Peony Season

So much going on that I feel like life is in a perpetual fast-forward motion. And … it’s peony season … have you heard? Haha. I have three saved photographs on my phone right now from three different people who have all sent pictures of peonies {either growing in their yard or in vases in their homes}. When you have a signature flower and others know it … you get flowers delivered on a near weekly basis {and it makes no difference to me that it’s via text, it’s the thought that counts}.

Today is a bittersweet day … as I’m saying good-bye to one of my dearest Memphis friends as she is off to Denver tomorrow! Anna was a co-founder of our twenty-something supper club {that we formed post college … seven years ago this very month}. We ran our first 5K together, have been neighbors for two years and have many memories {the vast majority of which include lots and lots of laughter}. I am sad for me, but so incredibly happy for her. Onward and upward and all of the best to Anna! xo

Looking forward to book club tomorrow night and a weekend of celebrations … for moms AND a certain six-year wedding anniversary. Time flies when you’re having fun, kids! :)

Dinner Last Night

Anna, our favorite neighbor :) walked over for dinner last night. I love when Anna comes for dinner because we laugh our heads off the entire time. She always comes chock full of stories.

On the menu last night … homemade chicken & dumplins, green peas and cornbread … and for dessert, a slice of pumpkin bread from my favorite French bakery ... topped off with a little whipped cream.

When Paul's grandparent's house was sold a few years ago, his aunt handed us a plastic bag full of things she found in the basement ... items that had belonged to his mom that were saved for him when she passed away. Among those items, the silver leaf napkin rings that I bring out every fall when when we have company over.

It’s the little things in life ...

Tuesday Top Five

1. generally love Julia Roberts movies, wasn’t a fan of Eat Pray Love …
2. if you like yogurt done right, you’ll want to visit Yo Lo … I haven’t been (YET), but judging from the website it looks like Birmingham’s Yogurt Mountain (which is my equivalent to food heaven), therefore, I will soon be there with bells & bows
3. love & look forward to our weekly Sunday nite dinners with our small group … we rotate who brings dinner & dessert and eat together before we start whatever study we’re going through …
4. I just realized that the first three items on this list all had to do in some part with food … good grief … SEC football begins in exactly 9 days with the SC game, but only 11 more days until I hear the sweet sound of ESPN’s Game Day in the midst of my Saturday morning routine …
5. …which brings me to my final favorite of the day: It’s almost time to bring out the pumpkins, sisters … fall leaves are on their way, hallelujah!

You're Invited

Don't you wish?? This table setting is from my new favorite blog,

Sunday Suppers. A dinner club at its finest!

~

Happy Weekend, sweet friends

Strawberry Cupcakes & Blue Hydrangeas

They say that June is the most popular “all things wedding related”

month of the year …

Bethany and I left for Nashville on Friday loaded down with cupcakes and hydrangeas (yes, the flower stealing bandit struck again … it seems that Bethany has a gold mine of hydrangeas in her front yard! And yours truly came armed with scissors…). We met Jill, Brandt & Britt downtown for some dessert and ended up in bed around 2 a.m. On Saturday we were up and off to throw the bridal shower. By the time we got home on Saturday night, I was on the verge of using toothpicks to keep my eyes open. We had the most fun though … we’re really good at that ;)

Yesterday we did yard work and cleaned and cooked … as dinner club is tonight … and it’s doubling as an engagement par-tay as two d-club members have set a date! Good thing I already have the hydrangea centerpiece for the table ;)

Dinner And Then Some

A co-worker gave me the Joy of Cooking day calendar for Christmas and this was today’s quote by Ethan Becker …

Food is a central part of our lives. It provides the body with fuel and raw materials for maintenance, growth, and repair. It draws together family and friends, anchors celebrations and rites of passage, and sometimes soothes the soul.

We had our dinner club last night (some call it a ‘supper club’ …) and it has been one of my favorite parts of the post-college, early twenty-something experience. It began soon after I moved to Memphis when I was feeling the need for roots. It’s a strange transition going from the growing up years, and then moving into the college years when you are constantly surrounded by family and friends, roommates and sorority sisters, etc. – and then move to a large city where you know only a handful of people…

So what began that summer in the tiny dining room of my first apartment and my galley-like kitchen, has morphed into something that I have come to love so well. Bringing together friends – some of who went to college together, others who are younger or older, some who have joined because they are a significant other or a new roommate of his or hers…but each who have a story to tell.

It’s a tradition that no matter where we are in life, no matter what city we are living in or how many yelping kids are running around the table … I want to continue.

We took Loren to dinner on Saturday night in celebration of her 18th Birthday ~
Last Saturday she ran the St. Jude half-marathon and has lived to tell about it ... she is such a joy and I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful sister ~

My dining room table set for our dinner club Christmas dinner ...

And a 'full' shot of our tree :)

Scenes Of Summer

Dinner last night with Bethany and Anna ~

Summer dinners...........

Dinner Club, Pollen, And 3 Weeks, 3 Days

Hello, and greetings from Crazyville. The countdown, my friends, is on. We are talking mere weeks from the big day.

The dinner club is coming over this eve. Tonight we are having grilled chicken breast, a bowtie pasta salad with fresh veggies, fresh fruit and some bread. And ... leftover cupcakes from Easter Sunday. I made bunny cupcakes, but when they (the bunnies) started looking like stray cats ... I decided to do bird's nest cupcakes with three little jelly beans as the eggs.

On an entirely different note - let it be known that I am "severely allergic to pollen" so says Dr. Blaiss. After moving to Tennessee and each spring growing increasingly sneezy, watery, scratchy, etc. - I decided to head to the allergist. They do these little tests on your arm where they prick your skin, and ten minutes later you can magically tell what you are allergic to ... trees, pollen, dust or molds. The nurse said "this will probably itch" as she was leaving the room.

Let me tell you - that was the longest 10 minutes of my life! Itch?? I was about ready to turn my skin inside out. I'm talking the chicken pox times 1,000. :) The part where he inserted the pollen was swollen and red and I was inwardly thinking, please God let this be off my arm by May 13th. Good news is that I woke up this a.m. and it was gone. Yay, yay!

For Inquiring Minds ...

My dining room ...














My living room ...

Here are a few pictures of my home ... more to come!!