Happily Ever After

For any little girl who has ever dressed-up in her mom's old party dresses and pretended to be a princess, tomorrow is our day. I will admit that the Royal Wedding coverage has been a little overkill, but come Friday morning (very early) all my attention will be on the princess to be and her prince (well at least via the tele).

The Husband has already asked me, "Why do girls care about it so much?" Because, tomorrow Katherine becomes a princess. A real life princess, title and all. Isn't that reason enough?

I've been searching the Internet today, trying to find glimpses of the wedding preparations. I remember how fun it was during my wedding weekend, but can't imagine what it must be like to have thousands of people helping to plan their special day. Here are some images that caught my eye in particular. Doesn't it get you excited for tomorrow?! Well, for this girl it does...

So Celebrities Do Ride the Subway...

I don't usually enjoy riding the subway, in fact I would pretty much hate it if it didn't get me from point A to point B as quickly as it does. You've heard about some of my more interesting subway rides, but today's I'm happy to say is a bit more enjoyable.

I rode the 2, 3 with Seth Meyers. You know, the funny guy (and writer) from SNL who does Weekend Update? I didn't actually think celebrities rode the subway, but alas they do. Well, at least Seth does. Woops, there I got call calling him Seth like we are friends.

How funny would it be if he "Google alerts" himself and stumbles upon Southern in the City. A southern girl can dream right?

He's not too bad looking either:)
Image from NBC.com

Hodge-Podge of Sorts

Well hello there! Before I start, let me apologize for this post as I think it's going to be a hodge-podge (I love that word) of sorts, since there is so much going on as of late.

Today is beautiful! So nice in fact that I wore a skirt and my white, um, very white legs are free! For anyone who knows me, I'm pale. But today I couldn't care less because this may be the 2nd prettiest day this year, with the first being on Easter. Spring has arrived...finally!

1. I've noticed new followers on Southern in the City, so welcome! I'm so happy that you found the blog and hope you find some things of interest to you here. Though today, I'm not sure you will since it's all random updates:)

2. Congrats to my bestest friends, Gray and Huddy. They recently got engaged over the weekend. Gray will always hold a special place in my heart because she introduced me to The Husband.
2. Congrats to my cousin, Kendall who just had a baby last night! She is precious and I can't wait to meet her. We're traveling down to DC in a few weeks for a wedding and hope to meet her then.
3. Mother's Day weekend - Don't forget it's coming up! I'll have gift ideas starting next week. My parents (and brother) are flying up to the NYC next weekend to hang out and run around the city with us. Now, I just have to think of something fun to do...well, definitely take a photo of the four of us because I don't think if we have since my wedding. Is that right?
5. France and Italy - The Husband and I are traveling to the coast of France and Italy in just a few weeks and we are pumped to say the least.



All right, I told you that was a hodge podge of sorts. But lots of fun things going on and congratulations were in order so I had to post!

More interesting things to read coming up...

Haymarket Designs

I'm not artistic in the least bit. I been known to draw a pretty good stick figure and enjoy spending boring meetings doodling, but that's about as art-y as I get folks. So for those of y'all who can paint, draw, sew etc., I envy you.

Awhile back, I came across a new blog from Haymarket Designs. Haymarket Designs was founded by another Southerner in the City - Hillary Ross - who is actually now back down south in Richmond. We have mutual friends (in NYC and VA) and I've been so impressed with her work. Hillary creates hand-painted frames, trays and wastebaskets using her love of patterns. Her designs are traditional, Southern and so unique that I just had to share.

Check out some of her collections below:

All images from HaymarketDesigns.com

EmersonMade

Right before the weather starts to turn, I get quite sick of my clothes. Does that happen to any of y'all? This morning I just stared at the inside of my closet like it was a black hole, trying to figure out something that didn't feel like "winter" to me. I think this week I will switch out my clothes from cold weather to warm-er (emphasis on the "er" because it's not really that warm).

The other day while blog surfing, I stumbled upon the clothing site, EmersonMade. I'm sure many of y'all have heard of it but it was new to me. Though it's a bit on the expensive side, they are doing an e-mail giveaway on Facebook. (You could win a $500 gift card to the site). Here are some items that would be great for work and play...





And how cute are these clutches? Great gifts for bridesmaids...very chic and Southern


All images from EmersonMade.com

Two Years...love and marriage.

April 18, 2009: The date Southern in the City and The Husband got hitched. We've been married for two years and my, how time has flown!

Each day (even the ones where we fight), I'm grateful for him and for everything we have become. We are each other's best friends and like I've mentioned here before - he is my shoe.

I'm lucky to have found a person who knows me inside and out (we've started finishing each other's sentences and occasionally dress in the same colors (uh oh!). He supports me and loves me, even when I come home from a long day and immediately go into complaint mode. I love him for that.

I won't bore you with anymore sap for now (I'll save that for him), but will leave you with a few memories from our wedding day.

Happy two years, Husband! Love you more and more each day...

Wedding Gift Ideas

Wedding season is here and in case you haven't heard, the Royal wedding is just a few weeks away [I typed that with a British accent]. I haven't decided if it constitutes me taking off work that day (probably not), but I can't wait to watch, either on my TV or computer. Truth be told, I did at one point have a crush on Prince William and like to think that he had a crush on me too. I think I was 16...I'm not sure. I remember daydreaming about what it would be like to marry the prince. Wait, I did marry a prince (well, on most days) :)

Since weddings are on the brain (our 2 year anniversary is on Monday), I thought I'd post some wedding gift ideas for any of y'all attending weddings galore this spring/summer and don't want to buy things on the registry.

Here are some ideas that we particularly enjoyed:

1. Wedding Anniversary Album - my mom always gives this gift and it's a good one. Each year on the anniversary, tell the couple to take a photo of themselves and write a note about what they did. My sister-in-law gave us this one and I can't wait to update next week. It's fun to look back through my parent's who have been married for almost 30 years!

2. Coolers - We gave these to our bridal party and even got a few as gifts ourselves. Since we spend so much time outside in the summer, we love filling them full of drinks and food before heading to the park. The Husband always takes his when he plays golf too.

3. Wedding invitation bowl, plate or frame - I love the idea turning the couple's wedding invitation into something they can keep forever. We got a beautiful silver engraved plate from my aunt and another adorable framed one from a family friend.

4. A unique gift for doing something in the couple's city - One of our favorite gifts was two tickets to a Broadway show. This was so thoughtful and something that we got to experience together. Think of something out of the ordinary that the couple can enjoy in a place where they live.

365 Dog Days

Today marks the one year anniversary that The Husband and I adopted Miss Bailey. I can't believe it. We have successfully sustained the life of a little being for 365 days. Whew. Not that we didn't think we could do it, but for any of y'all out there with new pups, it was a bit overwhelming at first. I grew up with dogs (Bogey, Socks and now Reagan) but I don't think you can truly appreciate all the work that goes into having a dog until you have your own. They say the same about babies, but since we don't have babies right now, we'll go with dogs.When we first brought Bailey home, I looked down at her in my lap, a little nervous of what was to come. When do we feed her? When do you know she needs to go to the bathroom? Is she going to be a sweet dog? Will she bark? How much will she cost us??....
The three of quickly fell into a routine; it was like we'd always been a little family.


Now, having a dog in the city is a bit different than having one any where else, but I guess that goes without saying. People always ask, how do you do it? Though, once we adopted Bailey, we saw the city in a different light - there are dogs everywhere. New York is by far one of the most dog-friendly cities I've been in.

With a dog in the city, we quickly learned which dog parks were the best and which to avoid, what hours were off-leash in Central Park, how to house train a dog without having a back yard, which pet stores in the span of a few blocks had better deals, vaccines you needed (or didn't) in the city, easy-walk harnesses v. collars, coats for the winter snow, the list goes on and on...
We constantly talk about how we don't even remember what life was like without her. It's funny how that happens and how quickly dogs can change your life and you.

Bailey has changed us for the better.

Van Horn Sandwich Shop

I'm always looking for a great place to eat. Sometimes it's overwhelming because there are so many delicious choices in the city. I know the food and restaurants are going to be one of the biggest things I'll miss about New York (whenever we decide to move away)...

The Husband's aunt sent me this article from the WSJ yesterday about a restaurant in Brooklyn called the Van Horn sandwich shop. The restaurant, which was opened in February by two North Carolina natives (Chapel Hill natives to be exact), serves southern specialties like pimento cheese sandwiches, hush puppies, greens and North Carolina BBQ.

I think this will give me a good excuse to travel out to Brooklyn. For more information and directions, check out their Web site.

Happy eating, y'all!

Image from Van Horn Web site by Daniel Krieger.

Pot-y Training

Happy April Fool's y'all! I'm not big on practical jokes or surprises so that's about all the April Fool's talk you're going to get from me. I love April though, it's one of my favorite months. I got married in April (almost two years ago, whoa!) and we got our first pup in April. This month also promises spring and because of that, here is a spring post. Forget that it's snowing outside as I type this (I'm not April fooling you, it's freezing here).

I mentioned awhile back that I wanted to try a windowsill garden this spring. I don't have a green thumb - the orchid that The Husband proudly gave me for Valentine's is very dead but I don't have the heart to throw it out just yet.

This past weekend, I finally decided to plant the seedlings I bought at Gracious Home and snapped some photos of how it looks. Now, this isn't anything exciting but I thought I'd share anyway. I bought Thyme and Rosemary. I don't even know what you do with either but my mom said I should get some so I did. HA!
I also bought seeds in a bag (mint) so I can make mojitos this spring. Why not? The bag seemed easy so I thought I'd test it compared to pots.

I checked this morning and no sprouting just yet, hopefully soon though! You can also see the basil plant my parents gave me two years ago, which is still (for the most part) alive and well.

And for good measure, here's what Miss Bailey did as I planted. She has a hard life!