Hey Folks. It’s been a while. A long while. Since I last posted: I flew South. Thanksgiving came and went. I spend lots of time with family, close friends and my SISSY. I ate a ton of yummy food. Auburn beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and took the #1 spot in the BCS. I flew back to NYC. I Christmas shopped, cleaned, cooked dinner, and hung stockings. It’s been a whirlwind. Whew! But I am so THANKFUL for every minute of being home, and since that time is so special I do not take even one single moment for granite. I am THANKFUL!

I am really thankful for my sweet sister. This girl is my heart. Five years younger than me, and I still look up to and respect her SO much. She is the most outgoing individual you will ever meet. She has a heart as BIG as Texas! Last Wednesday night we curled up in her BIG king size bed to dig through memory boxes of old cards from our friends and family. We were pulling out all the ones from my grandma-who has recently become very ill. We gathered up all the cards she’d ever given my sister and me. And I mean she never missed an occasion to send a card, so it was A LOT. Birthdays, graduations, Valentine’s, Christmas, other random holidays, honor society inductions, you name she sent a card. They were the sparkly, colorful, 3-dimensional, musical, fun cards too. So we filled Andrea’s bed with a puddle of “glittery tears” as we read aloud ALL of the cards. Grandma knew us both all to well. It was so special because every card for Andrea pointed out her cheerful spirit…after all it’s really contagious. If I just had an ounce of what she has. Not only did the cards bring light to our sprits, but to Grandma’s as well. She is a lady of grace and beauty. She always thinks of others before herself, and we especially felt that love as her only two granddaughters. It was such a blessing to have lots of time to spend visiting with my sweet grandma, and recalling wonderful memories.

And on another note. I have another wonderful memory that I will pass along to my grandchildren one day. It isn’t quite as touching, but it’s memorable. My dynamic duo and I here, along with my dear friend Amory, cheered AUBURN on to victory AND WERE THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE TO WELCOME THE AU TIGERS BACK TO THE LOVELIEST VILLAGE ON THE PLAINS. Yeap, you read that right the first. I’ll admit we did “act a fool”, but who cares, right? It’s hard to control your Auburn spirit. We were heading down College Street towards Toomer’s Corner, then heading to the Athletic Department to hang with the other fans who were out at 10 pm to welcome to team back home. Well, as we deceded the small hill to the side of the library, lots of blue sirens back flying up behind us. Our hearts raced, and then fell straight to our feet in fear, for a few seconds, before we realized it was the team escorts for the buses. However, we were “in the way”. So we pulled into the hotel and conference center parking lot. And by pulled I mean took a right hand turn on two wheels. Then basically all three sprung out of the car before we’d stopped, and sprinted to the curb where we jumped up and down and screaming “War Eagle” as the team passed by. We either looked like three hard core fans or three drunken girls. And that story will most definitely live on…

So as you can see I had a lot of extra fun on my Thanksgiving getaway back home. Not only did we have a turkey feast, we had family time and football extravaganzas!! Hope your Thanksgiving was HAPPY as mine!! Night, and have a Happy Monday as you enter a new week!

Wish I could invite all of you to join in on our fun, family Thanksgiving. Instead I will leave you with a little tease as to what you’re missing out on.

I am chomping at the bit to fly home next week. That cab ride to LaGuardia just cannot come quit enough! Although I am a little bummed that I will yet again be watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV, when I could be there! Instead I will wake up Thanksgiving morning to a Turkey Trot 5k which I am running with my sister, and then a long morning in front of the TV watching the parade festivities unfold.

What are your Thanksgiving Day plans? Do you have any special traditions? We always have a post lunch/dinner football matchup! Cannot wait to recap for you next week! XO!

Hi my lovely readers. My “long” weekend was absolutely fabulous. I was in Auburn for lots of fun, family, friends, food and FOOTBALL. I escaped the City by taking a way to quick trip to Auburn. The entire visit was fun-filled, but a complete tease because it flew by way to fast. I quickly questioned as to why I had decided to book my flight on Sunday and not Tuesday or Wednesday.

This awesome gal picked me up from the airport. Yeap, that’s my Mom. I could not of been happier to see her. It had been over two WHOLE months. Despite the fact that I talk to her two, three and sometimes ten times a day; I have really missed BIG hugs and face-to-face chats. As she waited at the top of the escalators by baggage claim in the Atlanta airport, she spared greeting Stan and I with smiley face balloons or large flower bouquets. Instead she left the alstroemeria bouquets scattered around the house. The flowers being a finishing touch on a massive renovation overhaul Mom’s been tackling over the past four weeks.

I am pretty sure she has been running on no sleep and WAT-AAH!!, which my sister and I found to be completely hilarious. We pretty much fell on the floor laughing. Why is this bottle so funny to me?? I told Mom I am not sure it can be water + extra oxygen. After all isn’t water to molecules of hydrogen and one oxygen? H2O. So added oxygen would not result in water according to my very basic knowledge of chemistry. But I will not argue. After all my professional training involves design, NOT ANY SORT OF chemistry or scientific hoopLA! I digress…

So my design soul was on complete overload when I walked inside “home”. Mom and I kind of play this game of guessing what has changed? What is moved?  New fabrics. New floors. New tubs. I was in complete shock honestly. Only my Mom could transform an entire floor of a house in FOUR WEEKS. That is unheard of in the coordination of construction workers, painters upholsters and moving help. All it took was Dad taking a sledge hammer to the old tub, and there was no turning back. Ready for the work being greeted by workers at 6 a.m. had begun. So what did I find? The entire exterior trim, painted. Refinished hardwoods. Fresh paint everywhere. New hardwoods  in the master. A reconfigured master bath. Sister’s room was changed. Pretty rugs, and other things. FOUR WEEKS. I am still shocked. I was completely surprised too. I only knew about the floors. Mom laughed and said every time I’d call she’d be at ADAC or driving somewhere in Atlanta to pick up faucets, mirrors, etc. So I am asuming life is calm and orderly, but in fact it has been complete disorganization and chaos. So when I arrived to the finished product, we tip-toed throughout the house after getting in at 11 p.m. from the airport, so that I could take it all in. 2:30 a.m. came way to quickly and decided we best make our way to bed.

Friday involved lots of treasured time.

7 a.m. coffee with my mom, and then again when dad got home at 8. At 11, sister and I’s usual walk from The Flower Store and through Grove Hill. The hunger pains were coming on about 12. We went for sister bonding time over Momma G’s a split order the famous nachos. Then to brother’s office for a long awaiting reuniting hug, accompanied by a sonic happy hour slushy. Later a trip to EarthFare Grocery. Then back home to reunite and rekindle a forever treasured friendship with Amory. After we chatted about everything under the sun, I got ready for dinner.

The table was set, and the drinks were being made. Our family reunited, and Stan’s family joined.

Us grown ups laughed and carried on entertaining conversations; while for the kids…we set a kid’s table with kid-friendly entertainment.

Day #2____________________________________________________________

I know greet you from the heart of the Loveliest Village on the Plains, a few miles from the home base we’ve been chatting about. Saturday at 2:30, well over 87,000 fans filed into be apart of the crowd that watched Auburn beat LSU’s butt. And it didn’t stop there. The eagle flew. The crowd put there hands in the ayer. We saw as Cam Newton set the SEC single-season record with 1,077 rushing yards for a quarterback.

And at the end of the game, Cam sprinted to the end zone to celebrate with the Auburn Fans. Afterwards he quickly made his way across the field to the student section where he showed off his high jumping skills. He literally jumped over a fence the separates the stadium seats from the hedges, and partied with his Auburn Family.

For now, I’m back in New York. The weekend was awesome. Auburn is now ranked #1 in the BCS poll. The trip was fast and furious with way to many people to see and way to little time. When I start to miss “community”, and feel like it is so very hard to meet people, I find myself comparing the “what is” to “what was”. Then I quickly remind myself that those relationship were built of 23 years. Things take time, and patience. God is allowing me to grow by leaps and bounds in the “patience arena”. As I reflect on my time at home a find that I am so much more appreciative and grateful of/for my Auburn “family”. You all mean the absolute world to me. Thanks for fabulous conversation, and a warm welcome to what will always be “home” to me. Yeap, some things never change.