The Best Birthday Present Ever

Have you ever had the best birthday present ever?  Before I go into mine, I want to thank you all for the sweet birthday wishes I received in comments, tweets, and posts on my Facebook page.  It really does make for a great golden birthday!

Most of you know that I have been at our home at Edisto for the past week.  I told my boys that all I wanted from them was for them to:  get along, not tattle, and not whine.  In addition to doing that (they really did!), Sumter and Jackson asked if they could ride their bikes to the Piggly Wiggly.  Those sneaky boys returned with these for me!

The inside of the card reads, "Just open your arms for a BIG hug!" 

But the best birthday present was my sister and her family arriving for a long weekend with us.  AS and I don't get to spend much time together.  The demands of family (my two boys and her two girls) and the fact that we don't live in the same town anymore certainly affect both the quality and quantity.  So I was ecstatic when I saw their car turn in the driveway.  I knew we were going to have a wonderful time together relaxing and laughing on the beach, just the two of us (oh, and our two husbands and four children...).

Of course we have had ebbs and flows in our relationship as sisters.  Haven't we all?  At some times we have been closer than at others.  But I do believe that the older we get the closer we have become... and that in and of itself makes growing older totally worth it!

Thanks AS, for being the best birthday present ever this year!

Tuesday's Pawley's Inspiration

This past weekend was one of the best I have had in a long time.  My mother (Mimi to those who are regular readers!), sister and I spent the weekend at my parents' home at Pawley's Island.  Pawley's  is a small but well-established beach community located in coastal South Carolina, about 70 miles north of Charleston and 20 or so miles south of Myrtle Beach. This relaxed resort area is often described - with great pride - as "arrogantly shabby" and is known to be one of the oldest and most popular summer resorts on the East Coast.  The quaint community is surrounded by salt marshes on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.  Historically, plantation owners flocked to the area seeking a retreat from the balmy air of the Waccamaw River in search of the cool sea breezes. Pawley's Island preserves its commitment to its roots, having only 600 homes on the entire island and no stores or restaurants  Not bad for a small, non-commercial island that is only four miles long and a quarter of a mile wide!

My father's parents built their home in the 1940s.  Not antebellum... but "arrogantly shabby" none-the-less!  We have been summering there all my life.  And this past weekend lived up to all I imagined it would with the two women closest to me.

All Mama wanted for Mother's Day this year was for the three of us to spend a weekend at Pawley's.  When I arrived late Friday afternoon, AS (my sister) and mother greeted me with a glass of white wine and an invite to "cocktail hour" on the dock.  We must have laughed for hours...

The next day was spent buying treasures at the shops on the mainland and a pedicure for our tired feet.  AS and I love our Jack Rogers...

But that night was what we were really looking forward to: supper at the divine Frank's Outback where we solved problems of the world over numerous cosmos and scrumptious food.  Again, we laughed and laughed, flirted (as only happily married women can do and get away with it!) with the waiter, and dined on some of the best food on the east coast.  We had so much fun that a family of three decided that we were perhaps too much fun to sit next to... so they moved tables!  The mother "humphed" a bit at this sixty-five year old lady and her two daughters. What a coup that was!  It made the evening that much better.

 

Yes, AS and I made it down to the beach the next day.  Sorry, no pictures of the sun goddesses... on purpose.  However, two discoveries were made:  A) When beach bags are concerned, great minds (or sisters) think alike!

and B) Who knew Perrier came in beach friendly bottles (plastic)?  They rock!

 

It was a Golden weekend... and one we plan on doing year after year!