Simply on Sunday

Happy Sunday, everyone!  We just finished the last full week of school and next week we have a jam-packed calendar:  final exams, field trips, awards ceremonies, Nutcracker auditions (yes, already!), and a trip down to Savannah for a dear friend’s Army retirement.

If you didn’t see Amy’s health update yesterday, you must check it out {here}.  I can’t express how gracefully Amy has managed to take care of her beautiful family while fighting a chronic illness, but it has been absolutely impressive to watch.  I’ve also asked her to serve as a resource for several friends going through the same diagnosis and she has always graciously and generously shared her time and hard-won knowledge.

I posted about {these} end of the school year treat bags and they led to a fun project that I created for a friend.

I’m a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and a philanthropic organization called PEO; one of my dear PEO sisters is about to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary and she thought it might be fun to create a similar treat bag for her family; they’re all getting together to celebrate next month.

I don’t know about you, but I think 50 years is a pretty big deal and deserves to be recognized!  I had her send me a few wedding snaps and this is what we came up with:

|  Labels and bags  |  Aqua gumballs  |

I love that wedding photo–so beautiful.  Congratulations on reaching such an impressive milestone, Paul and Carol!

•••••

Our trip to Savannah this weekend will be to celebrate Scott’s retirement after twenty years of Army service.  Scott and Becky were our next door neighbors when we lived in Savannah (see that house here) and we jump at any chance we get to see them because they are some of our favorite people in the world.

They visited us for New Year’s; here we are in the Ryder Cup Lounge at the Carolina Hotel in Pinehurst:

In other Savannah news; you all know that my son is still very close with his friends at his old school.  They came to visit us when he had the lead in the school musical earlier this year, and we joined them on their class trip to Boston last month.

Well, they invited him down to attend the annual Headmaster’s dinner (a cross between prom and cotillion; see last year’s event here), and at first I didn’t think we could make it work.  Savannah is only four hours away, but my husband was out of town and my daughter had ballet rehearsal all weekend, AND my cousin’s daughter was graduating high school.  Connor was disappointed, but understood that I just couldn’t make it happen for him.

We got a text last Thursday that his friend Andrew’s dad was unexpectedly on a business trip to the Raleigh area.  Could I meet him off I-95 on Friday and he’d take Connor down to Savannah?  Oh, yes!

We met under the sombrero at South of the Border (really) and met up again on Sunday afternoon so I could retrieve my oldest.  It was another absolutely beautiful evening at my friend Amy’s historic home on Forsyth Park.

|  Lilly Pulitzer Bowtie {oh yes I did}  |

I hated that I couldn’t be there to see everyone, but my friend Tracy texted me plenty of photos.

The food is always amazing at these events, courtesy of the best caterers in Savannah (email me if you want their contact information), who provided a seven-course dinner on Amy’s beautiful place settings.

Dinner was followed by ballroom dancing under the twinkle lights strung across the terrace; I texted at 11:15 and they were still going strong!

| Katie’s white & gold dress (she bought it while she was visiting us) |

This is such a lovely group of kids, and I’m so grateful that it worked out that Connor could attend.  He’s made great friends here in North Carolina, too, but this group is extra-special.  And fun.

Mille grazie to Ken and Tracy for getting Connor there and back, and feeding him all weekend!

In the meantime, I got to head to Winston-Salem with my cousin-almost-sister Stephanie so we could attend her niece’s graduation from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Katie is the daughter of my cousin (Steph’s brother), Doug.  Our moms were sisters and even though they’re both gone, they raised the three of us more like siblings than first cousins, so I have the honorary title of “Aunt Christy.”  Katie is a beautiful young woman, and watching her glide across the stage to receive her diploma from the School of Dance was such a blessing.

Yay for family!

It’s a busy time of year and we’ve all got so much going on, whether we have kids in school or not.  I wish you precious moments and memories over the next few weeks, and lots of time to relax and enjoy your families.

Thanks for stopping by.

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