July 2010

1. I’m heading to St. Louis today for a very special friend’s wedding. I’m so excited to be able to witness Nina marry the man she loves. I know it’s going to be an incredible event and the weekend will be pretty darn fun. I’m meeting my other dear, Mojito Maven, in St. Louis and we’ll likely spend too much time laughing between wedding events. Can’t wait!

2. I cry at weddings. All of them. As soon as the doors open up and the bride steps out and walks down the aisle, I’m choked up. Even if I have only met the bride and groom once before because they’re friends of Todd’s. I cry. I know that as soon as I see Nina in her incredible gown I’ll probably fall apart. The girl has a huge smile and she’s going to be a gorgeous bride.

3. I’m flying alone for the first time in over a year. I’m not sure what I’ll do with myself. If you’ve ever flown with a 12 month old you understand why I might be excited to just casually stroll into the airport, check my bag, and hang out quietly in the boarding area until it’s my turn to get on the plane. Then, guess what! I can read on the plane! Magazines, books, whatever I want, without the fear of sweet little hands grabbing and tearing. I’ve been flying about once every other month with Hudson since he was 3 months old, so we’ve got our routine down. But I am looking forward to spending some quality time on the plane today with a book.

4. I can’t even tell you how much I’m going to miss Todd and Hudson. I’ll just be gone for a few days, I know, but last night I kept Hudson awake for an extra twenty minutes just so I could play with him. And TC usually puts him to bed, but I wanted to do it last night so I could read to him and just sit and hold him for a minute. We read our usuals: Beddy Bye, Baby and Goodnight Moon. After we were done, Hudson looked up and me and smiled and started talking the way he talks. Melting my heart. And then he started smacking me in the chest/neck. Yep, time for bed! I’m going to miss that little booger.

5. I’ll announce the Blurb giveaway winners tomorrow! I couldn’t get my act together to get it done today.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Toodles, poodles!

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A few days ago I was going through all of the magazines in my house and tearing out things I liked. Recipes, home decor, articles. And then I filed them all away in page protectors and put them in binders.

I think I threw away about 35 magazines. I try to do this every year, but I always like to hang onto the issues of Southern Living magazine. When I was flipping through the magazines I found this great article and knew that Hudson would need to see it someday. Because someday he’ll take a girl out for pizza and a movie. And someday he’ll take a girl as his date to a football game– hopefully an SEC football game. And I want him to have an idea of what she may be expecting from him.

I thought I’d share it with all of you to share with your sons and daughters, if you haven’t already.

If you’re not a southerner you may not appreciate it the way I do, but I like it enough to put it on my blog. I like chivalry. I like to think of myself as independent, sure, but I also like chivalry. And I want my son to treat his future wife, girlfriends, dates, and friends the way that we’ve always been taught that a man should treat a lady. Especially in the South where traditions don’t die easily.

15 Ways to Charm Her

Southern Living, July 2009

By Amy Bickers

“Want to impress a Southern girl? Just think “What would my grandfather have done?”

Number one: We still expect you to give up your seat for a lady. On a bus, at a bar, on a train. . . we don’t care where you are. Unless you are at a restaurant and the only lady in sight is the one taking your order, stand up. Now.

On a recent Friday night at a bustling restaurant bar, two friends and I waited for our table to be called. The barstools were occupied so we stood patiently, sipping wine and chatting about the workweek. When a couple nearby stood up, another woman – who had been there less time than we had – swooped in, reaching across us to put her purse on the stool. This isn’t the worst part. It’s what happened next: Her male companion then slid onto the other barstool.

Hang on while I do a geography check. Are we not in the South? If ladies are waiting for a seat and you have a Y chromosome, do you sit down? No, sir. No, you do not.

We know modern life is confusing. The roles of men and women have evolved over the years. As Pink once sang, “Shorty got a job, Shorty got a car, Shorty can pay her own rent.”

But come on, let’s keep some things old-school. My late grandfather- he of the East Texas upbringing, U.S. Navy captain status, and Cary Grant good looks – would never have allowed a woman to stand while he sat. And if you want a Southern woman to love you, neither will you. So, men, here’s a short list of things Southern girls still expect from you.

We still expect you to…

1. Stand up for a lady. Actually, this doesn’t just involve chairs.
2. Know that the SEC has the best football TEAMS IN THE NATION. Big 12 fan? Hmm, perhaps you should keep walking.
3. Kill bugs. Delta Burke as Southern belle Suzanne Sugarbaker on Designing Women said, “. . .Ya know, when men use Women’s Liberation as an excuse not to kill bugs for you. Oh, I just hate that! I don’t care what anybody says, I think the man should have to kill the bug!”
4. Hold doors open.  This goes for elevator doors too.
5. Fix things or build stuff. I once watched in awe as my stepfather built a front porch on the house he shares with my mother. He knew just what to do, cutting every notch, hammering every nail. The project was complete by sunset.
6. Wear boots occaisionally. Not the fancy, l-paid-$l,000-for-these kind. We’re talking about slightly mud-crusted, I-could-have-just-come-in-from-the-field boots.
7. Take off your hat inside.
8. Grill stuff.
9. Call us. If you want to ask us out, don’t text and don’t e-mail. Pick up the phone and use your voice.
10. Stand when we come back to the dinner table. ”Just a little half-stand is enough to make me melt,” my friend Stephanie says.
11. Pull out chairs. Wait, that’s not all. Scoot them back in before we hit the floor.
12. Pay the tab on the first few dates. ”If you ask me out, you pay,” Stephanie says. “If I ask you out, you should still pay.” Listen, guys, it’s just simpler this way.
13. Don’t show up in a wrinkled, untucked shirt. Care about your appearance but not too much. Don’t smell better than we do. Don’t use mousse or gel. You shouldn’t look like you spend more time in front of the mirror than we do.
14. Never get in bar fights. Patrick Swayze might look cool in Road House, but in reality, bar fights are stupid and embarrassing. You don’t look tough. You look like an idiot.
15. Know how to mix our favorite cocktail JUST THE WAY WE LIKE IT. Fix your favorite too. Sit down on the porch (it’s okay if you didn’t build it), tell us how your day went, and we’ll tell you about ours.

We’ll leave the long list to the girl who falls in love with you.

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Book Beginnings and Bookends is the name of our new book club blog that Rachel from In No Simple Language and I started!

After I wrote my post last week where I mentioned that I’d love to be in a supper club, a bunco group, and a book club, a few of you commented that we should do a blogging book club. Well it’s here and we’re all going to be able to participate! It’s a shame we can’t start a blogging supper club. That’d be loads of fun!

Just hop on over here and read what it’s all about: Book Beginnings and Bookends .

I’d love to hear how many of you plan to participate!

Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll find over on that blog:

p.s. Rachel’s mom thought of the adorably clever name for the blog.

p.p.s. TC can’t stand the phrase “sneak peek.” Glad I could sneak it into my post!

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