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PRACTICAL MAGIC


Remember the dreamy apartment from this post? Had the pleasure of revisiting last week for a themed dinner the talented KJO hosted, Practical Magic.

There were skulls and smudge sticks, taper candles, black lipstick and magical sunbeams peaking through the trees.  I got to know new ladies over red wine and a grilled dinner. A fantastic night in the (spell) books!

Just look at the details that went into the evening, so wish I would have brought a real camera, but thankful to have at least captured with my Iphone~

After two weekends in a row out of town, we are looking forward to sticking around ATL. Going to start packing up the house and hang with some friends. Low key is just what we need!

Happy almost weekend!

KINFOLK SUPPER

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For some time now I’ve badly wanted to attend a Kinfolk gathering.  From the stunning images I’ve gawked at on Instagram and following the magazine online, each event looks like the perfect mixture of quaint and magical combined!  So, when the opportunity to attend a supper in Nashville presented itself to Courtney and I, we jumped on it!

The exact location of the event wasn’t known until a few days before and when Court saw the address she said “Jess, this is literally on the street I live on!” Which was cool and confusing. Was it a house? Barn she didn’t know of down the way? Confusion.  We didn’t care any which way it went we just got ready and called a Lift driver. We rode over with her friends, who I’m thankful to now consider my buddies, Rob and Leslie and their pup Doug.

A very short ride later, we arrived at a sweet little home, that really we could have walked to, it was that close! As we approached we were greeted by two guys who told us the party was in the back, so we moseyed on thru the path to the side of the house and arrived in the backyard to this:

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Wow, right?!

We were in awe of the beautiful picnic style tables made by Ausden Inc. Nashville. We were in awe of the sun pouring into the backyard over the high fencing highlighting the perfectly manicured yard.  And we were in awe of how nice everyone was from the get-go!!

After introductions we selected which Bulleit cocktail we each wanted and then proceeded to take photos of everything.

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I’m wearing an unconventional asymmetrical Urban Outfitters top, which was love at first sight, Joe’s Jeans, Frye sandles c/o of Shopbop, a Free People necklace and my favorite Kate Spade shades.

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After we got our refreshments they brought out a slew of fancy cheeses and small bites served on beautiful wooden platters with the most precious mini plates I’ve ever seen!

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Each attendee went home with a bunch of goodies, included was Brash coffee (which will soon be opening a location very close to my work, yay!) a candle and fancy matches from Candlefish, a branch weaving kit from Camellia Fiber Company, peach jam from The Peach Truck and bath salts from Local Milk. Best ‘swag bag’ EVER!

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The star of the evening was Doug the Pug who is an international super star. Seriously this guy is famous! Look at him being all lumber sexual!

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The evenings’ menu. My favorite was the dessert, and I’m not a huge sweets person, usually more into savory but that tart with the icecream was magic- so darn good! Second was the chilled peach soup, the ginger gave it the perfect kick.

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Plates by Handmade Studio TN, floral design by Twigss Floral Studio and the above hand-lettering by Signora.

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Beth Kirby of Local Milk was the chef of the evening and made everything from scratch. I mean everything, even the butter!

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Always enjoy being at communal tables. Makes for the best (and sometimes wackiest) conversations!

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Shout out to this lady who I’m so grateful to have met and gotten close to over the last year. She just redesigned her website, Realfoodology, be sure to give that a look. Love you Court!

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After supper was concluded, it turned into a good ole backyard shindig where we sipped on a keg from Jackalope Brewing, listened to live music and stayed until we were the last folks besides the hosts, which is how I usually roll!

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It’s too bad I didn’t get a photo of the full meal, well, I did but I didn’t like how it turned out. I was obviously sidetracked trying to talk and eat and guess I just didn’t take the time to make it look pretty. It sure as heck was yummy! Love me some trout!

Overall, my experience at my first and most definitely not last, Kinfolk supper was a great one! Besides having Dustin there, I don’t think it could have gone any better!

NAWLINGS

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Over the weekend we did a trip to New Orleans with two other couples. The purpose? To party, duh! But really it was because some of them, including Dustin, had never been to the Big Easy and since March isn’t blazing hot we made the plans and went. The Atlanta folks left on Thursday and did a night in Alabama at my parents place to break up the trip and the Nashville folks just drove up on Friday.  Our arrivals aligned perfectly at our little rental in the Faubourg Marigny and soon thereafter headed to Frenchmen Street to grab a drink. The first spot we walked into was Bamboula’s which had a really fun ragtime style band performing. Then we made our way down Frenchmen to Decatur Street where there was a St. Patrick’s Day parade lining up and it hit us-this was the weekend everyone would be celebrating St. Patty’s Day!! Heck ya!! We then knew this trip was going to be even more wild. 16845312671_3a3fb173f7_k
Even though we didn’t come prepared to throw down for an all-green-everything-holiday we joined in with the crazies and partied it up! After the Frenchmen parade and exploring various bars in that area we continued on to that night’s goal-Bourbon Street.  Personally, I could have done without, but since I was with a few newbs, I wanted them to have the experience.  Along with Bourbon we all wanted to get a ghost tour so after a little debauchery we headed to Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar – which is the oldest bar in New Orleans.  Here we met a miss Bloody Mary who took us around, sharing stories and knowledge of the city. We got lucky with landing Mary as our guide. She not only knew everything there was about ghosts and spirits but she’s also a historian so we learned a good deal about the city itself. She’s done voodoo weddings, exorcisms, spirit cleansing and a bunch more I’m sure she didn’t want to share.  She can baptize ya, marry ya and bury ya! After the tour it was back to Bourbon until we retired.16658781248_3b1a90ea86_k
Day two we started with brunch at Magnolia Grill. The service was, eh, not great but the food was yummy!  Here in ATL when you ask for hot sauce it’s usually Sriracha or Cholula, in NOLA it was Crystals which we discovered makes everything taste amazing. What attracted me most about Magnolia was mention of 50’s style decor, which did not disappoint!16659014920_a9e4929c0a_k
After walking off brunch and exploring around the open air market and antique shops we continued on and went downtown. Explored some more and then took a cab to Magazine Street to the Garden District.16226422263_ea021d2441_k
Blocks and blocks of Southern-style mansions lined the little streets. You could really tell the age of the neighborhoods by the massive size of the trees. A really beautiful area to peruse if you like house gazing.
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In that same area we discovered another huge St. Patrick’s Day party and parade. We stood around with families and drunkards catching-and dodging-beads and random objects like cabbages being thrown from the massive floats. When that parade was done we decided it was po boy time and we set out to find the perfect pit stop. In route to Parasol’s we ended up spotting Magazine Street Po Boy and popped in there and decided, by advice from a local, this was it. Perfect choice too because it was delicious! After that we picked up to-go beers and walked around the closed down streets:
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The contents of my bag, excluding the beer, were found on the ground or caught! The beer is the blonde ale by Tin Roof Brewing out of Baton Rouge and was really good. We always like to try locally made brews when we’re in a new town.
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Exploring new places with my love is just the best!
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Can we go back to this moment right here please?!

I’m not certain of this fact but it seems like St. Patty’s Day is second to Mardi Gras when it comes to parades and partying. They don’t mess around. It was parade after parade. Costumes like you wouldn’t believe!
16224013324_f1d87c01cb_kAfter we had our fill of bead covered streets we made our way to the Lafayette Cemetery No.1 to check out the crypts and mausoleums.  Even the exterior was beautiful with the different textures and ferns peaking out of the cracks. 16660239429_3e3567288e_k
In case you are wondering why all the graves are above ground it is because the city is below sea level and with the hurricanes and flooding they had issues with the graves rising out of the ground so this way, they just get covered in water and dry out again. 16658786938_8bc1272c0b_kOnce the sun started to go down and we realized we could use a freshening up before dinner we headed back to the house. That night we stuck around the French Quarter that was near our homebase, ate a good meal, went to a local artist market and popped into a few bars to listen and dance to music. 16660235029_4ff542b654_k
Sunday was our last day and we knew we wanted to do one more thing before we left. So after brunch and swinging into a few shops to grab souvenirs we set out to the bayou for a tour.
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The boat company we went with was Pearl River Eco Tours. Even though we originally wanted an airboat tour I’m glad we went with Pearl River because our guide was very knowledgeable and we actually learned a lot about everything from how Spanish moss got it’s name to the native snakes to why the alligators float so long without moving.
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My favorite part of the tour was when our guide took us to an area where they had been feeding some wild pigs corn and he knew they’d be there. When we arrived we saw a little pack with a few adults and a handful of babies. The babies were so adorable! Then he said “watch this” and called out “come here girl, come here girl!” and then….a huge lady pig came running through the grass, jumped into the water and swam over to the boat almost climbing in! He fed her some marshmellows and horse treats until she was good and full. It was a highlight of the trip for sure!
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Our big purchase of the trip was this cow skull from Greg’s Antiques. We’ve been wanting one and this guy was only $75 which was very reasonable.

This was one of those trips you don’t want to end. That trip where everyone is trying to convince one more person to agree to taking Monday off to extend it one more day. We all had such a good time, we just didn’t want it to stop. The couples-Cristi/Derek and Courtney/Alex were such great travel companions, I’d travel with them anytime-till the next adventure friends! <3

FESTIVAL FASHION | MUSIC MIDTOWN ’14

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This time around I felt more inclined to enjoy myself and not worry with photos. However, the fashion loving photographer in me still chased down some ladies for a quick snap of their outfits or details. As usual they were stoked so it made it all the better for me and my efforts!

This year’s festival fashion was what you’d expect–flower crowns, high waist shorts, kimonos and floppy hats.  So many people were hating on the fashion trends but I like seeing flower crowns and mom shorts.  Yea, I agree, not everyone should sport revealing clothing (re: butt cleavage) or turn into a bohemian for the sake of a music festival but I appreciate the effort some people put into getting ready!
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Thanks to the ladies who stopped for photos!

Hope you all had a good weekend. Ours included BBQ, workout, Outkast and Atlanta Streets Alive. Needless to say, we are pooped!

RECAP | SHAKY KNEES FESTIVAL

14185935822_3016af6e10_b    So you’ve seen the festival fashion from Shaky Knees, now I want to share my personal experience! Having gone to last year’s fest and getting caught in the crazy weather that is typical of the month of May in the South (thunderstorms, rain, unexpected heat) I knew I must be prepared with round two. Dustin and I packed rain jackets, SPF, water-proof pouches, and rain boots along with the rest of our things before heading over to the apartment we rented for the weekend in Atlantic Station.  The apartment is a friend of mine’s who listed it on Air B and B and since we didn’t want to bother with parking, cabs, etc we figured it was safest to stay close to the festival grounds. Ended up working out perfectly and was very convenient!  Especially since the size of the festival has grown tremendously since last year’s inaugural year it seems like exiting the event area was a pain.  The crowd seemed to be from all over.  I talked with lots of people from out of town, even a gal from Australia! Makes me happy for the businesses which benefit with an increase in revenue.  Before I start bragging about ATL lets get to more about the festival weekend..

14188464254_55e95636be_bThis was Day One’s outfit, a Gap t-shirt, Free People shorts, Hunter rainboots, and vintage AE backpack (have had this thing since early high school, so strange but that is actually vintage!)  When we were first walking over and the sun was out I was a little pissed I was wearing heavy and hot rain boots, but then when it started POURING I was happy that I was a lot more prepared then other attendees who were shivering and soaked. They learned the hard way but come next year they’ll have the proper attire and be a pro.

14188484844_b99b249215_b 14001884360_58d32908be_binsta_oneINSTA-FLASHY  |  This kid was the cutest! During Local Natives he was snapping away on a cell phone while chilling on his dad’s shoulders. His dad saw this pic on Instagram and commented “He looks familiar @ladyflashback haha nice shot!” … Dad approves, yay!  My roommate also attended and shot festival style for Paste Magazine so we were both on fashion patrol!

14165353686_2bb2994e6d_b14001876470_9442780ef9_bWhen it wasn’t raining this is how you could find Dustin and I, armed with a cold beer and fan!

14185924752_0c8a680fcf_b14208665773_24061a0181_b1/2 yard beer at Yard House, we ate there before the shows on Saturday, tallest hair-of-the-dog I’ve ever seen!

14001901607_0cd9eac140_b14001867830_9173101dd2_b 14001902937_bd3e0417ee_bEach day our walking route included walking over this neat bridge and one day we spotted this guy who decided to belly flop into the water after this photo!

14188483244_314a3fe11a_bOveralls-Target, Shirt-Cynthia Rowley, Hat-Jcrew
Went searching for a fashionable rain jacket at Target but had no such luck, however, I did leave with these overalls shorts for less than $25.00!

insta_twoINSTA-FLASHY  |  I never want to drink another Dos Equis ever again ….  or at least not until next year’s Shaky Knees // Alabama Shakes putting on one helluva show!

14208645363_ffbed452ae_bThe last day, which was the sunniest, Dustin brought along his vintage 35mm camera loaded with Lomography film. Excited to see how these turn out!

14001863438_babcc593d3_bFriend and momma Tara working one of the drink stands that had a great view of both the city and the two main stages! Volunteering or working is something Dustin and I are considering for an upcoming festival, maybe Tomorrow World.

14165355546_8c25d00284_bMy look from the last day, a Madewell dress, Free People shades, same backpack I used the whole time and comfy Dansko clogs.

14001853288_a64a3692f1_bMy top favorite performances-
Modest Mouse, turned out to be the most we danced the whole weekend, who would have thought dance party when talking about MM, so much fun!
Cage the Elephant, they always put on a great performance, and I love the lead singer’s outfit (velvet shirt, white denim jeans and Doc Martens) who crowd surfed in the rain!
Local Natives-been wanting to see these guys forever and they did not disappoint, rocked out so good!
Band of Skulls-for a 3 piece band they really jam, especially their lady bassist!
Jenny Lewis-she’s been a long time favorite artist of mine so to see her again in my city was great. always look forward to seeing what she’s going to wear, for this particular performance she kept it on the casual side with cut off shorts and a vintage tee.
Alabama Shakes-they closed the festival and man did they put on a show. I was teary-eyed singing and dancing it was THAT good!

This festival holds a special place in my heart. It was where I met and connected with Dustin last year and now will be one of many of our traditions.  We’ve saved our wristbands, paper bag koozies, and other trinkets we collected along the way and will be making a shadowbox to remember our great time at round DOS!