happy friday!

This is what I'm looking forward to today!! Nights in Rodanthe comes out today and you better believe I'll be going to see it tonight. I'm a sucker for any Nicholas Sparks's book/movie. A friend e-mailed me last night informing me that her husband was "not interested" (hard to believe, huh?!) in going to the 12:15am showing of the movie last night and that she wished we were still both living in Tallahassee because she knew I'd be up for going! I wish :)

So I hope everyone has a fabulous day and an even better weekend~

a few thoughts to share...

**R.I.P. my precious pom-pom socks. My most favorite pair of socks is on the brink and I feel they may have already had their swan song. I started out with three stylish white pairs of pom-pom socks. 2 years later and I am down to one. I have also been looking since then to stock up but have not ever come across them again. Their last hurrah was this past weekend. With out-of-town friends in tow, we visited a Tallahassee treasure Maclay Gardens. We have spent the last five years (sad, but true) saying that we wanted to go. So when we finally do we are prepared to see nothing in bloom…and that we did. But it was still so lovely! My next trip will be soon when the camellias are in bloom (my favorite!) We spent Saturday morning walking the grounds and imagining what it does look like during its peak season. We also got adventurous and walked several miles of the nature trail along Lake Overstreet. Needless to say my socks went out with a bang!

I just returned from my walk with new socks. Yes, I broke down and finally bought new ones. They don’t even compare to my beloved pom-poms but they do their job. My whole reason, and not just because they were cute, for my poms was that they did not slide down my heels and cause painful blisters. My replacements have a thin band around the ankle in lieu of pom-pom. I say that fearing some may read this and think white dance team slouch socks! Oh, and I’d like to share some scenes from my walk. The streets are lined with hundred year old oaks and even larger homes. If I could, I’d walk for days…

** FYI – I picked up my new contacts and kate spade glasses yesterday (see below). Now I can see! As most of you know I am blind as a bat and I’ve recently learned I have a slight astigmatism…so that explains why I’ve been seeing blurry the last few years. My new specs are so sassy and I love them. Thank you to the kind person who made my glass lenses as thin as they could ~ much appreciated! I will be debuting them at work tomorrow! I've gone through several pairs of questionable looking specs which most of you can relate. One image continues to haunt me...my 5th grade yearbook picture. Correct me if I'm wrong (Holly) but I believe I was a vision in purple that year with large round glasses and a bouquet of fake wildflowers posed on my lap with a smile that said it all - this.is.torture. !! I am also trying these new state of the art contact lenses. They are for astigmatisms and something about a weight in them balances and clears up the blurriness. They are a little thicker contact lens but my eyes are adjusting. So far, so good.

meet kate

not my glasses but a wonderful fabulous ad by kate spade that was worth a blog nod

a toast to fall

I know, I know – this may be day two of fall but I’m still celebrating. Today is a close to perfect fall day in Florida (and quite frankly yesterday was too overcast and gloomy to write on the fabulous fall season ahead)…blue skies, not a cloud in sight and slightly cool with a breeze. Oh how I love this time of year! Now I know Florida isn’t exactly the state you think of when you mention seasons however we have them, but they’re just a little more mild and often follow behind every other states’. Currently I would describe the beginning of a Florida fall as the same as summer but a few degrees cooler and fewer afternoon thunderstorms. But living in wonderful north Florida allows me to experience seasons more like that of Georgia and I’m thankful.

Now is the perfect time to start taking the back roads to work in the morning. I actually did this the other day and it got me all excited for the upcoming months. One of my favorite things to do is drive with my windows down, hair a blowin’ and thinking of this beautiful world in which we live – the world that God created with his very hands and with such great attention to detail. Words cannot describe. People often gawk when I saw I work in Quincy because they think it is so far away from Tallahassee. They are wrong. And it’s the crisp mornings when I’m driving alone that I savor it all. Soon the trees will become shades of orange and burnt red and I will probably take the back roads more often. In high school, Lane and I had matching shirts that said take the back roads instead of the highways with a charming illustration of a girl driving a marvy convertible. (I know, we were so cool!) That was my mantra, still is.

Can’t wait for what the upcoming months hold~holidays, traveling, visiting with friends and baby Sally Kate! I’ve already gotten the holiday itch and it’s not even November! Until then, I’m off to take a walk outside on this beautiful day (one of the many perks where I work) and I’ll be dreaming of all the upcoming holiday soirees to throw. cheers!

[Also, thanks to the Meg(h)ans who came to visit this past weekend! We had a wonderful weekend enjoying the taste of Tallahassee part deux…I miss you already!]

at last!

After much searching and wasting time at work I found it! See below pictures of Cindy McCain's silk coral suit from night 2 of the GOP convention.

i love the detail and lines of this suit

In conclusion of my political fashion blog posts, one thing's for sure - Mrs. McCain will make a fabulous First Lady, dahlin'!

reunion highlights

It's sad to say but I took hardly any sentimental pictures last weekend...but rather only managed to take a few similar shots of the pose below. Michael and I forgot our bathing suits and decided to raid mom and dad's closet at the lakehouse and found these sweet ensembles. But if this picture doesn't say townsend family reunion=fun, I don't know what would!

I hope this inpires you to have a family reunion of your own. Fried chicken, relay games, bathing suit modeling and all...:)

townsend reunion

a view from our dock

Looks like we're having a fall feshtivuhl of sorts for the Townsend clan. This weekend we're celebrating 5 generations of living Townsend relatives. Mom's maiden name is Townsend. The par-tay will be held at our lake house on Lake Weir. I love that it's being held at the lake. It's reminiscent of the past Townsend family reunions every fourth of July at my grandparent's lake house I spent going to as a child. And there's no doubt we're expecting a big crowd this Saturday. The Radcliffe kids are in charge of the games, you know three-legged race, potato sack race, dizzy bat relay...just kidding! I'm pretty sure the only thing we will be doing is visiting with one another and eating, which suits me just fine.

Mom has worked really hard the last few months to get everyone together and to compile a booklet of some wonderful pictures from the past. A mini family history picture book so to say. The pictures are amazing thanks to Grandmother Mary Elizabeth who keeps everything, and I mean everything! There are pictures from my grandparents' wedding (at the same church that Holly was married in) from 1948 and even one of the first Miss Florida which happens to be my great Aunt Alma.

Hands down, a good time!

home sweet home

Finally! You know I think this may have been the move in which things were made presentable the fastest (I didn't even have to shift unpacked boxes around for the photo shoot!)...July to September isn't that bad is it?! enjoy~

my favorites

before...

ahh much better - living room



dining room

screened porch off the dining room

galley kitchen

love, love, love the glass front cabs

my darling petite water closet

my office niche - so much official work gets done here!

a hallway view

my bedroom

my dressing room :)

another fabulous view

a sneak peek into the guest bedroom...
no mattress=no full picture yet!

scenes from the swamp...uf v. miami

I ran into some of my favorites, mrs. boehler and BSM....

this one's for you kristen!

@camp curry with hometown high school homies sarah, abby, & christine

me and mrs. jones

the bitter taste of fall

I have beef with Starbucks. As I prepare for full on fall attire and attitude I decided it was time to start adding to my latte that deliciousness I call pumpkin spice syrup (note: this syrup is available year round but that don't advertise it until...the fall). On Friday morning I was going to start my day off right by going to my neighborhood Starbucks and order the usual: double tall nonfat latte. I usually only add a half of splenda but lately I've been on this kick of ordering 1 pump (which they usually don't even charge for) of sugar free hazelnut syrup in lieu of splenda. That day I decided I was going to officially kick off my fall season with one pump of deliciousness (see above). Well! My total was over $4! Now I'm not one to scoff at a $3 coffee but anything over $4 is just insane! And believe me I can give you the exact total of any Starbucks drink I order so I was appalled and they charged me for my one measly little pump. After I pulled forward to see who the evil perky person behind the mic was there was an exchanging of words, and I'll spare you the babble, but in conclusion the PS syrup is priced MORE than the regulars. A simple answer that I respect but I just needed a bit of clarification and they were not quick to offer it. So do they advertise this on their menu?? NO. Will I order another one pump PS syrup...?? Most likely :)

in case you were wondering...

night 2: still searching for an image of the coral silk dress she wore...

night 3: the green dress was even more marvy when you could see the front sassy bow

night 4: a fabulous color choice!


glamorous detail on the back of her suit top

p.s. The next morning, after the conclusion of the RNC, a radio show that I listen to had the nerve to insult Mrs. McCain's fashion choices for the convention. They said "she looked like she was going to the Oscars" and "it looks like she went shopping in Paris Hilton's closet!" Those statements are so wrong on all levels. How rude!!

bella flora

Check out the link to Bella Flora! Kelly updated her gallery recently and Holly's wedding made one of the coveted spots. Here's how their wedding is described:

local foliage, camellias, hydrangeas and assorted green and white flora
give this Ocala wedding a feel of southern elegance

Need I say more?! Also, I'm excited because all of her new weddings featured I have assisted her with. Enjoy!

sassy, stylish, and sophisticated

I've been watching the convention this week and am obsessing more and more over Cindy McCain's style! Her outfits this week have been fabulous! Oooo...I just can't get enough of them. I will take a copy of them in every color thank you. I wanted to highlight her convention trousseau thus far but could only find one picture from this week. It also happens to highlight another beautiful woman and quite stylish herself I might add...even though it's a different kind of stylish than Cindy's. While I'm talking about sass and class I must mention the woman of the hour Sarah Palin...a mother to 5 kids, a lipstick wearing pit bull, and 2nd runner up in the Miss Alaska pageant did her well. Three cheers for these women who epitomize grace, elegance and sophisticated style!