Pretty Is As Pretty Does

I have a confession to make. Ever since I started reading Gone With The Wind...I have become OBSESSED with 1800's southern plantation life. I read through GWTW, Scarlett, and Rhett Butler's People in record time and have been searching online for more books like them!! I just can't get enough. My husband even found me a plantation house built in 1852 FOR SALE in SC!! Hahaha. Oh how I wish I could buy it and spend my days fixing it up to look just like it would have in the 1800's. I told y'all I was obsessed. Click here to see the MLS listing on the house!!! It's amazing!!!!!!!!

So anyway, back to my obsession. I know Scarlett is selfish and bratty and a bit promiscuous but other than that we actually have a LOT in common!!! I feel like I can relate to her in a lot of ways. I recently read a book called Scarlett Rules by Lisa Bertagnoli. It's great!!! It gives you 24 life lessons inspired by Scarlett O'hara. I love them all but I thought I'd share my favorite one with y'all.

Scarlett Rule 1

Pretty Is As Pretty Does

Although Scarlett was portrayed as drop dead gorgeous Vivien Leigh in the movie, it was made clear in the book that Scarlett wasn't beautiful.

"Scarlett O'hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm." - GWTW

What made Scarlett different from every other average looking girl in the world is that Scarlett was unaware of her lack of beauty. Scarlett knew how to dress to play up her figure, and she know how to act make men (and women) forget she was anything but ravishing.

Truly charming people make anyone feel that he or she is the only person in the world. They know how to deliver a compliment and how to accept one. They know how to make people feel good about themselves and about life, no matter what the circumstances.

Charm is a skill that takes cultivating. What does it take to be like her, the woman whose entrance makes a party, whose smile is like the sun breaking through the clouds, who's invited everywhere and then some?

She listens. She doesn't interrupt. She doesn't reply to an anecdote with a quick "Oh, that happened to me once!" She lets the story, however trite, long or boring belong to the teller. She remembers people's names and details about their lives: new job, new baby, new home. She asks to see baby pictures, sparing proud new parents the awkwardness of an unwanted show and tell.

She gives well considered, straightforward compliments with no hidden meaning. She knows how to accept a compliment. She knows the proper response is Thank you. How kind of you. No embellishment or argument needed.

A charming woman says thank you and please. She handwrites thank you notes even if she's already thanked the giver in person.

There's so much more to that section but I managed to squeeze my favorite parts in there. I think we all need a reminder of how to be charming every now and then. I think my main issue is with compliments. I ALWAYS say Oh stop!! That's ridiculous... Or you're crazy!! or something like that. Of course I need to work on all of it!! I need to go to charm school for sure. Hahaha.

So enough about my obsession with all things GWTW and Scarlett O'hara...what's YOUR favorite book of all time??

June/July Favorites

I just realized I skipped June! A tragedy...I know. I'll just have to combine June and July's faves together. They have both been super hot and I don't think August is going to be much better. I am already hoping for Fall!!!! Fall is my absolute FAVORITE season. This Fall is going to be especially spectacular because we are in the process of putting a hot tub on our screened in porch. Can you just imagine?? Chilly Fall air, my husband and I in the hot tub with a glass of wine. Well you don't have to imagine that...LOL But I'm telling you it's going to be great. Anyway, here's my favorite things from June and July!

Persons Unknown

Please tell me someone else is watching this show!!!! I am OBSESSED!!!!!! When I first started watching it I thought it was a bit weird. Well, it's still weird. But I like it!! If you haven't heard of it, click here to read about it! It's awesome!!!!! I'm even starting to develop a bit of a crush on Joe!!!

Fresh fruits and vegetables

I have tried to start cleaning up my diet a little bit by not eating so much processed food and/or HFCS. I started eating a lot of fresh fruits and veggies with meals and an apple or pear for snack. It makes me feel good to eat natural food straight from the source!

Burt's Bees Medicated Lip Balm with Clove Oil

LOVE this stuff!!!!!! I've been using it for years but it always comes in most handy during the summer or winter months. I love the smell of the clove oil and it makes my lips super soft without leaving any residue around the edges. What I love most about Burt's Bees products is that they are made from natural ingredients. Their lip balms contain no petroleums and only use the natural colours found in the natural ingredients used in the product.

Forever 21's 5 pocket Denim Shorts

These are some of the best shorts I've ever owned!!! They are the perfect length, the perfect color and they fit great! They are also super comfortable. Oh and they were only $10.50! It doesn't get any better than that!

Gone with the Wind

I just finished reading Gone with the Wind last week. I am surprised I didn't read it a long time ago!! It was amazing!!! I got pulled right into the the time period and wanted to be dressing up and going dancing! I also learned a lot of history and a lot about the South. If you've never read it, I really really recommend it. You will love it!! Now I'm excited to watch the movie so I can see all of the characters come to life. :)

MAC Painterly Paint Pot

LOVE LOVE LOVE this stuff!!!!! It is a cream eyeshadow base and it is amazing. It smooths out your eyelid and makes it look perfect. You can wear it just like that and it makes you look wide awake and healthy. Or you can put eyeshadow on top. It makes the colors really pop and keeps my eyeshadow on all day! I tend to get oily eyelids during the day but this stuff doesn't get oily or budge all day. If you don't have a favorite eyeshadow base yet, GO GET THIS! You will thank me. :)

What are some of y'alls favorite things from this summer??

Fannie Flagg

Ya'll may know Fannie Flagg as the author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe which was turned into a movie back in 1991. LOVE this movie!! Come to think of it, I need to watch it again soon. It's been a while.

Anyway, Fannie Flagg didn't just write Fried Green Tomatoes. She has written quite a few other books that I have just recently fallen in love with! So far I have read Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! and Can't Wait to Get to Heaven.







They are both cute, southern, feel good books!! Can't wait to Get to Heaven was my personal favorite. It is set more in the South than the other book and it just gives you that comfortable, peaceful feeling when you read it. Here's what Goodreads.com says about Can't Wait to Get to Heaven.

Combining southern warmth with unabashed emotion and side-splitting hilarity, Fannie Flagg takes readers back to Elmwood Springs, Missouri, where the most unlikely and surprising experiences of a high-spirited octogenarian inspire a town to ponder the age-old question: Why are we here?
Life is the strangest thing. One minute, Mrs. Elner Shimfissle is up in her tree, picking figs, and the next thing she knows, she is off on an adventure she never dreamed of, running into people she never in a million years expected to meet. Meanwhile, back home, Elner’s nervous, high-strung niece Norma faints and winds up in bed with a cold rag on her head; Elner’s neighbor Verbena rushes immediately to the Bible; her truck driver friend, Luther Griggs, runs his eighteen-wheeler into a ditch–and the entire town is thrown for a loop and left wondering, “What is life all about, anyway?” Except for Tot Whooten, who owns Tot’s Tell It Like It Is Beauty Shop. Her main concern is that the end of the world might come before she can collect her social security.
In this comedy-mystery, those near and dear to Elner discover something wonderful: Heaven is actually right here, right now, with people you love, neighbors you help, friendships you keep. Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven is proof once more that Fannie Flagg “was put on this earth to write” (Southern Living), spinning tales as sweet and refreshing as iced tea on a summer day, with a little extra kick thrown in.
 
 
I am currently reading Fannie Flagg's Standing in the Rainbow. I am trying to draw it out as long as possible because I love taking a little vacation to Elmwood Springs every night and I don't want it to end! Have ya'll read any of Fannie Flagg's books? I'd love to hear about ya'lls favorite southern feel good book or what you're currently reading right now!!