Finally!

I have wanted built-in bookcases in our living room along this wall forever:

I don't know why it looks darker over there to the right, must be a shadow.

So, bright and early tomorrow the guys will be coming to start their work! I am so excited! 

I even went ahead and moved the furniture out of the way. And now I have to decide where the secretary is going to go!

I will post a photo of the results on Monday! 

Weekend Wrap Up

How did it get to be Tuesday already?

These days are flying by! This week is college son's final exams and then he will be home for the summer! Freshman year complete: Check!

As much as I love my children, I am not looking forward to him being home for over 3 months! It's a weird dynamic once they leave for college and then come home for a bit. He thinks he is grown and has been used to being "on his own" and has a hard time moving back into "child living in his parent's house, with his parent's rules" mode! I foresee many bottles of wine in my future... for me, not him!

I didn't have to work at all this past weekend, which was nice! 

Saturday husband and I went over to the Home and Garden show. Waste of time. But, then we decided to have lunch over at Shem Creek at Red's Ice House.

That's always a fun place to go. I had the shrimp burger, which is awesome! 

Sunday I had a going away party to go to for a friend that is moving to NC. It was nice, but sad that she is leaving our neighborhood!

Yesterday I met with a carpenter who is going to start on built in bookcases for our living room! I am so excited! He is starting tomorrow! Yea!

Hope you are enjoying your Tuesday!

Photos from France

Teen daughter's french "brother" likes photography as much as she does. They are on a break from school so they spent a few hours at a local park taking photos! I told her I wish she would do some without the sunglasses. She said she doesn't like the way her eyes tend to squint so that you can't really see them when she smiles. 

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday afternoon! It's gorgeous here in the Lowcountry! 

The Weekend

Talk about a cold and dreary Easter weekend! I felt like I wasn't in South Carolina anymore. 

I had to work on Saturday and it was really cool and overcast. It had poured all night, but really didn't do much more than drizzle during the day. Good thing since the Easter egg hunt and activities were planned for Saturday morning at MP. 

I saw that the Easter Bunny made an appearance! Can you see him?

This was our first Easter with no kids at home and it was kind of weird! 

Normally I would be rushing around making sure that I had everything for their baskets. And, yes, even though they were teens they still got an Easter basket! Or, we were making last minute runs to the mall for something to complete our Easter outfits! But it seems that  I should have done a last minute check of my Easter outfit because on Sunday morning as I was getting dressed for Mass I couldn't find my spanx anywhere! I was frantically going through drawers and my closet to no avail! Ugh! Thankfully the dress I was wearing had a longish jacket and I think I was the only one who knew I wasn't all sucked in! I'll never let that happen again.

For our little Easter dinner for two we had: Ham (that I don't eat), roasted asparagus, Ina Garten's French Potato Salad, yeast rolls and a Blackberry Lemon Curd Shortcake for dessert. It wasn't elaborate, but for the two of us it was just fine! Oh, and I ate a leftover crab cake from Saturday night! 

I always like to use my Grandmother's china on Easter!

How was your weekend? 

Belated Birthday Dinner

Since we had been out of town for the better part of my birthday, husband surprised me and we had dinner at Peninsula Grill last night. It has to be one of the best restaurants in Charleston!

I had an Heirloom Tomato Salad to start and then the Bourbon Glazed Jumbo Shrimp! Delicious!
I forgot to take a photo, but we ended with a piece of their, to die for, Coconut Cake!
It was the perfect way to wrap up the birthday!

I awoke to sad news this morning. My best friend's mom, the one I went to see about a month ago, died last night. I am so glad I was able to visit with her when I did. And, I had just sent her a note last week telling her how much she meant to me and what a great influence she had on me when I was growing up! I had such regret for not getting to do that with my friend before she died, and it gives me some peace knowing that I did do it this time with her mom! 

Weekend

 I hit the ground running Friday morning! I had to work 10:30-2:30,  and I knew husband and I were heading to the cabin as soon as I got home from work, so I gathered everything together and packed before I left. 

Work was crazy busy, it is spring! I ended up having to actually give a tour at 2:15, so that threw me off getting to leave on time. But, as soon as I was done I high tailed it to the car! 

And of course I killed myself trying to get home fast and husband didn't get there for another hour! So, we didn't get out of town until almost 5:00! We got to Clemson around 9:00 and stopped to get something to eat before we headed to the cabin. 

Saturday morning husband went and picked up son so they could get in some golf before we went to the Spring Game. 

The weather was fantastic on Saturday! And around 33,000 people must have thought so too and turned out for the game! It was so crowded!

Husband's sister and her boyfriend came from Charlotte, so we were able to spend some time with them. After the game we headed to our favorite pizza place, where I had a coupon for a free pizza on my birthday. My birthday wasn't until Sunday, but the coupon was only good Saturday-Monday. We had a great time at dinner! 

After we were done we headed to the cabin and SIL and boyfriend headed back to Charlotte.

Sunday my mom invited us to come have lunch before we headed back to the lowcountry.

She made ham, and tons of sides! And my sister and her husband came over to eat with us. 

I had requested a carrot cake, my favorite!

Yeah, there are only 6 candles on the cake! I told her it would take forever to put all 49 on so she stopped at six!

I said you know you are getting old when some of your birthday gifts include wrinkle creams!

Even though it was a busy weekend, it was so much fun!

This morning I had to give a tour at work to a group of kindergarteners. They were adorable in their catholic school uniforms! I told them we might see an alligator on our walk and one of the little girls told me she was allergic to alligators! And one little fella grabbed my hand and held it the whole walk around! We were having a pretty good time until the bottom fell out and we got soaked! They decided that the field trip was over and ran to their cars while I ran to mine!

Now, I have tons of laundry to catch up on and then dinner to start! I guess everyday can't be your birthday! ;)

Tuesday Tidbits

*Yesterday I had to take husband's car in for an oil change. The only thing that made it not so bad was a stop at the Starbuck's drive thru!

*Made this soup! It is so yummy!

*this cherry tree is blooming in my yard!

*I was supposed to work for a couple hours this morning but because of the rain the school group cancelled. It was nice to sleep in since I slept horribly last night!

*Excited to be heading to the cabin this weekend! 

How has your week been?

Friday!

Wow! Another day of gorgeous weather here in the lowcountry!

Earlier today I drove to Mt. Pleasant and met husband and his parents, who had driven down from Myrtle Beach, for lunch at Burton's Grill. Husband was in Charleston doing a job, so it was convenient for him to swing by and the in-laws had come down to make a Trader Joe's run. 

MIL's birthday was yesterday hence the reason for the lunch date!

Lunch was good, though my Chopped Blue Cheese Salad came with bacon on top and I no longer eat meat! But, I try not to be difficult and just pick off the bacon. Though you would think since it was on the vegetarian menu AND on the regular menu, they would try to determine which you were ordering!

And of course I had to make the obligatory stop at Trader Joe's before I went home!

Lot's of activities happening here this weekend:

the bridge run

Flowertown Festival (in my town)

Family Circle Cup

Too many crowds for me! So, I will probably do as I usually do this weekend each year....

stay around the house!

Have a great weekend!

EEK! I Think That's a Snake!

The temperature has been in the 80's here in the lowcountry! 

Time to break out the flip flops and sandals, but not before I get a pedicure! Eww, I have really bad winter feet!

Yesterday I worked and we were super busy! Lots of groups and lots of people are visiting the lowcountry!

Today I went in to work for just an hour to give a Plantation Overview to a school group. They were great kids from a private school near Atlanta. As we were walking along one of the paths, I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. I kind of screamed and stepped back as it looked like a black snake to me! But, of course I wasn't wearing my glasses so then I started thinking maybe it was just a stick. It wasn't! It was a snake and I told my group to just walk around it and not to try to pick it up!

And of course, no warm day on the plantation would be compete without spotting the alligators sunning themselves on the banks of the ponds and the old rice fields!

I had book club last night. We read my pick, A House in the Sky by Amanda LIndhout. It was a great, though disturbing read! 

Got a text from teen daughter and she said the weather in Dunkerque has been warm and that if it keeps up she wants me to send her shorts! 

Tomorrow I am meeting MIL and FIL for lunch in Mt. Pleasant and then making a Trader Joe's run! 

Hoping that spring has sprung in your neck of the woods!

Tuesday Tidbits

Last night I drooled over the over 100 photos teen daughter had put on her shutterfly account from this past weekend when she was in Paris! Simply breathtaking! I posted a few yesterday.

This morning I was up and out of the house pretty early and did a bunch of errands. I won a $50 Starbucks giftcard on My Sweet Savannah's blog last week, so I added that to my current card and made a stop at Starbucks for my usual: Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte!

I am redecorating teen daughter's bedroom while she is gone. I was going to sell the pottery barn teen bedding that she had on her bed, but I noticed a spot on the duvet cover and have been trying like heck to get it out! I sent her a message and she told me it was blood from when she cut her leg shaving and didn't realize it! Thanks for telling me so I could have tried to treat the stain at the time! I have been working like crazy and since I am very persistent, I have almost removed it! I may still try to sell it if it's not too noticeable, though I will make note of it in my listing.

Hope your week is going well so far!