With “Sedona,” my photo that sold at this year’s O What A Night Gala Since I received my diagnosis of six months to live last month, I’ve been trying to do just that — live. A good friend of mine stopped by yesterday. We discussed how hard it is for people to wrap their minds around my prognosis. I’ve shared quite a bit about the past four and a half years of cancer treatment, so I’m treating this new development the same. I don’t shy away from divulging the bad, but I tend to focus on the good things I’m clinging on to. Minus the eyepatch and my bald head (back to wearing wigs sometimes), I ..read more

My husband and I live in a 100+ year old house. I’ve been meaning to create some sort of time capsule and hide it in the house for someone to find in 30-50 years. I finally got the chance to write our house story, which I’m presenting here. I plan to include a handwritten and typed version, laminate them, and attempt to slip them behind a mantle in our bedroom. August 26, 2022 Hi, By the time you find this, I will be long gone. You see, as of today my doctors told me I have less than six months to live. Bummer, right? I’ve been wanting to do this, to write a note about my husband and I’s tim ..read more

Sedona, AZ For the past three years, I’ve been doing some form of an extended vacation. I was in Ireland for six weeks the summer of 2019, then Thomas and I went to Sedona, AZ for six weeks in 2020 and 2021. We love hiking, which is something that Louisiana sorely lacks due to how flat the state is. We’re going back to Sedona this year for 10 days and I plan on hiking every single day. Here are some of my favorite things to take with me for both short and long hikes. Sedona double exposure, shot on medium format film For day hikes, I always bring a 32 oz. Nalgene bottle, and maybe a snack dep ..read more

Sedona sunsets never get old Last summer Thomas and I fulfilled a longterm dream of spending summers in Northern Arizona. If one good thing came out of Covid, it was the ability to work remotely. We were out walking the dogs in New Orleans during quarantine when one of us uttered the words “What if we spent a month in Sedona?” From then on, we couldn’t shake the idea from our heads. With stimulus checks in hand, we booked a month-long stay at Red Rock Suites, an apartment situated on the main strip but far enough away from the touristy area so that we felt socially distanced without sacrifici ..read more

It’s been a year since I updated Slow Southern Style. How did an entire year go by so fast? Covid has made time slow down and speed up, with whole months flying by followed by long, excruciating days. I won’t attempt a full year summary, but here are a few notable moments to bring things up to speed. First off, I graduated in May 2020. According to my degree, apparently I’m now a Master of Creative Writing. Graduating during a pandemic stripped away the traditional pomp and circumstance, so I ended up taking my own graduation photos and threw myself a socially distanced party in the front ya ..read more

Like most people, I haven’t been getting out too much except for the essentials: chemo treatments, food runs, and exercise. I try to put on “real clothes” most days but sometimes I just change out of pajamas into workout clothes, then put my regular clothes just for a few hours. Retail is down 50.5%, which isn’t surprising. I haven’t had the need nor want to buy clothes since Coronavirus started. That said, I did splurge and bought the vintage tropical print maxi dress featured here from Funky Monkey because I needed a extra joy in my life. When in doubt, always go for a bold print. I’v ..read more

Sleep in, hang out around the house. Sleep in, hang out around the house. Coronavirus has me cooped up in doors but I’m trying my best to get dressed and feel like a real human. There have been days when I putt around the house in my pajamas well until the evening, but I typically get dressed in “real clothes” every day. I just makes me feel better. It’s hard to remain positive these days, to see the good in the world. I’m quarantined like everyone else, but I’m also in active cancer treatment. This means I go to the cancer center every other week for bloodwork and chemo. I’m avoiding ..read more

Since June 2018 I’ve had the unfortunate experience of dealing with cancer. I was diagnosed stage IV rectal cancer, which initially spread to my brain, and now my lungs. For the past two years I’ve been in and out of cancer treatment, which makes me feel better prepped for quarantine than most people. I’ve always maintained that when you look good, you feel good and going through cancer treatment has proven that correct. Whether you’re working from home, recently unemployed, or simply cooped up, I’ve found that throwing on a fresh set of clothes really helps improve my mood and makes me fe ..read more

My husband Thomas and I love a good couple’s costume. There’s something about wearing complementary costumes that makes that much more of an impact. This year we went to our fourth Airlift Ball at Music Box Village. The theme was Sirens of Salvage so we brought out these raincloud costumes that we wore on Mardi Gras Day several years ago. I made the enormous hats, which are fun to look at but not fun to wear because they are so damn cumbersome. They definitely got attention, which made them worth pulling out of the closet. Almost all of the original black felt raindrops were missing, so I ..read more

J. Crew skirt Vintage sundress Vintage Hawaiian dress Wildfang button down, cutest niece ever Warm weather pieces I can’t wait to wear againFat Tuesday is tomorrow (!!!!) and I’m already thinking about spring weather and what I will be wearing. Once the costumes have been packed away and the wigs have been combed out, I’m going to start boxing up my heavier winter wear and start unboxing my spring and summer wardrobe. I box all of my out-of-season clothes up for a few reasons, the primary reason being tiny closets. I live in a 100+ year old house, which means my closets are spare in size ..read more