Home Sweet Home

Slowly, but surely... We've been getting our new house in order. Everything is moved in, now we're just situating all of it. We didn't start out with a lot of stuff when we first got married (neither one of us is much of a packrat), so we're always on the hunt for furniture and decor pieces to add character to our home. My awesome brother-and-sister-in-law made this neat coffee table for us with our initials and wedding year stenciled on the side. They have a home decor shop in Nashville and are having a huge sale! Check it out here.... Eclectic Nashville

Last sunday we decided to start doing some yard work. The weeds in front of our house completely swallowed up what used to be a small garden, and they were nearly as tall as me!! I couldn't stand looking at them so I decided that this had to be one of the projects around the house that we needed to start first. We're still working on it and will hopefully make more progress this weekend. I reeeeally don't like yard work. There's nothing I'm allergic to more than grass and weeds. It's pretty terrible.

How cute is this little guy?? :)

Sunday Style: Raspberry Buffalo

Sorry for my nearly week long hiatus! It's been so crazy lately. As I've said before, we very recently purchased our first home! Between our busy work schedules and moving in, I've hardly had time for anything else! But now, we have everything moved in.. all we need to do is situate everything and make our cute, little house a home. 

Anyway, this post isn't about all of that. It's about my lovely friends' new Etsy business, called Raspberry Buffalo! The other day, I purchased these adorable floral hair pins from them and they added a free ring with it! I've been needing new accessories, so I was super excited when I saw their new collection!

Check out their Etsy store - Raspberry Buffalo,

And follow them on Instagram - @raspberrybuffalo!!

Also, how about this amazing lens flare that I achieved yesterday?! It was too good not to show off :) 

Mississippi Delta Weekend Retreat

I'm finally getting some time to sit down and blog about my weekend. This is good because I caught a cold on this trip so I'm also getting a few minutes of rest right now. Let me add a short disclaimer here: I'm a little bit doped up on all kinds of cold medicine, so you'll have to excuse any grammatical or story telling errors. Thanks :)

Things have been crazy lately between this retreat, work, and moving into our new house! I'll be blogging about the new house in the very near future (when we get settled in). For now though, I will just share the details of our lovely trip.

So, my husband, Cody, works for a marketing agency called Mabus Agency. The company decided to take a work retreat to Clarksdale, MS this past weekend. They allowed all the wives to tag along, and I'm soooo glad they did. I was in major need of a small getaway! I've never been to the delta before so this was quite an experience. The area we stayed in was literally in the middle of the corn fields. We were charmed, yet somewhat creeped out by the scenery and rustic look of the cabins... as this seemed eerily similar to the start of certain horror films. Thank God we got out alive! 

Between the barn and our cabins (and airstream), there was an enormous, white house. From the outside, it was pretty, but kind of plain in comparison to the inside of the house! Apparently, an old lady, who seemed to be a world traveler, lived in this house. She was actually out of the country while we were there. When we first got there, we took a quick tour of the entire property with the man who helps book and host our stay. Then we wandered almost aimlessly through the huge house just trying to take in and figure out all the completely random decor pieces this lady owned! Everything from  taxidermy animals... to strange, foreign artifacts. Every room was filled with weird stuff!

While the Mabus Agency had their meetings and worked on some stuff, the other wives and I got to just relax around the property. I used a lot of that time to learn and practice more photography techniques since I felt so inspired by the beautiful scenery. And whenever the agency finished or took a break, we all swam in the pool, grilled food, and just had a blast hanging out together. One of the nights we were there, we went to Ground Zero Blues Club, which is part-owned by Morgan Freeman. Sadly, he wasn't there that night.. would've made up for the not-so-great food and mediocre blues band that played. Oh well.

All in all, it was a great trip and much needed escape for me. I had time to refresh my mind and relax my body. Too bad I caught this stupid cold on the last day we were there. I have the worst allergies ever! I just wish nature and I could be better friends.

Some of these photos (me in the corn, white house, and the last two night time photos) were taken by my dear photographer friend,  Mary Meghan Mabus. You can see more of her awesome work HERE!!! 

Half Up/Half Down Brocade Braid

I am completely in love with this brocade braid style right now! I found it over at

Jenny's blog: Confessions of a Hairstylist, and I just HAD to try it out. Wish I 

would've thought of this style when I was growing my bangs out! It's the perfect 

way to get your bangs (that don't quite tuck behind your ears yet) out of your face!

Check out Jenny's awesome hairstyle tutorial below.. It's sooo

easy and adorable!!

Makeup Review: Lasting Finish by Kate Moss

Hi there! My name is Erica and I blog over at Being Erica. I'm so honoured to be guest

 posting here on ART of the HEART today, because I'm a huge fan of Amy's style and

 of course, her blog - so being asked to handle the reins while she moves house was a real 

treat for me! In keeping with her beauty style, I thought I'd share this review of my new 

favourite lippy. Apologies for the UK wording... I don't know if I translate to American just 

yet! I hope you enjoy, and maybe I'll see you soon... I was hanging out in Superdrug with 

Carmen on payday, when I stumbled across the 'bogoho' (buy one get one half off) deal 

on the Rimmel concession. I'm about four hundred years too late to the party with 

the apolocolips range, but I love the two I already have (Nova and Celestial) so I grabbed 

at the last 'apololiptic' in the display, knowing it would be perfect with the dress I was 

wearing to a wedding the next day. Deciding what to get half price was the hard 

part; another apocolips shade, or something else?..

Something else; enter Lasting Finish by Kate Moss. I already own shade 20 which I freaken 

love, but is reaaaaheeeaally bright and not very trans-seasonal, so I grabbed another. I uhm'ed

 and aah'ed over the various shades, and settled on number five. It's pink, but not too bright that 

it won't suit a more muted make up palette come autumn.

I've worn this a number of times since picking it up a few weeks ago, but you'd never 

know it; the bullet has kept it's shape despite the number of uses it's endured, and

 still glides on with ease. The colour is rich and creamy, and definitely has staying 

power, and the best bit? It freaken smells like cherries!

DIY Cute Striped Vases

When I made these vases, I knew I should've used spray paint instead of acrylic paint, 

but I decided to go ahead and give acrylic a try anyway.... Mostly because it was 90+ 

degrees outside and I didn't want to sit out there and paint these things. So... My advice

is to use spray paint because it will be faster and it won't try to peel when you pull off the

tape like the acrylic tried to do. I used a razor to straighten up the edges though, so it was fine.

Trial and error, y'all.

What you'll need:

Sealant (matte or gloss)

Spray paint (or acrylic if it's a thousand degrees outside)

Painters tape

Cylinder vases

Outfit Swap

Ever heard of a clothing swap? You know, where you get some of your friends together

and raid each other's closets.. then make trades on the pieces you like. Well,  I'd like to do 

something similar to that with all my blogging friends. That means YOU! I wear sizes 

small and medium (in tops and dresses), 8-8.5 (shoes), and 4-6 (pants). 

I have tons of other clothing, shoes, and accessories not pictured here. If you are interested

in swapping, want to see more items, or request more details on a piece, just email me!

amynicole662(at)gmail(dot)com

Swapping will be totally free!  ...Well except for a couple dollars for shipping when

you get to the post office. I can't wait to see all the cute outfits we will put together

with our "new" clothes!

______________________________________________________________

Vintage Headwrap - thrifted

"Fall in Love" Top - boutique purchase

Yellow Top - Target

Bracelets and Bows - Forever 21

Paisley Dress - ModCloth

Blue Dress - TopShop

Galaxy Crop Top - H&M

Lace Top - Urban Outfitters