Coupling

File this one under “better late than never.” I have been remiss of late in posting here. It seems all I have time to do is post my weekly guest series on my good friend’s photography blog. If you are planning on getting photos taken for any reason, jump over to Rebekah's photo blog and see my photo-tastic outfit options. The last three weeks I've been focusing on what couples should wear for engagement photos.

Speaking of couples...

Fashion Friday blog series

I’m excited about a new blog series I get to be a part of on my friend, photographer Rebekah Wright’s blog. We’re calling it Fashion Friday and it’s a weekly series that gives styling ideas for photo shoots.

Rebekah and I have been friends since our college days and spent 2 years as roommates in Dallas. Much of our free time was spent planning photos shoots or going on spontaneous photo shoot excursions. That, and shopping.

While we have collaborated a lot with our respective photography and fashion expertise, this is the first time we have done a series like this and I am really excited about it!

Check out the initial post here. And if you need a photographer, Rebekah comes highly recommended from this girl! See my lovely blog header? That design is also courtesy of the very talented Rebekah.

Here is the first Polyvore collage of the series:

Minty fresh by juliannegray featuring rayon tops

Age is but a number

It's so strange how my mind judges age and the passing of time. As a married woman without children of my own (excepting our dog Neko, of course), I always automatically assume that anyone with kids is older than me. I am always shocked to find that people with children are the same age or even younger than I. Logically, this makes no sense, but I find myself thinking this all too often. Take one of my favorite bloggers, Ashley Rodriguez of the beautifully written and photographed Not Without Salt, who just posted about taking the plunge into her 30s. A step I myself will take in a little over a week. To be as accomplished as she and have 3 kids (!), and she's the same age as me? It seems impossible. I hope that I will accept it as gracefully as she.

A few months ago, I told a friend that I didn't feel like I was where I thought I would be when I reached 30. I didn't have any real specific goals, but where I was did not match what I had in mind for myself when I pictured what this decade would bring. Her answer back to me was to point out all of the good things I had to be thankful for. Since then, I have made it my goal to replace thoughts of doubt, fear and jealousy with thoughts of gratefulness instead. I know it sounds cheesy, and truthfully, there is a part of me that wants to punch myself in the throat, but it works. It has completely changed my attitude about everything. I'm not saying I don't still get in a funk for a few days when things don't go my way now and then. I do. But, eventually I realize, hey, things really are good. 

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you" --Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV) 

This morning, all I wanted to do was sleep in. Who wouldn't with this cutie snuggled up with them?

I felt so tired and achy that even the massage I had scheduled sounded like too much effort. Several months ago, I bought a coupon from the local paper's version of Groupon for a 1-hour massage at Regeneration Fitness in North Little Rock. It's something I never do, but the price was unbeatable. I had never heard of the place before and judging by the "Grand Opening" sign outside when I arrived, it hasn't been around very long.

If you know me at all, you know that I have had the aches and pains and stiff joints of an old woman since my early 20s. I have tried physical therapy, chiropractic, pain relievers, etc., to no avail. Along with the diet I adopted 6 months ago, a good massage is really the only thing that seems to help. Key word here being a "good" massage. It seems to just make me more tense if I go to someone who wants to do a relaxing, rub-you-down kind of massage. On the other hand, they can go the other direction and leave me in pain and bruised. You know that song by Deena Carter, "Did I Shave My Legs for This?" There have been many times when I've gone to get a massage and thought immediately of this song. Not to mention, did I pay good money for this?

My massage today with Lisa was neither of those things. It was literally the best massage I've ever had. (To fully understand this, you have to imaging me saying "literally" like Rob Lowe's character on Parks & Recreation, Chris Traeger. See a video here.) I was so glad that I got out of bed and went to see her. She addressed the issues we discussed beforehand, and also used hot stones and stretching to really help with the pain. I had never experienced the latter two methods in a massage before. I always thought that hot stones were just laid on the back, etc. during a massage like you see in the photos at spas. I never realized they could be used as a tool for massage the way she used them. I really need to start doing this more often because, as Lisa so aptly pointed out, I have "issues with my tissues." Now if I could just have her with me every day to remind me to "take a deep breath."

Gray Matter

During my junior year of high school I took a liking to the color gray. That's not really a strong enough statement. It was a borderline obsession. Not just any shade of gray--a dark, charcoal gray. It was a time when my youngest brother, Russell, was battling an aggressive brain tumor. Maybe it was a manifestation of mourning.

The Woods Crew (Russell is the cute blond)

Riding bikes at DeGray State Park

One of my favorite sibling photos at a rest stop

Photo op on the Carolina coast

If it was, I didn’t realize it at the time. Each time I went shopping I would come home with at least one item in a dark charcoal. Each time I reached into the closet I would invariably pick out an outfit with this color as the central theme. So pervasive was this color in my everyday wardrobe that a friend’s mother began calling that particular shade of gray, “Julianne Gray.” Soon, many of my friends were calling it the same. Even now, each time I’ve picked up a paint brush to paint the living room of the two houses we’ve owned, I have chosen a shade of gray (a much, much lighter shade). 

Russell (with a posse of cousins) at a family reunion 

Me with Russell after treatments began

In "Julianne gray"

It feels appropriate that I remember my little brother with the color gray. My parents gave Russell a family name: first name Russell, after my mom’s grandpa, Russell “Rusty” McGlothlin; and middle name Gray, after my dad’s grandpa, Virgil Gray Davenport. 


That brain tumor eventually did end his short life on this Earth, and the world has been grayer ever since. So in part, the name of my blog is a dedication to his sweet soul. More so than I ever realized before penning this post.

Love Song for the Crescent City

A couple of weeks ago, I took a road trip with some friends to New Orleans for my best friend's birthday. The passing of another year is not usually marked with such an indulgence, but this year carried with it a significance no other birthday has before or will again. I speak of that uneasy transition from 20-something to 30-something.

Sunset on Lake Pontchartrain

New Year's Eve

I just had to post this video of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It may be a little too late in the game, but here you go!

I don't have any big plans for this evening, just working on the house and getting organized. Boring, I know. But on Tuesday I'm heading down to New Orleans and I'll make up for it then. Do you usually go out for New Year's Eve, or do you enjoy a quiet evening at home also?

See another Zooey & Joseph video that I love here.