So. much. pretty. to. share. ​

As most of my loyal readers already know, Jesse and I recently moved to the Boone/Blowing Rock, NC area.  We had been in Lynchburg since 2006 so we left a lot of friends and familiar places.  It was hard to leave, but we knew we were supposed to make the move and just prayed about the rest.  

A week or two after we settled in I met Abany Bauer over lunch with a sweet mutual friend.  Turns out her husband started work at the same place as Jesse, and within a day of each other, no less!  We both love flowers and started our businesses around the same time — hers in Atlanta and mine in Lynchburg.​  And here we are, both in the boonies and both going to the Flowerwild workshop in Palm Springs.  I teared up.  This sweet girl was the answer to my prayer!  

Here she is with her pretty bouquet.​

​The purple mountains and peach sandy desert of Palm Springs was the inspiration for my arrangement.  How perfect is that purple fritillaria!  I always find that if it looks good in nature, it will look good in an arrangement.

Well, any good event has that "moment" — you know, the one that lives on in your memory forever.  Mine happened when Jose paused from shooting my bouquet and said, "Whose bouquet is this?"  "Mine," I said.  Then he waves me towards him and says, "Come look at this."  And I looked through the lens of his camera, and I had this realization that yes, I can do this!  And I will do this — with passion, with excellence, and with a heart that is relentless in discovering and sharing the best flowers in America, and someday the best flowers in England and Australia and maybe even Ireland and France!

This is just the beginning, folks.​

Enjoy a few photos I snapped, but Amanda, a talented photographer from Bermuda that also attended the workshop, has the good ones!  They are all on her blog (Amy, this is who I told you about!  They want to start growing flowers too).​  

​I'm so thankful for all my new friends!  Make sure you take a minute to look at their pretty websites :)  Ashley of Spread Love Events (cutie in the picture above this one tying her bouquet together), skip me, then Erin of Floret, Abany of Brown Linen & Abany Bauer Styling & Flowers, and Gretel of Sunny Meadows.  So many more friends...I'll post their info too after Jose's images are published and I can share :)

So stay tuned, and thanks for reading!  Comment with your favorite photo so I can keep making things you like to look at :)