M Crooked Letter

May 15, 2013

Augusta Wedding Weekend

Last month, my dear friends were married in Augusta, Georgia. I love a good excuse to head south to God's country, and I'd never been to Augusta, home of the Masters.

Owing to direct flights and close-ish proximity, a good number of our D.C. area friends were able to attend the wedding.

via Tim Will Photography

It was a great weekend for catching up with friends and taking a break from the city. We stayed at the historic Partridge Inn, wandered around downtown and the River Walk, and ate some delicious Southern-inspired seafood (if you're ever in Augusta, you must head to Sheehan's Irish Pub).

May 1, 2013

Spring and Picnics

D.C. has its fair share of weird weather patterns--the derecho of 2012, snow on Halloween, random flooding, a tornado here, a hurricane there--and this spring has been no exception. In February we had days with highs of 70, and in April we were still bundling up with highs of 40 and 50. However, spring is finally here, and with it come baseball games, rooftop parties and picnics.

Per usual, Kate Spade has all the inspiration you need to start planning your own picnic!

via

Kate Spade champagne box

Kate Spade picnic blanket

Kate Spade picnic basket

April 30, 2013

Southern women

As a displaced Southern belle, I find it interesting to hear and see how my non-Southern friends, co-workers and colleagues view people from my neck of the woods. It stretches from one end of the spectrum to the other--thinking Southerners are dumb as bricks to sweet as pie. In short, everyone has a different opinion, though most do have an opinion (that they want to share). This is most pronounced in the obvious settings--when I'm meeting someone for the first, and/or when that person doesn't know many Southerners.

Shocking though it may be, we don't all like sweet tea, we don't all aspire to be housewives, we don't all know how to fry chicken, and we don't all believe that the higher the hair, the closer to Heaven. However, I do think that what sets us apart is that Southern women make the effort. I think that trait, more than how we talk or what we eat or how many bless-your-hearts we utter, is what makes a belle stand out. In fact, that's pretty much what this Garden & Gun article about redefining the Southern belle says:

To be born a Southern woman is to be made aware of your distinctiveness. And with it, the rules. The expectations. These vary some, but all follow the same basic template, which is, fundamentally, no matter what the circumstance, Southern women make the effort. Which is why even the girls in the trailer parks paint their nails. And why overstressed working moms still bake three dozen homemade cookies for the school fund-raiser. And why you will never see Reese Witherspoon wearing sweatpants. Or Oprah take a nap.

It's true--I never wear sweatpants in public (yoga pants are an altogether different subject), and I ~~never~~rarely take naps [anymore]. I don't leave the house with wet hair, and I wear makeup to the gym.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

April 29, 2013

Remember me?

Hey guys, long time, no see. I haven't blogged in a while, but I was kind of shocked that I haven't blogged since November!

Since you asked, I'll tell you where I've been. The short is answer is work.

About halfway through December, my dear co-worker adopted a baby boy. Harris was born on Saturday, my co-worker received a phone call the following Tuesday to say that she and her husband had been chosen as a match, she flew across the country to California on Wednesday, and on Thursday she officially became Harris's mom! I was absolutely thrilled for my co-worker and her husband, and it took a day or two for me to realize that she wouldn't be coming back for three months. Since the adoption occurred so quickly, we didn't have the usual nine months to prepare for her to go on her maternity leave--instead, she was there one day and gone the next!

Most of her day-to-day responsibilities fell to me, which meant that I was doing two jobs during our busiest time of the year--we were in the midst of major projects and preparing for our annual meeting. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but everything turned out for the best and life is back to semi-normal.

Now I'm going to take an 8-hour nap and go back to work. I leave you with some words of wisdom from one of my favorite authors, Anonymous.

November 15, 2012

NYC: Then vs. Now

You may have heard of Evan Joseph, or you may not; Joseph is one of New York's leading photographers of architecture, and he took these amazing "now" photos of New York landmarks. I was first introduced to his work via MyModernMet, which is where I borrowed the context for this post:

Take a journey with us, if you will, back in time to see how one of the most important cities in the world has evolved. Evan Joseph, one of New York's leading photographers of architecture, had previously given as an incredible birds eye view of New York City at night by precariously dangling out of a tiny helicopter. He's now back with a new book called New York Then and Now. Not yet released to the public, this is your sneak peek.

Out December 3, the book shows how Joseph is still pushing himself, creativity and technically, by meticulously setting up shots to match ones taken in the previous century. Every image in the book was shot from the exact same angle as the historic image it is being compared to. Also, Joseph would go so far as to wait several hours until he could match the lighting.

Comparing the old and new photos is a wonderful way to experience the beauty of diversity of New York. Not only do we get to see how iconic places like Wall Street, Grand Central, and Union Square have changed, we're presented with a visual story that tells us that while New York's massive skyscrapers have come and gone, the dynamic and energetic feel of the city will live on forever.

Central Park, 1933 vs Now