of my week-long stay in Tennessee.

Believe it or not, this was my grandest and best effort to date!

It is my dream someday to go on a trip with the understanding

that we can and will stop at any given moment for pictures...and I will

unabashedly tout my camera along with me everywhere.

Since that day has yet to come,

I hope you enjoyed my present efforts!

{If you want more pictures of our day in Franklin

you can see lots more pictures in this post at Aspen's blog!}

And guess what,
it just so happens that today is Atlanta and Jordan's 1st Year Anniversary!!
 Happy Anniversary you two! 

There and Back!

Hello all!

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately, haven't they?

Can you feel an absent-blogger explanation coming?

I dropped a little hint as to my recent where abouts in this short post,

but in case you didn't catch it...I am {somewhat} recently returned from a week long stay in Tennessee!

About one year ago,

my dear friend Atlanta was swept off her feet and consequently all the way to Tennessee

when she married.

I was blessed to attend the wedding,

but didn't get the chance to see their home.

However, upon the arrival of her baby girl in February

I had good reason and great excuse to make a trip to see them!

I tagged along with Atlanta's brother Cim and sister Aspen

who were also making the trip to meet their new niece.

Here is Auntie Aspen holding sweet, sweet baby Marian!

Honestly,

this little darling is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen!

So, ok, it is my friend's baby...I don't think that makes me prejudice...much.

A bed-full of ladies admiring the baby!

Marian will be a pro at this picture taking thing...

T O E S!!!

She was modelling a new dress, and doing a darling job of it, no?

Aside from the beautiful baby,

there was of course, some breathtakingly beautiful nature to explore.

Ahhh...wandering these lovely woods was utterly and truly refreshing...for this northern girl,

it was like being home. Trees and water bring life back into my soul.

Can you see the little trickle of a stream, just there, meandering its way through the forest floor?

I found this verdant, mossy growth to be most intriguing.

 

 Here is a close up....

it reminded me of tiny tropical trees or something of the sort.

And here we have a log specimen covered in fairy like stepping stones

made of paper thin, mushroom like growths.

This also warranted a closer look.

Ahhh...trees...I just love getting lost in a forest.

So, funny story.

Notice the spattering of trees here that still have their dried, dead leaves intact?

I inquired as to what type they were, but received no satisfactory answer.

Then, lo and behold while further indulging myself in Jane Austen-esque films

after returning home (a past time with Atlanta) I received the answer!

I learned from Mr. Plumbtree aka Tom Hiddleston, in Miss Austen Regrets 

that these must be Beech trees.
I had to marvel when I heard him spout off this little offhanded information
in an awkward scene of the movie. Funny how little things come together.
"Fascinating subject, botony."
{You can see clips from this movie here,
including the very last scene with the beech tree reference.}

Anyway, back to the greenery...

More adorable moss to document.

A nice walk by the creek, just at sunset, does a heart good.

Slightly infatuated with water...don't mind me.

I just love how this gnarly, moss riddled tree hangs over the bank.

Do you see this?!

Doesn't this look just like the flower from Horton Hears a Who?!

I'm not sure what these are, other than they are a type of seed pod-thingy that grows on trees,

they had all fallen off and there was a generous smattering of them everywhere.

Sadly,

 I had not my camera with me the day we saw the most beautiful scenery of all, I was quite heartbroken.

It was Sunday, see? And I thought, silly me, that, one needn't bring a camera along...it was only going to be church, then home again, right?

Big. fat. wrong.

We saw waterfalls...waterfalls you guys!!

Ohhh, it was thrilling...waterfalls are among my favorite things in the worlds,

and these particular falls were nestled deep in the craggy, wooded back roads.

There were steep, towering rock walls to one side, complete with tiny cave holes,

and an ever expanding forest on the other, with the river weaving its way in between.

There were wild daffodils, old abandoned houses, valleys and hills.

 I ran about like a school girl at Christmas, and kept muttering thanks and awe

to God for the beauty He created. 

It was one of those times when it almost hurts, the beauty and wonder of it all.

So, the moral of this story.

Always. Always. Bring your camera.

Did you enjoy this little walk through the countryside?

Well tomorrow,

I'll take you 'round on a little excursion of Franklin, Tennessee.

See you then!

{For LOTS more pictures of sweet Marian and Tennessee scenery,

you can see things through Aspen's point of view in this post!

Including a few pictures of the falls, 

courtesy of Atlanta, who had pictures from a previous visit.}

And the Winner Is...

Sorry this announcement is so late in coming!

Time flies when you are having fun, and the last two days were pretty busy,

mostly spent away from the house and computer. 

So, without further ado, it is time to announce the winner of 

my Vintage Pattern Give Away!

The winner,

chosen by random drawing,

is....

 Delvalina!

Congratulations!

I'll be contacting you soon to get your mailing address so I can

get this package on its way!

Giveaway Reminder

" The essence of creativity is essentially risk, 

believing enough to leap into the yet unseen.

The theological term for this is faith. "

~ Ann Voskamp ~

There is still time to enter your name

for my Vintage Pattern Giveaway!

Visit this post to read more and find out how!

The winner will be announced tomorrow,

though probably pretty late because I'll be spending the day

out and about with my dear, sweet friend Atlanta here in Tennessee!

If I don't get time to put up the results tomorrow, I'll get it up on Sunday.

Have a blessed weekend all!

Refashion Webinar with The Renegade Seamstress!

Most days I feel like a very little person in a busy world,

and then instances come along which snap that feeling to pieces.

One of those is the fact that I'm acquainted with such a talented person

like Beth, The Renegade Seamstress, who was recently asked

by BurdaStyle to host a live Web Seminar on refashioning!

BurdaStyle.

You guys, seriously! 

So exciting!

Have you ever wanted to learn how to refashion your wardrobe?

With this new Webinar, Beth will show you how to do just that!

For those of you with a visual learning style,

this will no doubt be a great tool, 

that just might hold the key to helping you step into the world of refashioning.

If you want to read what Beth has to say about it,

read her post here.

To find more information on the upcoming web seminar,

follow this link to BurdaStyle.

Here is a brief overview of the course.

Refashion: Inspiration and Projects 

to Revamp and Recycle Your Wardrobe

By Beth Huntington

 

Live Web Seminar Date: March 31st
Start Time: 11am EST (4pm GMT)

Length: 60 minutes

 

What You’ll Learn:

• Reasons why refashioning is one of the most exciting movements in sewing today
• Where to find inspiration
• How to find great pieces at the thrift store
• How to organize your stash
• How to get over the fear of making that first cut
• How to bring new life to second hand clothes
• How to refashion a too small dress into a dress made just for you 

 Congratulations to Beth for such an exciting opportunity,
one I hope may interest some of you!
Go check it out!