new home.

 This is not my home. It's just cute.

We're just a week away from closing on our first home. Actually, I'll be doing it all by my lonesome because Todd is headed to Costa Rica for work. I'm such a big girl. I really, really hope nothing goes wrong.

I've been thinking so much about the house and everything I want to do with it. I've even started a Pinterest board to keep track of my inspirations. A few of them, in no particular order:

• A mason jar light fixture for the dining area.
• An antique buffet complete with a bar and a record player.
• A raised-bed garden with mint, basil, heirloom tomatoes, and cilantro.
• A yard packed with sea grass, roses, lavender, elephant ears, and jasmine.
• A fold-out couch so we can use the second bedroom as an office.
• A cozy writing nook for said office.
• A little shed to store our bikes and surfboards in.
• A patio lit by fairy lights.
• Pretty chevron curtains. 
• A big party to celebrate.

folly beach.

Charlestonians are faced with a monumental question in the summer: Which beach do you go to? The answer says a lot about the kind of person you are. My longtime favorite, Sullivan's Island, is low-key and family-friendly with tree-lined paths to the beach, cute older cottages, and a sprinkling of sandy bars. Isle of Palms is full of newer, bigger homes, tourists, and rowdy rock shows and bikini bashes. If you go to Capers or Dewees islands, you either have a boat or know someone who has one. If you go to Kiawah or Seabrook, you're probably loaded.

And then there's Folly Beach, the old-fashioned "edge of America" populated by hippies, surfers, and other laid-back beach bums. There you can have drinks on the sand, catch some of the area's biggest (though still small) waves, grab brunch on a rooftop deck, and still find a halfway affordable rental property. Yet somehow, I've never been a fan of Folly.

But I'm starting to warm up to it. I've had to drive out there a few times to research island restaurants for work, and I felt a distinct shift somewhere between munching on tuna nachos with watermelon salsa and watching the sun set from the pier. The traffic might be bad and the parking worse, but Folly Beach really is a special place, when you slow down to enjoy it. It's all about lingering over margaritas on a breezy patio, walking down the street with an ice cream cone, and watching the sun set.

bikes.

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The closer we get to moving back downtown, the more my bike obsession grows. My bike has sat sadly unused since we moved to the burbs, and I can't wait to ride around again. Even though I've barely ridden my current thrift store bike (similar to the rusty one above), I kind of want to trade it in for a lighter, cuter road bike (similar to the blue one above that). Or maybe I can just paint the one I have. Can you paint bikes?

newport: by water.

My favorite cities revolve around the water. In Newport, Rhode Island, we were lucky enough to stay in our in-laws' in-laws' house just steps from the harbor. For the two days we were there, we did little more than follow the water, from Cliff Walk to the Wharf to the beach. And eat an ungodly amount of chowder.

tumbl on.

I finally broke down and started a Tumblr. I was afraid it might be overkill, since I already have this blog and Pinterest, and it very well might be, but I'm liking it so far. Whereas Pinterest caters to my OCD side and Blogger is more personal, I feel like Tumblr allows a more stream-of-consciousness style of saving and sharing. For now, I'm just using it to keep track of images and other Tumblrs that really inspire me. 

What are you juggling in your online lives?

home gallery.

As we're drawing ever closer to closing on our house (I'll let you know if it ever actually happens), I've become a big fan of Young House Love. The Richmond-based bloggers are always working on their old house, doing everything from building a patio to refurbishing secondhand furniture. Lately I'm obsessed with their hallway, which they turned into a little gallery. We have a long, blank wall in the new house, and I love the idea of filling it with a ton of different photos and prints that will invite guests to just stand there and take it all in.

20x200 has a fun selection of affordable prints. Here are a few faves.

Martha Rich

Lisa Congdon

Alexander Beeching

wedding envy.

I've been working on a few wedding articles for Breathe Magazine, and I'm surprised at how much fun I've had revisiting all of the wedding blogs I once obsessed over. It's actually more fun now, because the stress of planning my own wedding is gone. Although I am a teensy bit jealous and have this crazy desire to do it all over again.

I love the details of this down-home Dallas wedding, especially the quilt-covered hay bales.

I'm not usually big on pink, but this girly wedding is too cute for words.

This California wedding has a book and bird theme. Trendy? Sure. Adorable? Yes.

This couple obviously had a blast with their superhero-inspired wedding. They had a cereal bar. And superhero cocktails.

I think I want to be a wedding planner.

new england blues.

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New England, I'll miss your perfect spring-like weather and pretty flowers. If you weren't so inhospitable in the winter, I'd move there in a second. I'll have pictures from the trip to Boston and Newport soon. Until then, you can find me pouting and sweating through this 100-degree heat wave.

cocktail tour.

I've been doing some very fun research over the last few weeks, sampling a few of the city's tastiest cocktails for a piece I wrote for Southern Flourish magazine. The issue came out today and it's packed with great articles about things like packing the perfect picnic, summer hair, and the home farming movement. Check it out!

middleton place.

On Sunday, months of hard work paid off with one of my favorite events of the year: the Spoleto Finale at Middleton Place. We loaded up the car with too many people, too much food, and a handle of whiskey and spent the afternoon under the oaks and touring the plantation's extensive grounds. Best of all, we had a private tour guide in a friend's history-buff husband who used to work at the plantation. The night ended with a bluegrass concert from Del McCoury followed by fireworks. With the festival behind us, the finale signals the true beginning of summer, my favorite time of year.

Picnic

We're finally nearing the end of Spoleto — you know, that thing that's kept me out of commission the last month or so? Well, we're in the home stretch, and now I get to think about fun things like what to eat at the finale picnic (which I wrote about here), and more importantly, what to wear. Unfortunately, I'm low on funds since we're in the final stages of buying a house, but a girl can dream, right? Behold, my perfect casual picnic ensemble.

Picnic by ericajackson featuring retro shades

shameless self-promotion.

My sweet husband helped me put together an ad for the next issue of Southern Flourish magazine. Look for it in next month's issue, as well as a little something else I've been working on.

find your way.

Now that we're getting closer to actually buying a house of our own (fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc., etc.), I can think about being more adventurous with my decorating. A map wall, for instance. Is that taking the obsession too far? I think not.

 This is from Charleston Home + Design magazine's 2009 idea house.

 

from House Beautiful.

also House Beautiful.