peonies, blackberries and parrot tulips

french legation wedding on style me pretty texas

Gorgeous professional shots by The Life You Love Photography.
See more on the Style Me Pretty Texas blog here.
 

tillandsias and peonies at the palm door

seattle... inspired by marigold and mint

Did I tell you I went to Seattle this August? It was amazing. I got to visit some places that I've been stalking online forever. Like Marigold and Mint, Sitka & Spruce and Nettletown...

Marigold and Mint is the retail front of the organic farm and floral design studio owned by Katherine Anderson... they sell a delightful assortment of veggies, flowers and gifts out of the newly renovated Melrose Market Building in Capitol Hill, Seattle, which is like a permanent farmer's market.

  

I had dinner the next night at Sitka & Spruce, their neighbor that focuses on locally sourced everything... and if I could renovate my house I would choose to make it look just like their open-kitchen dining room. Love.

Nettletown Cafe, who's wall art made me smile, also had some tasty locally-foraged treats. Looks like I caught it just in time, as they've now closed. I can't wait to go to Seattle again, maybe make it any annual pilgrimage?

pollen on style me pretty texas blog

Style Me Pretty Texas featured one of our recent weddings on their blog! Check out the post here and leave a little comment if you have time!

a traditionally non-traditional thanksgiving

We sat down to eat, and of course my parents' 29 chickens and 1 rooster were pecking on the door. Not because we were eating turkey-we weren't-but because they wanted to share in the meal. Ha. They know they get all the scraps.

So what were we eating? Grilled rosemary lambchops with balsamic sauce... lamb that my parents raised on their land, a lamb that had a name and that had a wonderful life. Kyle made the best sweet potato casserole with vanilla marshmallows, and green bean casserole. There was wild rice salad. And pumpkin custard pie for dessert with whipped cream and a pecan crust. Kind of traditional and kind of not, just the way we like it.

After the meal we walked the pasture, trying to avoid the horns on Jose the ram-the next to be 'going to the freezer'. It will be poignant, because Jose was the lamb my mom took under her wing when his sheep-mother rejected him. He got to sleep in her bed! He got bottle fed for months. But that also made him a bit too comfortable around people.

We were out in the pasture to inspect Dad's new solar-powered water pump. When he bought the property years ago there was a beautiful but decaying windmill anchoring the hill. But now it's been replaced by 2 panels that can pump water even when there's no electricity or wind.

It's been good to take a break from our hectic life in Austin...it's been an exhausting year of professional and emotional growth. I'm looking forward to Christmas this year, I used to take for granted that our cold winters in the Northern Hemisphere are studded with social, fun occasions that often involve lights and gifts and good food-not so in the Southern Hemisphere. I spent some long, cold winters in NZ. So I'm thankful this holiday season to be spending time with our family, and enjoying the positive energy swirling around right now. Hope your holidays are merry and bright!

coral charm peonies

Let the surprise party begin! How fun would it be to walk into a room full of charming people you love and lots of Coral Charm peonies?

chocolate lace

color!

wheat sheafs

From a wedding we did this weekend... didn't have time to get many other shots. Even though the weather doesn't feel like it here in Austin, it's getting close to Thanksgiving. I can't wait!

whites with plum orchids and clematis

super soft

Oh, Martha... inspiring brides everywhere. Tissue-soft flowers inspired by a certain Weddings spread with a palette that I've never worked with before. Feels good to stretch a bit and create something a little different than I would when I'm stuck in my rut. So delicate (scary delicate, do you know how careful you have to be not to bruise these little beauties?)!

more beatles-inspired wedding by paige newton

IMAGES BY PAIGE NEWTON

ferns and vines, with gardenia

honeycomb and white

more halloween spookiness

A crazy whirlwind of an evening... you shoulda seen the cake - bust of Marie Antoinette with a cotton candy beehive hairdo and vampire teeth.