Maddie the Coonhound

You need to see this dog.

She's literally everywhere.

February Life

Lovely Friends,

February is coming and going faster than I thought possible. Life has been insane, and luckily, I mean that in a good way! The Governor's School is in the midst of audition season, so weekends have been full of work and travel. But, wonderful colleagues and great kids make me hesitate to even call it work.

We got our beautiful invitations from Buzzy Craftery last week, so free moments have been filled with faking fancy handwriting. Ashley, our designer, made such an effort to incorporate everything I wanted, and she did a gorgeous job. She even based the design on my favorite street in Aiken, pictured below. It's right around the corner from our wedding spot.

On Sunday night, we had dinner with my family at Green Boundary to choose our menu. So fun! The theme is Southern Elegance, and if you know anything about the South, you know that no one is ever allowed to go home hungry. Throw in some fried green tomatoes and you've got yourself a treat.

xo,

Lauren

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Valentine's Baby

Today is my mom's birthday.

Having a Valentine's birthday suits Mom really well; she looks good in red, she savors a good box of chocolate, and she loves her family more than anything.

She displays her affection by working harder than you could imagine - Mom cooks and cleans. She answers endless wedding questions. She went joyfully to every voice recital and every basketball game. She has spent the last 17 years devoting hours and hours each day to my littlest brother.

Mom loves to have a good time. She taught us not to take ourselves too seriously. She taught us that family is most important, and she showed us how to find a bargain. She taught us about being selfless.

Happy birthday, Mom! We love you so much.

Right in the Heart

                               Dear Lovely Friends,

May your Valentine's Day be happy and bright.

xo,

                   Lauren

audrey via Vintage Vogue

A Day for John

Yesterday was Chosen Day, a holiday created by John's family to celebrate his arrival from Korea. I feel very lucky that I've become part of his family and their sweet day, and it's a chance to reflect on the unlikely paths that brought us together.

I also love another excuse to have dinner together, so this year the theme was Southern food that won't kill you.  He says it's "better than Chick-fil-a," which really means something coming from a Georgia native. I get really excited by reasons to give him presents, too.

xo

Lauren

C-Town Bachelorette

We have the best friends in the world. Almost our entire wedding party went to Charleston with us last weekend for a Bachelor/Bachelorette Celebration, and it was a blast. We explored The Old Jail and Battery Park, ate beachy seafood at Hyman's, and paired grits with Bloody Marys at Hominy Grill. We did plenty of dancing, and we learned how to shuck oysters at the Lowcountry Oyster Festival. Saturday night's fancy dinner party was at The Gin Joint, which impressed us threefold with their hospitality, food, and drink. In fact, because a lingering table delayed our reservation, they gave us a lovely jug of their housemade Bourbon and Chocolate Bitters Punch. Highly recommended.

The thing that really stood out is that we had 13 of our very closest friends with us to begin celebrating the best moment of our lives. We feel so lucky.