Life in the Hamptons

I hope everyone has fun plans for the weekend to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather! I am headed to Memphis to help out my sister who had surgery on Wednesday. So in honor of Memphis (and my sister and brother-in-law), I wanted to share their blog Life in the Hamptons with you.

"The Hamptons" in Memphis is what residents of Binghampton have nicknamed their neighborhood, but don't be fooled. It is one of the poorest, neglected neighborhoods in inner city Memphis. It is also, historically, one of the first African American neighborhoods and also happens to be where MLK, Jr. had his last dinner before being assassinated. Liz and JD have been trying to move into the neighborhood for quite sometime and doors have repeatedly been closed. But God had a bigger and better plan, as he always does and has provided JD with a job at a charter school in the community. That job just happened to come with the stipulation that they had to live there. Perfect! So they are in the process of building their house across the street from the school and hopefully by this summer will be living there full time.

I will no longer try to tell you their story. JD can tell it so much better, so just read their blog. I am not kidding when I say I cry every time I read it (you HAVE to read Matario's story). I have also had the privilege of meeting a few of the kids JD works with from past visits and I love to see the role model he has become to a lot of kids who don't have a man consistently in their lives. They inspire me more than they will ever know and I love them so, so dearly.

photo of the wilsons by j. lauren.

For Serious Partisans

I mean, how is this real? 

For when you really want to politicize your infant.

John Johns by Remember Nguyen

CSA Wedding Registry

I was reading an interesting article on BuzzFeed the other day about unconventional wedding registry ideas. And while I didn't necessarily agree with all of them (I don't really like the mentality of using a wedding to just get a bunch of free stuff. Wedding guests want to help you build your new home. Maybe that's because I'm Southern and we tend to cling to etiquette with an iron fist.), I do like the idea of registering for things that you will actually use and if those things are outside the box, then so be it.

One fantastic idea I saw was signing up for a CSA box subscription. How great would that be? I mean, yes, someone is essentially buying your groceries, but I feel like because it's a subscription it's somehow more "okay."

What do you think? Would you do it?

photo

Ezra's First 12 Months

I had been keeping an Instagram record of Ezra's monthly growth and at 12 months, I had some friends ask for a grid of all of them. I figured it would be better to post it here since this picture on Instagram would be next to impossible to see.

So here he is...12 months of glory!

I'm so mad that I didn't get every month of him in the chair! At three months, I completely forgot to take a picture, but I had a picture that was close to the right time and it had his rhino in the background...thus leading to the other bed pics. Oh well!

How to Remove a Tough Stain

A while back, my mom found a stain on her linen couch and - having a linen couch myself - I got so sad for her because I didn't think it would come out. She didn't seem too upset. She just walked into the laundry room, brought back a bar of soap and a wet paper towel and gently rubbed the stain and as soon as the dampness dried it was all gone. 

Come to find out this is a remedy that my grandmother used all the time...Ivory soap. It gets everything out. And I mean everything. I have used it to get out red wine, blood, grass stains, strawberries and blackberries to name the toughest of stains. It is truly amazing. And so cheap. I also make my own laundry detergent and instead of Fels Naptha, I use Ivory in my mixture.

P.S. I actually just cleaned a lot of blood out of David, Ezra and my own clothes last night after little man had a mean run-in with a friend's coffee table. After a few hours in the ER and 3 stitches everyone is doing just fine.

top photo c/o Ivory

The Lone Bellow

Zach Williams has been a folk hero in our home since David met him in New York about 6 years ago. His music is so honest and raw, and he is just a really talented guy. He has now rounded out his sound by forming a trio (The Lone Bellow) that is a little bluegrass meets gospel. It will definitely have you (me) singing at the top of your lungs around your house, in the car, etc and so on.

Everlane

This is without a doubt the most comfortable T Shirt you will ever put on. I first heard about Everlane through Joanna Goddard's blog, and then my friend Morgan backed up the awesome review from Cup of Jo. So, I finally ordered two of the v-necks. Oh my word. I wanted to wait until I actually put them on and tried them before I pretended I knew what was cool. But, oh my, they are the best things ever. 

And they are only $15.

They also make some amazing silk blouses, french terry sweatshirts and bags.