Inspirational Monday

I had a few request to bring back Inspirational Monday so here we go :)



1) One of the most inspirational photographers and people that I've ever laid eyes on, miss allister ann






2) I've never been a huge fan of vinyl stick ons for walls until I visited Vinyl Fruit's page on Etsy. I'm loving all of the unique wall decor and I think it would be a cute addition to any room!




3) Wedding Photography. The bottom bride on the right is so perfect! I love everything about her. From hair, to dress, to bouquet.



4) Sighhh I do miss summer sometimes.



5) The photoshoot that BlackBird Photography did of Karlee is absolutely amazing!




6) Bows bows bows. I want them on everything!



7) Beautiful red hair! I do miss my hair being red.


And that's what has been inspiring me! What inspires you?
xo kayla

Old Finds

Last week was an amazing week for old finds for me. It all started with the library at school getting rid of some books for free. I was able to get old sewing books from 1970 that has a ton of dress patterns in it! I'm so excited to try my hand at some of them. It's also inspiring just to look though all the different style of dresses in the books.




My dad had informed me of letting me borrow his 35mm film camera whenever I wanted to if I could find film for it (I have been DYING to try my hand at film cameras) and in the process of digging out his old 35mm I found a gold mine of old cameras. This discovery made me more happy than words can even express!




Speaking of my dad...Look at all of these old pictures of my dad that my sister sent me! He was such a stud :)





Old things everywhere! I love thinking about what kind of story each vintage thing holds, like a window into the past. I hope you've had a fantastic week as well!



xo kayla
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Homemade Chef

I had this new idea for a series of blog post called "Homemade Chef". It's basically my spin of the movie Julie & Julia. I'm a new cook wanting to (hopefully one day) become as good as my favorite chefs off Food Network! What these blog post will entail are just step-by-step instructions of easy meals that I'm learning to cook. I think that it will be a little fun thing that I hope all of you find enjoyable and helpful! Keep in mind that I did not come up with any of these recipes, most of them will probably be recipes that have been passed around and if they're from the internet I will give credit where credit's due :) Anyways! Here goes my first one!

Red Beans and Rice:
1 box of Zatarian's Red Beans and Rice
Sausage of your choice (about 3 links)
1 onion
3 stalks of celery
1/2 green bell pepper
1 can of chicken broth
1/2 can of rice (use chicken broth can as measuring cup)
1 can kidney beans (rinsed)
3 1/4 cups of hot water



The first thing you do is cook your sausage. I only used about half of the sausage that I bought, but if you are a sausage fanatic use the whole thing! I cut it about an inch apart and then cut those inch rounds in half.




You might want to go ahead and finely chop your onion, half your green bell pepper, and your celery since you're already dicing. After your sausage is cut, cook in a skillet and leave your drippings in the skillet (make sure you watch it and stir it often). When they are done cooking I put them on a plate with a paper towel on it to soak up some of the dripping off the sausage and just set it aside for now. (picture below is pan with drippings left in it, it's kind of hard to tell)




You'll sautee the chopped onions, green peppers, and celery in the dripping from the sausage (it only takes a few minutes). While your veggies are sauteing put your box of red beans and rice, chicken broth, rice, kidney beans, water, and sausage into a big pot and start bringing it to a boil. By the time you've put everything in your pot your veggies should be done so put them in the pot now as well. Once you bring it to a boil, reduce your heat and let cook for 25 minutes (stirring occasionally)!



And tada! You're done! We made sweet Jiffy cornbread to go along with ours, but you can choose whatever you'd like as your side! I hope that you give this a try and if you have any questions feel free to ask!

xo kayla
(recipe from Anna McLeod)

Fashion Loves

These are a few fashion items that I'm drooling over lately!

I'm completely obsessed with Navajo prints. I want to own this sweater.


Vintage scarfs are the cutest for headbands!


I'm not sure if this counts as fashion, but long "messy" hair is so adorable! I am patiently waiting for mine to grow back out again.


Oh me oh my, plaid shirts + suspenders + scarves. What an adorable look for a guy?!


I sure wish I was better at braiding my own hair, how amazing?


Beanies, of course I love them!


Over sized scarves. lovelovelovelove



Colored tights are so much fun!


Everything about this outfit + hair is a win. (thick straight across bangs are super lovely)

xo kayla



images found here & here

Restylin'

Seeing this tutorial on A Pretty Penny's blog made me so excited! I had almost the exact same shirt that she showed on this adorable way to restyle a shirt. I bought this shirt from Target and accidentally grabbed a size that was wayyyyyy to big for me. I put in it my drawer and thought that I would eventually find a use for it, maybe for a costume or something (normally when I place this kind of value on an item of mine it never gets used) and when I saw this I knew I had to do it! If you have an old shirt laying around, you should definitely try this! It's a fool-proof tutorial and the scarf is so unique and cute!
xoxo

BlackBird Photography

I thought I'd share a peek at some of the photos that my good friend Ryan Phillips of BlackBird Photography took of me a couple of weeks back! Ryan and I had talked about doing a photoshoot for fun and we finally acted on it. We did it as sort of an exchange, pictures for a few headbands for his (newly) fiance! I had a vision for the photoshoot but more than anything I just wanted to have a fun, chill day hanging out with them and snapping pictures. It was just that. We started out in this perfect place at a lake right beside his house, then we ventured out to downtown Hattiesburg.





I think that I might have exceeded the normal number of pictures for one post. I can't help myself, Ryan did such a great job and I just want to share them all! If you like what you see, you should definitely contact him! He'd be more than happy to set up a session with you!
xo kayla

Valentine's Day Yarn

Here's a sweet little something for the sweetest day of the year! Whether it's a gift for your gal or a topping to your Valentine's Day outfit, it's perfect! I love it and I cannot wait to wear mine for Mr. Raybourn for our second V-Day together. I know a lot of people are "anti-valentine" because they think it's silly that people would choose one day to show the person that they care for that they love them instead of everyday(which you should do everyday!), but I think it's a precious day. Even the times I didn't have a Valentine, I still loved it! Like I've said before, I'm just a sucker for holidays no matter what the holiday is! Whether you're spending this February 14th with your favorite guy/gal, your friends, or even your furry four legged best friend you should feel loved. Show love. Spread love. Love life!

Here's to a Happy Valentine's Day!
Kayla