First Wedding Shower!

I have been a terrible blogger as of late, but I have been wrapped up in writing thank-you notes, addressing save-the-dates, working on our wedding website, and shopping for bridesmaid dresses (still haven't found one I like!). But we had our first wedding shower, which was a couples shower, this past Saturday, and it sure was worth a blog entry! The theme was a "Southern Send-Off," and ten of our dearest friends/couples served as hosts and hostesses. Our friends Terra and Kevin Futch were gracious enough to provide their beautiful house as the party location. Kevin is a builder and Terra is a lawyer by day and a decorator by night, and their home is honestly one of the most incredible I've seen.

From the delicious menu and gorgeous flower arrangements to the adorable mason jars with our monograms to the sweet, thoughtful presents we received from our many incredible friends who attended, the evening was just perfect. Richard was able to arrive in South Carolina before the snow hit D.C., and we were blessed with an extra day together when his flight back got canceled Sunday night. We were able to enjoy lunch together, talk about our honeymoon and reflect on what an amazing first wedding party we had. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who made it so special.

How perfect was this invitation? And the white tulip arrangement?

Signature drink of the evening- Arnold Palmer's

adorable mason jars with our initials

Ten of the best friends a girl could ask for and party planners extraordinaires- from L to R, Rebecca, Bec, Candy, Caroline, me, Hannah, Mary Madison, Jen, Terra, Jill and Jess

with my handsome fiancé

fun friends

With Beth and Michael Montgomery

really excited about our Little Dipper

tennis team, the Racquettes, past and present


so overwhelmed by the gerosity of our friends

Engagement Announcement

Our engagement announcement was in the paper yesterday! Considering I love looking at the wedding engagements in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, The State out of Columbia and the Greenville News on Sunday, this was a big deal for me! Richard and I had many discussions as to whether we should go the traditional route with just a picture of me or be a little more modern and use one of both us. We ended up compromising at the end of the day, with a picture of just me in the Herald-Journal and the both of us in The State. I loved both of them and was so excited to have our engagement announced to our family and friends (and strangers too) throughout South Carolina!

http://www.legacy.com/TheState/Celebrations.asp?Page=Announcement&PersonID=138786925

http://www.goupstate.com/article/20100124/ARTICLES/1241095/1103/LIVING02?Title=Davis-Webb

Both pictures were taken by Sposa Bella Photography, and we are thrilled to have them capture our wedding in July!

P.S. Other bloggers, any idea how to make the links show a preview of the site they link to?

Congratulations, Will!

This is a long over-due post considering that Clemson graduation was Thursday, December 17th, but I still wanted to publicly congratulate Will for now being a Clemson alum! He is the latest in a long line of Clemson grads in our family, and we are so proud of him and his shiny new Packaging Science degree!

It's so hard to believe that the baby who I dropped on his head while posing for a Christmas picture 22 years ago is a grown man looking for his first real job. (If you know of any available, please let us know! :)). Will is so smart, personable, and just an all-around good guy, and I am thankful that we share the bond of having loved going to Clemson, despite the different paths we chose there. Congratulations, Bear! It's a pretty neat thing to have graduated with C.J. Spiller, Jacoby Ford, and honorary degree recipient Judge Joe Anderson!

Will and his new diploma

CU Classes of '12, '09, and '03

the fam outside Littlejohn

Happy 2010! (Just a few days late!)

This year for New Year's Eve, since Richard was spending the evening at the hospital, I came back to Columbia for my friend Ryan's Thrift Store Formal. It was honestly a great idea for New Year's, as no one had to worry about a new expensive outfit, crowded dinner or celebrating with a bunch of random people you don't really know. One of my favorite New Year's Eve evenings was spent at my dear friend Julie's wedding and reception- hard to beat having many of your old college friends back in one place!- but since no one was getting married this year, we all found some alternative formal attire.

Jess's beautiful blue sequined dress came from the Goodwill in Spartanburg, Bec's black and white fancy frock from the Columbia Salvation Army, Jen's dress was another Columbia thrift store find, and Hannah's...well Hannah's was her Miss Pendleton High pageant dress from her sophomore year of high school. My hot black velvet was a cast-off from the Cinderella Project. We just couldn't bear to let a high school student walk away with that one! Don't let Candy fool you- her outfit is not thrift store at all, but we loved celebrating with her and Jim nonetheless!

It was the perfect night of catching up with fun law school friends. We all got to do lunch on Friday, and I was yet again reminded of how much I will miss my Carolina girls!

Hannah almost looked too pretty for the Thrift Store Formal

Can and Jim came by after dinner- so glad they did!

Charlie had a good time with the silly string!

Bec with the fabulous host, Ryan- prom king and queen

All the girls

And again being silly

Jess and Jen with Ryan's sweet dog, Max

Happy New Year!

'Tis the Season...

To experience and successfully drive through the first ice storm of the year. To register for wedding gifts. Multiple places. And be surprised every time at just how long it takes (though what could one expect during a very busy shopping time?).

To hear from Bernie Dunlap, President of Wofford College, how he convinced his Tryon neighbors to get him out of his mountain driveway with a SnoCat because he had to get to Wofford to watch the Terriers beat the Gamecocks and then see them do just that on the basketball court in a thrilling victory. First time since 1939.

To eat dessert- lots and lots of dessert. The best a tie between those at our dear friend Ms. Ruby's house (Richard is pictured with her incredible chocolate cake, Elvis cake, and sweet potato pie) and the yummy cranberry and pear bread pudding at the Hare in the Hound in Landrum.

To hop from family and friends' homes to extend Christmas greeting in person- six on Christmas Eve and Christmas and to remember again how good it is to be at home. To discover super fun Christmas lights right off I-26. 360 Foster Road in Inman, SC. Thank goodness for the Garmin.

To have Christmas Eve lunch at McAlister's. And thoroughly enjoy it.

To become slightly obsessed with Straight No Chaser's version of the 12 Days of Christmas. Would love to see Clemson's Tigeroar perform this arrangement.



To not send Christmas cards out until today, December 28th, even this late only send a very few that doubled as thank-you notes. To be perfectly content to cheer on the Tigers in the Music City bowl with family in Ohio by a warm fire and watch the snow through the window instead of sitting in the snow in Nashville. After a busy week of running from one thing to another, to be reminded of the reason for the season during the candlelight Christmas Eve service. To be oh-so-thankful to go through this Christmas season knowing that it will be my last as a single gal.

And to celebrate that engagement with a holiday party for local family and friends! Couldn't pick just one picture to include, so I put together a slideshow. It was the perfect way to see so many people who are special to us, and the time with them passed to soon!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Richard has been home since Friday evening- he barely escaped the DC blizzard, and we were SO thankful for that!- and we have gone non-stop since his arrival, registering at different places and trying to get wedding plans coordinated. In the midst of all that though, our parents threw us the most wonderful engagement/Christmas party last night. Richard's parents usually have a Christmas party at their house, and this year invited my parents to join in on the hosting and just added the engagement celebration component too! We invited our dear hometown friends and friends from school in the area for the holidays and ended up with the most fun mix of people there, many of whom we had not seen in quite some time!

I have wonderful pictures that I will post soon, but wanted to link to a few on Sarah's blog for a sneak peek. She continues to be my blogging inspiration, and we always love spending time with her and her hubby!

http://smithsintheboro.blogspot.com/2009/12/congratulations-beth-and-richard.html

scenes from the season

Last night I hosted the Clemson Women's Alumni Council Ornament Exchange at my house, and I thought I'd post pictures I took during and after the party. For the last three Christmases that Hannah has been my roommate, we have had an elaborate North Pole village, multiple themed trees, and a garland and ornament-lined mantle. Everything always looked beautiful and was perfectly done, and I simply served as a direction-taking elf in the decorating process. Now that Hannah has a lovely house of her own, Suzanne and I were left to be creative with just a few Christmas decorations to our names.

Since I knew the Clemson ladies were coming over (and to show myself I could do it without Hannah!), I tried to infuse as much Christmas cheer possible in our home. Suzanne bought our 6-foot tree at the Wal-Mart, and I filled in with decorations from Target, Hobby Lobby and Carolina Pottery, along with some fresh flowers from Fresh Market. My dear, dear friend Rebecca made the most gorgeous magnolia wreath to go over the sofa (we told her she should sell them next year) that served as the pièce de résistance. The end result was not quite as elaborate as Miss Hannah's, but not too shabby! I won't be there at all over Christmas to enjoy the decoratons but hoped you kind blog readers (if you are still out there- it's been a while!) could enjoy them virtually!

Southern Living at Home holiday door bucket and garland on stairs

pretty lit garland

pretty Clemson ladies- aforementioned Hannah is 3rd from left,

wreath-making Rebecca on far right next to Hannah

wreaths with candy cane ribbon were in both kitchen windows

(house is a rental- not my wall paper choice!)

decorated tree-

notice fun engagement gift from Candy in back right corner with my new initials!

mantle with very colorful ornament trees

so nice to have a clean, decorated house- even if just for a night! ;)