pulling a switch-a-roo

So, it's been a little over a week of blogging in two places and, I gotta tell you. I'm exhausted! Too many ideas, too much time spent to post each, and - for whatever reason - I feel like I'm split in two! I know, I know...chill, girly, it's only blogging and you're not even a blogger, you're a designer. I couldn't agree more. So, because a gal only has so much to say, I think I'm going to say it on my new blog "from cville with love." It's got a fancy banner that I plan to switch out each month. It's got fancy posts and images and links and I promise it will be filled with all of the goodness and love that the laurel denise blog has been filled with for the past year or so. I hope you'll change your readers and update your bookmarks and follow the ins and outs of Laurel Denise, Cute Husband and my crazy ways over at from cville with love.

whisper rings

You. Guys. These are stunning. I really, really, really want them. Like, a few of them. To wear every single day.

lazy weekend at home

Yay for a weekend home with Cute Husband. I can't wait to try out some new recipes (or try a few restaurants), eat some takeout, start a new book, and enjoy our little home for a whole weekend. Spring...is...almost...here. Right??

boy t-shirt here

slouchy jeans here

vans here

cream cardigan here

laurel denise "be" necklace here

garden party feet

Oh what happy garden party feet these are, don't you think? Hearts to Shop Ruche for the fashion goodness.

On a related-ish note, exactly how clear is my happiness for the warm weather that has recently arrived?? Let's hope it sticks around forever and ever and ever. And ever.

happy march from laurel denise

a laurel denise poem...with apologies to all poets.

ahem.

in with the new, but don’t be blue
we kept the glass pieces, too.
we thought we’d add some sterling and leather
so that we might make our collection a bit better.
enjoy a discount from the bottom of our heart
15% when you add it to your shopping cart!

(code "march" until april 1)

little doodles

Holy absolutely beautiful. The detail on the dress this beauty has on is just perfection. I love how artist Kate Wilson leaves out the faces. When I was majoring in art at JMU, I had such a hard time with faces. I still do. I shy away from them and then wind up creating yet another organic piece of art focused on something you find in nature. But I never quite got the perspective thing down either (thank God for kind teachers and printmaking classes), so the nature pieces didn't come out quite as perfect as they were supposed to. It's art though, right? Perfect isn't supposed to have a place in art. Anyway, I do love this creative idea Kate Wilson uses here to, well, leave out the faces and still create something perfect and lovely on its own. Yum.

simon + stella

Saw these earrings from Simon & Stella on The Bright Side last week and I think I almost choked on my coffee. No, seriously. They are absolutely stunning. Really and truly. And check out their product shots online - lovely!

weekend fashion: let's go capitals!

This weekend is Cute Husband's birthday and we're heading to DC to watch the Washington Capitals in person (I haven't seen them in the Verizon Center since, well, since they didn't have Ovechkin and no one really knew about the team) and delight in some delicious margaritas from Rosa Mexicana right across the street from the stadium followed by a quick snooze at a hotel close by. Very excited for the packed weekend with family and sports and for my very favorite person to ring in his last year as a 20-something with a smile on his face and a Caps win in the pocket (fingers crossed)! Let's hope he likes his gift. So...impossible...to...shop...for...

jeans here

cardigan here (or, if you like the sweater better, sweater here)

shoes here

laurel denise "play" necklace here

the wednesday sisters

Oh, this book, you guys. This book...well, it was kind of amazing. Just the exact book I needed right now. Well, ever. It had all the good stuff inside - women friendships, struggles, joys, tragedies, love, relationships, writing, books - everything all stuffed inside to make one of my new favorite feel-good and thoughtful books. I know what you're thinking - "Laurel, you like every single book you read" - I know. And it's probably true. I love, love, love books and if I don't love it, I probably won't post about it because I know how much time people put into writing that art and - even though a published author would have to really work to find this little blog of mine, this world is awfully small sometimes and you just never ever know. So I try not to post the bad, but I will always-definitely-one-hundred-percent share with you books like The Wednesday Sisters. I heart books like this so much and I hope you will, too.

artfully wrapped

I'm loving the teeny tiny detail of this recycled wrapping paper. I know, huge shock, I like teeny tiny design things. I just keep coming up with the surprises, don't I? I've had some wrapping paper sitting around in each place I've called home for the past five years. Seriously, I bought it when I graduated from one of my favorite Charlottesville spots to shop (O'Suzannah) and I haven't done a thing with it since then. Not a thing until last week when I decided to dust it off (literally) and actually use it to wrap something happy. That little thing made the gift giving that much better - and what's better than giving a gift, honestly? - and made me smile. Which is always the goal, right?

embellish

So, I'm trying to make this shirt. Last week, Erin and I spent some quality time with an embroidery book I bought years ago (because wouldn't it be cool to embellish things that I have or make that $300 pillow instead of paying for it??), but I haven't touched it since the first purchase. Last week we went through and actually learned some cool stitches - like the awesome flowery sort of thing you see here. Trial one with a thin white tank from Target didn't go so well. I used the wrong color for the flowers and decided, mid-way through, that I would take those out and start again with a softer white. One word: holes. So many holes in my little white tank, it looked diseased! So that one had to go into the trash immediately. Craft fail. Good thing I have another navy blue one to experiment with this weekend. Just not sure how they manage to get such nice, large flowers and still keep the fabric soft and white. Are they making them separately and then sewing them on? Anyone have a clue? Oh the trials and tribulations of being crafty. It's a tough world, friends, but someone has gotta do it.

ban.do hearts

Dear Ban.do, as if your beautiful headbands (especially this little beauty) don't make me happy enough, your website and blog are just about the happiest places I've ever been. Especially in the 8's in the morning.

happy feet

I'm stuck inside during the snowicane and honestly can't believe I've seeing another snowstorm this season! Another one? Really? But, I mean, I happen to be "stuck" with one of the cutest kids ever to grace the world and my bestest of best girls, so if a gal is going to be stuck anywhere, that's where it should be. That aside, I'm still oh so done with snow. So this morning I found myself looking at the brightest, happiest shoes I can find on Zappos. Such perfect candy for my winter heart this morning.

Purple, Yellow, Turquoise, Pink

tiny bird vase

Flippin' cute. Right?? This tiny bird vase by Pretty Random is begging to have a life and a home next to my J. Mendicino vase.

the middle place

Yummy, delicious, funny, sweet, sad and wonderful book: The Middle Place. This book got me through a plane ride on a teeny-tiny-feel-every-single-bump-in-the-cloudy-air plane that had to land to refuel because visibility wasn't good enough at our original destination. The fact that I wasn't having a complete melt down because I can barely handle taking off or landing in a plane just the two times that are usually required is a testament to Kelly Corrigan's writing.

Side note, why oh why oh WHY do those little planes have to be so HOT? Why? I thought maybe Cute Husband and I were going to melt right there into our seats. Really and truly. At least I'd go out reading a good book.