BABY BECK'S BIRTHDAY

a few weeks ago we celebrated the first birthday of one very special little boy. his name is beck, and he's about the cutest thing ever. beck has one very creative mama, lydia, who put together an awesome camp-themed party.

everything about the party was perfect, from the tent in the backyard, to the gummi worms and bugs, to the smores we had for desert. the best part of the day was seeing beck eat his birthday cupcake. poor thing burned his little finger on the candle at first, but it didn't take him long to forget once he started stuffing his face with cake:)

once baby beck was down for a nap, it pretty much turned into adult hang out time, complete with some shiner bock wild hare. and, of course, lucas couldn't resist throwing the frisbee around for a while. i can't wait until i have kids and i can throw them the birthday party of 8 year-old sofia's dreams:) so many themes to choose from--shall it be care bears? strawberry shortcake? or maybe hello kitty...

EYE SEE YOU

aren't these antique eye portraits so cool? i saw them on miss moss and had to share. not only are they amazing to look at, but the story behind them is just as interesting. lover's eyes are handpainted portraits painted on ivory, popular in england between the 1780's and 1830's. in an age where marriages were more about convenience than love, affairs were commonplace. obviously commissioning an entire portrait of your lover was out of the question, but wearing a small part of their person, the eye, showed eachother loyalty.

The Smithsonian cites “one of the earliest known eye miniatures was painted in 1786 by the English artist Richard Cosway for the Prince of Wales, later King George IV. The miniature showed the eye of Mrs. Fitzherbert, the prince’s mistress.” And since just the eye of one’s lover was visible, the piece could be worn while your inamorata’s identify remained secret. It’s also been theorized that the “single eye also symbolized the watchful gaze of a jealous partner, who feared that his or her lover might stray.”

THIS WEEK...

holy cow, this week was crazy. for the past few months my husband's grandfather has been in and out of the hospital and a nursing facility. this sunday he passed away. he was very much loved and ofcourse there was sadness at losing him, but there was also so much joy and hope knowing that he would be with our Lord.

needless to say we had a very busy week, with family in town and everything. but this monday we also started our scuba class. i forgot to get a physician's approval to take the course, so three hours before class i had to go to a care now facility and see a random doctor. luckily, i got the okay, and made it to class with minutes to spare.

this weekend was also the dallas flea, so on top of everything else that was going on i had to get ready for the show. many long days and late nights later...i am exhausted! tomorrow i plan on doing absolutely nothing, and it will be marvelous:)

MUSIC TO MY EARS: BEN HOWARD

british guitar player ben howard has caught the attention of my ears as of late. this single off his debut album, every kingdom, is just so easy to listen to. what do you think?

MILK AND HONEY

slowly but surley i am making my way to all of the places i always drive by yet never have time to stop at. milk and honey is one of those places. it's a quaint little boutique that just happens to be nestled in between two of my favorite places in the knox henderson area of dallas. the store is aptly named, because the entire thing is prettty much eye candy from wall to wall. 

i think i wanted to buy just about everything there. i fell in love with all of the sheer flowy tops and pretty dresses. but unlike most boutiques where i merely dream of owning a coveted sale item, this store is surprisingly very affordable! plus the store itself is downright adorable, from the yarn balls hanging from the ceiling, to the spanish moss creeping up the displays. watch out anthropologie, you may have met your match:)

HOMEBODY

it wasn't until i was asked to write a guest post about my daily life that i realized how seemingly boring my life appears. most of the time it's work, followed by working on my store or the blog, followed by cooking dinner, watching some netflix, and then bed. hardly worthy of a blog post.

at first this realization made me a little sad, and i suddenly wanted to fill my life with more interesting and exciting activities. but you know what? i love my home, and i love my boring little life. i'm a nester. my home is my refuge where i can recharge and just be. dinner out and nights on the town have their place, but sometimes cooking dinner for my husband and cuddling on the couch is the best thing for the soul.

WAKE UP LOVELY GIVEAWAY

i wanted to let you guys know that i am doing a giveaway over at wake up, lovely, so head on over there and enter to win $25 worth of vintage goodies to my store! and while you're there be sure to stay a while and peruse kate's blog--it's full of DIY's, inspiration, and encouraging posts.

and speaking of my store, i wanted to share a picture of a customer sporting some TLH vintage. it made me so happy that alyssa loved her dress so much and was willing to be featured on my blog. this 1960's floral dress was truly one of my favorites, and i'm so glad it now has a home! thanks alyssa--it looks awesome on you!

WANTED: FOR THE HOME

it is a dream of mine to one day have a home and be able to decorate it however i want. here's a few things you might see...

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10

friday is finally upon us, horray!  i hope you all have a fun, restful weekend.

hearts,

sofia

I AM LOVING: SIGNET RINGS

i have been coveting a personalized, gold signet ring for a while now. they are just so lovely and timeless. when i saw these on pennyweight, i instantly fell in love--classic with a modern twist. find these rings here.

THIS WEEK...

this week has been a sweet time of catching up with friends and just hanging out. my friend rachel came over for dinner, and it was the first time she had ever really sat down and talked with lucas. it's so weird when your best friends don't even know the man you are married to! it made me happy that they were finally able to get to know eachother.

we also started reading for the scuba classes we are starting next week. lucas's mom found a groupon for his nephew and a friend to take scuba classes for his birthday, and she graciously offered to pay for me to take the classes too. something i never saw myself doing, but am so thankful and pumped about. we have to read an entire book by the first class--it kinda feels like we are in school again, reading about density and volume. but i definitely feel smarter:) i will let you guys know how the first class goes!

this week i...
*watched the season premiere of mad men. so. good.
*took the first step towards starting my herb garden with one pot of rosemary. more to be added soon.
*visited my dear friend lindsey and her baby boy tovin. he gained a pound this week!
*began purging my closet of winter clothes in preparation for summer.
*took a ton of photos for the shop, which means new lovelies for sale!
*went to baby beck's first birthday party. he's the cutest:)
*began another bible study with lucas and our friends over the book of john. this is our second study!

GUEST POST AT BONTE RUE!

hey folks, i forgot to tell you guys that i had the honor of writing a guest post over at julie's blog, bonte rue. it has quickly become one of my daily reads. visit her blog and check out my favorite spring things here.

THRIFTING ADVENTURES

i do not go thrifting nearly as often as i would like these days. but i know that every time we go home to visit my parents we are most likely going to visit some good ol' thrift stores. why? because my mom has a thrifting habit nearly as compulsive as mine. runs in the family i guess:)

 i was pretty happy with what i came away with this trip. i picked up a vintage percalator, which i had been wanting ever since my friend lydia made us all cider with hers. we don't have a coffee maker, so this baby's gonna be perfect when i need to make more coffee than my little french press can handle.

i found the cutest summery sweater and straw hat (you can never have too many straw hats). and i managed to add another sheer shirt to my collection, i have been loving anything sheer lately. oh, and this multi-colored braided belt is pretty awesome too. the best part of these finds is that everything cost less than four dollars! yes, four dollars! i need to go thrifting more often.

what are your latest thrifting finds?

GIRL CRUSH: IONE SKYE

who hasn't both seen and loved the movie say anything. i remember immediately falling in love with the object of john cusak's affection, ingenue ione skye. i think i liked ione so much because i related to her good girl character diane. i also liked the fact that she didn't apologize for being who she was, but still managed to be gorgeous without all the fuss. plus her name is awesome:)

ps--did you know that she married musician ben lee? small world.

THE SECRET OF A BALANCED LIFE

so you guys, i have discovered the secret to a balanced life, and i felt i had to share. if you are anything like me you have a to-do list that goes out the door. when i first got married, i had this picture in my mind of what i wanted my life and my home to be like. since being married for almost two years, i've seen that picture change.

i've realized that my house does not need to be perfectly decorated. it's not the end of the world if there are dishes in the sink. and it is ok if there is a perpetual pile of laundry on our living room chairs. because, at the end of the day, i would have rather spent my time hanging out with friends, spending time with my husband, or going for that bike ride, instead of emptying out the dishwasher.

you want to know my secret to a balanced life? stop doing housework! be ok with the mess, because it is worth it.

JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW...

lauren moffat has come out with her own line of swimsuits! aren't they cute? i think the peachy coral one piece is my favorite.