Odds and Ends

The North Carolina mountains have been my favorite place to visit every summer since I was seven years old. I've attended Ridge Haven, the PCA's camp and conference center for summer camp for years, and I have worked there as a counselor three out of my four college summers (excepting my thesis summer). Needless to say, Ridge Haven holds a deeply precious place in my heart. And I'm sure it could be expected that when, at work on Monday, a boy came in wearing this summer's RH camp shirt, I was thrilled. I asked him when he went, who his counselor was, told him I worked there ... was so looking for a connection, a laugh, a good conversation ... except he did not share my enthusiasm about having been at the same place at the same time. He just wanted his ice cream.

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My cousin's wife has an Etsy account where she sells, of all things, bow ties! They're really nice. You should check them out here.

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Laura and I took a day trip on Tuesday down to Athens, GA. We both had the day off, so we decided to go somewhere we didn't know very well, and Athens has a great downtown. The weather was perfect, so after finding a parking spot (right in front of the Georgia Theatre. So sad. I first saw the Avett Brothers at the Georgia Theatre two or three years ago, before it burned down.), we spent a delightful afternoon meandering around the various shops. There are several very weird ones, and lots of upscale boutiques. We discovered a salad shop, where we had great lunch and great conversation, and then we each made one under-$20 purchase. I bought an olive green scarf from a place called Private Gallery, which apparently isn't just a local place. You can check them out here.

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Leave it to me for my favorite part of Anthropologie to be their books, but look at these:



The second two are Penguin books; they have about fourteen titles, and all bound so beautifully. The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook... I think that speaks for itself. I have a thing for beautiful books, especially beautiful cookbooks, lately. And I love planning and decorating. Basically, I love beautiful things. (Who doesn't?)

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Mom went grocery shopping yesterday, and I'm so excited about the contents of our refrigerator! We not only have the typical broccoli-carrot-lettuce trio, but she also brought home asparagus and yellow squash! Colorful veggies and a warm entree (I think it will be macaroni-and-cheese-and-ham in the Crock Pot) make me feel cozy. I just need it to be cool enough to start wearing my cute fall hats ...

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A week and a day until Andrew!