On The Road Again

Today we returned to Spartanburg, South Carolina to bring our daughter home from her freshman year at Wofford College. On our trip south, I was able to stop at 3 Goodwill Stores that I had looked up on TheThriftShopper.com. I was able to find a few things at each stop, including a brand new kit to make lovely black and white favor boxes that should work well as part of the upcoming wedding shower decorations. After a year of visits to Spartanburg, I just found out that there is a Hobby Lobby store in one of the shopping centers by the mall. I have read many posts by bloggers who frequent this store, but there are none located anywhere near our home. Tomorrow morning I will check it out before we begin to load up for the drive home.

Our daughter has loved her first year at Wofford and we have been very pleased with it as well. Having spent countless hours of research with help from "Colleges That Change Students Lives," "Colleges of Distinction," etc. and miles of travel to many college campuses, we chose Wofford for its academic program and reputation, its beautiful campus, student activities and fantastic "village living" concept for upper classmen. Our son had a wonderful experience at Washington and Lee University and then Vanderbilt University Law School, so we have been very blessed with great choices in education.

As much as she has loved her freshman year, she is anxious to get home and we are looking forward to having her back with us! Monday morning will begin her first summer job search, so we will cross our fingers that she lands something soon! I was able to finish valances in her room the other day. Not too bad, considering her drapery panels were custom made through our gift shop approximately 5 years ago. Because I wanted to save money (even at wholesale cost!) and knowing that valances were easy to make, I decided I would make the valances myself. Well...the remainder of the fabric has been waiting for me to sew into valances for quite a while. Now her room has draperies without naked continental rods at the top!

Since tomorrow is Friday, maybe we'll pass some yard sales or flea markets as we head back north!

A Lawyer In The Family

Today we attended our son's law school graduation at Vanderbilt University. After two days on the road and little sleep we are now taking a break before dinner. Late this afternoon we took a very brief trip to Gaylord's Opryland Hotel so that my parents could see their beautiful gardens. Below this post you will see a few of the beautiful settings inside the huge hotel. We were lucky enough to escape the rain during the graduation ceremonies and it has gotten quite hot as the day has progressed. Tomorrow we will be back on the road to Spartanburg to return our daughter to school and her end of the year exams!

Nashville Gardens

Ready, Set

The yellow tea rose was my sorority flower and has remained my favorite over the years. A lovely bouquet of yellow roses awaited me this past Saturday morning for my birthday. With so much work to do around the house, we opted to bring in Chinese for my "birthday" feast. We watched the Kentucky Derby and tried to catch a glimpse of our daughter (LOL), who was there with friends in the infield.

During the weekend, my husband finished putting down the black/white tiles in the laundry room, putting down shoe moulding in various areas, cut grass and countless other tasks. I concentrated on finishing printing the "Save The Date" booklets and website cards, waxing the hutch I painted white, painting woodwork, beginning to sew "long overdue" valances for my daughter's rooms, changing summer for winter clothing, sneaking in a few yard sales and so on....

In the middle of this week, after picking up my parents in Maryland, we take off for South Carolina to pick up our daughter and then travel to Nashville for our son's graduation from Vanderbilt Law School. We will be back in town by the end of the weekend and then leave again three days later to return to South Carolina to bring our daughter home for the summer. What a life!

We plan to take my parents on a tour of Charlotte, N.C. where we lived many years ago. They haven't been back in about 20 years and I know they will be shocked by the way it has grown. The country road that led to the high school I would have graduated from now is a 4-6 lane road running through the upscale South Park shopping area. I was shocked several years ago to see it sitting so near the road when it used to sit off in a field!

Hope to post photos of our travel and maybe some shopping finds along the way.