entertain: our wedding, the location

I've posted a few pictures from our wedding here, but I realized I've never really talked about it! So much went into planning our wedding, and it was all done from the other side of the country. You might be wondering why we decided to get married in New Mexico. We realized, right away, that no matter where we held the event, a majority of the guests would be traveling. Mike is from Virginia, I'm from Alabama, we lived in New York... there just wasn't a place that made sense. I thought about having the wedding in New York, but even planning a small wedding it's really expensive in the city. So when Mike told me that he'd always imagined getting married out on his family's ranch, and we knew everyone was going to have to travel anyway, a rustic ranch wedding sounded like the perfect solution.

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It is a stunningly beautiful place, and his family has been on that land for seven generations. The Pino Ranch is just outside of a tiny town called Carrizozo. 

The town is in Lincoln County, which has two claims to fame, Smokey the Bear and Billy the Kid. This was the wild wild West. Billy and his crew "allegedly" used to cross the Pino Ranch going back and forth between Carrizozo and the gold mining boom town of White Oaks. The sheriff of Lincoln County shot and killed Billy the Kid for his involvement in the Lincoln County War. 

Cool stuff, huh?!? I love history, it was my favorite subject in school, and Mike and I almost exclusively read non fiction or biographies. So "thanks to great leaders, such as Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc, and Socratic method . . . the world is FULL of history." *Extra bonus points if anybody knows what movie that quote is from!*

OK, back to the wedding planning. So I was on board right away with a Ranch wedding. But I did have some concerns. Some were design related, but most were actual logistics... like where does one get flowers, a cake, food and lodging for a hundred people in a town that doesn't even have a grocery store??? This is the main street... so, as you can see, there's not too much going on here.

We knew right away that finding enough room people for people to stay was going to be a deal breaker. Unfortunately the available accommodations were... umm... not so deluxe... but what can ya do?

We went around to all three of the local motels and reserved every room in the town, and a couple of B&B's in the surrounding area. Once we'd booked the entire town, we went back to NYC and started planning the rest of the event. 

Now let's talk scheduling and why I had over a year long engagement. Mike proposed to me in May of 2010. It was really great, he took me out to the Eastern most tip of Long Island, and popped the question by the lighthouse in Montauk. 

He was really sweet and of course I said yes! Oh have I mentioned before, that I'm kind of a dork???

We go out to New Mexico every year for a Fourth of July family reunion. So we knew the Where; on the Ranch. With lodging confirmed we knew the When; the next family reunion July 4th weekend. Now finally we could start planning all the fun wedding stuff! 

Pinterest is an awesome tool for wedding planning, I got tons of inspiration and ideas... and so the decor and feel of this wedding started to materialize.  I'd always imagined, before I met Mike, that my wedding would be a Southern affair. And I probably would hold it at Oakton. A beautiful antebellum mansion that has been in my family for many generations. 

Many of my relatives have had their weddings here, my mom and dad, cousins, aunt and uncles, and most recently my youngest sister. It's a beautiful place with tons of history and it just oozes Southern charm. I was just going to pick my dress add some hydrangeas, serve up some sweet tea and call it a day! But now that I was getting married out West- I had to rethink everything. My husband's family has a strong Spanish heritage, they call it Pino Pride. And since I was going to become a Pino, I wanted to reflect his culture as much as mine. 

So here are some of the pictures that really inspired me to plan our Southern, causal, Ranch wedding fiesta, and it was all about love being a BIG deal...

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Are you feeling the mood? Glowy lights (I LOOOOOVE glowy lights), boots, burlap, wild flowers... Ok next Monday more Pino wedding goodness. 

xo Lea Hart

ps- this song inspired the whole theme of our wedding. It's such a beautiful song, I still tear up listening to it...

Love is a Big Deal, y'all. 

entertain: walking with Zozo

I've been snapping pictures on my walks with the dog (unfortunately for you guys, I'm not nearly as talented as my photographer sisters Carrie and Margaret) but with natural beauty in abundance... not much talent is required! I think Blossom Dearie's "A Fine Spring Morning" is going to be my soundtrack for today

Here are some pretties from my walks with Zozo

also spotted this while walking...

Lastly, a little arrangement I made for the bathroom. I think a bouquet of fresh flowers somewhere in the house is always a lovely little touch. 

OK, I'm off to the farmer's market...
xo Lea Hart

entertain: Cherry Blossoms

Here in DC the Cherry Blossoms have exploded! They are so pretty, when the wind blows, the petals fall looking like pink rain. I would highly recommend coming to the District for the Cherry Blossom Festival.  I snapped a couple of pictures, but only one turned out well... and the video is of the daytime fireworks! They were so cool.

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So after you've checked out all the beautiful blooms, or if you don't live in the DC area but still want to celebrate... try making one of these yummy looking concoctions. It's called George's Folly, and is made with gin and cherry juice. The name comes from the legend about George Washington cutting down a cherry tree, check out the website for the recipe and the rest of the story.

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And Mike's musical pick this week is, Shuggie Otis' "Inspiration Information"
"We had a rainy day..."



Perfect for a gorgeous Spring weekend, do y'all think?

xo Lea Hart & Mike

design: April 2013 Lonny

Have y'all seen the new Lonny issue? Looks like they like the new Target Threshold line as much as I do! I showed y'all almost all the same pieces a few weeks ago, here is a link to my picks for cheap & chic home goods.

Funny how they picked many of same pieces I did! Guess it's true what they say... Great minds think alike!
Make sure you check out the whole issue. Lonny Magazine is the online reincarnation of Domino Magazine, which I'm still mourning. So here are a few things that caught my eye this month.

I'm totally obsessing over Buffalo art. It's so rad. I love this piece by Joseph Knowles Jr at Zoe Bios Creative.

I really, Really, REALLY want this guy! It's American Buffalo by Sharon Montrose at the Animal Print Shop.

Isn't this animal amazing?

Another piece of art caught my eye. Briana Sophia Kaleidoscope from Natural Curiosities. I love all their stuff. Its beautifully creepy.

love these scarves from Block Shop

this Charleston Home is awesomely PINK

this bedroom, so cool

how peaceful to live on a ranch by the ocean, reminds me of Carrizozo-well,without all the water...

xo Lea Hart

design: thrift store finds + a fenced in back yard

This week has been kinda crazy already... We have having some structural work done on the house. So this weeks posts are gonna be short and sweet.
Yesterday, my mother in law and I were on a mission to find cool funky finds for her basement guest room redo. Of course, even though I wasn't looking for anything for myself, I wound up bringing this little guy (the table- not the cat) home with me!

Hello brass and glass goodness! It's the perfect compliment to my Kodawood chair, and brings in some more warm metalaccents.  I think it works well with my brass lamp, a little tray that I got at a cute thrift store in Arlington, and the candlesticks I have up on the mantle. Don't you?

We found this chair and ottoman for my MIL's project. We are going to rework the cushion, and even though I like the orange, it is going to get recovered in something funner. 

So retro, this project should be fun! 

One more exciting thing happened at the Casa Pino yesterday, we got our backyard fence finished! Now Zozo is the happiest pup in all of Northern VA! 

We still have a TON of work to do in the yard, but we are well on our way and it's already 100% doggy approved. 

xo, Lea Hart

entertain: Friday fun times

Yep. It's Friday. And Friday's are made for fun times, like living room dance parties, cocktails, laughs with friends, something fancy to eat, and to wear! Mike is going to get in on the blogging action and he will be posting cool musical finds. He has the best taste in music and is always exploring new artists. I think y'all will dig it. And while you are listening to your new favorite tune, why not mix up a Paloma. I had one at the Carousel Bar on New Orleans and it was tasty.

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and now Mike P is on the mic...

This is a track called "I feel good" by Jay Electronica. You can check it out here.





He is a man of few words...
OK now go shine on you crazy diamonds!

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xo Lea Hart & Mike

love: goodbye Google Reader

A little notice popped up in my email a couple of weeks ago... Google Reader will be no more after July 1st! What the...! Arrrrgggghhhh! Whhhhhyyyyy??  Reader makes the nearly impossible task of keeping up with the latest and greatest the internet has to offer manageable. Its the only way I can keep all the shelter porn I like to look at, in one place!

And I'm not the only one. The announcement caused quite an uproar. This article has the full scoop. 

I just had to share this Hitler meme... its hilarious and if you are sad/ angry about the demise of Reader... this will make you smile. Let's mourn together...

I think one of the stages of grief is Acceptance, I'm there now.  And with that comes the search for a new RSS feed/ Reader replacement. I went with feedly. It's OK. Not quite as intuitive as but pretty easy to navigate. And its super easy to load all your feeds from Reader.

Anyway, hope this helps if you are also one of the millions left hanging... Thanks a lot, Google. 

RIP Reader. 

xo Lea Hart