The Wedding: July 4th, 2011

  After throwing around a hundred ideas of how/where/when we should get married we agreed on eloping on July 4th. This was a very special date for me, it is my Dad's parents wedding anniversary. Deciding this on June 29th meant we had A LOT of planning to do in a short period of time. It also didn't help that we live in a town where we know hardly anyone... 

After a few phone calls to ministers and photographers that weren't available we started doubting that we could pull it off on the 4th. 

But, things started to turn around and we worked it all out! Matt's good friend Mike, from Texas ended up preforming the ceremony for us.  We got married on the campus of the University of Oklahoma under an arbor of wisteria in the gardens outside of the building Matt's department is in. We had two friends present as witnesses and Brooke (Mike's wife) as our photographer. The service was beautiful as were the vows. 

After the ceremony we returned to our house for a toast and to sign the papers and then headed to lunch.

  We are planning our wedding party/reception for September 10th in Harrison, Arkansas. I am hoping to save all the photos from our special day for the party in September. But, I am terrible at keeping secrets (and fibbing), so we'll see how long it lasts. Until then, here is a sneak peek at a picture I really like. It gives away just enough : )

Mr. and Mrs. McNair

  Everyone keeps asking what the rush is? Well, after 4 1/2 years together we decided it was just silly that we weren't official! So now we are and couldn't be more excited to start this new chapter in life. Of all the congratulations and well wishes we have received, I think my favorite has been "welcome to the dance."

Vacation to Asheville, North Carolina... a.k.a. the Proposal!

  Matt and I had been planning our trip to Asheville, NC for quite a while. Our good friends Matt and Maggie live out there and we were due a visit. 

  We left on a Monday and arrived at our destination on Tuesday afternoon. We spent our first day bumming around the downtown area, shopping, drinking local beers and trying local restaurants. 

Matt bought me this sunflower at a farmer's market we stumbled upon. It got a lot of attention, everyone complimented it... and he earned his share of brownie points for the day.

 

 

  Day two of our vacation was quite possibly the best day ever. The plan was to climb Mt. LeConte in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Mt LeConte is the third highest peak in the Smoky Mountains at 6,583 ft. The day started out rainy, cloudy and pretty gloomy but Matt and Matt assured me of a back up plan in case we got to the trail and it was still raining. Everything worked out beautifully, we hit the trail around 10 a.m. and hiked the 5 miles UP the mountain. I got a little whiny somewhere around 3.5 miles into it... I was ready for my peanut butter and banana sandwich! 

  But, Matt kept pushing me and encouraging me to keep going so we could get to the special spot the other Matt had scouted out on a previous hike. 

Well, we are getting closer and I stumble upon a look out platform, then I am told that we are having a surprise lunch at the Lodge right next door. All of this sounds great to me, I am just in shock that there are cabins and a Lodge at the top of the mountain. We all settle in to the cozy Lodge and eat our soup and sandwiches and sip hot chocolate. I am pretty sure that I kept talking about what a great surprise the hot lunch was! The top of the mountain was pretty chilly, maybe low 50's. 

  We sit and visit and finish our lunches and then my Matt gets up to go outside in a nervous manner! At this point I am very suspicious of what is about to happen. Honestly, my suspicions grew as we climbed the mountain. Matt returns from the restroom and we all go outside on the deck to admire the view and take some pictures. Then in the midst of changing into dry socks and shuffling wet shoes around I am informed that there is some "extra weight" in our backpack. All of a sudden Matt is on one knee proposing to me! Of course my answer was "YES." We all talked, laughed and celebrated. Of course Matt and Maggie knew all about the surprise. They planned accordingly and had a bottle of wine and cups for us to toast to. All of it was absolutely perfect and such a surprise to me.
It was fun to talk about all the conversations leading up to the top of the mountain. I was kind of rushed to the top and wasn't allowed to talk to the passer-byers in case they wanted to talk about the lodge, wasn't able to read any of the trail signs etc. etc. :)

  I did talk to one lady and she told me "there is something special about the top." I couldn't agree more, luckily we ran into each other again at the Lodge and I told her my news. I snapped a lot of pictures but pictures don't capture the beauty of being up in the mountains. I imagine this will be a place we return to visit quite often.

Matt and I in front of the Lodge we had lunch at. I love how they change the date everyday! The Lodge doesn't have electricity and the groceries are brought up by a pack of llamas!!!

6,500 feet up! Breathtaking!

Matt and Maggie Reynolds, Matt and I.

  The rest of our vacation was very pleasant. We spent more time bumming around Asheville, I did a show in Pack Square on Saturday and then on Sunday we paddled the French Broad River.
  Paddling was very exciting! We opted for duckies (similar to a kayak but you sit on top, kind of hard to explain...) I haven't ever gone down a river in a boat on my own until this trip. It was a great and exciting challenge.

After the river we cleaned up and headed to town for dinner. We had reservations at the new tapas restaurant, Curate. It was wonderful, a must try if you are in the area!

  Monday we started our journey home... in a Northern kind of way. We headed to Boone, NC to meet with a shop that was interested in carrying my jewelry. We started out on the Blue Ridge Parkway but opted for the highway that was a bit quicker. I loved this drive, it was absolutely gorgeous! North Carolina and Tennessee remind me a lot of Arkansas but with bigger hills and mountains. 

Somewhere outside of Boone, headed to Johnson City, TN.

  After that we made our journey home to spend a day with our families and to announce the good news!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton: Thursday Giveaway...

  Please take a moment to check out my friend Andrew Thorton's giveaway for this week. It's a GOOD one!

I met Andrew a couple of years ago in Tucson. His family has Green Girl Studios and they make these amazing little sculptures for jewelry design. Everything from beads and pendants to innovative clasps. You can see some of my designs using Green Girl's pendants and beads below.

These are some of my bead family. Ellie Roy (Argenta Bead Compay), me, Holly Ertel (Hotzy Totzy Jewelry), Cynthia Dupps (Bead all About it). Andrew actually took this when we are shopping at To Bead True Blue this year.

Check out Andrews Blog, and enter the contest for yourself!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton: Thursday Giveaway...: "For this Thursday Giveaway , I wanted to do something special! I wanted to share a few things from the show with everyone out there in the ..."

48 Earrings

This is how it all started, a photo of my product.

A few emails later and I had an order for 4 - pair of each color. That is 48 earrings :)!

I thought it would be kind of cool to photo document the assembly line process. This is how the earrings started out. From the bottom up. I started with the lucite filigree, added the brass and the glass beads.

Aren't these cute! I love my job, I love being around all this color!

After getting the bases built I piled them all up together. Then had one more step.

This is a completed earring with the french hook ear wire.

THen finally, ready to pack and ship. 

It was a little overwhelming to make 48 earrings that all looked exactly alike. Most of my designs have been one of a kind for so long. I am starting to break away from that in order to get more orders and to get into more boutiques. The big goal is to start having "Look Books" for boutiques to order from. This means designing at least a season ahead. All of which is hard for me to wrap my head around because I have always designed in the moment for shows. I'll get there though. I am currently working on a new line called Czech and Chain. It will be earrings, necklaces and rings made from high quality Czech glass and vintage chains.  See the image below for a sneak peak!

Who Reads This

   How about a special blog giveaway just for you blog readers. 

Leave a comment and tell me what you are doing this summer.
I will enter all the names into a drawing for 25% off any one item in the Bella Vita Shop. 

I will draw for a winner on June 15th.

   My summer plans consist of: a huge presentation, a vacation to North Carolina, maintaining our garden, my b-day, and work. Hopefully a hand full of swimming trips and dinner parties with friends will fit in.

The most recent picture of our garden.

Procrastination...

   I am trying to write this presentation... I feel like it's mostly just going to come to me when I give it. But, in true Brandy fashion, I have to plan everything out. 

I am through the intro and working on the body. The intro took appx. 5 minutes so, that leaves 55 to fill.

   The slide show is coming along nicely, and the perfectionist in me is making it take 5 times longer than it should. My goal today is to write about Trendy Chic and The Delicate Balance... I'll be presenting 3 pieces from each line. The focus of the speech though, is my Vintage Redux line so the bulk of the presentation will be about that. If I meet my goal today I am going to allow myself to take off and go swimming! But, here I am procrastinating... in a good way though. 

   I got up early and hit the farmer's market and flea market! What a day for it!
I got a new hanging basket, fresh eggs, a bouquet of flowers from a very young entrepreneur, and some onions, OH and a basket cherry tomatoes grown here in Oklahoma! Yay, fresh tomatoes already!

   I also scored a bunch of goodies from the "Vintage Fairy" at the flea market. Check out what I dug up today. Happy first Saturday in JUNE! I love JUNE!

A Story from Grandma

   Last night my grandmother called me to visit, which tickled me because that meant that she was feeling better. She wasn't feeling very well when I was home to visit so we didn't get as much good quality time together as usual. 

So we caught up with each other, talked about flowers, buttons, and cooking pesto. 

   Then she starts to tell me her "snake" story. 

She spotted a large black snake creeping around her Martin house in the yard. She called for back up but my aunt couldn't help and my grandpa was busy at the antique store. 

   Grandma told me all about getting the hoe and rake and going at the snake. She said she hit it 7 or 8 times but never could get a good swing at it and that it slowly slithered away.... she thinks she hurt it and scared it enough not to come back!  My 80-something year old grandma... the mental images of this crack me up!

A photo given to me by my Grandma, it's her and Gramp's in their early years. I love this photo. It sits on my desk and I look at it all the time. I like to sit and think about how much times have changed since this photo was taken.

I've decided to start documenting the stories from and about my Grandmother. I hope you enjoy.