C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E

William, Wills, and I spent a weekend at Land's End celebrating with these two.

After taking a few pictures, out the door they went, to close the deal...

We had two photographers on hand.

This handsome little boy and I had plans of our own: a date.  I'll tell you about it later.  :)

That afternoon, we headed out with a bottle of champagne...

to toast on their brand new, ocean front lot!!!

We love Beaufort; we love Land's End; we love our beach house; this has been our most favorite place in the world.  And it just got even better!  How is that possible?

Wills toasted with his very own juice.

We made the Barefoot Contessa's Baked Fontina to enjoy on the beach.

All of the new neighbors joined us for another toast.

I am still pinching myself.  I can't believe this is their new back yard.

I'm daydreaming about beach yoga, morning coffee views, late night beach strolls, low country boils on the sand, watching Wills and Maddi hunt for seashells and chase seagulls, cheering William on in bocce ball, beating William in horseshoes, sailboats drifting along the horizon, finishing my novel on these beach steps, and spending as much time as possible laughing, dancing, and enjoying this place with my parents, our family, and our friends.

A little later, God sent them this house lot warming gift.

We've seen a lot of beautiful sunsets over the sound, but this one was the most incredible, breath-taking one of all.  

Welcome home.  Love, God.

The next morning, my dad and William were off to find and dig up oysters for an evening oyster roast celebration.

I'd say they were successful in their venture.

Setting up for the par-tay.

It was a night of great friends, delicious oysters and appetizers, celebrating new adventures, and an awesome fire.

Cheers to my parents: the memories they've given us in their beach house and the memories waiting to be made in their new beach house.  We can't wait.

Bringing Back the Good Memories

I feel a little silly posting this after the crazy weather we just had, but our snow day, a few weeks ago, was so much fun and definitely something I want to remember.

Here are the pictures to prove that winter weather can indeed be enjoyable.  Just don't come again anytime soon, okay?

We had a snow dance party the night before.

Breaking it down with Dad.

The next morning we woke up to 1 - 2 inches of white, powdery snow.  These two couldn't wait to get outside.

Just a little side note: the entire day Wills associated the snow with Santa.  He continuously, in an excited little voice would say "Santa comes tonight!"  Luckily, he forgot.  William and I were a little worried.

At one point I leaned in and asked for a kiss.

And got a face full of snow.

Seriously, Wills?  He thought it was hilarious.  So did his dad. :)

Happy Snow Day.

"All good things must come to an end. " ~Chaucer  

Which brings us to the ice...

Weathering the Storm

I don't even know where to start nor do I have too many words for the last couple of days, so I'll be brief.  The good news....we are all safe and warm.

Here's the bad news: we have quite the mess to clean up.  Luckily, we moved our cars a few minutes before these trees fell into our driveway, missing our house by inches.

This was only the beginning of the snapping and popping that ensued through the night. 

We also lost the top half of each of our magnolia trees, meaning they have to go, and most of our large holly trees and crepe myrtles that provided our privacy from the neighbors.  Bummer.

William is a little grumpy not happy and continues to remind me, "we have six weeks until Masters to get this mess cleaned up."  I know, Honey.  

It all began when we lost power Wednesday morning and told Wills we were in for an adventure.  

We made mimosas as the temperature drastically dropped.  What else was there to do? :)

The adventure became less and less exhilarating as the days went by.  Thankfully, we have a fireplace, but started to run low on wood after burning for 36 plus hours. 

We ate dinner by candlelight.

We pulled the couches close to the fire and cozied up for a slumber party.

After Wills fell asleep, William and I played cards for awhile.

Night number two, we headed to my parents who are world-class campers and had us all set up within a few hours.  Generators, air mattresses, wood-burning fire-place, camp stove to cook, lanterns, heaters, etc.  We were eight deep in the living room, plus four dogs.  The adventure continued.

We re-created this pasta salad on the camp stove, with the addition of shredded rotisserie chicken.

Green onion, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic sauteed in Tuscan olive oil.

Mixed with whole grain noodles, sea salt, and feta.

Three days later, we are home and settling back in, restocking the refrigerator, washing clothes, and putting our house back together.

On a much brighter note, I CAN'T WAIT to tell you what we toasted to a few days prior to the ice storm madness.  

Stay tuned...