M-I-Crooked Letter-Crooked Letter-I

Happy Friday! 

My dad and I are driving to Jackson, M-I-Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter I.... to visit my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces and nephew to celebrate Father's Day. I can't wait to see the newest addition to our family, Lilly Rae, who will be 1-year old at the end of July. I can't get enough of  My 8-year old nephew Cooper has baseball all weekend. Needless to say, we'll be putting in some hours at the ballpark. I never was and am still not the athletic type, so this "sports life" always intrigues me. And my sweet niece Hadley, who is 6 going on 30, will be, I presume, by my side. We're two peas in a pod when it comes to our shared love of purses, shoes, the color pink and all things girl-y. Hadley has been on a 1.5 year quest to find "high-heeled flip flops." You can't imagine how difficult it is to find high-heeled flip flops for little girls. Oh the plight of a 6-year old!

Pictures to come...

Feelin' the Blues

Blues by A Classic Pearl on Polyvore.com

Magazine Junkie

It's my belief that girls are programmed to enjoy magazines at an early age. How else can we explain it? One of my colleagues and dear, dear friends Wendy won't even confess to how many subscriptions she has. (I'm afraid it must be in the double digits!) And, my sister eyes the day when her magazines arrive by mail so that she can soak in the tub, magazine in hand. Annndd, my mother still has all of her Victoria and Martha Stewart Living magazines since they began printing.

Here are some of my favorites, old and new:

1. Sweet Paul Magazine - it's an online magazine! Beautiful photography and wonderful ideas. Love the aesthetic of this one.

2. Garden & Gun Magazine - when I express my love for this magazine, many think I'm reading the equivalent of Field & Stream. Yuck. This title is a bit misleading. In two words this magazine is: New South. Think mason jars filled with modern cocktails, dresses with cowboy boots, crawfish boils, you get the point. It's ahhh-may-zing.

3. Coastal Living - reading this magazine makes me want to move to the beach, purchase a beach shack, ride a bicycle to the fish market and lie on the beach all day.

4. House Beautiful - this magazine on the other hand makes me want to hire an interior designer - an idea I've never been completely comfortable with.

5. Country Living - I have loved this magazine for about three years now. Some of the changes I haven't been fond of, but overall I couldn't part with this subscription.

6. Martha Stewart - Old Faithful. Will I ever tire of this magazine. I simply can't imagine it. I love her. I met her at a book signing once and I completely froze. My mom says I haven't stopped talking since the day they adopted me, but that day I was speechless.

If you have any favorites, please share! I would love to have even more subscriptions!

A Classic (Pearl) Makeover

As you can see, A Classic Pearl recently had a makeover. The main blog colors now are Chartreuse and Robin's Egg Blue, a classic Martha Stewart combo. Also, I have added a few new features I hope you will enjoy. Now, you will be able to see other similar posts at the bottom of each post as well as e-mail or share it with others. Enjoy!

Drumroll Please...

After many loooonnng hours of scouring the Internet for a digital camera, I am pleased to introduce my Sony Cybershot DSC W370. Quite a name for such a small little thing. I have spent hours on Best Buy, CNet and Amazon.com reading reviews and comparing cameras. This might actually be the most research that I've put into any one single item. A majority of the time, my retail habits are based solely on aesthetic value. Yes,  I judge books by the cover. (Heck, sometimes, I even purchase books simply for their covers.)

All this said, this camera is my ticket back to blogging. I have been absent for quite sometime, mostly due to laziness or lack of time, but also because Camera #1 died. So, here goes. Please hold me accountable, dear blog readers....if there are any readers still.....

Also, I must thank my sweet Mom for this early birthday present. Thank you!

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo

Autumn, I must admit, has never been my favorite season. Gasp, ohh, aahhh. I know, I know. The cooler weather is wonderful but I'm much more of a spring~summer gal. It has something to do with the seasonal color paletttes. I do love my pastels. However, lately, I've been surprisingly drawn to the yummy burnt oranges, rich golds and yellows, dark greens and rosy reds. (Mother, if you're reading this, don't panic. Pastels will always have my heart.)

And lately, I've been oddly obsessed with pumpkins. I just love the shapes, sizes, bumps, ridges, stems, everything. The other day I found these a little too late. You could find them at Olive Juice except she's sold out for 2009. (Insert big frowny face.) They're made from hand dyed velvet and come in different colors all in a handy dandy kit with real pumpkin stems and vintage leaves. How great is that! Or should I say, how great was that.

I thought these images below were such inspiration! Fall tabletops are so natural, earthy, organic - love it. And notice the slate cheese plate with chalk labels. How cute is that!? Why didn't I think of that.

Images from MarthaStewart.com and Sunset.com

Don't ya just love TJs?

June was a wonderful month of budgeting for me. I don't know how I did it or how it happened, but it did. Perhaps it was the incessant news mentions of saving money, 3 months worth of expenses stashed away, recession, world's ending, who knows. But I must say, I was quite proud of myself and my tiny nest egg. If you know me, you know this is BIG. So..... I decided July would be a month of rewards! :)

So, tonight T.J. Maxx and I had a reunion of sorts. And thank goodness, because he had some wonderful things tucked away for me. Remember these shoes by Kate Spade? Well I found these fabulous Nine West ones that look oh so close. I haven't found a pair of shoes at TJ Maxx that I like in quite sometime. (To be hones, I was actually getting quite worried.)

In addition, I found some wonderful Christmas presents. (I always shop for Christmas presents. Makes the holidays a bit more enjoyable/less stressful.) And, I found this preppy madras purse. J.Crew had one almost exactly like this last summer. Patience is a virtue!

I WON!

Look what arrived today....

It's the beauty products I won from Alyssa at Coterie. See all the fab things I won here. Thank you Alyssa. I can't wait to use all of these beauty products...especially the Bobbi Brown lip and eye palette.

A Few of My Favorite Things

1. Origins Ginger Incredible Spreadable Scrub and Souffle - enough said.

2. Lilly on Facebook! The best part is, you can download cute Lilly desktops. Now, I see Lilly every time I close a window on my otherwise dull work PC.

Image courtesy of Food Network

3. Barefoot Contessa, can we be friends? I just wish I could go visit her in "the barn" (have you ever seen a barn look like her barn?) and she'd cook for Jeffrey and me. I recently became a fan of hers on Facebook. Does that count as being friends?!

4. Izze Sparkling Blackberry - oh so de-lish-ussss. Without restraint, I could easily guzzle three of the these yummy drinkns in a day. I've also tried Sparkling Grapefruit, but Blackberry is still my favorite. I just found out on Izze.com that they have a Sparkling Blueberry!

Big Beauty GIVEAWAY at Coterie

You can see the list of all the fabulous swag she's giving away and post a comment to register here!

Addtions, Big and Small

Hear ye, hear ye: New additions have been added to the household!!

I found this needlepoint pillow at a local antique shop in Homewood. I liked it so much, I even paid the price listed on the price tag. How often do you find all of your favorite colors in one pillow, and a needlepoint pillow at that?


Now, I am extremely excited about this piece below as it marks a monumental transition for me! This piece found me while I was shopping with Mom in Crestview, Florida. (For those of you who have never been, you simply must - it has a wonderful Main Street type area with lots of antique shops.) For quite sometime, I've been on the hunt for a well-priced, good looking secretary....a furniture piece that is, not an assistant. I have never been one for functionality. Beauty, in my mind, always trumps functionality. However, this piece has them both. What a rare, rare occasion. I simply had to have it! Thank you Mom for this wonderful birthday present!


These dessert bowls below were also a birthday present. Pedestals, Tiffany blue and fringed edges, oh my!

The return of spring was accompanied by the return of my green thumb! I opted for white mandevillas this year rather than pink. White may just become my signah-ture colah, dahling.

This addition was a much needed one. While I loved my dropleaf table dearly, I do like this one much better. And Mom and I found it on the side of the road for $10! Yeeeee hawwww. Now, if I could only find four chairs that cheap.......... I suppose that gives me a new search project!

Birthday Pics

As promised, I am posting pictures of my wonderful birthday. I walked into work and found my cubicle like this:

I love the Chinese lanterns. They are battery operated, so no ugly cords or wires to fuss over. As Barefoot Contessa would say, how fabulous is that? You can get them here.

That evening, I opened my front door to see these beautiful pink peonies - my absolute favorite - and a bit difficult to find in mid-June in Alabama.

This is my birthday cake from Piggly Wiggly. What can I say, the icing is phenomenal. I love the Tiffany blue flowers! Tiffany & Co meets Piggly Wiggly. How often does that happen?

Update

What can I say, summer just makes for bad blog updates! Here's the elevator version of what May and June have entailed.

1. Mom and I enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day weekend together in Sandestin, Florida. A weekend full of delicious food, endless shopping, and beach time. To clearly illustrate just how much shopping occurred, I've included a picture of the car on the return trip home.

(In regards to my previous post, the fortune cookie was wrong. Those next few days were not a lucky time for me. I took a chance, and I did not, in fact, win the lottery. Shucks.)

2. For Memorial Day weekend, I drove home to beautiful Lake Martin and enjoyed some much needed time on the water with friends.

On our way home, I spotted this lone sail boat. I snapped a picture so I can paint it in my next life.

3. In mid-June, my boss and I did a Tour de South so to speak for our event site visits. My two favorites places were the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island and the Sandestin Grand. The first picture is the view of the ocean from my room at the Ritz. Every room has an oceanview and balcony. Gotta love the Ritz. The second picture is Brian and me at the Sandestin Grand Resort.

So, that sums up my May and June. I can hardly believe June is almost over!! Oh, and I almost forgot - I celebrated my 25th birthday! I'll post pictures as soon as I can upload them.

Beachy Peachy, Lucky Ducky

Mom and I are headed to the beach tomorrow - Sandestin, Florida. Yaaa whoooo (insert Yahoo.com-like yell). We like to leave early AM (estimated time of departure: 6:00 AM) and shop all the way down. We had some great finds from last year. Remember this and this.

My boss Brian (A shout out finally to Brian. I know he'll be pleased.) suggested I document what it's like to be on a shopping extravaganza with my mom and me. Will do, captain.

My fortune cookie last night:
The next few days are a lucky time for you. You can take a chance.

You can bet your bottom dollar I'm buying a lotto ticket AND using the numbers on the back of the fortune. :)

Sunday Brunch Dress

As a loyal subscriber to Daily Candy, I am happy to share this sugary tidbit with you:

sundaybrunchdress.com

First, if you don't know what DailyCandy is, stop what you're doing. Go to www.dailycandy.com and get signed up for the Inbox candy.

Now, back to my original subject - SundayBrunchDress.com. This Web site offers dresses fit for Sunday brunch. How cute! What a name for a site! I mean, how often do you find yourself looking for this genre of a dress. And there's no other word(s) for it besides a "Sunday Brunch" type of dress.