boho baby

{ What I Wore: boutique top (old, similar linked below) // Levi's distressed denim // Nisolo Sandals // J.Crew straw tote // Kendra Scott necklace (in Abalone Shell) // Ray Ban aviators }

All Photos | Kate Davis Photo

Shop my favorite white tops:

I have had the great pleasure of attending Bonnaroo twice & it is in fact the place where Tyler said he first saw me as more than just the girl he was dating, but as someone he could spend the rest of his life with. I guess not showering for 3 days & raging until the sun comes up has that effect on people.

As we will be traveling to the west coast on vacation this coming week, there will be no Bonnaroo-ing for us this year, but that hasn't stopped me from embracing a little "festival style" in memorandum. Super distressed denim + blousey white shirts + easy accessories - all day!

My easy Summer accessories that have been on heavy rotation:

a year later: the best wedding gifts

Now that we have been married over a year, we have really had the chance to enjoy all of our wedding gifts. We were so blessed to have family travel from all corners of the US that the wedding gifts were truly not necessary, but they sure have made married life fun! We lived together for 2 years before we officially tied the knot, so I think we did a pretty decent job making our wedding registry more needs than wants, identifying things that we had found lacking in our home life on a weekly if not daily basis. The lady at Bed, Bath & Beyond kept trying to make us add more items to our list (something about needing 2 times the number of gifts for the number of people on the guest list), but we stuck with things that we really really were going to use, & not just pretty things to sit around & get dusty.

Inevitably people did go off of the registry list, but these were mostly people who knew us very well, & gifted us personalized items like restaurant gift cards to our favorite local places, bar cart accessories because they knew our love of adult beverages, or monogrammed items with our last name. Additionally, Tyler's parents very generously gifted us a honeymoon package to an all inclusive resort in Antigua. But if you know that this is not being provided, this is also a category that many couples enjoy being gifted. Below are the 10 products we have enjoyed the most over the last year, but that might not be on everyone's registry list:

1. I grew up making rice in a pot on the stove, but Ty was the one that pushed to have a rice cooker on our registry & it has changed my life. This one is so easy & even has a tray to steam veggies too! 

2. This was probably our #1 want/need item! All of our knives were hand-me-downs that were basically worthless! Having a quality knife set will make cooking fun again! 

3. I don't think a waffle maker was on our registry list (?), but I am so glad that we were gifted it! Armed with my great-grandmother's waffle recipe, many many weekend mornings have been waffle mornings! This one is so easy & delivers a perfectly crispy/fluffy waffle every time!

4. If you know the couple isn't being gifted a complete honeymoon, there are many modern registry lists that allow you to purchase a portion of the trip (massage, dinner, room service, bottle of bubbly) for the newlyweds. 

5. We love our bar cart so we were so excited to get beautiful accessories to put on display. If you know a specific household area that your couple enjoys, this is a great place to go off registry (coffee connoisseurs? cheese aficionados? homemade ice cream junkies?). We were gifted this classy wine decanter, gorgeous gold accented bottle & the adorable Kate Spade "his & hers" rocks glasses that we use all the time!

6. Along with the knife set, the cutting board is also a heavily used item in our house. The solid wood is beautiful enough to stay out all the time, & we certainly use it almost every day!

7. Good pillows are things that people don't often think about asking for, but they make all the difference. Maybe this makes me an old person, but I am very particular about my pillows & it is so nice to lie my head down on pillowy goodness each night. 

8. If you know your couple frequents a particular restaurant, or has had a certain place on their restaurant bucket list for a while, you can easily call the establishment & either get a physical gift card or set up a credit for them there.

9. Oh, the olive oil sprayer! This is a low cost item that blew my mind. Instead of using spray on your pots & pans that is filled with chemicals, you can just fill these up with the oil of your choice! Healthy & more affordable!

10. Maybe this is the Southerner in me, but I love our deep fryer. This one is no mess, no fuss! Ty loves making panko-breaded chicken tenders in them & I love to eat them!

growth mindset

My first year as a teacher (7th grade Science) is now packed up nicely in boxes, waiting on my return in August. People warned me about how much the first year of teaching would change my life, & in my true stubborn nature, I actually believed that the experience would somehow be different for me.

Alas, I am not the special snowflake that I would have liked to believe, & my first year of teaching was a long, dark tunnel of terribleness. One that I am happily signing up for again next year. Does that make it like child birth? Completely painful while you are going through it, but a wonderful accomplishment once you are finished!?

As silly as it sounds, I think I have found my "calling" in teaching. Yes, 7th graders are a particularly challenging bunch of humans. Yes, over these past 9 months I have never worked harder, slept less, or cared more about other people at the expense of my own well-being, but I think it is the start of something good. Great even. 

When I sign up to do something, I have to do it with ALL of my being. There is no half-assing it in my book. This bull-headed perfectionist personality that I have is in many ways a good thing, but it also means that when things are not getting done to my standards, there is a fair amount of self-guilt inflicted as well. Which brings me to the state of this blog over the past year…

Over the last year I quit grad school, got married, moved (3… or was it 4 times… I lost count!), & started a new career. Somehow, I naïvely thought I would be able to keep up with my hobbies along the way. Well folks, I couldn't even successfully keep up with the dishes piling up in my sink, & this blog definitely took a back seat to life. 

October to February was the hardest stretch of this new life chapter. It got dark early. I was sleep deprived. I had a husband that I wanted to hang out with. Mid-term grades were due. It was cold. I got sick. Basically there were a million excuses I was really to deploy for why I wasn't posting on the blog. In 2013, from October to December I posted 100+ times compared to 55 in the same time period for 2014. I was half here, I was half into it, but I was fully pretending that my life wan't in shambles behind the scenes. I felt guilty for not posting. And I was also afraid that if I took some time off, that what I had built for the past few years would turn back to dust. 

Some people put a lot of emphasis on growing their blogs. Getting bigger, amassing more free stuff, reaching more people. And while yes, I would like to ultimately reach more people, I am happy with the size my blog is now. Here&Now has not grown in the last 12 months, but is hasn't gotten smaller either. I am grateful for those of you who are still here, still reading, still commenting, still encouraging me in this corner of the internet. 

I am now on Summer break, looking forward to 6 weeks of catching up on sleep, my reading list & responding to emails. We have some travel booked, but really I am just allowing myself to not feel guilty about relaxing. 

Since I haven't had much time to shop for Summer clothes, my style these next few months is going to be very pared down. I have been finding inspiration from these posts:

The minimalist's guide to setting & achieving goals
30 Day Minimalism Challenge
Being Content With My Closet
How To Take Your Basics From Day To Night

My Summer outfits are going to feature a lot of: natural leather, Panama hats, denim, white, minimal accessories. My top favorite pins right now are: 1 // 2 // 3

What would you like to see on Here&Now this Summer? I do have quite a bit of time on my hands :)

ballerina pink

{ What I Wore: Old Navy dress (old, similar linked below) // tassel necklace ℅ Swell Caroline // ballet flats ℅ Tieks // Panama Hat ℅ David & Young // Ray Ban aviators (mine are the green + gold) }

All Photos | Kate Davis Photo 

The last day of school is behind us, & now I am trying to adjust myself to the beast that is Summer Break! I am accustomed to putting on a dress + blazer/cardigan + ballet flats for my school appropriate attire, so I am currently leveraging this robotic way of dressing to find outfits that work for the interim. Nashville has been a bit wet + a bit chilly lately, so this outfit + a jean jacket is my only saving grace!

3 cheers for stylish hats that hide my heinous humidity hair! And comfortable cute ballet flats (I couldn't help but choose them in any color other than "ballerina pink" after all my years of dance growing up).

How are you dressing for the beginning of June?

I love this easy sundress from Old Navy, shop similar stylish & budget friendly options below:

swell

Summer has (unofficially) sprung - and while the calendar says that June 21st is the real deal, it already feels hot & humid here in Nashville. I took the weekend to pull some of my warm weather pieces to the front of my closet, and enjoyed playing around with new jewelry too!

This dress is from last year (outfit post), but I still love it & it was perfect for weekend frolics in my new tassel necklace (available in 5 colors) from Swell Caroline!

I am super thankful that Swell Caroline is now on my radar, not only for my personal shopping pleasures, but it is totally a gift giving treasure trove! All of the monogram jewelry you could ever desire, plus many many other fun Summer accessories!

Shop my top picks from Swell Caroline:

All Photos | Kate Davis Photo

Shop my favorite budget friendly white dresses: