Northbound to Nashtown

Friday 6/12/2009 at 4:02 p.m. - I get an email from my best friend, an intern at Birmingham's stunning Museum of Art. What on earth were we going to do over the weekend? The following is our conversation:

Ashlyn: Cabin fever. BAD. i'm about to say lets jet off to ATL or nashville

Sloan: really?? can we please? i just said those exact same words to my mother i am DYING to get outta this town. (I should add at this point that, despite a Braves game, we have been kicking it in the fabulous 'Ham for approximately 5 consecutive months.)

Ashlyn: you think we could swing it? you know i'm in if you are.

Sloan: well. we'd have to decide where first.

Ashlyn: ha. okay, hm. can we go to n'ville?

Bingo. 1.5 hours later, with Vera Bradley bags packed and Dave's new album blaring, my counterpart and I hit the road

I-65: Northbound to Nashville.

Continue reading my article on SouthernLiving.com

If I came back as a magazine...

Garden & Gun mag:

thick cultural chronicler

of my sweet Southern world.

G&G, you read my mind--just last week I despairingly cursed Facebook's finicky search engine. Little did I know, you did not have a fan page. Become a fan of G&G on Facebook.

p.s. My apologies, Facebook.

And you know G&G has weekly email newsletters, right?

Photo courtesy of Garden & Gun

As Long as I Get Patterson

Photo courtesy of Sweets by Zoe

You know it's true when you and your darling sister have uttered something like the following:

K: Okay, well you can have Elliott as long as I get Patterson.

A: Fine, but who gets Stallings?

K: I guess whoever has babies first. That means you have to actually get a boyfriend, Ashlyn.

Ah, family keeps us grounded. Here's to being Southern and using family names as first names. Read this article published on Like the Dew by Noel Holston. And then call your sister and stake your claim. If you haven't already done so, of course.

I Love My Internship Reason #986

For no reason at all, today I acquired two beautiful bottles of D&G perfume. (Okay so I lied, one of the editors is on some glorious mailing list and as a motorcycle-driving man, wasn't really feeling the Gabanna love.) The Anthology Collection by D&G will launch in September 2009. The five bottles bear monickers from tarot cards.

Though I love L'Imperatrice 3, I'm absolutely sold on L'Amoureux 6--I have a penchant for musky scents. It's just enough to make me set down my Tom Ford Black Orchid.

What's the most fabulous thing you've inherited from an internship or job?

Photo courtesy of Dolce and Gabanna

Husband hunting 101

You know you want it. Precious Muffy is calling us all to enter her fabulous give away.

Dearest Muffy,
Though I gracefully toss my grosgrain-trimmed hat into the ring, I shall also include my reasoning for doing so. I am in dire need of summer reading--the nerd in me craves the days of my Trinity School summer book list. Colleges apparently don't do this. Further, I get some of my best reading done on planes and poolside--two places I find myself lately. Thirdly, quintessential independent girls enjoy this type literature.

xoxo,
eSa

Tales from the Road (or my cubicle, take your pick)

I miss my "spolatian" days, but thanks to blogging for Southern Living's Tales from the Road travel blog, I can relive the days when the little jewel box of a city was mine to explore. I didn't know a soul, and so leaning on God as my only friend was awesome (don't worry I made friends as the jasmine-scented days tolled along).

And I'm not sure I can express how thrilled I am to be posted on one of my favorite magazine's websites, so ask me about in person. Squealing will be involved.

"You know those little triggers that cue the voice in your head to say, “This time last year?” Lately for me, memories ensue with the thick scent of confederate jasmine or the lowcountry cookbooks lying around my apartment—it’s safe to say I miss Charleston these days. This time last year, I was interning at the fabulous Spoleto Festival USA in the Holy City..."

Jump to read more.

Lessons From Charm School

You learn a thing or two interning at a Southern Progress Corporation publication. Thank you, Miss Gracious Living --beloved blog of Southern Accents.

Raise your hand if you want to buy me a subscription...

Perhaps there should be a transition stage from college to the working world. They don't take naps in the office. They also don't hang out on benches with frat boys after lunch.

So I made it through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and half of Friday. Then it was time for escapism. Well you see, at my internship office, there is a library devoted to journalism and southern books. Alone. And this beats the bench tradition hands down.

To celebrate the long weekend, I sat for an hour reading magazines, and fell in love with Art & Antiques. Best lunch break yet.

If you have a hankering for art history, Architectural Digest or Southern Accents, throw this one in the stack next time you spend two hours at Barnes and Noble.

Mason Belle Jar

Mason jars are so southern.

Uses: iced sweet tea glasses, Vera Bradley pencil collection holder, hydrangea vase, tea light displayer.

A "roaring" unmentionable

Quirky company Your Slip is Showing operates under the tagline "Where fabulous elopes with whimsy." Though these underthings are made in Seattle, it takes a Southern Belle to pull off these slips with such panache.

Ohwellheynow, Zelda Fitzgerald. F. Scott would be pleased.

Label lover

I'm sucker for personality quizzes. It all goes back elementary school days when Camilla and I would steal her big sister's Seventeen magazines. Because when you are in fifth grade, your "flirt style" is important to know.

Somehow taking this Ethan Allen quiz makes me feel more mature.

And look, you still get that same warm-fuzzy feeling with your quiz results. "Your style result is Glamour. Glamour is the penthouse with a view, the Old Hollywood mansion, the home of the connoisseur. A knowing marriage of fashion with sumptuous comfort. A fearless blending of Art Déco, Chippendale, and Modern. Glamour is shamelessly smart, elegant, and timeless."

Timeless? Moi? If you insist.

Goodbye to an era

1. BCW attending NYU? But...but...I don't think they wear satin headbands there, Blair.
2. Do you know how much I invested in my headband collection because of you?
3. That's all.

Tartfully prepared

I've smugly uttered the following phrase approximately 26 times: "Oh, well I never order the same thing twice." My, my. How cosmopolitan of you, dear. But alas, as I add years to my life I find some comfort in having my "usual." At my table. In my restaurant.

Enter Gilchrist--despite the menu, I always relish my toasted wheat pimento cheese, complete with a juicy southern tomato and leafy lettuce. I even forgive the plump sandwich's forlorn attempt to contain all of the cheese as it drips onto the styrofoam plate. Gilchrist's famed limeade adds to the panoply of flavor. Must admit that I've never tried anything else on the alphabet-sign menu.

Gilchrist is an Mountain Brook village mainstay, tucked into its old-school, drugstore location for decades. It's a pledge sister outing away from our glorious campus cafeteria. An after-school stop for my 9-year-old boyfriend and I before baseball practice. It's even calmed my nerves on a first date with an older boy. (Are we calling that a date? No? Okay.) Company regardless--I'll have the pimento cheese on toasted wheat with a limeade, please ma'am.