Last month, I introduced you to my friend, Natalie Bowen Brookshire—a talented floral designer with her own San Francisco-based studio, Natalie Bowen Designs. I’m excited to announce that Natalie is going to contributing some posts here—first, with a series of floral design tips that will be relevant to you whether you’re choosing flowers for your wedding or simply for dinner; and second, with a travel series based on all the incredible places she gets to visit for weddings and events—it will be wonderful inspiration for anyone planning a destination wedding. I’m constantly looking to her Instagram feed for inspiration: she often extends her work trips, and ends up in the most beautiful places.
So today Natalie is starting things off with some answers to the flower-design questions she gets most often: “Where do I start? And how do I gather inspiration when I feel completely overwhelmed by my choices?”
NPR’s All Things Considered just introduced a new series where they will be taking listeners to some of the best swimming holes in the country during the month of August. The first stop? That quarry in Dorset, Vermont, where Aron and I stopped on a memorable road trip, a few years back. The oldest quarry in the U.S.—from where marble was used for sites like the New York Public Library—made for an awesome summer swimming hole.
We’ve been making a point to explore more of our local rivers this summer: Yesterday we spent the morning cooling off in Upper Lake Clementine—a reservoir on the North Fork of the American River. And a few weekends prior, we found our way to a spot under Foresthill Bridge at the confluence of the middle and north forks of the American River that was a municipal swimming pool around the turn of the last century.
Do you have any great swimming holes near where you live? Or a favorite memory spent at one on vacation? Share it in the comments. I’d love to hear about it!
It’s hard for me to stop looking at Skyler. To me, she’s completely captivating. She’s so expressive and beautiful, and there’s so much personality packed into that sweet little body.
She happy. She’s feisty. She’s sweet. She’s curious and observant… She’s so many wonderful things. Sometimes I still can’t believe she’s here. There’s this incredible—very blonde—little person toddling around our kitchen: where did she come from?
