Mrs. Snow

I recently got to escape to the mountains of North Carolina and spend the week with my extended family. The women of my family LOVE flowers. Just love them. I particularly love Dahlias.

So imagine my excitement when my grandmother took us for a drive by Mrs Snow's home to show us her Zinnia and Dahlia garden.

Her garden will be one of my favorite memories etched in my mind forever. 

Mrs. Snow was outside when we drove by her garden on another day. We stopped to tell her how beautiful her flowers were, and she asked if we wanted a bouquet. Ummmmmm, of course Mrs. Snow!!

Mrs. Snow told us she planted the garden when she was 70 and planned to maintain it till she was 75. She's 86 now and says she's aiming to keep it till she's 90. I have no doubt she will. 

Mrs. Snow seemed more alive than your average woman. She was full of life, and love and a humble sense of joy. Turns out Mrs. Snow is taking care of her husband who is suffering from Alzheimer's. 

I wonder what her flowers mean to her. 

Mrs. Snow tromped all through her garden and picked what are my favorite flowers I have ever received. 

When Mrs. Snow handed me my flowers, I thanked her and gushed over and over again about how beautiful they were and how thankful I was. 

Mrs. Snow said, "Honey, flowers are made to be passed around."

Thank you Mrs. Snow, for making my favorite memory of summer. 

Enjoy Saturday

It's the weekend.

Live it like you have not lived it yet. 

Squeeze every last ounce out of summer before it leaves us. 

Go outside. Make a pie. Pick a berry. Sing a loud loud song, windows down.

Have a wonderful day!!

Attention all ye with Cankles!

I'm about to take a big bold step and expose one of my deepest darkest insecurities.

I

have

cankles.


I know. I know. They are unattractive, but I can't help what grandmamma gave me! With the cankle, comes the not so slim calf. I'm sorry for all of you who find this a tad unattractive or unsettling, but I feel even MORE sorry for myself when I see all you slim legged women walking around in your adorable fall boots. Tall boots NEVER fit me, and I wish they did. They'd be the perfect hiding mechanism for the cankle.

You all and your boots might as well just jab a knife into my lil' fashion-lovin' heart (or calf)


Enter Target.


Lovely lovely oh-so-targeted-right-to-me Target


Somehow, someway, their tall boots fit me this year! Maybe they are getting a clue that not all of us are blessed with chicken legs, or maybe the trend of stuffing your jeans into your boots is paying off for me because they have to allocate room for such denim. Last night my fall wardrobe world changed.


And you bet your big ol' bottom dollar I stocked up.


I got these little suede beauties. They are the perfect not brown not grey color that matches EVERYTHING. Oh I see the possibilities now, plum colored tights, a cute skirt, a chunky belt!




And I channeled the should-be-southerner in me and picked up these kind of riding/cowboy kicks... I have the perfect new shirt-type dress to wear these with. I can't wait!



So if I have any fellow cankle-sportin' women in the house... run, don't walk, to your local Target and snatch these up while you can. They both come in black too. And, each pair is less than 40 bucks. You can't beat that!!!


Come back and see me!
~Kara

Sometimes it snows flowers

Oh hello there to my handful of readers! You may or may not have noticed that I disappeared off the face of the blog-a-login earth.

I did so with good reason. It's been a crazy summer full of break ups, crushes, trips to the mountains, strawberry jelly, homemade pizzas, big giant Dahlias, new jobs, new friends, self-reflection, new music, a new love for old music, muffins, quilts, old suitcases, new jewelery, photo booths, piles of laundry, hurting friends, happy friends, succulent plants, Lillies and big bouquets, Vincas and vines, sweet tea, tomatoes, peaches....and life.

And life is sometimes hard.

I took this picture right after a horrible storm one day. The storm blew off all the petals on this tree, and my first gut reaction was to be sad. There is nothing that makes me happier than blooming plants. I drove by this tree everyday and I wasn't quite ready for it's cute little white blooms to disappear from my commute.

And then, I looked again.

Turns out a sidewalk of petals is gorgeous and I can just imagine walking down that tree lined street with coffee in hand, humming a tune. Something about it makes me smile, makes me happy and makes me realize how the littliest moments in life are to be treasured the most deeply.

Sometimes a storm comes through in your life and plucks the petals off of your plans... seemingly destroying the beautiful, buttoned up life you had planned for yourself, and at first glance it's heartbreaking.

And then you look again....

And God works his magic. He makes storms turn into opportunities, and hardships into happiness- revealing more about Him and more about you.

Sometimes He makes it snow flowers.