Living
Etiquette Guide – The Art of Paying a Call
So…I couldn’t resist creating a cute little print to go with my earlier post about the rules of paying a call in the South. Just think of this as a quick etiquette guide! Want to read the full rules? I would love to hear your opinion! Did I cover everything? Is there a ritual you…
Read MoreThe Art of Paying a Call in the South
In centuries past, women dressed up in their best day gowns and went visiting. They paid calls on friends and acquaintances within their social circle who were “at home” on such and such a day. Tea was served. Cakes eaten. Best manners displayed, and calling cards left. This was a great time for gossip, and…
Read MoreSummer Reading: The Museum of Extraordinary Things
The Museum of Extraordinary Things is a slow burn. You know almost from the beginning that the two main characters, Coralie and Eddie, are going to meet and fall in love. Hoffman follows their life paths through flashbacks and diary like entries as these characters mature and slowly, ever so slowly, draw closer and closer…
Read MoreVisiting the Mabry-Hazen House
Gunfights, Civil War strategy, lawsuits, and scandal mark much of the history of the Mabry-Hazen House, but from its serene perch atop Mabry’s Hill with towering magnolia trees shading the wide veranda you could hardly imagine this notorious past. The Mabry-Hazen House was home to three generations of the same family and showcases their original…
Read MoreGrace and Grit
If you watched the DNC last night, you know what I’m talking about. It was pretty awesome!
Read MoreSummer Reading Review: Charleston
This book hurt my heart but in this poignant rush that was utterly captivating. **This post contains affiliate links, but only because I highly recommend this book! Charleston by Margaret Bradham Thornton tells the story of Eliza Poinsett who journeys home to a city so filled with tentacles of memory and connection she can’t shake…
Read MoreMy Summer Reading List
I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a mile long list of books that I want to read, and I am constantly adding to it. So in order to shorten that list just a bit, I’ve decided to focus on 10 books that I will read by the end of the summer. Some of…
Read MoreTouring Brookgreen Gardens
All these gorgeous spring blooms have me fantasizing about our tour through Brookgreen Gardens this past summer. Brookgreen is just south of Myrtle Beach down in Murrells Inlet. With thousands of acres of gardens to explore, Brookgreen offers a mezmerizing blend of horticulture and art. In the early 1930’s Archer and Anna Hyatt…
Read MoreOde to the gloriously outrageous place names of the South
The highways and byways of the Southern states are filled with road signs announcing towns and cities with often unusual, sometimes baffling, and on occasion gloriously outrageous names. On family road trips and vacations headed to the beach or to see some relative twice removed, my mother and I have made it a game to…
Read MoreCatching up…
Pender & Peony has been inexplicably silent lately, and I’m sorry. There are a billion and one excuses I could blame it on: work, which has been unusually hectic, or our house renovation, or even our latest family addition — Henry ( an utterly adorable rascal for a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel). None of this…
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