Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Get It Together


Hi friends,
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  I figured I would leave you with something to keep you occupied until I return. I am going to take the next week to get my life together. Something about a new beginning makes me really motivated for about a week, so I am going to take advantage of the new me. Old me, who just blogs about stuff instead of doing it, will be back after the New Year.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Not So Much

I am trying really hard to get in the Christmas spirit...
I am just not feeling it this year. Blame it on the 70 degree weather.
Or maybe the fact that I have not wrapped presents yet.
Or the fact that I have had somewhere to go directly after work for the past 2 weeks.
Or the intense anxiety that I forgot a present for someone.
I am officially taking a blog break so I can get my ish together.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday!

Friday, December 16, 2011

A Year Older...

I had the best birthday thanks to my sweet husband. He surprised me with a gift certificate for WALLPAPER! Of course, Mr. annoying Lawyer added terms and conditions. I think I was most impressed with the time he put into his gift certificate.

Agreed.

 
Doug took me to a fancy schmancy dinner at Second Empire. For a second, I did not recognize my husband.
The words "get whatever you want, and I mean it" have never came out of his mouth. Literally, the entire dinner I gushed over how sweet he was being. When it came time to pay I realized that he had a gift certificate which explained a lot and gave us a good laugh.

All in all,  I had the best day. Sorry if I did not respond to some messages. I feel like a crappy friend. My phone died and then we rushed to dinner. I could not be more excited to spend the weekend with my favorite people! My friends are the very thoughtful and have planned a little birthday celebration. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Party Attire with Natalie Merrillyn


Today I have something very special for you! This is the first time I have ever had anyone guest post.  
Natalie has been a favorite of mine since I started blogging and I am honored to have her come and visit today. 
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Hello Long and Short of It readers! I'm Natalie from Natalie Merrillyn and I'm so excited to be guest blogging on Jessie's blog today. I'm obsessed with Jessie's sense of style, and I was thrilled when she asked me to post. Today is Jessie's birthday, so I thought I'd do a roundup of some perfect pieces to fill a birthday girl's closet. Enjoy! 


Necklaces 1 | 2 | 3 | Bracelets 4 | 5 | 6 | Dresses 7 | 8 | 9 | Clutches 10 | 11 | 12 | Shoes 13 | 14 | 15 

Also: A very, very happy birthday to Jessie! Hope it's filled with wonderful things.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Necessities

Blings. My favorite earrings because Oprah said so back in 2005.


Grilled cheese and soup. That's right, it is my birthday week and I am sick. I am glad I have a sweet husband who keeps me fed while I lay on the couch and overdose on Nyquil. 

Birthday Wish list

Sadly, I do not have an elaborate wish list. I want one thing. Wallpaper. Panels, perhaps. My poor husband.

Griffin and Wong appears to be the most affordable route. They offer custom color and painting choices. They require a minimum order of 3 panels. I am planning on getting them framed. Since we have no idea how long we will be in this house I want to be able to take them with me.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Prep

I usually love bright colors and bold prints, but as the temps drop I tend to lean towards tartan, gingham and classic preppy.  I am going to scour the holiday sales so I can add some prep to my holiday decor next year. 




1|2|3|4

Fire Hazard

My mom is a crazy Christmas lady. One year she got the bright idea to wrap our door. Yes, she took wrapping paper to the front door and tied a huge bow in the middle. After my dad said every cuss word in the book (rightfully so, he could not open the front door) she took it down.  This year she has outdone herself again. Do you know how many starving children you could feed with all those ornaments? 

Mom, 
You know I love you and all four of your Christmas trees. 

It is so funny how I use to hate all the Christmas hoop la and the glitter- but now I get it. I am turning into my mother. 



Please feel free to leave my mom lots of love. 


Gift Guide: Personalize It!

Monogram Necklace; Iomoi Custom Notecards; Custom Wooden Hand Stamp; Rebecca Minkoff Mini Mac w/ monogram; Luxury Monograms Throw Pillow; Catbird NYC Alphabet rings

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Twitter, what?

My weekend was uneventful. I was not feeling so hot. Last night I slept 16 hours. Not normal. 
It is offically my birthday week. . 
Doug cooked up some crab legs. They happen to be my favorite.

Also, I decided to join Twitter tonight.
https://twitter.com/#!/jessieepley

Who are your favorite people to follow? Celebs? Bloggers? You? Send me links.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Friday Round Up



For the locals...
Last night we finally tried Ashley Christensen's  Beasley's Chicken & Honey. I think after all of the raving reviews I was a little let down. Doug and I both walked away feeling like..."That's what all of the fuss is about?" Mami Nora's is still my favorite chicken joint in town.

In other food news, we are going to Capital Club 16 tonight for dinner. It is by far my favorite place for brunch in Raleigh. I am excited to test out the dinner menu. What is your favorite place for brunch?

I started a new book this week.

There is an insane estate sale going on right now. Unfortunately, I am way to lazy to drive 2 1/2 hours. The lamps alone are probably worth the drive.

I am currently on a techno kick and this makes me feel like it is the weekend.

Favorite outfit of the week.


Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Best Things Come in Two's

I still LOVE  a gallery wall, but lately I have been craving large scale, symmetrical art.  Which do you prefer?



 

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

My Camera/Longest Post Ever

I have got a lot of questions about my camera lately. I wanted to do a quick post for anyone thinking about getting a camera for Christmas. If you do not care about cameras, skip to the bottom for a fun giveaway!

  I have a  Canon Rebel xsi. I have had it for about 2 years. It came with the standard EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens. I kept that lens for about a year before getting my first fixed lens.The lens makes all the difference.

The first lens I purchased was the Canon 85mm F/1.8. It is a pricey lens but I ended up finding one on Craigslist. It is my favorite lens I have.

While I love the 85mm lens it really is not very practical. If there was one lens that everyone should have I would suggest the 50mm f/1.8. It is super affordable, especially compared to the 50mm f/1.4.

Some basic tips that I have learned about photography:
The lower the F- stop(f/x.x), the more you can blur the background.
(example: this picture was taken with a f/1.8, something with a f/3.5 would have a clear background)

*Use your white balance. It makes a huge difference. The majority of the time I will leave mine on auto, but if something looks off try the WB.

*The higher the ISO- the brighter the picture.

*If you are not comfortable shooting in Manual, AV is the way to go(Canon terminology)

There you have it, my two cents. I AM BY NO MEANS AND EXPERT. I have never even had a class. I just have found these tips by trial and error and advice from other bloggers.


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While we are discussing photography...

My wedding photographer has made some major changes to her blog.
How beautiful is this logo? I am in love.
Go check out her new blog and while you are there do not forget to enter her Christmas Giveaway! It is good!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Around the house...

Tree is up. It only took 5 trips to Target. I do not know what is going on. I had so much trouble finding Christmas lights. I HATE LED Christmas lights. They make me cringe. The only thing worse is when there are traditional and LED Christmas lights mixed. Evidently, I am not alone because they are sold out of Christmas lights in Raleigh. 


I went traditional. Tartan, gingham, and glitter. Looks like a J Crew catalog. 

It is December. We have lots of flowers outside. I dig it. 

 My sweet friend gave me flowers last weekend and they are still kicking it. You should go get yourself some. 

 After Hank ate my Domino book I decided to frame some of the pages until I can get some real art. 
It looks better than the empty picture frames I have had janging for 6 months. 



Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Impressive

Magazines came through this month. 


Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Trimming the Tree...


Turned into trimming the dogs last night. Things got a little "Toddlers and Tiaras". There was a lot of yelling, bribing and dogs being punished for their owners bad behavior. I felt kind of bad for them until I realize how cute they looked. 

It almost looks like Roy is crying. 

Roy was not having that ish. 

Classic Pinterest. 

Christmas card material. 

Monday, November 28, 2011

Weekend Recap: Thanksgiving

Holy blog break. I am back with some pictures from our Thanksgiving break. 
Doug and I split up the holidays with our families. 
We started out in Morganton and then headed back to Raleigh for the UNC vs. Duke game. 


My sweet little priss pot cousin. 

I could not get our Christmas tree fast enough.  I am having hard time deciding if I want to go classic...

or fun this year.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Weekend Recap: NYC

 We spent the weekend in NYC visiting Doug's brother and his girlfriend. We went to Sleep No More, an interactive play that was  based on Macbeth. We got a chance to check out C Wonder the pop up shop that was filled with fun gifts. My favorite part of the trip was all the good food. Of course, I didn't take my camera on our outings, but I got a few pictures before we went out on Friday night. 



Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Happy Birthday to me.

No, it is not my birthday. We have another whole month. I am putting this up just in case Doug reads my blog...hint, hint. I got a new J Crew catalog in the mail today. It is lime green. I marked everything that I like. You can even look on the back of it and get 20% off if you order before November 28th. Just sayin'.