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Archive for the ‘love’ Category

Celebrating the Royal Wedding of Will & Kate with a tea party at Lulu’s

Friday, April 29th, 2011

In case you were wondering…no, I did not get up at 3am to catch Prince William and Catherine Middleton’s Royal Wedding. Ya’ll know I LOVE weddings, but I just couldn’t muster up the energy this morning!

Thanks to technology, however, I got a front row seat!

The British Monarchy has an official YouTube Channel fittingly called TheRoyalChannel and I was able to catch the entire ceremony in one clip! I’ve uploaded here for your enjoyment:

Kate was absolutely stunning. Simple, elegant and breathtaking.

I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the Royal Wedding than meeting up with my girlfriend Suzanne, who is a wedding planner (and actually woke up at 3am to catch the wedding in real-time!), and meeting up for a Royal Tea Party at Lulu’s in downtown Franklin. Here we are enjoying lemon tarts, petit fours and tea, of course:

Did you catch the wedding? Were you up early like Suzanne this morning? Or were you a straggler like me, coming in late to the party? What was your favorite part?

My favorite part was the vows. You could sense a bit of nervousness…(as I can only imagine…being on a world-wide stage!) However, I loved the way the seemed to gaze at each other. It’s the way I remember Philip and I looking at each other almost a year ago, when we were encircled by our closest family and friends. So hard to believe it’s almost been a year! Time sure flies!

In honor of the Royal Wedding, I’ve created a clip about how you can give your skin the Royal Treatment…but you’ll have to head over to my other blog, The Skin CEO, to see it.

Wishing you much love and joy on this beautiful Spring day!

Posted in events, inspiration, love, wedding |

A Christmas weekend full of wedding gifts!

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010

Mr. Dial and I spent the week leading up to Christmas in my hometown – Harrisburg, IL.

Not only was our visit full of time with family, friends and enjoying too much food…we also used up all of our giftcards from our wedding registries at Durham’s Hardware and DreamBaskets. SO much fun!

On top of that, we also had the opportunity to unwrap a few late arrival wedding gifts!

Philip and I LOVE art. We own several pieces of original art and have a handful of prints from Hatch Show. (We buy one for every show we see at The Ryman!) We’re excited to say that we have a beautiful new piece of original art to add to our collection…a picture of us on our wedding day from friend and artist Chelsea DeVillez:

This painting is inspired by her “hat lady” art. It’s nearly as tall as I am! We didn’t know whether or not we’d have a wall empty enough for it, but we found the perfect spot. It’s hanging directly above my glass-encased brooch bouquet. I’ve known Chelsea since kindergarten. We have a long, beautiful history of friendship. Although we live hours away from each other and don’t get to visit often, we get together and it’s like no time has passed. Chels, we’re so grateful for this unique, personal, heartfelt gift. SUCH a conversation piece. Thank you!

We received another piece of art from cousin Beth on my mom’s side of the family. Thankfully we don’t have to find a wall to display this one.

Beth created a lovely handmade quilt for us! I feel like quilting is becoming a lost art. I have a few handmade quilts that have been handed down to me and I’m so happy to have this quilt that was made just for us. I know it will provide warmth and comfort for many years to come. (We’ve already used it a few times these past few days!) Beth, thank you for sharing your quilting talent with us and gifting us with this treasured handmade piece.

From our friends Loyd and Deeann, we received a beautiful silver cake stand and candy dish: (This isn’t a photo of the exact gift…unfortunately between the Christmas clutter and bad lighting I couldn’t shoot a photo I liked…but this resembles the cake stand closely!)

We’ve been friends with Loyd and Deeann for about 3 years now, I think. (Time flies!) We were in small group together at Journey until they moved to Atlanta shortly after their wedding last year. Read all about Deeann and Loyd’s wedding here. Thank you two for these beautiful entertaining pieces! So pretty! Now I just need to make a bundt cake or something so I can show it off.

What a Christmas! We’re so blessed with the friends and family we have. It’s hard to believe Christmas has come and gone and 2011 is almost here. More wedding goodness on the way!!

Posted in love, reflection, travel |

Happy birthday Mr. Dial!

Friday, December 17th, 2010

(Thanks to Little Spoon for sending over this photo from their 10-10-10 wedding!)

Greetings friends and family! As you’ve probably suspected, my head has been stuck in the ground these past few months as I’ve been working on a handful of projects for my businesses. The exciting thing is, several upcoming events are VERY applicable to you, so stay tuned for those updates!

Of course I had to make sure I posted today to commemorate Philip’s birthday. Just 29 years ago, Charlie and Laura welcomed their 4th child, an amazing man who would one day become my husband.

If you want to know a few of the reasons I’m crazy about this man, make sure you read my “Ode To Philip” entries:

Ode to Philip #1 – He rescues kittens.
Ode to Philip #2 – He makes everything fun.
Ode to Philip #3 – He’s helping me toilet train my cats. (We totally gave up on this, by the way. Turns out getting 2 cats toilet trained while also trying to move to a new home is NOT a good situation.)

Of course some of these “odes” are cute and silly and all…but no blog post, description, conversation, etc. can truly encapsulate what makes me so wildly in love and completely captivated with him.

Philip, you’re my best friend. You tore down a little wall I’d build around my heart and made me okay with being vulnerable again. I could write an endless amount of odes to you and never fully paint what makes you so special to me.

As we celebrate your birthday today, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for choosing me to spend your future with. Thank you for being a man I respect and honor. I look forward to many more wonderful years of dreaming about our future, learning more about each other and enjoying this journey with you.

Tags: Philip
Posted in love |

Happy 40th wedding anniversary Mr. & Mrs. Dial!

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Well, here they are, folks. The lovely people responsible for the amazing man I’m going to marry in 5 days. (!!!!!!!!)

This weekend was their 40th wedding anniversary. How wonderful! A surprise dinner celebration was planned for them Saturday night at Demos’ Steak & Spaghetti House – a Middle TN favorite.

With a divorce rate that seems to be increasing every year, it’s so refreshing and humbling to see strong, firm relationships that last. If you’ve ever met The Dials, you know what incredible, selfless individuals they are.

Charlie and Laura, I’m so thankful for you and your family. Philip is my best friend and I’m so looking forward to our future together.

These next 5 days are going to fly by. I just know it. I’ll do my best to keep you posted along the way! I have so much more I want to share!

Posted in inspiration, love, reflection |

Hometown wedding of a long-time friend

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

A few weekends ago, the weekend of the horrible Nashville flood actually, I went home (to Illinois) for the wedding reception of a dear friend (and fellow Rodan+Fields consultant), Mrs. Lindsey Henshaw-Atkins.

Lindsey is another friend with whom I have a long history. I can remember playground conversations in elementary school, (thinking there was a ghost haunting the house on a certain corner of where our playground was located,) field trips & bus rides, hot summer days cooling off in her pool, jealousy of her long-legged, rail-thin body that tanned so well (and my dissatisfaction at the time of my short-legged body that burned at the mere hint of sun), A.P. U.S. history class, hilarious lip sync contest rehearsals…and so much more. Linds, I’m so thankful for your friendship and am very excited for you, Neil and your new life together.

Here is the happy couple:

It was such a beautiful reception. Not only was it wonderful to watch Neil and Lindsey so obviously happy and in love, it was also refreshing to catch up with friends whom I hadn’t seen in years. (It was nearly a mini reunion of the HHS Class of ’03!)

Another long-time friend whom I was so happy to see and catch up with was Chelsea. Chels, Linds and I share many of the same fond memories. We all grew up together. Went to school together. Had sleepovers together. Spent summers together. Many of my childhood and teenage memories involve these three gals, so this was definitely a heartwarming night to remember. Here’s a photo of the three of us:

And here are Chelsea and I getting ready for the dollar dance:

Such a great evening. Close friends from childhood are so few and far between. Time passes. People grow up, move away and start new lives. So thankful to still be connected with these ladies.

I’m excited to share with you that there will be a baby Atkins making an arrival later this year. You can follow Lindsey’s adventure in (soon-to-be) motherhood by checking out her blog here. (Crap. I cannot find the link to her blog. Lindsey if you’re reading this…leave a comment here with the link & I’ll add it to this post…or put it on your FB info page…or text it…just get me the link somehow girl, so I can share it with my peeps here. ) As I mentioned earlier, Lindsey is also a Rodan+Fields consultant. You can check out her site by clicking here.

Also, Chelsea is an AMAZINGLY talented artist. (Seriously. Even the girl’s signature is gorgeous.) Check out her art website here and make sure you admire all the lovely beach lady portraits in her Etsy shop.

Alright, that’s all for today. Philip and I are spending time with my family, so I’ve got to run. I’ll be back tomorrow!

Posted in inspiration, love, wedding |