A picture paints a thousand words

My Visual DNA...

Sofisticate
They like to live the high life; mixing in the righ cirles; always look their best; they like to impress and make an impact.

Escape Artist
They are forever slipping off, getting away from the rat race, and recharging there batteries. Independent, and thoughtful- they know themselves well.

High Time Roller
They are only seen in the best, and the finest, they love top quality, high-end glamour. Always adding a touch of sophistication to the proceedings.

Love Bug
They are the type to fall in love a thousand times. They wear their heart on their sleeves. Their feelings snowball quickly and they are full of passion.

Get your own Imagini Visual Profile by clicking on mine.

Thank you , thank you, thank you!

Today's picture post is of what I've spent most of my day doing... thank you notes! With 500+ to write, I am oh-so grateful but overwhelmed. This is the absolute worst part of getting married! Just how many different phrases can you use for gift thank you notes??? Well, let's see, I can tell you a few I've used lately...

How did you know (blank) was my favorite (blank)?
You have such great taste! (I try not to use this one unless I truly liked the gift)
What a (thoughtful, generous, fun) gift!
I really appreciate it. (I'm starting to despise this phrase)
It really made my day!
It means so much to me.
Every time I (see it or use it) I'll think of you. (Geez, this one's a little cheesy)
I'm looking forward to using it at (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter)



I just keep telling myself that my note is really going to brighten someone's day and hopefully they will feel like an exceptional gift giver after reading it. I guess I shouldn't complain too much, at least I'm saving a little bit of money by printing my own thank you notes through my stationery company, Address to Impress.

The Firm

My first photo post is of Russell's new office in downtown Memphis. This was my first time to visit. I was really impressed, especially with his name on the glass! He had not told me about that! He has an incredible view of the river & the pyramid from the 34th floor. Here lately he's been putting in 10-12 hour days but seems to really be learning a lot and enjoying himself.

Hurry to Hernando!

Well, we're finally in our new house in Hernando and I'm back to the blog! I'm looking forward to many visitors! I've been super busy with a little bit of everything and have just recently hooked up our internet. My friend, Jenny, started a neat blog challenge that requires us to post a picture a day. We'll see if I can do it...

Happy Easter!

I've convinced Russell to take off of work on Good Friday so we can start moving in our house. The next time I post we should be in our new home! Until then, I hope each of you have a blessed Easter weekend...

No April Fools

I wish I could say "April Fool's" but I haven't felt like pulling any pranks lately. I've been oh-so sick with some sort of 24 hour virus since yesterday. Pedialyte, Sprite, & saltines have been my only friends. Luckily, it didn't hit me until after we had finished moving out and closed on our house in Tupelo on Friday.

one smart brownie (pan)

What a clever idea! The Edge Brownie Pan is for those of us who love the chewy edges of the corner pieces of homemade brownies. Now you don't have to settle just for the "border" of the pan anymore... the unique zig-zag shape of this non-stick pan gives you two chewy edges on each serving! You can also use it for your favorite cookie bars too.

I hate long distance

Russell and I are apart again this week as he's working in Memphis and I am still in Tupelo. I hate long distance and he never has time to talk on the phone anymore. I hope he knows how much I love him and miss him. After this week, we'll only have two more before we both move to Hernando!

Positano, Italy November 2007

Our Bailey Girl is Famous!!!

I submitted the story about Bailey and her concrete incident to the Marley & Me blog. I had no idea that it would be selected. Please excuse any grammatical errors. I thought John Grogan, the author, would have edited it for me!


Can anyone find Bailey??? I know she's the one behind this mess!!!

Bailey & Me

So, where do I begin? This morning started off like any ordinary morning with Bailey. Her usual routine includes going to the bathroom in the backyard and then enjoying a treat while I fix her breakfast. Within thirty minutes we're taking a walk together out front to get the newspaper and then we play fetch to run some of that morning energy out. The weather these past couple of weeks has been wonderful so I've gotten in the habit of leaving the front door open for Bailey to wander in and out on her own while I'm working from my home office. She knows exactly where her home is so she never wanders outside of our acre lot. However, the lots to the left and right of us are just now being cleared and prepped for concrete. Periodically, I check on her to make sure she's not getting into something she's not supposed to. Well, today she did just that. I walk out front to yell to the construction crew next door to send Bailey my way if she's bothering them. They yell back that she's no problem at all but I might want to wash her off. At this point, I'm thinking to myself that she's probably gotten in all of that red clay mud again. No surprise. But just as they say this, I see Bailey running full speed ahead towards me as frisky as ever. No, she wasn't covered in the red mud but instead in CONCRETE! At this time, the construction crew are laughing and calmly saying "you might want to wash her off soon or that concrete will harden on her legs. The concrete contains chemicals and it might burn her legs off." WHAT?!?! My first born (not technically mine) baby's legs might burn off??? I'm freaking out by this point. I immediately rush her inside to the tub to wash the concrete off. She was actually really good about her bath. I still worry that it might have been burning or hardening already and that's why she was so good. Anyway, I successfully clean Bailey off and run straight to the phone to tell her Daddy, Russell, what his Bailey Girl did. Note- she's never mine when she acts this way. Anyhow, I explain in detail what just happened and Russell immediately asks "you didn't wash the concrete off down the tub, did you?" Ugh, yeah. Hello, why wouldn't I? Supposedly water is what makes concrete harden. How am I suppose to know that? I retract back "why didn't they tell me that before I did it?!?!" He says "Who?" I say "the construction crew!" Russell then proceeds to explain to me that they probably didn't think I was dumb enough to wash the concrete down the pipes. Oh well, I guess I've learned my lesson this time. Luckily, everything's draining properly even though we might have a higher water bill this month. In the meantime, I've called Bailey's vet and they said that the most the chemicals would do is irritate the pads of her feet and to use over the counter Cortisone cream. Bailey on the other hand has had no reaction what-so-ever and has milked this little incident for all it's worth. I felt so guilty over my negligence that I ended up buying her special treats and a new toy at Wal-Mart! See my Bailey Girl below, taken shortly after her concrete adventure...

PS- For those of you who have read the bood, Marley & Me, don't you agree I now deserve my own chapter???

San Gimignano, Italy

I was out surfing the blogs this evening when I came across a girl planning her Italian honeymoon. She had posted that they planned to visit a beautiful Tuscan town called San Gimignano. Russell and I couldn't agree more that this little town was one of the great hidden "gems" throughout our Tuscan travels. The middle picture is of us with the famous photographer, Nocci, whose work has been featured on the cover of Conde Nast. He has a quaint little gallery nestled in the winding steps of San Gimignano. This is where I purchased several of his art pieces for souvenirs. He was even kind enough to give us a complimentary photo as a wedding gift. Oh, how I wish I were going there in a couple of weeks!

Celebrity Update

Okay, so maybe I'm a little behind (like by a week) on my celebrity gossip. According to People.com, Tory Burch and Lance Armstrong are dating! I wonder if she'll start designing his bike-wear?!? Anyhow, I can't wait for my Tory Burch Reva Ballerina Flats to come in. They're obviously very popular and have been on back order since my birthday in February.

Address to Impress has a new blog!

Many people have asked me why I've yet to post about my stationery company, Address to Impress. I'm posting today to let you all know that my partner, Jennifer Springer, and I have decided to start a blog. To be honest, she is skeptical about the blog world but I have faith that my blogger friends out there will prevail. We actually have a website, www.addresstoimpress.com, but neither of us are computer savvy enough to get it up and running. I know many of you are eager to see our unique designs. In just less than a year, we've customized paper products for baby announcements, birthdays, holidays, and wedding showers galore. We offer personalized invitations, folded note cards, flat note cards, thank you notes, children's stationery, address labels, calling cards, and note pads. Address to Impress is currently being sold in the following retail shops... Giggleswick in Starkville, MS; The Cottage Boutique in Amory, MS; and Silly Simpson's in Tupelo, MS. If you're interested in allowing Address to Impress to create your future paper products, please contact us by e-mailing www.contactus@addresstoimpress.com.

Such thing as "Packers"????

Seriously, I ask this because I may be interested in hiring some "packers." I know that "movers" exist but I'm looking for someone to pack my belongings prior to someone else moving them. I say this because I hate to pack! Anyone who knows me, knows I abhor packing. I don't know think I ever really knew how much I hated packing until I lived out of a suitcase for a year. I actually only traveled all over the US for nine months, visiting different universities. But every week I had to figure out how I was going to fit my new purchases in the same two suitcases that each already weighed 50 lbs prior to arriving in that particular city. So since then, I've despised packing. I don't even like to pack my bags to go away for a weekend. It may have something to do with the fact that I'm an over-packer. I always have at least three bags for an overnight stay. I don't see how anyone can not have at least three separate bags... one for your toiletries, one for shoes, and one for clothing. It bothers me that Russell packs his dirty shoes in the same bag as his clean clothes!

So, if you've kept up with my blog at all, you have learned that Russell and I are moving to Memphis soon. Like, two weeks soon. Yes, I only have two weekends to move out of our house. Where are we going to live you ask? That's just it, we don't know. Before we moved into our home, the home we've only lived in for four short months, the home we just sold, I swore I would never move again. Russell told me then not to complain because I had just returned from our honeymoon in Italy for two weeks and I was moving into a nice new home. This time, there's no incentive to pack. I haven't just returned from Italy (although it was only four months ago, it seems like forever) and there's no nice new home to move into, yet. I'm a sucker for incentives, or some people may call them gifts, vacations, rewards, etc. Call them what you may. I just think I need one. So, I guess my question is do you know of any "packers," preferably at a decent rate???

Going to Graceland...

Well, a lot has been going on in our lives this week! Russell got a new job with a firm in downtown Memphis. He accepted it on Friday and I should have known he was moving me away from my comfort zone the minute he showed up with flowers from Jody's! We decided to make a trip to Home Depot that afternoon to purchase a "For Sale by Owner" sign. We also bought an info tube to stock with informative flyers on the house. I designed the flyer for the info box and we made color copies at Staples after dinner that night. On Saturday, we drove to Ripley to have our taxes done. Once we returned home, we counted the flyers to see how many had been taken. Six out of the ten flyers were already gone! I was so proud! But not as proud as I was on Sunday when we had someone stop by to see the house. Little did we know that they'd buy the house after looking at it for 30 minutes!!!

I'm really sad about moving from both Tupelo and the new house but feel very blessed to be able to go with my husband to Memphis. Russell actually started work today so the initial plans were for me to stay behind in Tupelo and sell the house. Lord only knows how long that could have taken... weeks, maybe even months since the market is so saturated. Now, I only have to stay around for two weeks and pack up. Yep, that's right. We have to be out of the house by Monday, March 19th!!! Our plans are to look into real estate in Hernando, Olive Branch, etc. Who knows where we'll end up moving but I'll definitely keep you posted as we make those decisions....

Until then, please be patient as we make this transition in our lives. I have plenty of posts that are late from February but I promise to make them up to everyone. I would love to know your opinion on where we should look so give me a shout out if you have any suggestions...

Oh Gravity...con't

Oh Gravity...

is working against me... and gravity wants to bring me down

Yep, that's what I was singing the whole night down Beale Street on February 2nd. Russell gave me John Mayer tickets for Christmas, so Ray got Stacey tickets to go with us for her birthday. We had a blast! The fun started early by meeting friends for ribs at Rendezvous. Nope, no signs of Jessica Simpson that night. However, she was rumored to have been there the night before sporting her new brown locks. As for the concert, I only took 50+ pictures of John wearing his customary sneakers. In case you're not aware, the bushy haired singer ended up snagging Grammies for best male pop vocal performance & pop vocal artist for "Continuum."

In the meantime, I'll keep singing... Oh gravity, stay the hell away from me

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone has had a "lovely" Valentine's Day. I apologize that it's been so long since I've posted. I've been super busy with work, holidays, and out of town weekend trips. Please check back soon. I have tons of pictures to share from my birthday, John Mayer concert, etc.
We love you....
Hillary & Bailey

Love from Ohio!

Harpo in his "metro" Christmas collar

Me n' Meg at our rehearsal dinner;
she flew from Ohio for the MS wedding weekend

Care packages are so much fun! Have you ever gone to the mailbox expecting to find more bills and instead find a surprise? Well that's what Bailey did this morning. Our good friends Meg and Harpo sent Bailey a care package from Ohio filled with all sorts of goodies. They said every girl needs perfume, a collar to grow into, and a hairbrush! The card was equally cute. I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but it's an upholstered chair covered in saran wrap to help puppy proof it! We can't wait to use all our girlie products, Meg & Harpo. Thanks for making our day!


PS- Bailey Loves Harpo!

Weekend Warrior

Bailey had a very exciting weekend... she had her first trip to Holly Springs on Friday to visit Dr. David & Dr. Mike. She was excellent and everyone there just loved her. She weighed just under 11 lbs and was an angel through the whole proces of being wormed, given her six week shots, and getting her nails clipped. I don't have any pictures of the appointment because I thought that might be a little much! However, I do have pictures of her playing with her four year old cousin Bo. There's quite a bit of difference in size but not much in maturity!














On Saturday, Russell and I carried Bailey on her first trip to PetSmart. She was a little overwhelmed, as was I, at all the toys and treats to choose from. As you can see, we managed to select a few. Bailey was so tired after our 45 minute trip, she decided to stay in the car and sleep on Russell's lap while I grocery shopped at Kroger.

Busy Bailey

I'm sorry I'm just now posting but it's been a long & crazy week. I've been super busy working with fabrics and attending appointments, while Bailey seems to be in the middle of everything. She thinks she's better than me at merchandising the Tietex fabric line. She turned six weeks today and we're taking her in for her 1st vet appointment and shots in the morning. The familly had our first neighborhood walk yesterday, in which she was really good leading with her new leash. Lastly, she also had her first bath. She acted pretty good for the sampoo massage, just not too excited about the water. As you can see, the bath must've been relaxing because she's fast asleep on her new sushi pillow as I type this.