Well-Kept Secrets, Vol. I

For anyone who ever looks forward to their Daily Candies or Dictionary.com Word of the Day emails (nerd), this is for you. I am a big fan of blogs who do little once-weekly or every once in a while entries that you can count on. You know they'll be there, ready to report nuggets of wisdom or dole out interesting advice and helpful ideas.

The first I ever became attached to was The Pioneer Woman, who began over a year ago retelling the story of how she met and fell in love with her husband. I also read Fashion Fridays by Big Mama, This Week in God on Anne & May, Meeting Notes on Working Girl, Pop Quizzes on BagSnob and YumSugar's Weekly Recaps. My favorite, though, would be the Tuesday morning recaps of Gossip Girl on New York Mag's Daily Intel. (Whenever I meet someone who watches the show, I immediately ask them if they've ever read this blog because it's pure genius). I've run across a few good recaps of The Bachelor/Bachelorette as well, but those are more of a seasonal thing.

So now I've decided to join the ranks of the weeklies, with my own version.

My freshman year of college, my friend MG, who I didn't know very well at the time, gave me one of the best compliments anyone has ever given me. We were hanging out in the hallway outside her dorm room chatting with some of our friends and she said "you, my friend, are a well-kept secret". I loved that.

So now, my friends, I give you my Well-Kept Secrets. We're not getting super-personal here, I won't be divulging my crushes from years past or revealing the initiation secrets of my sorority. Nothing like that. This is more of a guide, some suggestions or, hopefully, things that will make you think "I would never have thought of that" or "I never even knew that was there". That's the goal, anyway.

This week, I'd like to introduce you to Tallulah Belle, not a Southern debutante, but a boutique tucked away off of Abrams in the Lakewood neighborhood of Dallas (no Google-able website, either). My friend CC and I wandered in over a month ago for the first time, after going to church and then to brunch at a restaurant two doors down. We found it to be a haven of adorable gifts with books, jewelry, candles and bath products, all with labels we didn't immediately recognize from the usual places we shop. In the back, however, we found a well-chosen selection of girly clothes- ruffled blouses, party dresses; long tunics and baby doll tops (perfect with leggings for fall), all of which don't scream "I got this at Northpark! You know because you saw it there yesterday!"

We went in yesterday, for the second time, and found them freshly stocked for the fall/winter. They carry Matty M, 213, and MM Couture, and good quote books (who doesn't love quote books?) by Kobi Yamada. There were also great options for bridal gifts, which are sometimes difficult to get creative with when it comes to bachelorette parties and lingerie showers. The best part was that it was all very affordable, making us all the more prone to model every other item in the store.

"Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give".
-Norman MacEwan