meet blakely grindrod of 'blakely made'

meet blakely, the artist behind blakely made. 

blakely lives in charleston, and her art truly captures the beauty of living by the sea. i don't know about you, but i am a sucker for colorful art, and i love all the color she uses. 

 ^ her paintings are acrylic paint on wood panel

 ^ oh, and she's getting married soon :) [congrats, blakely!]

blakely, you are lovely, and so is your work. 

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shop blakely's art here

photography by caroline ro

we went walking. i took my camera.

last sunday was a cloudy, rainy one. after spending all day indoors saturday with a grey's anatomy marathon, and doing that half of the day sunday, by the end of the day we were dying to get out. the rainy day turned into a delightfully sunny, but cool, evening. so we laced up and headed out. nothing to end the day like a sunset walk. 

two years.

it is so hard to believe it's been two years since our wedding. sometimes, it feels like we've been married forever - like we've never known another way - and other times, it feels like it was just yesterday. time really does fly when you're having fun. and these two years have been the most fun two years of my life.

below is a little video i put together of our wedding day. our original wedding video is 20 minutes long...rehearsal dinner speeches included! now i'm sure you'd love to sit through 20 minutes of our wedding and walk through each detail, piece by piece and emotion by emotion, with us ;) ... but just in case, i took our raw footage and compiled a shorter video. song by holly maher.

happy anniversary to my best friend, my love, my person. there's nothing more wonderful than being your wife!

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oh, and if you'd like to see our wedding pictures, you can find them here.

charnise mangle - global studies teacher

a few weeks ago i took some pictures for my good friend, char. she just landed her first full time teaching gig as a global studies teacher in the fall, and i couldn't be more excited for her. in the meantime, she's planning, branding, and preparing a killer website for her future students.

her students have no idea how lucky they are going to be to be in her classroom. she's the best. plus, she's got that whole 'cool teacher' thing going for her ;)

congrats, char!

lemon poppyseed muffins

lately, i've had this strange craving for lemon poppyseed muffins. i mean, gosh, i probably haven't had one since elementary school. and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, i couldn't kick the craving. maybe it's the nostalgia of going with my dad to get one at the bagel shop when he picked me up from school as a kid, or maybe it's the refreshing flavor of lemon that is so satisfying with this crazy carolina heat.

lemon poppyseed muffins

ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. poppy seeds
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• juice of two lemons
• zest of one lemon
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup non-fat, vanilla yogurt

for the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice

preheat oven to 350 F. in a bowl, combine the flour, poppy seeds, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. stir until fully combined. in a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and melted butter. add the lemon juice, zest, vanilla extract and vanilla yogurt. whisk until you get a smooth texture. pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated [do not over mix]. spray cupcake molds with cooking spray or line with cupcake liners. fill each compartment 3/4 full. bake in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. reduce heat to 325 and bake for another 15 minutes. remove from heat and let cool.

while the muffins are cooling, prepare the glaze. mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. pour the glaze over the muffins, and devour!

artisphere

one thing i absolutely adore about my city is the abundance of festivals throughout the year. there's always something fun going on downtown [especially in the summer] and scofield and i love to go together, join in on the fun, and make a date out of it. this weekend was 'artisphere.' basically, artists from all around the are came to strut their stuff. street performers, booths, art demonstrations - you name it. we had so much fun walking around and picking out our favorite pieces.

 ^ an art demonstration from clemson art students - my alma mater. [go tigers!]

 ^ these folks played the greatest rendition of 'call me maybe.' so good.

 ^ did you know greenville was just voted #5 for best cycling city in the u.s.!? i've said it before...but this place is pretty great

 ^ the sweetest little restaurant in the most adorable little cottage. i've always wanted to eat here.

 ^ blooms along the sidewalk.

 ^ greenville, you're so pretty!

 ^ oh, and just a really cool delivery truck.

thanks for always being so fun, greenville!

happy mother's day!

mom, what a blessing you are to me! you are the most loving, caring, generous, and strong woman i know. i am so lucky to not only call you mom, but call you friend. i love you so!

happy mother's day!

happy friday + a little weekend inspiration

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this warm spring weather has had me feeling inspired this week...this weather, and pinterest. pictures have a similar effect on me as music. sometimes a song can cause this feeling of 'life and adventure' to well up within me and cause me to feel inspired and motivated. pictures can do the same...

in other news, the ice cream truck has been making a weekly appearance in our neighborhood. is it just me, or do those things freak any one else out? i can't get the image out of my head from 'air bud' with the bad guys who drove the ice cream truck [i think it was an ice cream truck?] or the the story line from 'chitty chitty bang bang' with the kid snatcher. sheesh.

anyway, some links to check out this weekend:

7 tips for meaningful networking

an adorable outdoor luncheon

have you checked out fashion by mayhem? amazing!

hilarious youtube video - hair tutorial gone wrong [i know everyone's probably already seen this video and i'm so behind...but i saw it for the first time this week and it is hilarious! so for those of you who are behind the game like me...you're welcome.]

hope your weekend is filled with joy and inspiration! happy friday!

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p.s. you can see more and follow along on pinterest here

around town || due south coffee

brace yourself for the most lovely coffee shop...ever...

i don't think a city can ever have too many coffee shops...a girl's gotta have her options! so when i started to hear about due south that recently opened in the greenville area, i knew i had to check it out. it's in an old renovated mill, full of character and personality. my friend char and i tried to check it out one friday night...we had no idea where we were going and we came to this sketchy looking, dark mill and thought, 'no way. we're so lost.' but nope - due south was nestled in there! it's the coolest thing.

due south started as strictly a coffee roaster. recently, they expanded to this coffee shop, but still roast their own coffee. and oh my gosh...their coffee. rich, delicious, strong [my favorite quality]. i plan on spending many a-afternoons working from this place. the atmosphere is quiet and inspiring. seriously...they win on all fronts.

check 'em out: due south coffee roasters, 250 mill st. taylors, sc 29687 / instagram