new life for an old chair

After my grandmother in Clemson passed away, I inherited a pink chair from her that had been in her living room for as long as I can remember. I am not sure where she got it or who it came from, but I have liked having it in the different places I've lived over the years. While I lived in Columbia, it was housed in my bedroom and was a great receptacle for clothes that I could never seem to find time to hang up.

chair without the seat cushion- you can see how much the fabric color faded

Richard and I needed extra seating in our Maryland living room, so we've kept it downstairs next to our fireplace. For almost a year I often thought that it needed to be recovered, and we finally got it done in South Carolina! The fabric came off the sale table from a little fabric store in Spartanburg, and a friend of my mother-in-law's did the upholstery (which was $400 cheaper than it would have been in DC!).

What do you think? Does it need a solid color pillow? Throw?

blue birds, flowers and vines, oh my!

At first I was afraid the fabric was a little too busy, but the room has a lot of neutrals that benefit from the additional pop of color. Now if we could only find a fun, reasonably-priced coffee table!

thankful...

• for a wonderfully sweet husband who is committed to working on our marriage on a daily basis. Love him and growing with him.

• for time at home with family and real, rich conversation over delicious Thanksgiving dinner
• for forgetting about calorie counting for just a couple of days.

• for gracious, talented hosts and hostesses and beautiful things

• for extended family who are more like friends

with Richard's cousin Molly- we missed Suzanne!

Clark/McAbee/Noe/Webb cousins

Richard, Aunt Debbie and me

• for being able to celebrate November birthdays in person

• for an immediate family that always makes me laugh

• for a special, special mama who has done more for me than I could ever repay

Happy Birthday, Mom!

• for a sister-in-law to stroll through Target with, for safe travel, for my job and for a warm home, for my health and that of my family, and for immeasurable blessings from a forgiving God.

And for the more superficial list:

• for Diet Mountain Dew, skinny peppermint mochas, a real tree this year (right, Richard?!), a Caribbean Christmas this year, a slightly shorter commute to work thanks to a newly-discovered route, DVR, and for finding both a talented seamstress and an understanding hair stylist in DC.

Clemson vs. Wake Forest- reunion tailgate and happy news

Today we will be watching the Clemson game against NC State from the comfort of our home, but last week I had the privilege of seeing several sweet girls and their families in Tiger town, thanks to our annual reunion tailgate. I have blogged about these girls before (here and here), and they have been some of the most consistent friends since our time at Clemson. From wedding and baby showers to football tailgating, we seem to manage to get together at least once or twice a year! As always, it was great to see them and their families. I just wish I'd had more time with these precious girls. Didn't get the picture with all the kiddos, but I am hoping a few of the others did.

Lisa, Allison, Dawn, me, Julie, Baylis, Melanie and Meg- we missed Sarah, Stephanie, Erin and Hannah!

delicious low-country boil

Julie, sweet Avery and Lisa- I loved her tiger outfit!

In even bigger news from last weekend...Hannah and Jason got engaged! They have been dating since Hannah and I lived together in Columbia, so I was thrilled to hear her news! It happened last Sunday night, and I got a text with a picture of a most beautiful ring last Monday morning. I cannot wait for all the excitement of another wedding planning season. A big part of Hannah's job is event planning, so I am sure her wedding will be gorgeous. Congrats and best wishes, sweet friend!

little did we know that Jason would propose just 24 hours later!

congrats, Jess and Robert!

Since Jess and Robert's wedding is less than a month away, we thought it high time to celebrate them in our best Southern style with a couples shower BBQ. Jess and I and the other hostesses went to law school together, and several of us were in the same first year section. Robert is the brother of one of Richard's best friends from Wofford, so everyone is interconnected somehow or another.

Mardi, me, Terra, Jess, Rebecca and Candy

We hosted the party in Candy's neighborhood clubhouse and between the five of us, we put together a menu of BBQ (thanks Robert!), oriental coleslaw, hashbrown casserole, fancy baked beans, and an array of appetizers and Sweet Reba desserts. No one left hungry!

Sweet Reba's desserts (photos courtesy of Terra)

We used burlap table covers and pretty white lanterns to create a festive atmosphere.

The best part for me was seeing so many old friends, and I can't wait to see everyone again at the wedding!

some of my favorite Columbia girls- Rebecca, Bec and Ashley- miss them!

Candy and Hannah in their pretty white

bride and groom ready to open gifts

USC Law Class of '06

new york, new york

I realize I've neglected the blog the past couple of weeks, but that is due in large part to spending 9 out the last 11 days away from home. I just returned from a wonderful several days in South Carolina, but the weekend before last, I met my dear friends Kim and Jeanine in New York City. Kim tries to come to at least one Clemson home game a year, but it was just not working out this fall. So we decided to meet in NYC instead to see Jeanine and meet her (not-so) new baby boy! Kim lives in Minnesota, so I love getting any time with her that I can. And she had been to New York only one other time, when she and Jeanine and I went in the summer of 2000.

Kim and I met up at our hotel, the Roosevelt Hotel, on 45th and Madison, lamented the fact we were on the smoking floor- you don't get much love when you go through Priceline, and headed over to the Met for happy hour on the roof. Sadly the roof happy hours had ended a few weeks before, which just means we'll have to return to NYC in the summer.

We quickly consoled ourselves with cupcakes...

And met up with Jeanine at a great upper east side wine bar, Felice.

loved being reunited!

Kim was my freshman year roommate in Holmes Hall at Clemson, and Jeanine lived just a few doors down. Hard to believe we've been friends for over 12 years now! Have loved sharing moves, new jobs (both Jeanine and Kim are incredibly smart physicians, Jeanine a pediatrician and Kim a urologist), weddings and first babies and many deep conversations with these girls.

We had a tasty Mexican dinner at Maya, and Will and Lizzi came to see eat with us! My brother Will lives in Hoboken, NJ, and it was truly a treat to see him and catch up. I miss my brothers.

And of course a trip to New York isn't complete without a trip to Serendipity for frozen hot chocolate. Sure it was dessert #2 (3?) of the evening, but calories don't count on vacation!

Kim and the delicious peanut butter frozen hot chocolate, amidst the Christmas decorations already hung

Jeanine hosted us at her apartment for a lovely brunch Saturday morning, and we got to meet baby Alex! He is five months old and absolutely adorable and very sweet. He looks just like his dad did as a baby.

sweet baby- you can't tell that his little polo is monogrammed

J, Alex and his bright, happy nursery

how cute are those little socks?!

After brunch, Kim and I went over to Times Square to the TKTS booth to get broadway tickets for that evening. We all really wanted to see the Book of Mormon, but tickets are sold out months in advance. We had decided on Rock of Ages, a fun take on 80's hair bands, but found out that the only tickets available were partial view. That's the gamble you take with TKTS! We decided instead on Anything Goes, which is classic Broadway with big dance numbers and Cole Porter music and got Orchestra tickets for half-price. I'd recommend Anything Goes, especially when its star Sutton Foster returns in a few weeks.

Times Square

We spent Sunday exploring the City and inadvertently stumbled upon the New York City marathon. What an impressive event! We saw both the female and male winner at the 25th mile mark, and their speed was something to behold. The male winner, Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya, set a course record and finished in 2:05:05- that's well under a 5 minute mile. Unreal.

Bryant Park

2011 ING NYC Marathon winner

Roosevelt Hotel lobby

I sadly told Kim good-bye on Sunday afternoon and took the train over to Hoboken to see Will. He gave me a quick tour of the city and his apartment but wouldn't let me stand in line at Carlo's Bakery to meet the Cake Boss himself. Maybe next time.

I rode the Vamoose bus back to Bethesda, excited to see my husband, but so thankful for friends that last through the years.