A Bookish Love Story

T+E

5 years ago, I met this guy. I had just gotten out of a semi-serious and seriously burdensome long-distance relationship. I had just transferred to a new school in a new city in which I knew exactly one person. I was almost 20, and I had no intention of doing anything less than what my mom would call “dating around.”

And then, mere weeks after I move to Nashville, I meet this guy. And he is interesting and uncomplicated, and he’s flirting with me. Our first spark is a mutual obsession with The Lord of the Rings. He’s tall and good-looking, and now he’s wearing glasses and sipping whiskey and talking about Tolkien? How can I not?

As I get to know him over the cold months of 2008, I learn he’s the storyteller among his friends, who all love him fiercely, and that he also happens to be an extremely talented musician. I begin to fall.

Spring comes, and we are together. The world goes a little hazy, falls away. We are sharing our lives – our friends, our passions, our secrets, our time. And we read to each other. We do many things together, but he reads books that I have read, and I am in love.

Years pass. We share many, many highs and quite a few lows too; we are together under every sky, through every season. Then one winter day almost a year ago, he gets down on one knee and puts a ring on my finger – a Jazz Age antique. It is clearer than ever that we are meant to be.

We plan a wedding, but not just any wedding… our wedding. It must have music and books, scotch and flapper dresses. It is perfect. And then, life.

♦

Today, Tyler and I celebrate five years together. I haven’t posted any wedding/honeymoon photos yet, so I thought it was an appropriate day to start. Below are some of the bookish details featured in our wedding…

an engagement shot

the last line: “20s inspired attire”

songs from the Downton Abbey, Finding Neverland, Pride and Prejudice, and Fellowship of the Ring soundtracks; readings from E.E. Cummings and Shakespeare

poster by incredible bridesmaid/graphic designer Candie Walter

Tolkien quote on the favor cards

typewriter guestbook

rings stored in a Fellowship of the Ring book safe

Lord of the Rings book cake

books on every table

cameras, hourglasses, pearls, teacups, wine bottles, book ends, too

pinwheels from pages of Pride and Prejudice for every vase

decorative paper pinwheel display

pinwheels on the mantel

dictionary page, eucalyptus, and lace boutonnieres

paper bouquets

many paper bouquets

sheet music

flapper bridesmaids

book page and peacock feather fascinator

earrings featuring quotes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream

killer wedding party

♦

Paper crafts by the bridesmaids and me.
Photos by the lovely Liz Hendrickson.
Paper goods by the fabulous Holley Maher.
Cake by Stephanie Felts of The Sweetest Day.
Flowers by Vicki Sanders of Branching Out.
Hair and makeup by Kelly Hamilton of Imagine Design Team.
Dress by Casablanca Bridal, from The White Room, Lebanon, TN.
Location: Hermitage Golf Course, Old Hickory, TN.

The Hobbit Begins Filming

Oh my gosh. I nearly cried while watching this little YouTube gem. Now, I don’t know exactly what that says about me except for the fact that J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson and The Lord of the Rings stories (in both book and movie form) were a monumental part of my life growing up, and the idea of being able to extend those moments and passions into another masterpiece is both emotional and inspiring.

There’s been such a disconnect between rumors and truth when discussing the making of The Hobbit, but finally, finally, production and filming has begun (and with Peter Jackson at the helm once again). To my sheer delight, I discovered this production video blog (introduced by the brilliant PJ himself) which is a tiny behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film thus far. And the best part: the “To Be Continued…” at the very end; it looks like the production team intends to keep these little video blogs up over the course of the project. Let us hope.

National Poetry Month

In honor of April as National Poetry Month, a verse by one of my favorite poets about one of my absolute favorite literary beings.

“Sherwood,” by Alfred Noyes

Sherwood in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake?
Grey and ghostly shadows are gliding through the brake;
Shadows of the dappled deer, dreaming of the morn,
Dreaming of a shadowy man that winds a shadowy horn.

Robin Hood is here again: all his merry thieves
Hear a ghostly bugle-note shivering through the leaves,
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

shivering through the leaves

Merry, merry England has kissed the lips of June:
All the wings of fairyland were here beneath the moon;
Like a flight of rose-leaves fluttering in a mist
Of opal and ruby and pearl and amethyst.

Merry, merry England is waking as of old,
With eyes of blither hazel and hair of brighter gold:
For Robin Hood is here again beneath the bursting spray
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

merry, merry England has kissed the lips of June

Love is in the greenwood building him a house
Of wild rose and hawthorn and honeysuckle boughs;
Love it in the greenwood: dawn is in the skies;
And Marian is waiting with a glory in her eyes.

Hark! The dazzled laverock climbs the golden steep:
Marian is waiting: is Robin Hood asleep?
Round the fairy grass-rings frolic elf and fay,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Oberon, Oberon, rake away the gold,
Rake away the red leaves, roll away the mould,
Rake away the gold leaves, roll away the red,
And wake Will Scarlett from his leafy forest bed.

Friar Tuck and Little John are riding down together
With quarter-staff and drinking-can and grey goose-feather;
The dead are coming back again; the years are rolled away
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Softly over Sherwood the south wind blows;
All the heart of England hid in every rose
Hears across the greenwood the sunny whisper leap,
Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?

all the heart of England hid in every rose

Hark, the voice of England wakes him as of old
And, shattering the silence with a cry of brighter gold,
Bugles in the greenwood echo from the steep,
Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?

Where the deer are gliding down the shadowy glen
All across the glades of fern he calls his merry men;
Doublets of the Lincoln green glancing through the May,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day;

shattering the silence with a cry of brighter gold

Calls them and they answer: from aisles of oak and ash
Rings the Follow! Follow! and the boughs begin to crash;
The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly;
And through the crimson dawning the robber band goes by.

Robin! Robin! Robin! All his merry thieves
Answer as the bugle-note shivers through the leaves:
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Words for a Rainy Day

the arch in WSP

“There is so much in the world for us all if we only have the eyes to see it, and the heart to love it, and the hand to gather it to ourselves – so much in men and women, so much in art and literature, so much everywhere in which to delight, and for which to be thankful.”

— L.M. Montgomery,
Anne of the Island

There are certain books, movies, photos, people, beds, stories, places that people turn to for comfort in times of need. I watch Pride and Prejudice or 10 Things I Hate About You. I read Anne of Green Gables. I listen to the Finding Neverland soundtrack. I stay in my room and watch old episodes of The Office or curl up on the couch with a new book. I drink tea. I eat ginger snaps. I paint my nails.

Nashville today is rainy and cold, and I plan on going home and doing at least 4 of those things to make me feel better. But for now, my beloved LMM’s words are enough.

This Time in Recent History

The impending spring always makes me retrospective for some reason. I don’t know if it’s something about finally being able to stand up straight and breathe in fresh air (as opposed to huddling against the cold and staying inside) or realizing how much I’ve missed the sun, but spring just has a way of reminding me of good times past.

So today, I was sifting through old photos and decided to post a few from springs of the previous few years. Five years ago, I was going to senior prom. Wooooow. L-R high school girlfriends: Courtney Mock, Emily Singleton, Vicki Beall.

2006

Four years ago, I was in college in Manhattan and really enjoying the spring weather in contrast to a much harsher than I’m used to New York winter. This is a picture of my roommate Muneeba Raza and I getting ready to attend a friend’s percussion recital.

2007

By Spring 2008, I had moved to Nashville and was fortunately making lots of new friends. Here are just a couple of Belmont girls at a basketball game, L-R: Jersey Ross, Steph Elder, Candie Walter.

2008

For 2009, I had a couple of good pictures to choose from but this one with Tyler I like best. I don’t even know when exactly or why it was taken, but we look happy.

2009

This picture is from my birthday in 2010 and is typical of a night with my very good friend Katie Feldhaus.

2010

And this photo was taken just a few weeks ago.

2011

So much happened in between the times at which these pictures were taken, but as is the nature of things. I do my best to document the important events in life and the not-so-important ones too, but you just can’t record it all, can you?