♥ Weekly Favorites ♥

Happy Saturday, lovelies! 

Today was a major sewing day for me - finishing constructing the bodice to a creamy, floral gown; creating and attaching sleeves, and sewing the front on to a gorgeous green damask gown; and **finally** mastering some tricky chiffon I've been working with for a Netherfield Ball-inspired gown requested by one of my lovely customers last month, and just about finishing her gown! 

At the end of this hyper busy week, I can definitely say I am ready to enjoy a much needed day of rest tomorrow. 

*sigh of relief* 

During this busy week though, I found some fabulous things while browsing the web...so without further ado, here are my weekly favorites. :-)

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...and last but not least ;-)...

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♥2014♥

Happy New Year!!! 

I hope you all had a fantastic end to the holidays!! It is so hard to believe that 2013 has come and gone, but I am soooo completely looking forward to what's ahead this brand new year. 

Now, with New Years comes one word in particular:

R e s o l u t i o n s.

I personally do not remember *ever* actually having held to a New Years resolution...pretty sad, I know.  ;-) BUT, this year I'm going to try to change that!

  Here's what's made the list:

Smiling more! :-D

Read the Bible in one year. I'm using the One Year Bible reading plan...two days in! :-) 

Exercise 3 days a week...random number that seemed more attainable than *every* day, but enough to not forget about it....we'll see how that one goes - heh heh ;-)

Play more games. Because life is better when you spend time playing Operation or Battle Ship with little kids (or "big" ones too ;-) ).

( This picture is hilariously oh so true ;-D )

Here's a big one: WORRY LESS. 

Stress, be gone! The answer to that? The last item on my list...

Trust God more! ♥ One of my biggest goals this year is to learn to hand things (whether it be school stresses, life situations, anything) over to Him more...

What about you, did you make any resolutions this year? I would love to hear about them! :-) 

Regency Bridal Gowns

We are still two weeks away from 2014, but I am already stirring up ideas and plans for the new year! The usual suspects appear on the list, such as

gettin' healthy

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getting more organized

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and so on. ;-) 

However, with January first comes the birthday of my Etsy shop (yay!), 

and I have so many ideas for it going forward!!

Lord willing, this January I will be starting on Gabby Marie Boutique's first line of 

Regency bridal gowns!

I've started ordering materials, drawing out ideas, and dreaming up the million possible ways of making each dress special.... I can't wait to get started sewing!

Hope you have an awesome Wednesday! Me, well, I'll be working some more on gown designs,  babysitting, and sipping down copious amounts of Irish Breakfast Tea. :-)

Two words:

Completely. Amazing.

It is super yummy, with the richness of coffee without the acidity that tends to come with some brands of coffee...plus, the fact that the word "Irish" is in the name could possibly effect my even higher opinion of it had it not had the name.... you never know. ;-)

Happy day to you! 

Driving In The Clouds

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

~George Elliot

Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina...
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Happy Fall day to you! Here in the South, it is **finally** (yay!) starting to feel a tiny bit like fall, with gentle, gray showers and cooler weather.

*happy dance*

We still don't have much color in our neck o' the big city; however, just a few hours drive this past weekend to the Blue Ridge Parkway allowed us to see absolute beauty! Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me, but I can try to describe it a little (with the help of pictures via - you guessed it - Pinterest ..;-) )

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As we hit the BRP, we could start seeing tiny bits of color... but, as we started climbing up, the gorgeousness of it all took our breath away! Mountain upon mountain, laying on each other like a bright, cozy quilt, were dotted with fiery reds, pumpkin oranges, sunny yellows, contrasting against the deep green of pines.

Once we hit a certain elevation, all at once we were surrounded by something completely different..

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Clouds. A thick, heavy veil of white, cloud was on every side, which made for a - *cough* - interesting ;-)  ride on winding roads with little to no barriers blocking us from the steep edge of the mountain.

For several minutes, we could only see about 10 feet in front of us. But just as quickly as we entered the cloud, all of the sudden - as if someone had flipped a switch - we were back to sight. Color, blended with misty rains all along the drive along switchback roads down the mountain range.

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For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the skies

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." 

~Psalms 19:1

An Award!

Happy Thursday, everyone! 

Priscilla from Music and Little Moments 

nominated me for the Versitale Blogger Award this past week - thanks Priscilla!! Be sure to stop by her cute blog and say hello! :-)

Okie dokie, here's how it works...

1. Display the Award Certificate on your blog.
2. Announce your win with a post . Make sure you post a link back to whoever nominated you as a ‘thank you’ for the nomination.
3. Present the award to your own ten deserving bloggers.
4. Leave each of the nominees a comment to let them know you've nominated them after you have linked them to your post.
5. Post seven interesting things about yourself.

And the 10 fabulous bloggers I am nominating are........

**drum roll**

1. A Noble Calling 
2. A Lass of Yesteryear
3. Emelie Claire  
4. E Hearts P
5. Captured by the Word
6. Think Loveliness 
7. A Journal of Everything 
8. Old-Fashioned Charm 
9. Ramblings of a Janeite 
10. All Things Bright and Beautiful

Please pop on over and say hello to each of these gals - their blogs are adorable! 

Last but not least, here are the seven "interesting" facts about myself. 

1. I love random things...such as this....

2. Hershey's chocolate is a necessity in life for me. 

3. I dream of making a Georgian Era costume someday...

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4. I detest modern Nickelodeon , and pity this generation who will never know the superiority of shows such as Doug, Wild Thornberries, and Cat Dog( 90s kids unite! ;-) )

5. I watch Pride and Prejudice about once every other month 

6. I am currently reading John Adams, by David McCullough 

7. I am a complete and utter anglophile :-) 

♥ Weekly Favorites ♥

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Musical awesomeness + Irish awesomeness = Rend Collective Experiment
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A Thing of Beauty

Hey lovelies!

I have a ton of posts up my sleeve for the coming days and weeks, and I can't wait to share them with you all...I'm going to try my hand at some new things, including retro-inspired fashion posts and recipe tutorials! :-) In the mean time, I wanted to share with you one of my *all time* favorite poems, by John Keats. 

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...It's loveliness increases; it will never

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Pass into nothingness; but still will keep 

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A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

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Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

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Happy Thursday!