This gets a little deep...

I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone, I never found the companionable as solitude.

-Henry David Thoreau

This past weekend we had the privilege to socialize with two different friends, in two different social settings, and in fact, in two different states. It was odd to have such vastly different experiences so close together.

Saturday night we went out with one of our college friends and her new-to-us boyfriend down in Atlanta. We hit up of the best Mexican joints in town, but of course being the best means having an hour wait. We grabbed margaritas and staked out a spot for ourselves on the porch. When we were finally seated, we had to yell across the table at one another to hear, and with my bad ears and all of the noise, I just couldn't stay up with the conversation. Rob keeps in touch with Ashley more often than I do, so I just kind of felt lost. Enjoyed the company and the conversations, but felt bad that I couldn't add more. The food was delish though.

Sunday night Rob and his friend Thomas (another college friend who happened to be a groomsman) went bike riding, and then came back to the apartment to chill out a bit. At the last minute I offered to cook dinner just to prolong the evening. I threw some tortillas on the grill pan and make grilled pizzas for all of us. It was casual, it was somewhat spontaneous, and it was wonderful. The conversation wandered from here to there and back again, but always interesting, even if it was occasionally cringe-worthy guy talk. 

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the differences between extroverts and introverts. I've always known I was an introvert, but wasn't exactly sure what that meant until I recently read several articles by Marti Olsen Laney. This weekend just further illustrated the concept for me: even though I had fun in the crowded restaurant with acquaintances, I just felt overwhelmed; on the other hand, at the small gathering in a space that felt comfortable, I wanted the night to go on forever.

By the way... if you're interested to see where you fall along the continuum, check out this quiz (Scroll down to the "Being an Introvert" section). I scored a 26 out of 30!

Party hardy...

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The wedding from this past weekend was super fun. Pretty fancy, but lots of unique, personalized touches that kept it down to earth. (Plus, I happen to know that the bride and her family did a lot of it themselves!)

One of the highlights however was a photobooth. You've got to click on that one to see us up close!

And, my other favorite touch was a cupcake favor decoration station. I think you were supposed to take them home with you because they were in these cute little plastic containers. But, sssshhhh... I ate two instead of wedding cake.

Freshman friends...

"You can always tell a real friend:  when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job."

-Laurence J. Peter

 

As you may or may not know, Rob was a RA in the freshman dorms all the way through college. On one hand it gave him a chance to delay maturity... on the other, he made some wonderful friends and built an extraordinary community. No place is more social than a freshman dorm. Believe me, I know... I basically served as the "freshman mom."

Over the last couple of weekends, we had the privilege to attend some weddings of Rob's old residents. Our little babies are growing up. Tear. But what's so neat is that in both cases, the group of guys that they were randomly selected to live with for a year became friends for life. What a special bond--and one that I'm proud to be a part of.

Over drinks, dancing, and wedding cake we reminisced about the days in the dorm (including some that we didn't know about at the time) and caught up on the many adventures since then (it's amazing how well each of them is doing).

Rob's first group of residents from Spring 2004:

Rob's last group of residents from the 2006-07 school year:

Calling all crafty people...

"Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does."

-William James

Just finished designing an adorable postcard to advertise the Epworth Arts and Crafts Fair in December!!

They are still accepting seller registrations--you don't have to actually be there, as long as you provide (can be shipped!) at least 10 items to sell. If you're interested, let me know and I can forward the application on to you.

I'm still deciding exactly what I'm going to make and sell.

Spartan living...

"He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home."

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Almost exactly a month ago we signed a six-month lease on an apartment in Spartanburg. A week later I joined Rob here full-time. Although we don't plan to stay here long, I thought you might want to see our humble abode. 

Humble it is... While most of our furniture is staged in our house in Georgia, we've brought only the bare necessities. We're trying to embrace this life with less stuff. I'm trying to push away the urge to decorate with curtains and artwork because we really don't want to put a lot of money into this place, especially right now! So welcome to spartan living in Spartanburg!