Southern Lady October 2022

Welcome back, October! I love everything about this month: pretty pumpkin displays; slipping into a warm sweater as the nights get brisk; baked treats full of cinnamon, nutmeg, and more. It’s the season to celebrate the comforts of home, both indoors and out. Our design feature in this issue embodies that spirit perfectly—this gracious Arkansas farmhouse, surrounded by a lovely spread of acreage dotted with trees, makes me want to settle right in and soak up both the traditional décor and the countryside views. Best of all, the interior is done in my beloved blue-and-white palette! Turn to page 75 to see more. Also in this issue, Pretty Things (page 23) includes beautiful finds to update your home for the cooler months: candles, tabletop accents, and copper kitchenware, for starters. With…

CALL OF THE MOUNTAINS My mother-in-law spent her formative years in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, a small town tucked amid the Appalachian Mountains. Her extensive cookbook collection included several volumes themed around the foods of the region, and I always loved to look through them when we visited, poring over recipes for classics like fried ramps and scuppernong pie. In this issue, our staff decided to pay homage to the culinary traditions of Appalachia with a supper gathering that blends rustic simplicity and a touch of refinement (page 65). Starting with Creamy Chowchow Dip and culminating in a spice-laden Apple Stack Cake, the robust spread celebrates the flavors of fall in this uniquely beautiful corner of the South. As October brings clear blue skies and mild temperatures, it’s my favorite time of…

WHAT INSPIRES YOU? WE’D LOVE TO SEE—TAG US IN YOUR PHOTOS! Get a glimpse of the beautiful images our social media friends have shared with us, capturing their own inspiration from the pages of Southern Lady. Top row: For @andreinacottagestyle, flowers from the garden showcase hues of the harvest season. Multicolored pumpkins bedeck @cyndewalton’s stunning stoop, inviting guests indoors for fellowship. Take a cue from the vignette by @a.rustic.clutter that features all antique and secondhand items. Middle row: Signs of fall reveal themselves in @tallwoodcountryhouse’s cozy home, with baskets of mums and a furry friend. Autumnal flair and cooler tones collaborate atop @theclassichostess’s setting, with a bright orange base and delicate blue detailing. Bottom row: Strings of pearls and blue-and-white china are fitted for fall with a white pumpkin topper on…

While promoting global powerhouses like BMW and American Express in sleepless Manhattan and then bustling Nashville, Anna Yeager Brakefield felt the gentle tug of home on her heartstrings. Starry nights permeated by chirping crickets and bright days filled with sunlight dappled across rows of cotton added to the allure of moving back to produce classic bed linens with her father on the family’s farm in Moulton, Alabama. From harvesting the cotton to teaming up with textile factories in the U.S., lifelong farmer Mark Yeager envisioned a venture sure to flourish with his daughter’s artistic eye and marketing savvy. “He knew I wasn’t completely happy with what I was doing in Nashville, so that was kind of the hook,” says Anna, who earned a graphic design degree from Auburn University. Anna quit her…

Susan Shaw didn’t set out to be a jewelry designer. When a shopkeeper friend came to her needing accessories to match Mexican fiesta dresses, the artist obliged, and her business was born. “I took these floral chili peppers, and I made up some designs that were bright red and made of papier-mâché,” Susan says of that time in the late ’70s. “I showed her, and she said, ‘Oh my gosh, give me one hundred!’” To assist in the production process, Susan recruited her sisters and friends, creating her debut. As a child growing up in Lockhart, Texas, Susan learned to love the principles of art and inspiration after receiving painting lessons as a gift from her mother’s friends; the jewelry making came after forays into watercolors and interior design. While her chili-pepper…