After visiting 7 or so houses on the Homes for the Holiday Tour last weekend, I think we were even more convinced and proud of our own family's traditional Christmas decorations.
I helped my mom decorate last week, and it was amazing how she can remember where almost every single ornament came from- a child in her children's choir from years ago, a gift from a friend the year she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and so on. There are soooooooo many ornaments on her tree. It's so colorful and meaningful...
There's the handmade Santa and reindeer paper garland my mom cut out herself years ago....paper doll style. You may wonder how delicate paper like that has survived. She carefully folds it and wraps it in tissue paper every year.
There are some other handmade ornaments by my mom....
Others by us when we were kids.....
And of course our "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments....
Quite frankly, I can't remember a Christmas tree at her house without the toy soldier, red and gingham bows, and candy apples on it!
This old Santa was a special gift to my mom when she was a child. She was at a Christmas party with my grandparents when she was about 3 years old. All of the other girls got dress up high heels, and my mom couldn't wear them because she had some feet problems and had to wear corrective shoes. The host of the party saw my mom's dissapointment and ended up giving my mom this Santa instead. It's been a part of every Christmas since!
And then there's a second tree that has only gold and white ornaments. It's always so pretty!
The nativity scene that my stepdad's mother hand painted....
Her simple display of angels....
Hmmmm, something is definitely missing. Ah, yes...my mom's real life angels! Pictures she had made of my sister and I when we were younger....
And I guess that's what this time of year is about for me....memories, traditions, and family.
...was restful, lazy, and rejuvenating! I was fighting off a cold of some sort and took it very easy.
Saturday morning, the rain held off long enough for my mom, sister, and I to go on the Homes for the Holidays Tour in my hometown. It's the first year I've been able to go. It's always fun looking at other people's houses, but overall this year was quite underwhelming. The houses were historic and beautiful, but the actual Christmas decorations were surprisingly sparse.
How awesome is this outside fireplace at one of the first houses we toured? I mean, couldn't they have slapped a wreath on this thing or something?
One house stood out as our favorite by far...
Loved the mailbox. I wonder if it's free of lizards?
A dreamy southern porch...
There were SO many fireplaces in this house. This was in the front den. It's hard to see, but they had pretty candlesticks with a simple silver balls sitting on top...
I loved this wintry kitchen window...
Yet another fireplace in the dinning room...
I also loved the collection of Santa's and the antique Christmas card garland....
And if all of that weren't enough to seal the deal as my favorite house of the day, there was an ENTIRE room with a Braves theme! Pendants, signed baseballs and photos displayed proudly....
Even the pool table was getting its Tomahawk on...
And finally for the weekend wrap-up, my favorite quote was from my mom while we were out eating breakfast:
"I'm surprised this didn't come with fatback. That's what they usually use as garnish here."
I think I’m exhausted.I’ve had 2 months of nonstop to-doing. First- the moving To-Do list.It started with the scheduling of the good-byes while simultaneously dealing with the logistics of moving.I got the prescriptions refilled, and stocked up on contacts before my insurance ran out. Done, done, and done.
Then the packing To-Do list. I packed boxes strategically- some to be put in storage, others that I would need sooner rather than later.I purged through clothes and bags, separating them into categories of Goodwill, Dry Clean, Storage, Mom’s house, and my car.I had paperwork to close out my old job, transferring of bills, changing of the address. I moved my life from DC between my last day of one job on a Thursday and starting the new job the following Monday.(Always, ALWAYS take sufficient time to recover and regroup.Got it.Lesson learned.) DONE.
My move required a lot of flexibility as we went from Plan A to at least Plan D- I lost count.I had a string of car maintenance issues that put me between the spare mini van and the mechanic.(Yep, my debut to my new job in my new town was in my mom's old mini van. Don't be jealous! Just keeping it real.) The car's A/C has been recharged, the transmission modules replaced, and rotars replaced and adjusted.That doesn’t count the flat tire I had in the van. I could now be qualified to be a spokesperson for Triple A.
I knew it would be a whirlwind.I knew I had a wedding, graduation celebration and Mother’s Day.All were worked into my plan.I thought I could keep my sanity and balance it all.I would go home a LOT the first month, then spend the summer getting settled in Columbia.
But can I just tell you that I. AM. TIRED. Yet, I can't seem to sleep these days. It's an endless and ironic cycle.
The rest of my To-Do list is taunting me and I really want to know if you can ever really catch-up and be To-Do list free.I’m holding out a glimmer of hope that it is possible.And that the reasons mine has taken a few detours are valid.But still.
To my friends- I’m working on the email responses and call backs.Please don't stop being my friend!
To my family- please excuse me if I sleep all the way through our vacation later this month. To my new roommate- thank you for helping me when I found 2 suitcases of summer clothes I had forgot about. She helped me finish unpacking and even organized my closet by color. To Sex in the City 2- I am mad at you for wasting valuable to-do list conquering time. I am trying to forget about you and remember our good times during the show and first movie. To my car- pretty please stay well for a little while. To my bank account- it’s the car’s fault. To the Braves-you are making me very happy.Please don’t stop winning. To my iron skillets- I miss you and will make this up to you with some delicious fresh summer dishes soon. To my flat iron- I think the "Famously Hot" humidity may have us beat.
To the state of SC- I could never have gotten through this first month without your sunny days, seeing your magnolias bloom, drinking real sweet tea by the gallon, all of the smiling faces, and just being HOME.All the To-Do lists are totally worth it to be right where I am. To Zac Brown Band- please don’t let me down this weekend!Your Chicken Fried lyrics "There's no dollar sign on a peace of mind, this I've come to know," have never been more true to me!
To my big To-Do List- hope you enjoyed your 15 minutes, cause you're going DOWN! I have more important things To Do. (Told ya I'm sleep deprived. I can't even believe I just tried to make that "joke.")
I've been a little preoccupied over the last few months...hence the light blogging! Here's the story:
Six years ago, I was an excited college graduate ready to spread my wings and move to DC. It has been a journey that I could have never imagined. I've had experiences and opportunities that have greatly enriched my life. I first worked for a United States Senator and then found my way into the public health advocacy field during an historic time in our nation's capital.
For a while now, I've wanted to be closer to home. The last year has been difficult knowing that I wanted to be someplace else. Looking for a job from a distance in this little thing called a recession, was incredibly challenging. In the end, the most perfect opportunity opened up and couldn't have been more timely.
I'm so excited to share the news that I'm going to be moving back to SC later this week! I can't believe that things finally fell into place. There are obvious mixed emotions about leaving a life I've lived for the past six years. It's never easy to say goodbye. But while it is bittersweet, I feel at peace with the new direction I'm moving in.
I will never be able to thank all of the people that endured my endless stressing and worrying. I only hope they know how much I appreciate them and that I share this happiness with each of them!
Seriously....how is 2009 going by so fast? I have to get busy on my summer to-do list! I can probably go ahead and cross off anything to do with getting a tan b/c that doesn't seem to be in the cards for me. Oh well....it causes skin cancer anyway.
I hope everyone had a Happy 4th! This was my first 4th of July away from DC since I moved here 5 years ago. I went home to SC and had a busy 5 day "vacation." Going home is an interesting thing. When I graduated from college and moved to DC, I wanted little to do with going home during that first year. But eventually being away made me miss things and appreciate the pleasures of home. I guess it's that absence makes the heart grow fonder thing.
The weather was perfect for days at the pool/lake, and nights sitting outside with family and catching lightening bugs with the niece and nephew. I water skied for the first time in about 10 years. Turns out it was like riding a bicycle...I got up on my first try and didn't fall!
I didn't totally fall off my diet wagon, which is a major accomplishment when visiting the South. That is except for the 3 different kinds of homemade ice cream that I enjoyed! Sooooo good! I also came back with my favorite souvenir- my grandfather's home grown tomatoes! I hope to have some of my own from the garden I planted soon. We'll see how they compare.
I'm back in town for a busy few weeks at work, and am already counting down the days until the beach in August!
My post-Christmas vacation funk has definitely set in! I'll try to be as upbeat as possible....fake it till you make it, right? I've also been a huge slacker posting Front Porch Fridays...consider this a make-up session! I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but these will have to do.
I was so lucky to spend the entire week of Christmas at home. I was going non-stop and operating on little sleep. Last Saturday was the first time in several years that ALL the kids on my mom's side got to celebrate together. We had a family picture taken with the new additions- my sister got married this year and my brother is getting married in March.
My sister had a party on Christmas night (also her birthday!) and we had an impromptu reunion with some childhood friends! (I was testing out my new glasses.)
I swear, at every restaurant or store I went over the week, I ran in to people I knew! I loved seeing all the familiar and friendly faces.
There's another highlight of the week that I'm careful to share on here. But I did go on my first ever blind date and I'll just say that the one date turned into four!
If I were rating everything about my trip on the Sweet Tea Scale...it'd be a perfect 5! The absolute worst part was having to leave.
I'm blogging at ya from my precious hometown in SC. It's been a whirlwind week of packing, traveling, shopping, seeing family, and of course some sweet tea drinking! I've spent some time catching up with old friends and even had time to make a new one. ;) I hope to have some pics to share from my holiday vacation!
One of my favorite things about Christmas is the Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve and I'm so glad I went tonight. I love taking the time to reflect and focus on what really matters. I hope each of you have the opportunity to do the things you love that makes this time of year so special.
Here are two little cuties that I can't wait to see next week!
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite meals. I'm not a big turkey fan, but the fixin's are the best! And I'm going to get plenty of opportunities to enjoy it this year:
1. I had a Thanksgiving lunch with the office this week which was typical "catered" food. The food was not the best- I had corn pudding for the first time. One word- Gross! But I filled up on a coworkers homemade mac and cheese which was delish.
2. We're having our 4th Annual "Practice Thanksgiving" with friends at our house tomorrow night. We're going to have more food than we know what to do with, but it's a fun get-together where we practice preparing our favorite Thanksgiving dishes and share it with each other.
3. On the actual day of Thanks, I'll be back home in SC having lunch with my mom's family and
4. Dinner with my dad's family. By this point I may have to fast for a few days to recover from the overload of food.
PS- I haven't blogged about my fantasy team in a while, but the regular season is coming to an end and I'm going to be in the playoffs! Much improved from last year!
What a week! It's hard to believe that everything started a week ago when I drove down to SC and started to help with last minute wedding details. I won't go on and on about it (all we've been doing is talking and reflecting about the wedding since the moment it ended!) But basically everything was BEAUTIFUL and was so much fun. My mom truly outdid herself doing the flowers herself, making the flower girl dresses, etc. My sister was a gorgeous bride and seemed to have the time of her life. I cannot wait to see the pictures!
I'm already missing home though! I enjoyed seeing lots of family and old friends and enjoying everything else that I miss about home... cheaper gas, good food, and southern hospitality! I got to stop at the peach orchard I worked at during college and am enjoying some delicious SC peaches! My grandfather sent me home with an abundance of his home grown tomatoes. My mom packed up some other fresh veggies and all the fixins for some vegetable soup. I piled everything in a big 'ole pot and made more soup than I can possibly eat! But it hit the spot and was perfect comfort food.
I'm not really sure what to do with myself now that the wedding projects are finished and the boyfriend has left town! It definitely feels like the summer is winding down. I have lots of reading I want to catch up on and hope to enjoy the rest of the Olympics. I'm amazed at watching Michael Phelps!
