Lovely finds and next purchases

I love, love, love blue hydrangeas and have been trying to get ahold of some to plant. Maybe I'll be able to bring a little bit of the south to Los Angeles in August.

Three Designing Women Ellington Stamp - Expressionery I love the elegance of this stationary stamp design and plan on ordering one as soon as I find out where my new address will be come August. Just like any good Southern lady, Momma taught me the importance of thank you notes and these stamps would make a lovely seal. For gorgeous hand-drawn and custom designed stationary check out ashleybrookedesigns.com!

These glassware pitchers from Juliska are perfect for fresh lemonade in the summer. I especially like the big clear pitcher.

This little blue vintage medicine bottle is also on my next purchase list. I love how they transformed it into a flower vase and hung it with a ribbon.

Hope you found these as lovely as I did. :) Now I just need a job so I can afford them...

Love, hugs, and beauty...

Caio Bella!

Bonjourno! I'm back from Italy and it feels so good to be home! I love me some pasta, pizza, and wine, but I'm definitely ready for grits, bbq, and sweet tea! After 13 hours of being on the plane yesterday and 2 hours trying to make it through Atlanta customs, we are finally back home in Georgia. I'll be posting pictures as soon as I find the cord for my camera (as well as pictures from graduation)! The picture above is from the island of Capri off the Amalfi Coast. The water was soooo blue! I thought I'd seen beautiful water growing up in Florida, but this was just unreal.

A short synopsis of what I learned in Italy:
It's really really old. The Roman Colloseum was around LONG before Christ.
Italians drive like maniacs. Let's just say 2 lanes was always made into 4 or 5. And our taxi driver had us up to 160 km/h at one point. Sheesh.
The history is unbelievable. I've been in the church were Peter is buried, seen tombs from the 1400s, and walked the same roads as Jesus once did.
The art is breathtaking. The Sistine Chapel, David, The Pieta, everything was so awe-inspiring.
The men are REALLY friendly and love blondes. I was even proposed to in Venice.
Venice is sinking, so go see it soon if you can!
Comfort is not Italian women's number one priority. High heels are a must apparently.
Pizza is nothing like American pizza. (It's wayyyy better.)
And last but not least, the wine. Ohhhh the wine. :) Magnifico!

Love, hugs, and arrividerci!

Headed to Italy!

As of 9 am this morning I am now a Florida State University alumnus! It was a crazy day... fun but also really emotional. And now it's time to head to ITALY!!! My mom and I are going on a 2-week expedition around Italy as my graduation present. :) I promise to take lots of pictures and of course I'll be keeping a journal so I can let ya'll know how it goes!

See ya'll in 2 weeks!

Love, hugs, and gelato!

The countdown begins...

T-minus...

26 hours until my last final exam... EVER.
3 days until graduation from the best college EVER.
3 days until I say bye to all the amazing friends I've made. But just "bye for now."
4 days until I have to say bye to Nick for 2 months. :(
5 days until I board a plane for ITALY!
2 months until I go to L.A. to visit Nick!
2 months until my bestie's birthday!
3 months until Hawaii

Love, hugs, and a lot of changes...

I promise I'm alive...

Hello readers... if I even have any left... My lovely roommate requested that I show my blog some love and let everyone know that I am indeed alive, just way too busy to breathe, let alone blog on a regular basis. Here's a short synopsis of what's going on in my world at the moment...

1. Last month of college. Ever. (SCARY! and very sad. I love FSU.)
2. Trying desperately to find a job. Emphasis on desperately.
3. Trying to not stress about number 1 and 2.
4. Trying to not stress about not stressing.
5. Attempting to tackle my Tally bucket list. (Example: eat at all the restaurants I haven't tried yet.)
6. Getting excited about going to Italy. (And also scared because I just watched Hostel. Bad idea.)
7. Looking at moving to L.A.
8. And trying to enjoy all the friends I've made and people I've met here as long as I can. :)

Hope everyone else is well!

Love, hugs, and the finish line...

Rocky Road

The title is perfect for this post but now I'm craving some ice cream... Anyways... While enjoying some delicious baked ziti (if I do say so myself) with my wonderful friends last night I received a call from Nick asking me if I would do him and a favor and pick him up. Naturally I said sure and then he proceeded to inform me that he got a flat tire about 40 miles outside of Tallahassee. So I bundled up and hit the road, driving a bit faster than normal (which is like 20 mph than most probably consider "safe"... sorry Ky) because I was afraid he would freeze to death. It wasn't until I arrived and saw him perfectly safe and warm that I realized just because a car gets a flat doesn't mean the heat doesn't work.

So flat tire: rocky road numero uno. Complete blonde moment: rocky road numero dos. Ice cream craving I've decided to succumb to: rocky road numero tres.

Love, hugs, and lovely misadventures...

Hello 2010

Dear 2010,

2009 was a good year, but I hope you have even greater things in store... like helping me make it to graduation and finding me a good job. That would be really great. It would also be really awesome if you taught me how to stop worrying about little things and just enjoy the ride, because I have a feeling you are going to be quite a year and I want to soak up every minute of it. I hope you bring love and happiness to all my friends and family, especially all those that are getting engaged and married this year. And as you are sure to bring many changes, I hope you manage to keep us all close and loved. No pressure 2010, but we all have high hopes for ya. :)

Love, hugs, and new beginnings...
AllyRae

On another note... I had an amazing time in Niceville with Nick and his family! He showed me all around Niceville and Destin and I got to meet a bunch of his friends from high school at dollar margarita night. His family is wonderful and overall we just had a great time. Unfortunately, I'm a complete blonde and managed to forget my camera EVERYWHERE we went, but I did manage to find a good picture of the huge Christmas tree in the Destin commons where we spent a good bit of time. We also went to the infamous Fudpuckers where Nick worked for 5 years. The whole place was gorgeous and it was so good to see Nick again. But tomorrow it's back to Tallasnazzy for one last semester of school.

Good luck to everyone in 2010!