go on, isaac

Isaac is really messing up my plans.  I had meetings scheduled in New Orleans this week and a bachelorette party at the beach, but a glance at this radar has really made me question whether or not I should alter those plans a bit.....my driving history is proof that bad weather, my attention span and my driving skills just don't mix (had a little run in with a bridge in some icy weather in college, few other minor slip ups in rain here and there).

See there, Isaac will be all over the place between New Orleans and Destin on Wednesday, which was the night I was heading that way.  Ugh.  So my lovely Sunday afternoon that I had planned has been derailed as I am now working trying to get ahead on work for the week now instead since who knows where I'll be and when.

ANYWAY, speaking of gross weather and rain and such, the Forrest Spence Fund 5K was a big success yesterday despite the gross weather conditions!  It rained the whole morning which made my 5 a.m. wake up even less appealing but it was such a great race and for such a great cause.

I really don't have that much to say today, I'm procrastinating working is all!!  After the 5K yesterday I headed to Jackson for an engagement party and got to stop by and see this sweet little squirt after her 1st bday par-tay.

I'm a briber you see---I fed her some leftovers of her cake for a little snack until she started biting my finger a little too hard with her newly acquired little teeth.  (excuse the creepy eyes, iPhone pic)

I really appreciate the work from anywhere flexibility of my job, and I thought I would love the option to work from home, but alas I do not and prefer to go into the office most of the time.  I don't know when to start/stop working if I don't go.  Since I currently live with two roommates in a house that is not my own, there is not much I can do about this currently, but I think having one of these home offices would make me want to work from my house 100% of the time.

(i love this one) 

 (this is jenna lyons, mrs. j. crew's office.  love it!) 

(Erika Powell's (my favorite girl) office at Urban Grace Interiors.  Can't wait to visit her the idea home in Rosemary once again if Isaac cooperates this week.)   

Lots of styles there--big, small, modern, classic.....and so many of these are done on a budget.  I don't know if you are familiar with the site, The Evergirl, but just this week they did a great post about the best budget finds from IKEA.  I love Craigslist, Etsy, Ebay and Antique Malls for great finds that are more unique.  But this desk shown in that feature would work just fine in a pinch.

And then here is that dining room table from the feature used in an office above...and just for kick's here is the founder's home office as well (with yet another ikea desk I believe)....

This post is just full of randomness.  I will end with this gem that I happened upon today...bold statement people.

At 27, Macaroni and Cheese remains my favorite food and I favor champagne to every other drink as well.  Which reminds me, here is a great little letter from Sparky Reardon, Dean of Students at Ole Miss, about Champagne and celebrating and all those good things..

What Neil Armstrong Taught Me about Champagne

I had just finished my freshman year at Ole Miss and was working at a factory in my hometown of Clarksdale during the summer of 1969. My parents’ home was on Maple St. right at the point where Rose Circle intersected into it. My dad worked overtime making sure that the St. Augustine grass in the front yard was free of crabgrass, lush and well trimmed. He admonished us when we played football or whiffle ball in the front yard not to break the young pine trees that lined either side of our yard. Those same pine trees now reach into the bottom of sky. Our front yard was a natural gathering spot since Maple was a major residential thoroughfare. In addition, there were probably at least twenty friends and classmates who live with a two block area of our house.

Best I remember, we all anticipated that night of July 20, 1969. Our family gathered in the den to watch history on our black and white RCA TV that was the size of small station wagon. We had a choice of three channels and if we opted for one over the other, someone had to get up and turn the knob. My younger brother, Rory, was usually given the task. His middle name is Campbell and as technology improved, I realized that his initials and “remote control” were the same. I still refer to him as RC. Friends, cousins, and neighbors started to drift into the house as the historic event neared. Each was told to quickly close the door before the cool air got out or the mosquitoes came in.

Right after Neil Armstrong took his famous step and uttered the words that will live forever, my friends and I went to the front yard and lay on my dad’s lush carpet of lawn and looked at the moon, somehow hoping that we might detect something different about it that night. All of sudden, I had an idea. There was a bottle of champagne in my parents’ refrigerator. It seems like there was a wedding or graduation every weekend during that time of my life and one bottle had survived one of those festive occasions. I went inside under the guise of getting some water and snuck the champagne and nine Dixie cups out of the house. I popped the cork and meted out an equal measure to my fellow lunar gazers. We raised our cups heavenward and toasted Neil Armstrong. 

Little did I know that we were also toasting the passing of one era and the dawn of new one.

Neil Armstrong taught me something about champagne that night; and, something about life. 

When I graduated from college, I remembered that night. I have always kept a bottle of champagne in my refrigerator. Not the same bottle, mind you. One celebrated the victory over the Russians in hockey, one celebrated Ole Miss holding Mississippi State out of the end zone for twelve plays from the 11 yard line, a couple celebrated the Minnesota Twins winning the World Series. Eli and the Giants were toasted by another. When I came home from the defense of my dissertation another observed the occasion. One New Year’s Eve, a college student called me in panic because he had failed to purchase champagne in an effort to impress his latest object of his affection. He came and got my bottle knowing that he would have to replace it. Another celebrated the return of electricity after two weeks following the Ice Storm of ’94.

That bottle of champagne that sits in my refrigerator is a symbol of hope – hope that there will be something notable to celebrate soon.  

Tonight the bottle will come out of my refrigerator and I will pop the cork, pour a glass, go outside and raise a toast heavenward to adventure, courage, character, leadership, and most of all, Neil Armstrong. And, Monday when the liquor stores open again in Mississippi, I will buy another bottle.  

I love that idea, that we should always be looking forward to the next celebration.  Bc we are certainly very blessed and there is always something to be grateful for and something to look forward to just around the corner.  

Happy Weekend!!

Betsey