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.

pumpkin carving party

We hosted several of our Walter Reed friends for a pumpkin carving party last night after a day full of pre-Halloween snow. To prepare for the party Friday night, we made the Pioneer Woman's caramel apples. She sure does make recipes look a whole lot easier than they are! But we had fun trying our hand at them.

caramel apple prep

the expert apple dipper

In addition to the caramel apples, we made Halloween Bark featured on a friend's blog (delicious and super easy, thanks Mollie!), a blue cheese and bacon dip, and a turkey chili and beef chili. Hearty food for a cold evening!

the spread

For some reason, our no-costume required, pumpkin carving party that started at 5:30 drew many more of our friends with children than our single or just married friends. Go figure. :)

cute babies, ranging from 5 weeks to 2 and a half years old

Jason and Richard

the Pusz's and their tiny cowboy

carving in our basement

examining the jack o'lantern's face

hard at work

the finished product

so happy to see all the pumpkins together!

how cute is little Julia? Love her and her mama Mary

We had a great time and hope to make this a yearly tradition, hopefully without the snow in the future! And with a Clemson win- it was a tough loss to GA Tech. Thought this piece by Greg Wallace, who writes for the Anderson Independent Mail, was a good read. Still proud to be a Tiger and really looking forward to being back in Clemson in just two short weeks.

heading out to san francisco...

Richard has been in San Francisco this week for the American College of Surgeons annual conference. Thanks to the research he did at NIH last year (and the incredibly talented team he had the privilege of working with), he was selected to do a podium presentation at the conference regarding his findings. But he's apparently been able to work in some play time too...

looks like he's really missing me, right?!

Apparently he's in pretty good company there- a (politically inclined) friend that's Facebook friends with both Richard and former Sen. Bill Frist from Tennessee captured this fun screen shot.

While I'm sure Richard is enjoying hanging out with Dr. Frist and the large Walter Reed contingent at the Hotel Serrano (y'all, they have leopard-print bathrobes AND were kind to work with Richard and his colleagues on accommodating their modest military hotel allowance- definitely consider them for your next trip to San Fran!), I am more than ready to have my sweet husband back on the east coast. As much as I thought I might enjoy a week of Bravo TV and leaving my curling iron and make-up on our tiny bathroom counter, it's just not the same without him!

MeDad

My dad grew up in Clemson, and my MeMa and MeDad stayed in their house on Pendleton Road in town until MeDad passed away at the beginning of my junior year at Clemson. He was a self-described "old codger," a former military officer who came to Clemson in that capacity in the early 1950's. The seats my parents use today at Clemson games were once his, and MeMa, my grandmother, used to sit on their front porch and watch the football team buses team drive by their house, cheering them on with signs and orange pom poms. I grew up going to their house before and after the games and still drive by that house whenever I'm in town, even though my family sold it several years ago.

Once my grandfather stopped going to games, he'd watch the game on TV, if it was on, but turn down the volume and listen to the local radio broadcast. The TV announcers just couldn't match Jim Phillips, the voice of the Tigers for 36 years (who I still miss hearing!). This was before the days of screen-in-screen broadcasts, and he had one tv stacked on top of the other so he could also keep on eye on the Braves or golf or whatever other sporting event happened to be on in addition to Clemson football.

So as I watch the Clemson-UNC game on TV, with the volume turned down, and listen to Pete Yanity, Will Merritt and Patrick Sapp on the Clemson Sports Network, I can't help but think about MeDad and the Clemson legacy he left for our family. I so wish that he was still here to see this team and to celebrate his third grandchild's graduation from Clemson this summer. I think he'd be quite proud.

fun-filled four days

Ever have those weekends where you wish you could be in multiple places at once? This past weekend was one of those for us. Richard was a groomsman in the wedding of a good friend from medical school in Charleston, but his college roommate also got married in Spartanburg on Saturday. And not only were the now 7-0 Clemson Tigers were taking on the Maryland Terps just a few short miles from our house, but our dear friends Rebecca and Robert were in DC for yet another wedding all weekend. We ended up getting to spend Thursday night with them and loved having them as house guests, then headed out to Charleston Friday morning for a fabulous weekend in Charleston (and a couple hours in Columbia!).

Thursday night at Black's with Rebecca and Meghan

handsome gentlemen- Robert, Wes and Richard

love this sweet girl!

Rehearsal Dinner at Rue de Jean

With Heather the Bride and Ken the Groom- she looked beautiful and had gorgeous blue shoes!

Heather and Ken had a great Rehearsal Dinner with sweet toasts that made us laugh and cry, and Saturday turned out to be a perfect, sunny day. We did some shopping on King St and headed over to the beach at Sullivans Island before the wedding.

King St shopping

lunch at Poe's Tavern

The wedding was at a pretty old church downtown, and the reception was at the old Rice Mill. The trees outside were decorated with ribbons and chandeliers, and there were birds throughout the inside rooms- the happy couple are now the Doctors Byrd, so that was quite fitting.

On Sunday morning, we tried Husk for brunch, which was just named America's best new restaurant by Bon Appetite. It has amazing decor and was a wonderful experience, but the food didn't quite live up to the hype. Maybe dinner would be better?

fresh local foods

loved catching up with Molly!

After brunch, we headed up I-26 to Columbia for a ladies' lunch to celebrate bride-to-be Jess, whose wedding is in just a few short weeks! Hannah, Bec and Jen did a fabulous job hostessing, and it was a treat to see some of my closest SC friends.

USC Law Section 1 ladies- and Mardi's sweet baby girl

Hannah, Jen, Jess, me, Bec and Terra (almost 30 weeks pregnant with baby boy Futch!)

After the lunch, we visited with Richard's family for a bit and hit the road back to Charleston to spend the night with Jess and Paul and Ella before our early Monday morning flight. It was a packed weekend, but we wouldn't have it any other way!