INSPIREMS

Price's 100 Acre Wood {Events}

9/5/2018

Hey y'all!
We hope y'all had the most restful Labor day weekend ever! With fall birthdays coming up we wanted to share a precious baby boy first birthday party with y'all. We love every detail of this sweet party, especially the darling cakes! Keep reading for more and let yourself be inspired!

Friends and family were welcomed to Price’s Hundred Acre Wood to celebrate his 1st Birthday! “My son, Price, loves Winnie the Pooh,” smiles Bethany Cooley. “So we combined his love for Winnie the Pooh and outdoor elements and used a soft color palette for his special day.”

The focal point of the party was a boxwood hedge wall. Bethany attached to the wall one of her favorite quotes from Price’s Winnie the Pooh books. “There are so many sweet Pooh quotes in the books we read to Price, so I thought it would be neat to take one of my favorite quotes and have it hanging on the wall,” says Bethany.

One of Bethany’s favorite moments of the day was singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Price. “I briefly stopped singing, looked around at all the people that love him and felt an overwhelming sense of happiness,” smiles Bethany.

Ground Zero Blues Club {Insider Inspiration}

8/31/2018

The blues have made their way through the world lingering in even the farthest corners of the earth. At each stop, melodies transform and carry the stories of artists, people, and culture often yielding some of the biggest musical acts of our time. As the music has traveled, it has attached itself to homes in every destination including Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Blues aficionados from all over the world have long described Clarksdale as "Ground Zero" for the art and that’s why Ground Zero Blues Club was created. The famed club is known not only for its packed menu and southern charm but also for its celebration and perpetuation of authentic Mississippi Delta Blues artists. “Tourists wanted to hear live blues music, so we decided to accommodate them,” explained Bill Luckett, Clarksdale mayor and part owner of Ground Zero Blues Club, to Legends Magazine. Since its creation, an array of famous musicians, both blues and non-blues, have visited or played the venue including Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, Paul Simon and Elvis Costello to name a few.

Much like the music, the blues bar adapted and transformed to meet the needs of its attendees. Above it lies Cotton Company Apartments. “There was a demand for a place where folks could ‘fall upstairs to bed,’ so that’s when we decided to do the apartments upstairs.” The hotel carries the dive theme through the lobby and into the rooms. Beats from the bar rise through the floorboards of the apartments echoing the acts of the night. “A couple of rooms are directly above the stage and really do rock to the music playing in the club at night,” Luckett said. The Cotton Company Apartments are truly an extension of the blues hub.

Ground Zero has also risen as an event venue hosting rehearsal dinners and wedding receptions. The blues bar even plays host to two of the area’s most prominent music festivals, the Juke Joint Festival in April and the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival in August. Blues has found a home in Ground Zero and will continue to fill the venue with crooning refrains for years to come.

Morgan & Austin {Weddings}

8/29/2018

Hey y'all!
It's another Wedding Wednesday here at Inspiration Mississippi! We hope this lovely southern celebration brightens up your day! Captured by the talented Jeff Chao of Chao Photography, this wedding made us smile from ear to ear; we hope it does the same for y'all!

{Tell us a little bit about y’all!}
Austin and I are both from Vicksburg, Mississippi. I’m not sure the exact moment that we met, but we have known each other since we were in junior high school; we both went to Warren Central Junior High together. Austin and I stayed friends over the years, and we reconnected in college and then the rest is history! Austin went to MSU while I was in Nursing school. We got engaged after almost 2 years of dating. In October 2017, I thought we were going to dinner in downtown Vicksburg with Austin’s family as a going away for his brother who was joining the Marines. Instead, Austin to me took me to the perfect spot that overlooked the Mississippi River where there was a beautiful sunset. This is where he asked me to be his wife! It’s a very special spot to me not only because it is in our hometown, but because my Dad asked my Mom to marry him in the same location 23 years ago.

{What served as the main inspiration for planning your wedding?}
I wanted the theme of our wedding to be very classy and elegant. The BB Club in Vicksburg was the perfect venue for our big day. Both our wedding ceremony and the reception were both held at The BB Club. It’s such a beautiful, elegant building with so much history.I went with a more minimalist approach to the decor because the venue is so elegant all on its own.

{What was your favorite moment from your wedding day?}
My favorite moment was walking back up the aisle for the first time as husband and wife. That feeling of being surrounded by all of our friends and family in one room and the outpour of love is indescribable.

{What were some of your favorite details of your celebration}
We tried to include as many special details in our wedding as possible. One that was very close to my heart was the handkerchief that I carried wrapped around my bouquet that was my mother’s from her wedding day.

{Tell us about your flowers!}
I wanted soft toned colors and I have always loved white roses. My Pappy used to give me a dozen white roses after my dance recitals as a little girl! I also went with peach David Austin roses and pops of fresh lavender to compliment the bridesmaids’ dresses.

{What was your favorite part of the wedding planning process?}
My favorite part of wedding planning was spending quality time with my friends and family. One of my favorite memories is going to a bridal expose with my Mom where we found lots of vendors while drinking wine and taking photo-booth pictures.

{Do you have any tips for any other brides out there?}
DO NOT stress! That is easier said than done, but everything will fall into place in the end.

Inspirational Bedroom for Summer by SummerHouse {Insider Inspiration}

8/27/2018

Happy Monday y'all!
With August coming to an end we feel like we are finally back into the full swing of things! We wanted to share a beautiful bedroom with y'all today. Designed by Lisa Palmer, the principal designer and founder of SummerHouse, this room is as fresh as it is functional. If you feel like you need to update your home or are starting fresh somewhere new, the SummerHouse team will make sure your vision turns into a beautiful reality!

Lisa Palmer of SummerHouse is known for creating classic rooms with a modern twist. Her latest project is no different. “I had four empty bedrooms and a fairly large sitting room on the second floor of my client’s home,” says Palmer. “I was given carte blanche in designing these spaces. Each one was different and I knew my client loved a certain style of design as I had worked on other spaces in her home.”

The sunlight coming in the guest room helped determine the color palette Palmer used. “The sunlight coming in is really beautiful so I knew I could go cool on the color palette,” remarks Palmer. “I designed the bed and had it made locally and it, along with the Oly light fixture, was the focal point. This fixture is earthy and modern at the same time consisting of resin balls reminiscent of bubbles in a traditional French chandelier shape.” Palmer used luxurious materials on the bed, settee, and drapery to add to the formal nature of the room. “The bedside chests give the guest storage as well as a nice amount of space for reading books, lighting, and water glasses,” smiles Palmer. “Modern + classic is what makes this space interesting, beautiful and comfortable.”

Photography by Anna Goodson Peeples

Griot Arts Inc. {Life}

8/24/2018

Clarksdale youth are finding their voice and being given the opportunity to change their lives and in turn change their community through Griot Arts, Inc., a non-profit arts education organization. “Griot is a West African title for the community storyteller,” smiles Emily Wisseman, Griot Young Program Director. “We are an after school arts program so part of what we want to teach our students is how to tell their stories through the various arts (music, dance, visual arts, theater). We talk a lot about being culture makers and how we can use the arts to create culture at Griot and in Clarksdale.”

Griot Arts, Inc. was founded in 2011 by Cali Noland, who currently serves as the Executive Director of Griot Arts, Inc. Under the umbrella of Griot Arts, Inc., are three different programs including the Griot Youth Program, Mint Griot, and Meraki Job Training. The Griot Youth Program is an after school arts program for 7th-12th graders and it runs Monday-Thursday during the school year with additional summer programming. Mint Griot is an after school arts program for 3rd-6th grade students that runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Meraki Job Training Program is a job training program centered around a coffee roaster for youth 16-24 years old.

“As one the few creative youth development organizations serving the Mississippi Delta, Griot’s after-school arts programs offer a creative, compassionate, spiritual, and nurturing community for young people to develop their futures,” smiles Emily. Through strengthening its core arts programs, Griot is assisting its students to discover their life’s passion and to utilize the life- and job-skills they develop to realize their goals and to live life to the fullest.

“The students’ moto is ‘We are Griot. We are culture-makers using creativity, compassion, and intentional community to bring hope to the Mississippi Delta. We bring the change we seek through sharing our creativity, focused and disciplined work, and discovering our God-given calling,’ says Emily.

Many of the students stick with Griot for several years and improve their grades, attitudes, artistic skills, and have hope for their future. Many of the students that have graduated come back and volunteer. “This shows the development of the servant's hearts we are hoping for. We have also seen a lot of our students grow in their faith and use this grounding to help face difficult situations and not lose hope,” remarks Emily.

Griot is using the arts to actively engage students in making their community a better place through the arts and community service. “Griot is here for the community-we want to help our students become servant leaders,” smiles Emily.

Article written by Jill Dale. Photos provided by Griot Arts Inc.

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Price's 100 Acre Wood {Events}

Ground Zero Blues Club {Insider Inspiration}

Morgan & Austin {Weddings}

Inspirational Bedroom for Summer by SummerHouse {Insider Inspiration}

Griot Arts Inc. {Life}

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