Corinth, Mississippi

Corinth, MississippiIf I wanted to live in Corinth, Mississippi — and the only Historic downtown Corinth, Mississippidrawback to that plan is there’s no Target or Publix there — I would grab one of these houses. My husband and I stumbled across them on a recent stroll around town and fell in love. There are three of these cottages in a row just a block from all the cool downtown shops and restaurants in Corinth. We couldn’t get in but we peered through the windows and liked what we saw: Compact and efficient spaces with a stylish flair. And so cute! Who could resist? And in a new-meets-old sort of juxtaposition, the cottages are right next door to this fascinating old brick apartment building that I just know is hiding all sorts of secrets and intriguing stories.

Christian Church in Corinth, MississippiBut that’s not the only old-and-new partnership going on Historic downtown Corinth, Mississippiin downtown Corinth. Take a look at the under-construction new Christian church, just a block and across the street away from its current building — a wonderful old pink-stucco Alhambra-looking place that seems very flapperish-Roaring Twenties to me. And just a few steps away from all of this architectural richness, you can buy a slugburger at an old-fashioned drugstore and a tamale at one of Corinth’s famous tamale stands, soak up some Civil War history and then browse through some of the most exquisite and fun antique/decorating shops in our little corner of the South. Now do you see why I love this town?

Mississippi

Lifesavers

I'm sure this contravenes all sorts of trademark laws, but I love this bus! I pass it all the time on U.S. 72 in Burnsville, Mississippi, in a church parking-lot.

Travel

Elvis birthplaceOkay, here’s a travel quiz. Can anybody guess where we are? Elvis PresleyThat’s Younger Daughter, and she and I and my husband were visiting a sacred (to some) site near our home here in northwest Alabama. I don’t have any prizes for the correct answer — you’ll just have the satisfaction of knowing that you know. But that’s all right. I just can’t help believing that you’ll get all shook up one night and any day now you and your little sister will figure it out.

Sorry — couldn’t resist.

Corinth, Mississippi

Borroum's Drug Store Whenever you get a hankering for real food in a real place, Borroum's Drug Store try Borroum’s Drug Store in Corinth, Mississippi. My husband and I were there on the Third of July, when Borroum’s was among the few downtown Corinth restaurants open for the holiday weekend. But Borroum’s is bustling even Borroum's Drug Store when everything else is open – it’s where the locals hang out every day and you should, too, although you’ll be immediately John Lewis Pittspegged as a visitor when you ask for a menu. This is the authentic old-fashioned soda fountain/drug store from years past. It’s crowded and noisy and messy and you need to check your cholesterol counter at the door. Husband had a cheeseburger and fries and I had the tuna melt, which truly was exactly like my mother used to make: More tuna than mayo. We had a great time eating and eavesdropping on Corinth gossip and people-watching as folks came in to the drugstore part. Then we enjoyed checking out the old photos and antique displays on the way out. Here’s the thing, though, that is what I love about Corinth: At Borroum’s and almost everywhere else in town, the old and the new and the history and the right-now sort of blend together and you can’t really tell the difference. In other towns, a place like Borroum’s would be a touristy spot that somebody bought and redecorated after it had changed hands from the original owners a couple times. In Corinth, it’s run by the original owner’s great-granddaughter — and it’s the real thing. Check it out at http://borroumsdrugstore.net/

Art

Anthropologie Hatch Show PrintYou got a surprise present in your mailbox this month (no — your carrier isn’t leaving you chocolate-chip cookies again): The cover of the June Anthropologie catalog features an original work from Hatch Show Print, in Nashville, Tenn., and it’s a beauty. Hatch Show Print, on Broadway in downtown Nashville, is the oldest working poster print shop in the country. It began in 1879 and became known for its wood-carved letterpress work for country music, jazz and blues performances — and its iconic balance of layout, typeface, color and Southern culture. The best part is that you can wander into the shop and see posters still being made the same way. I’ve always thought Anthropologie’s catalogues were whimsical combinations of style and design and I was tickled to see one of my favorite Nashville spots featured here. Actually, my parents first told me about Hatch Show Print — because they’re cool like that. Our hometown of Manchester, Tenn., is near Nashville, and Hatch Show Print is one of my parents’ usual stops when they head downtown. They took me along one day and am I glad they did. If you’re headed to Nashville this summer, you owe it to yourself to schedule a visit to Hatch Show Print — chock full of presses and prints and posters and typefaces and wood blocks, it’s unlike any other place you’ve ever seen. Check out Anthropologie at http://www.anthropologie.com and Hatch Show Print at http://www.anthropologie.comhttp://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/experience-hatch-today.aspx

Home Decor

Home decorI love finding home-decor ideas in unlikely Home decorspots. You never know when you’ll stumble across some inspiration. Like these exuberantly painted kitchen chairs at the Bottletree Bakery in Oxford, Mississippi. How much fun would it be to grab worn-out chairs and leftover paint and create some whimsical seating like this? In no stretch of the imagination am I a painter but I think that even non-visual folks such as me could do this. I also loved this glass and metal sofa table I saw at a clothing boutique in Oxford. The owners had knotted colorful scarves through one of the support rungs Home decor— so creative! Couldn’t you just see this in one of those huge closets big enough for furniture? You could sit in there and sip wine and read “Town and Country” and contemplate what you were going to wear where that evening. But I might be able to use the same idea by knotting scarves through the ends of the storage shelves in our perfectly-adequate closet, where I stand every day and try to figure out which T-shirt is the cleanest. (And which, by the way, I am slowly inch-by-inch taking over from my husband, who luckily hasn’t noticed that somehow my stuff mysteriously keeps showing up on his side.) This lovely white painted chair with a toile cushion was at the same boutique. It looks like another renovated flea-market find that would be so simple to duplicate. Do you remember a few years ago when toile was everywhere? Then it sort of faded away but now it’s back to where it should be: A s a statement-making classic. And I think the white paint brings out the details of this chair to make it look like something special. Of course, folks who know me and have been to our house know that all my talk about interior-decorating projects is fruitless because I am much too lazy to do anything different from our current coffee-cup-and-stacks-of-newspaper decor. But I have high hopes and ambitious dreams. It just needs a lot more planning and fine-tuning … and shopping.

Shoes

Shoes Oh, baby — come to mama! I am so in love with these shoes that I Chique in Oxford, Mississippigot this past week at Chique, an unbelievably cute boutique on the square in Oxford, Mississippi. Tucked in the back of a dress shop on South Lamar Street, Chique is the sort of place that your girly sexy soul sort of sighs in contentment whenever you Chiquewalk in. Chique came about after owner Angel Overstreet had gone on several mission trips to Brazil and decided to “help the Brazilian Shoespeople by sharing our favorite souvenir,” according to the Chique Web site — and she started with her hometown of Oxford. It’s quite obvious that these shoes aren’t from around here, as we say. Every pair was sultry and playful and sophisticated and comfortable and affordable — and talking directly to me. I finally narrowed my choices down to two pairs and had to call in reinforcements and drag my friends from their own shopping adventures to help me decide. I love these because they’re a bit more versatile — the other pair was definitely dressy but this pair can go with anything and even on into fall. For less than $100, too. Jackpot! And, to my dear husband who I know is reading this: I only bought these shoes for the purposes of journalistic investigation. And I don’t think I got the whole story, so I’m thinking a followup visit is necessary. Who’s with me? Check out the Web site at http://www.chiqueinoxford.com

Food

Pizza Grocery, Corinth, MississippiDon’t you love eating out in good local pizza places? I think it goes Pizza Grocery, Corinth, Mississippiback to when I was younger — before Pizza Hut and Domino’s and Papa John’s were on every corner — and going out for pizza was a much-anticipated treat. Today for the adult me, there’s something so cozy and comforting about a restaurant that gives you melted cheese and cold beer in abundance — along with real silverware Pizza Grocery, Corinth, Mississippiand plates. One of the best local pizza parlors is Pizza Grocery in Corinth, Mississippi. It’s in an almost 100-year-old warehouse close to the Corinth square and is a popular local gathering spot. Besides specialty pizzas (my husband especially likes the Cajun Cowboy with blackened chicken, jalapenos and pepper jack cheese), the menu has calzones, deli sandwiches and sandwiches. The lunch special is a slice (or two, maybe?) of pizza plus a salad, and the non-pizza dinner entree special comes with fresh vegetables and upscale additions such as a pea puree or mushroom ragout. There’s also draft and bottled beer but it’s bring-your-own wine — the left-behind bottles decorate the brick walls downstairs. And if you want dessert to go, grab a pizza sugar cookie. Green peppers never tasted so good!

Go here http://nems360.com/pages/full_story?article-Pizza%20Grocery%20% 20=&page_label=results_content&id=2133541-Pizza+Grocery+&widget=push&open=& for a review of Pizza Grocery by Ginna Parsons, food editor of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo.

A Week of Spring — Home Decor

Spring decorWelcome to the weekend wrapup for A Week Spring decorof Spring. Thanks for coming along with me as I’ve discovered a week of cute and must-have spring things. I think this final find is the best of the bunch! I fell in love with these twig- and dried-flower baskets the birds’ nest as soon as I spied them at Downtown Books in Corinth, Mississippi. The baskets are supposed to be planters, but I’ve already put the dried lavender in the one with the handle and I’m pondering what to do with the others. My favorite, though, is the birds’ nest. It just says “spring” to me — in a very soft, whispery, spring-like voice, of course. And the bonus? All of this was $30.  But I left plenty, so if you’re in Corinth go to Downtown Books and pick up some more spring bargains.

Want more spring? Visit these blogs:

http://www.leciawphinney.com/ — At A Day That is Dessert, photographer and mom Lecia Phinney posts wonderful photos that will make you think spring no matter what the weather outside is.

http://www.winosandfoodies.com/ — Winos and Foodies has yummy and creative recipes for spring classics.

http://www.omiru.com/ — The stylish folks at Omiru show you how to waltz fashionably and frugally into spring. They focus on what to pull out of your closet to combine with the new season’s trends for totally chic ensembles.

Shoes

red-shoes-2I’m a woman who’s a freelance writer. I write a lot about shoes. My husband’s a man who’s a newspaper sports editor. He writes a lot about … sports. You wouldn’t think that those two worlds would collide, would you? But he pulled it off in his column today for his paper, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, in Tupelo, Mississippi. And he even got me in there! (Thanks, sweetie.) Read it at http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=285705.

And speaking of shoes, these $300 Cole Haan red patent pumps caught my eye at zappos. com. “This posh peep-toe pump is a perfect marriage of comfort and style,” the description says. Yes, indeedy. Is that me all over or what? (With, I’ll admit, an emphasis on the “comfort” part. Gone are the days when I teetered around for 10 hours on 3-inch heels. Sigh.) Anyway, I think these are the perfect Valentine’s Day shoes, paired with a slinky black dress and some great jewelry. Don’t y’all?