#HappilyEverHurst

Please forgive me… This is so long overdue! Most of you know my son had an electrical accident a few days after this wedding, he is doing well now, but we are playing catch-up like crazy!!! Of course something this awesome is never old news, so enjoy! 

I have been dying to share a little behind the scenes of this totally amazing day with you all! As I type this post, the biggest crocodile tears ever... are steaming down my face AGAIN! I cannot express enough what an amazing couple Jon and Ashley are! That quote "to know them is to love them" is a major understatement. The love that they have for each other flows out of them like a fountain of happiness that showers everyone in their reach! This was our very first wedding in the new SJ Warehouse. It was truly a night that you never want to end! But there is so much more to that story! I’ll try to make it short and sweet but there is a minutes worth of history here!

Ashley, the gorgeous bride has been shooting sessions at SJ from the very beginning, in fact, she was one of the first photographers to ever shoot with us. Many of the exciting options that have unfolded at Southern Jeweled, Ashley was the first to use all the way back to our very first Fall mini shoot setups! Then the back pasture boudoirs, the valentine minis, many custom built sets just for her clients… Anyway, you get the picture! So when Jon proposed and the engagement was on, she called me and said okay we are getting married in May 2015! And… I want you to do my entire wedding, all of it!!! TWO YEARS I got to play in this magical place with her! I was honored and thrilled! We had developed a beautiful and honest friendship, a real bond and she knew my heart would be in this like crazy! By this time I had already started hauling all of my vintage goodness around doing weddings, here, there and everywhere! My dreams were coming true and she was there with love and support through it all! In the meantime we were constantly talking and planning her’s and Jon’s big day! A Pinterest board, looking at locations, dreaming up new ones, laughing and loving all of the exciting things to come! We planned her Bridals, her boudoirs… The whole enchilada!

Then as another of my dreams grew closer, I went on the hunt for a venue to house our huge inventory and to possibly even be big enough to hold weddings and events!? I wasn’t really sure what God had planned just yet. Then thanks to a tip from a sweet friend, I found it! The industrial look warehouse that I have had dancing around in my head for so long! This place had not been used in years and was going to need lots and lots of TLC, super hard work, time and money, but I could see past all of that and I jumped in taking my husband and son with me! (So thankful love is blind!) It might have been a little scary to someone that couldn’t see my vision, so I didn’t want just anybody to see it in its present state but, I called Ashley and said… Oh My Gosh! Come see!

She and Jon came to see it the very next week! I hadn’t done a thing to it yet, I’ll post a before picture for you. Ashley walked in and was immediately thrilled as I knew she would be, but Jon… Different story there. He looked it over, looked at Ashley and right there in front of me with the most serious face I have ever seen him have, he said, “Are you sure she can do this?” Ashley and I just looked at each other and laughed, I so cherish her faith in me! The rest of the story is right here in this amazing wedding video by Savannah Wheeler Photography. Location: Southern Jeweled Warehouse Venue and our amazing downtown area in Wichita Falls, Texas! Rockstars: Jon and Ashley Hurst and their amazing family and friends! Go ahead click the link and if you find yourself crying and or drooling, don’t worry it is a perfectly normal reaction to something this awesome! We love you Ashley and Jon! Blessings beyond measure to you forever!

 Much Love, Big Hugs, ~Lori       

Before

After! 

Hurst Wedding @ Southern Jeweled Warehouse Venue

I am officially the worst blogger ever! A whole year has passed? Really... how did that happen!?

Okay so I was checking my facebook insights (which I have never done before) and found where I was getting link backs from a very sweet young lady that brought her baby girl to Southern Jeweled for a photo shoot and then blogged about it! Needless to say I was so excited to find her blog post Fawn Over Baby and see the wonderful photos and sweet things she wrote! Check it out, you will love it too! Thanks again Melissa!

Sooooo then... Yeah... I went to my blog and was seriously in total shock that it had been a whole year since I had posted! What!? No way!!! Wow, bad bad girl! Plus because of the amazing year 2013 was, some of the post that I had done previously are now so weak, lame, yuck. :/  Since I wasn't planning to blog today but I absolutely had to after my find of pure shame!!! Here are a few pics from 2013 to show just a hint of what an amazing year it was for Southern Jeweled and personally! Big hugs and would you just love me anyway... please?  :)

P.S. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014! ;)

January 2013 - Barn Loft Boudoir Setup for Devon J Imagery 

 January 2013 - Engagement Shoot Setup for Ashley Campana Photography 

January 2013 - Cake Shoot! Session at SJ, Cakes by Yisel, Shoot by Tera Brockway Photography 

January 2013 - Back Pasture Boudoir Setup for Meegan Weaver Photography  

Wait that was just a hint of JANUARY 2013! I'll be back to blog more. Really! I pinky swear! In the meantime you can see lots more here Southern Jeweled  More hugs!!! 

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Happy New Year! Welcome 2013!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! As we start 2013, I want to thank each and every one of you for being here with us and for being a part of this awesome adventure! Here is a little history on the birth of Southern Jeweled for those of you that do not know how we came to be… Southern Jeweled was not a spur of the moment decision, it was well over a year of “I really want to do this as soon as I can get it ready” an idea and process in the making. You see I (Lori) have been a vintage junkie my entire life. As my mother would say I just have “an old soul” like my dady and I completely agree. Half of the stuff I have came from him! Truly, I have always had old stuff that I loved to collect more of and then I married a man that loved to “pick” a little too. Our ideal date was to hit an estate sale or auction and then go to dinner before heading home to unload our finds and smile over the treasures and the stories they told!!!  After we married and combined our homes into one bigger one with a few acres, I had more room to put stuff! Then my youngest son got really into junking as well and oh boy did we pick! The problem was they wanted to re-sell stuff and I wanted to hang on to it and wasn’t really sure why? (Hoarder much?! Probably so!) I mean as much as I clean out and re-arrange our home, I still could never use it all. But! Someday... There was a purpose and I just knew it! ;) Then one day while looking through my favorite junk and crafting magazines there it was “Vintage Rentals”. Hot hot hot stuff in California and as I found out many other places but none within a hundred miles of here! So I started researching and planning and unpacking boxes and boxes of junk that I had been hauling around forever! Cleaning out an old trailer house that we have on our property and making room to display it all. Dragging it all over our property to play with ideas! Cleaning up some of it, painting some of it. Taking lots and lots of pictures and then researching a little more. After more than a year had passed since I had mentioned it to my husband he finally said to me one day, “what are you waiting for?” “The Real Estate market is down (as I am also a Realtor) and you have extra time on your hands that you haven’t had in a long time and you could use the money to supplement your Real Estate income.” My reply was “But I’m not really ready yet, I have so much more to do!” He then said, “If you keep waiting until you are ready, it may never happen.” “This kind of business will always be changing, building, growing in different directions, just do it!”  The light came on, my aha moment! His faith in me and my junk was all I needed to finally jump! I had built the website and the facebook page and was just waiting to push the publish buttons. March of 2012 we launched and what an exciting ride it has been! Of course I am still not ready… haha  As I said, I am a Realtor and my junking hours are limited but each month as the photogs and clients come and go, I manage to get ready for the next ones even if it is at midnight with a spot light outside! They don’t seem to mind the fact that we are always a work in progress and a mess at times as long as they can get to the backdrop setups and create beautiful pictures for their clients! Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement in this little junk sharing dream of mine! I love to create the setups and then watch as people play and laugh while getting those moments captured by their photogs! Thank you 2012 for all of the blessings that you brought! Welcome 2013! We may not ever BE READY, but we will GET IT READY just in time, each time, for the next event! So much fun ahead!!! God Bless you all!  

             

Sorry I have been missing in action here but it was for a great reason...

Wow I can not believe it has been over a month since my last post! What a ride May 2012 was! My youngest son kept us busy busy busy, he attended four proms, had senior events galore, then graduation and a big party for him the day after. Awww I can breathe now in between the tears of course. Time just goes so fast and no matter how hard we try to take it all in and live it to the fullest... It still gets away from us. I will miss him soooo much as he starts his next chapter in life and being a mom will be a whole different ballgame for me now as my oldest son is 25, married, a police officer, two hours away and now my baby boy will be heading off to college soon. I believe the older we get the more literal "don't blink" becomes. haha Since I never seem to sleep I guess I am doing the best I can at not blinking! I am one proud mama though, good boys with big hearts and beautiful dreams! God is Good! I hope life is treating you all kind and I promise to be back in here reading blogs and posting more often. I love this beautiful world of creative souls and I have had some really cool things happening with the business that I must post and share! ~Hugs & Happiness To You All

Pictures do paint a thousand words and a little fun!

Sleep? No, not much. It seems I work all day then I am on the computer all night! My mind is so busy and I am just too excited about the new journey of my junk passion! I have spent as much time as I possibly could for the past 2 weeks working on organizing and displaying my treasures so they are all easily accessed and ready to share with others. Just when I think I am getting close to having it all sorted, I get a new idea, re-arrange or find more boxes that I haven't even unpacked. Or better yet I end up at another sale with a brand new load of more fabulous junk and then I just have to take pictures! Whoa me... I have to get this thing handled, or do I? ;)

Here are some of my latest finds and a few fun pics with my kiddos!

A little more JUNK never hurts!

Well yes... Of course I have still been working very hard to get the show room in order, organized and set up! But... I can't go long without hitting a sale and dragging in more treasures! I mean really, can you? My Rental Inventory has grown even more! :)