H O W D Y Y ' A L L ! I hope you had a great weekend! Mine was perfect- I got to spend some time with my girl friends, celebrate a friend's birthday, and visit my parents in Augusta. But first, let me tell you about these Mother's Day gifts that I'm really excited about! Custom Watercolor Silhouettes ::
I will paint your child's silhouette in any color you like and get it to you by Mother's Day for only $80! All I need from you is a picture of your child's profile (iPhone pictures work great!). Contact me to order or to learn more!!
Now, on to my weekend: I went to Augusta for the night to hear James Farmer speak at the Sacred Heart Garden Festival Tea. My mama was my date and we had so much fun! The tea took place at Pine Knoll Farm. Mrs. Blanton treated us to her homemade wines- blueberry, blackberry, and muscadine, served with champagne. What a treat! Each table was set with different colorful place settings of antique fine china and beautiful sterling silver tea sets. To top all of that the tea sandwiches, cakes, and scones were all homemade from recipes in James' book, Dinner on the Grounds: Southern Suppers and Soirees and they were made with Mrs. Blanton's very own homemade goat cheese. Y'all... yum!
Seeing James was so great! James' cousin, Kasi, and I were best friends at Auburn so James is like an old family friend to me. And until yesterday, I'd never seen him speak! He did a fabulous job and he kept the room mesmerized with his whit and southern charm. He told stories about growing up in a small southern town, cooking fried chicken in his dorm at Auburn, working for Southern Living Magazine, and publishing his first book at the age of 28.
I couldn't help but laugh while listening to James tell the story of his first book signing in NYC. Through the crowd of serious New Yorkers, all wearing black, walked a woman with unusually large blonde hair, wearing a coral (or as James pronounced it, "Karl") dress and a large turquoise beaded necklace; James "knew from the moment I smelled your Chanel no. 5 mixed with Aquanet that you were one of my people."
If you've ever lived in New York, then you know this. I doesn't take long to develop that southern instinct... the intuition of knowing a southerner from everyone else in the room. The southern instinct is actually exactly how I got my first job! I met Tracy and Terri of Just The Thing in the Shoshanna booth at market by asking them where they were from. I was interning for Shoshanna at the time. Graduation was near and I had no job lined up. When Tracy and Terri walked in, I just KNEW they were my people! Turns out, they were from Columbia, SC- just an hour away from my hometown of Augusta. I guess have the southern instinct too.
James is such a fun friend and has killer taste in food, interiors, landscapes and family... all the things that true southern ladies value most. Thank you James, Sacred Heart, and the Blantons, for such a fun afternoon!
Love,
Mary Hester
