Reunion Time . . .

PrettyStuff just left for her first Wofford Homecoming as an alum!

The stories of Homecoming were always so fun, but I can't

even imagine how much fun they are going to have

as alumni at their first official HOMEcoming!

So, as I reflected back to her graduation,

I realized I never shared the graduation gifts

we made for 12 VERY SPECIAL GIRLS!

We started with 13 (cuz PrettyStuff needed one too) bottles of wine

and stripped them of their labels.

I spent a month of Sundays painting each

little portrait while PrettyStuff

composed the "message in the bottle."

There was a little typo, but we didn't fix it 

because it was so appropriate.

See if you can find it.

(you 12 girls can't play this game since you know)

We added an award sticker to for an honorary KD.

There was no way we were going to leave one

of the gang behind just because she went 

astray and then found her way!

We then added 13 pair of faceted chalcedony earrings

because I need a little twinkle on everything.

They made quite a special gift!

...And so now it's their first Homecoming...

GO TERRIERS!

(and yes, I can help you with this!)

I've Got A Story To Tell Ya . . .

image via ~ gettingallmyducksinarow ~

Articles in this month's "Our State" magazine are about Southern Summers and they triggered an often told story in my family.  The articles are about Spanish Moss (which doesn't hang from our trees in Charlotte, NC, but in Charleston, SC you'll see plenty), Tomato Sandwiches, Hammocks, Mason Jars and Lightenin' Bugs. In my family, you can't think of a Mason Jar (or empty mayo jar...don't forget the holes in the lid!) or a Lightenin' Bug and not remember the story of my dad and uncle in their firefly catching days...

image: that's uncle Raymond on the left and daddy on the right

...a dynamic duo in black socks and knobby knees...the youngest of 5 siblings...

bless Nanny Payne's heart!

... ok, stop me if you've heard it...

We all remember chasing lightenin' bugs. I think all little girls were told they were Tinker Bells and all little boys squished their tails and rubbed the light on their faces to scare the girls... My cousin Becky and I were always the fancy ones that squished and rubbed it on our nails! Glowing in the dark was big back then. (Don't ask what Becky and I did to frogs!) However, the best lightenin' bug story I've ever heard was about my dad and his brother, Raymond.  The way I heard it was one summer afternoon before going to the local "cinema," they caught a jar fullllll of lightenin' bugs and off they went. When the lights went down, they slipped into the balcony and opened their jar and left it sitting on the balcony floor while returning downstairs to watch the film. You can imagine what happened about halfway through the movie! Hahahaha! Not sure if any of this is really true to the letter, but it's how it's told and retold and now, it's there for you to accidentally tell your kids about and sneak off to a summer movie with a hidden mason jar. Good Luck! Lemmeno how it goes!

More trouble! My mom (right) and her twin sister, Sandy (left)

Now, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't throw in a little childhood story about my Mom and her twin sister too. Not that these stories are even remotely related, but I have a powder room with the walls covered in pictures like these and when I went to get the picture of Daddy and Raymond, I couldn't resist this one of Mom and Sandy... Let's just say, to keep it short, that this is a rare shot of Sandy with her dress on right side front... Rumor has it that by the time my grandmother got around to taking pictures of these two, Sandy was usually already dirty so they'd just turn her dress around... PRICELESS! I hope ~ PrettyStuff ~ has the twin gene! Hahahaha She does look just like my mom!

Click the cover to visit their website and to subscribe to a great magazine!

My mom gave HandyHusband this magazine last year for his birthday, 

but we've all enjoyed this gift. There are only a few magazines in 

our house that every member reads...this is one of them!

...speaking of fireflies...

I read this book on the beach last year and it was great!

~ FireFly Sweet Tea Vodka ~

Can we sneak this into the theater?

Wondering if it will freeze it in a popcicle?

I can't finish a southern post without my friend ~ Michael Reno Harrell ~

He doesn't mention fireflies, but he mentions all the other 

S'uthern Suggestions!

(This video my not show up in email subscriptions. Visit the blog to hear

Michael Reno Harrell's "Southern Suggestions!")

Another Westport Tradition . . .

image ~ GreenLikeBathWater ~


...Just so I don't give you the wrong idea... 
here's a little post edit:


I DO NOT PLAY GAMES!
~ PrettyStuff ~ called me out on posting this so I felt the need
to clarify...I'll watch and take pictures while THEY play!
I'll play an occasional late night
Apples to Apples or Would You Rather
maybe Catch Phrase,
but NOTHING, read NOTHING, with a ball!


(let it be known that I do make desserts ,
will make you a pair of earrings while you play your silly game,
or knit you a sweater, so I'm sorta fun!)

Sea Glass vs. Shells . . .

image ~ seaglassartbychar ~

We go to the New England coast every year,

and while most southerners are combing for shells, we're hunting sea glass.

Finding the first blue piece of the season is a family goal.

...I've always wanted a piece of seaglass jewelry...

I love these by Maine jewelry artist, ~ Lisa Hall. ~

I also LOVE the smooth worn beach stones.

photograph ~ tyler westcott ~

My son took the shot in my header a year or two ago,

but we take the same picture every year as we're always amazed

that the formation is still there. I keep thinking that a winter storm

is going to take the sand and little rock away somehow...

I don't get it. How does it stay like that year after year?!

image ~ econesting ~

HandyHusband says that a stone with a vein that goes all the

way around will bring you good luck all year.

We have bowls of them!

image ~ huamao ~

image ~ econesting ~

While searching for the ringed stone picture,

I ran across this garden gate on ~ EcoNesting ~

Looks like Westport!

I should order this book ~ amazon ~

image ~ Remodelista ~

...and need to do this in Westport and @ home...

While my heart belongs to sea glass and stone hunting,

I have to admit the thrill is there 

when we're at the beach in the south and

find a beautiful shell, starfish or sand dollar!

image ~ la-belle-vie ~

Now our stash is never this pretty, 

but we have come home with a sand dollar or two!

image ~ layoutsparks ~

image ~ marthastewart ~

I hope you have a simple, fun family tradition.

I'll keep you posted on our hunt this year.

image ~ suzs ~

I said, " Somebody Pinch Me ! "

Oscar! THE MAN! 

photographed by the amazing ~ Jamie Beck ~

This NY photo is EXACTLY as it was 

in Charlotte @ the Room to Bloom event @ the Mint! 

I'm still pinching myself that I sat and chatted with Oscar!

I'm still pinching myself that I had a front row seat for the fashion show!

How many times does that happen in a lifetime?

An absolute dream come true!

Again, and again, I say it, "I LOVE MY JOB!"

(i sat for our chat where these iPhones are sitting!) 

...this man...

what a crush!

Be Still My Heart !

...look at that little face...and that freckled nose...

When I was a little girl, I had a pet cow on the farm and he looked

just like this! I named him Oreo, he ate from my hand

and came running when he saw me on the fence.

(Thanks Pa-Paw Payne!)

I think that's why I'm drawn to paint them.
(This one's sold but there will be another!)
...for me or you...

...I won't tell you the rest of the story...

how it ended in a hamburger

>:[

photo ~ LonnyMagEtsy ~ via ~ RubyPress ~ watercolor ~ me ~

Remembering The Weekend . . .

Just spent the weekend on ~ Kiawah Island ~ for a family reunion. 

It wasn't this warm, but we had this much fun!



My most vivid memory is of the basketball fans everyone 
watching the UNC game on the outside flatscreen 
from the hot tub (yes this house was unbelievable) 
with PrettyStuff's iPod plugged into the outside stereo system
set to her beach music play list! 


Now that's how you are suppose to watch a basketball game!

Image found on ~ poupeedepoche tumblr ~ songwriter1 ~

Some Things will Never Change . . .

I just wanted you to know that even though both kids have

gone to college and we're on a clean-it-out and dress-it-up phase of life,

some things around here will never change!

I guess while painting the doors in the kitchen we could have repaired 

the hole that has been there since the kids were itty bitty, but nope.

Even though it blares that we have cheap hollow doors, I don't care.

There's been a lego guy in that hole since someone slammed it so

hard against the little doorstop thingy it punctured the door.

It would be kinda weird to take him down.

...I'm tempted to get husband to put a little frame around him...

...like the peep hole on Friends...

Cinderella Stitches . . .

My next week will be stitching in between the holiday hoop-a-la.

I've got two fancy frocks to make for ~ Charlotte Romance's ~

fancy little Deb Ball. I've always loved sewing for ~ Pretty Stuff ~

but this year's different...I'm going to the ball too!

I feel a bit like Cinderella in that last night I dismantled one

of ~ Pretty Stuff's ~ Prom Dresses to start my own.

It killed me because it was my all-time favorite!

but she assures me she's worn it enough.

I removed all of the beading to recycle in my dress and the silk...

well, let's just say it was hard to close the lid.

So, Cinderella sat on the fireplace hearth last night

stitching her own dress for the ball....

~ Charlotte Romance ~ Molly in the Middle ~ Pretty Stuff ~

Look how young they were!

They are still best friends and ~ Pretty Stuff ~

has been roommates with Molly in the Middle all 4 years of college.

(even though she doesn't follow her ~ tumblr ~)

At Second Glance . . .

I found a new blog, ~ Nest Egg ~ today by

Rachel Halvorson,

an adorable interior designer in Nashville, TN.

I didn't get very far, before I started right clicking! A bloggers favorite hobby. She's adorable and the giant porch swing is fabulous, but I got sidetracked on Rick Bragg! See the highlighted article on the magazine cover... He's one of my all-time favorite writers. I found lots of stuff on Rachel's blog that I need to check out, like ~ Imogene & Willie ~...can't wait! But first Rick...

Rick Bragg was born in Alabama, dirt poor, to a troubled marriage.  He was an average student, but worked on his high school and college newspapers. He worked for several newspapers in different southern cities and in 1992 was awarded the Neiman Fellowship to study journalism at Harvard. By 1994 Bragg was working for the New York times and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his human interest stories.

(New York: Pantheon, 1997)

His first book, ~ All Over but the Shoutin',~ was published in 1997. It's one of my most favorite books ever. I can taste this book! So southern. When you finish this book, you wonder how in the world his mom found the strength to raise her boys. You'll then pick up...

~ Ava's Man ~ 

to find out where she found her strength.  

(image: Tamara Reynolds)

Rick pictured here with his mom...

"It is hard to think of a writer who reminds us more forcefully 

and wonderfully of what people and families are all about."

New York Times Book Review

Bragg is now a writing professor at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. I've got friends with kids there. I hope they've heard of him and have had the opportunity to at least hear him speak or been lucky enough to take his class. 

I'm going to order ~ The Prince of Frogtown ~ and read the third autobiographical tale... This time it's about his dad. Portrayed in his earlier books as an "abusive drunk," this book takes a closer look and "while by no means sympathetic, the portrayal shows readers a man who had limited choices in education, employment, relationships and ultimately behavior."**  Bragg calls him a "one-dimensional villain." (Read more ~ HERE ~)

(photo: Bernard Troncale)

"Becoming a stepfather inspired Rick Bragg to write about his father in "The Prince of Frogtown." "When I got married, it seemed like every time I turned around here was this 10-year-old kid," the author says. "And every time he would do something aggravating or funny, I would think about my dad." (The Birmingham News)

I loved the first two so much,

I can't wait to read this last book,

but now I'm going back to Rachel's blog

while I wait on the UPS man...

**School Library Journal review on Amazon