hair love

I always want and never get a new hair look.


For my entire life my hair has been light brown (I didn't actually realize this until a boy told me it was brown. and this was only a few years ago) and wavy and basically long - save for the jet black curls I had at birth - maybe I was switched - and the white blonde streaks i would inadverdantly end up sporting at the end of every beach-filled summer of my childhood.

A couple of years ago I cut it shorter than my shoulders, which - for me - was short! It's taking forever to grow long again. And I'm not even sure I want to. Not every day, anyway.

I'm always collecting images of hair I wish I could have. My hair-guru (that's you, Leslie) always tells me which ones aren't possible (it's most of them *le sigh*).

But it's still fun to dream.

this is my latest (as in today) idea:

If any hair rockstars out there think they can tackle one of these styles on this mane, let me know!

unfortunately, many of these images were collected without sharing in mind, so i don't know their source. the ones i do know are linked, though: 1, 5 & 12

hair how-to

Leave it to Joanna to count among her friends not only a hair expert - who looks like a model - but also a sartorialist-esque photographer (and have the west village apartment in which to shoot such a stylish spread).



The three got together and spit out this gorgeous hair how-to/photo shoot. so. lovely.

in other hair news, this double knot hair-do has inspired me too. i've been wearing a dumbed down version of it this week, which consists of me letting my part fall wherever (which is standard procedure for any way i style my hair) then blindly dividing it into two unequal pices and twisting and clipping (with the clip tucked invisibly under the twists) the two sections one over/beside the other. i haven't seen it but it feels like it must look good.

p.s. i have the duvet cover that is the backdrop of the photo series. and that makes me feel cool. sort of.

image source

cast your vote if you wanna

My friend Courtney takes some pretty awesome photographs. She also travels to some pretty incredible destinations. She takes pictures along the way.

One of them ended up here.

Her {gorgeous} photo (pictured above) is currently keeping great company . If you think it's is the best (i do), vote for it (and soon. the competition ends this week). It's entry #3.


see more of Courtney's trip here.

image courtesy of C. Barton. thanks love.

Tammi Nowack Photography

We have a fun little surprise - Tammi Nowack took some photos for us of our frames and is graciously featuring US on her blog today!  But that’s not all, you don’t want to miss it because one lucky person will win a frame!  Check her (and us) out here.

She is an amazing photographer and we feel so lucky to have worked with her!  Here are a few I love…








Thanks Tammi!
xx

how cute are…..

we?!

{banks, brandi, me (kristen), & the smitten girls}

This Friday Feature is jammed packed with some cuteness! It just so happens that we had a couple of request for portraits to be framed, one of those requests was myself, the other two were Brandi & Banks for their adorable kids. AND what a coincidence, all three customers (including myself again here) had their photographs taken by Smitten. You’ve read of our love of Smitten many times before, but here’s a post to see our collaborative efforts!

full disclosure: banks hasn't decided 100% on which frame - (hers is pictured in the middle) so it may be a different one, but I plan to follow up to show you where these frames are hung and include them in another Friday Feature!

Happy weekend & don't forget to photograph your moments (or call the Smitten girls..they are fabulous at it!)

Update: Banks is choosing a different frame, so the one pictured above (in the middle) is now available. It holds a 16x20 picture...check back to see her new one soon!

post by kristen

Winter {Wedding} Wonderland

The girls at Smitten have done it again.

i would have done lots of things to have gotten to be any part of a wedding so lovely... like even been a tree. or something inanimate such as that.
Even the "getting ready" (while cosuming "epic amounts of champagne punch") appears to have been fabulous. And can you imagine walking up to the adorable 'chapel' (& seeing the pair of Christmas trees - you gotta get to their blog) - every part of this wedding appears to have been simply divine.


oh and don't even get me started about the bride's fur stole. or her feather fascinator - be still my heart. pop over & swoon over the rest of the images for yourself. serioulsy, you have to. you do not want to miss the slipcovers. or the chapel at night. oh! or all of the mercury glass. or the 'framed' photos at the cocktail hour preceding the wedding (because yes, there was a cocktail hour preceding the wedding) or the bride!

that's it. i'm headed back now.

but not before showing you these:



and now this has taken me so long to compose, the reception is up too ...

hair pins :: ruthie {lindsey} sayles

Ruthie {Lindsey} Sayles may, quite possibly, be the most beloved + coolest + liveliest + sweetest + most adorable girl I've ever met. I remember being overwhelmed by all of these facets of her when we first met (how many?!) years ago and am reminded over and over again of how very true they are. (since both her adorableness and liveliness are apparent in the photo above and her sweetness, indescribable, the best i can do is offer you a hint or two (or three) about how cool she is: 1) she lives in Nashville *sigh*. 2) her husband is a (literal) rock star (hear this? that's him on the drums. on the new Norah Jones album!). 3) she and her home were recently photographed by Reid Rolls. 4 (oops! okay, four hints) her (incredible) house is going to be featured on d*s this week!!! - whew! oh, and for a picture of just how beloved she is, check this and this out.)



In the midst of year plagued with despair (see last link above if you haven't already), Ruthie has not only held strong to her faith and vitality, she has also inadvertently found yet another way to shine.

When she decided, or rather, happened, to start creating hair pins out of vintage findings, there was never any way they were going to be anything but lovely in every way. "I wanted one for myself and so I just tried it out," says Sayles. "The one I ended up making got lots and lots of positive feedback so I made a few for friends and it sort of went from there!" Made of found jewels from the 1940s, '50s & '60s (and sometimes feathers too!), each pin is unique; some make a subtle statement, others undeniably rock.







If you live in the Nashville or Baton Rouge areas, these darlings aren't hard to come by. They are currently be sold at Fruition Salon in Nashville, Emmaline Boutique in Franklin TN and Grandmother's Buttons in St. Francisville LA, where, as far as I can tell, only precious people come from. She's currently making it easy for anyone however, by taking orders by email. To deck yourself out just in time for holiday soiree-ing, contact Ruthie at

ruthiesayles{at}gmail{dot}com

And to keep up with Ruthie and all of her fabulousness, visit her blog!



photography by Reid Rolls

post by arre

(more) baby love

how sweet is this hip mama biking with her baby *sigh*

oh NOOOO i saved this image in a super hurry the other day and cannot remember where i found it. i was thinkink sart but don't find it there. if anyone knows, please let me know so i can amend this...

post by arre

(more) wedding & photography love (i just can't stop)

last weekend - or was it the one before? - I travelled to Clinton, South Carolina (home of PC and... not much else - they said it) to witness one of my oldest and dearest friends (old in terms of how long i have known him - not in terms of his age. it's way too close to my own) marry his absolute perfect mate. since then, i have been meaning to blog about the beauty that surrounded every element of the weekend but i first couldn't find the time, then i couldn't find my camera, then i found my camera only to find my pictures were no good, then i found this.

there

are

no

words

.

post by arre

sensory overload

these images are making me soooooo happy! i don't know if it's because the girls who took them are so stinkin' awesome (ummm, how long have we loved them? ONLY since the beginning of time. or at least time as far as stewart & james the blog is concerned) ... or if it's because the house (is it a house girls?) where they were taken is so freakin' cool... or if it's because i still can't believe we have such a rockin' boutique in this town... or if it's because Mandy is so smokin'... or if it's because i love this dress so much i can hardly breath (reminds me of Cassandra)... or if it's because there's a goldfish on the table.


post (obviously) by arre (not because Kristen couldn't rock this dress. just because she wouldn't)

smitten with smitten

smitten

I decided long ago, I would have 4 year pictures of all my kids done (my mom did the same and it's such a good age to capture..well, they all are good ages, but 4 is a big one!) So, of course, my thoughts immediately went to Smitten - a local photography company run by two fun girls that I've been waiting for an opportunity to use! Greta came over to the house and snapped a (ton) of pictures of an over-posing MJ and a few with her sisters. I was a little nervous about the results (not because of the lack of talent of photographers by any means!) but the subject they were working with! MJ definitely performed, but when it was over..she decided it was OVER. Anyway, can't thank you girls enough. The pictures are more than i could have asked for - Greta did an amazing job at capturing so many natural shots. check the pictures out here on their blog

thanks girls!

wedding l♥ve :: katherine and warren by tammi nowack

A few weeks ago my lovely (and breathtakingly gorgeous) friend, Katherine, was married at (what I believe to be) the most beautiful Church in our sweet little town. The ceremony was just as beautiful - all parts (and there were a lot of parts). At the reception the new husband and wife were visibly head over heels and having the time of their lives. I've not stopped thinking about the couple, their day ...

Last week i was vistiting with Katherine - what a delight!- and got a sneak peek at their wedding pictures *eeeek*! After I caught my breath (literally) I took a closer look and realized she used local photographer Tammi Nowack. I've not met Tammi but her name is familiar to me from these girls (hints ladies?) and this post (oh, and this one too, actually). This was my first Tammi Nowack wedding experience and i was overwhelmed. The photographs are phenomenal! I would be obsessed with these pictures even if I didn't know and love the subject of them but the fact that they so wonderfully capture a day that was so glorious it transcends words just makes them that much more magnificent.

I can't not share them with anyone who is willing to look but i don't know Tammi and don't want to yank (all of) her images (but i couldn't resist just one - please forgive me Tammi!) so go to Tammi's web site (seriously. do this.), enter her blog and search for 'Katherine and Warren'. i know this can't be the simplest way to go - but it's the only way i know.

get ready to seriously swoon!

post by arre

braving the backyard! guest blogger :: shanna scott

If you have been following us any, you know that Shanna is a very good friend of ours, that just so happens to be handy with the camera too. She came over to take pictures of frames (for our etsy shop). While Arre helped her organize and pick frames to photograph, I wrangled 4 little girls inside. Annabelle (who is always very sweet and well behaved) and my 3. Afterwards we ordered sushi and had the guys pick it up. A couple of days later shanna sent this e-mail...she said I could post it :)
Since Kristen was (very) busy keeping 4 girls b/t the ages of 4 months and 4 years, and Arre was feverishly (literally b/c of the heat/humidity and impending thunderheads that were building) organizing the frames to be photographed, my camera lens caught a bit more detail than you two were aware of...

In case you weren't aware, my photography skills have developed to the point ; ) where I apparently now need an entourage of assistants (aka aggravations). Accompanying me on this shoot were one curious cat and 2 creepy crawlers.

The first creepy crawler was a really large prehistoric looking bug. I have no idea what type of bug it was, but I'm not a fan of it. I saw some other dead ones around the yard, but decided to spare y'all photos of that.

The cat. Curiousity (almost made me) kill(ed) the cat. Just kidding. I wouldn't do that but this cat, not unlike most others, was a pain in the rear. Sorry if y'all like cats. I lived w/ a really really devious little cat in college. It would purposefully (yes, purposefully - i know it!) pass gas while it was right next to me (in my face to be exact!), knock things over in my room and go back and do it again right after I picked them up, and hide under my bed and pounce/scratch my feet as I walked by. Since then, I'm really just not a fan of felines. Anyway, this cat was clearly jealous that the Stewart and James handcrafted frames were the star of the shoot instead of itself. It tried several strategies to sabotage the shoot.

It chewed my toes and the wooden peg for the frames several times. It purposefully knocked over a couple of the props that the frames were leaning up against. It was running through my legs as I was walking and almost tripped me several times. It tried to get in numerous photos. All of this is well documented.

Kristen, are you sure that you haven't been feeding this cat? Hmm...I seem to remember one friendly feline that took a liking to y'all's house on Hilltop where soon after you began feeding it and soon after that it gave birth next to your driveway.

Anyway, the cat is fired.

My final assistant was a very strange, albino looking furry bug. Yes, the bug was furry. White fur. You can see it in the photo.

Perhaps it is a chameleon bug b/c it was trying to disguise itself on a white frame. Who knows? Maybe an entymologist would. I've never seen a bug like this before. Well, I had to move on w/ the job so I flicked the bug off of the frame.. No worries, Kristen. The bug was not harmed. However, when it landed it sort of skidded across the black step and left a white trail - due to it's weird white fur, I assume.

In spite of the heat/humidity and rain clouds, the cat and bugs, and the issue of having to choose sushi rolls without a menu (Yeah, that's why 2 of the rolls tasted like cat food. Kristen could've fed those 2 to the cat.. Must get a to-go menu.) and 4 little ladies under 4, I'd say it was a success and the frames will sell like hot cakes on y'all's etsy.com store! :)

kristen again: here are some photos from mj's point of view while photo shoot was going on and then a sneak peek of what's to come on etsy. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get these photos up on etsy so you can buy, but with 3 little munchkins running around (well one, laying around)... it takes me a while! So i will be back on here (the blog) to let you know when they are up!! first...a couple of photos by MJ ...
annabelle & molly

mills

and now for the etsy photos! (by shanna)











well.. you get the idea! Please check back for info on these frames being posted. If you already see one you have to have and want more info, then just leave me a comment and we'll arrange it :)
post by kristen & shanna

WAY too cute

A little less than a month ago, our husbands' cousin (josh) and his wife (kristen) had a baby girl named Millie (yep.. Mills & Millie will be same age and 3rd cousins - how cute!) I found this picture on a local photographer's blog and I can't stop laughing and almost crying at how adorable it is!!



check out a few more precious pics here

post by kristen

ghostly

in case Phillipe Starke didn't do a cool enough job designing these chairs in the first place, look how much awesome-eR nest.co.uk makes them look? make sure and look at all of the options. wonderful styling abounds!

post by arre