Happy Birthday, Mama!

The boys and Jeremy have been keeping a secret. I KNEW they were planning a 40th birthday dinner for me and the family. What I DIDN'T know is that he'd invited some of my "family-like" friends to join us, too. Saturday was an absolutely awesome nite at one of our favorite places, the Hemlock Inn.

The best part of the nite, of course, was seeing so many people that I love. The SECOND best part was that my family had the boys eat at THEIR table, so I got to eat with and enjoy a few of my best buddies without having to cut up any chicken or break up any fights.

Best.gift.EVER.

Today, my mom came up to keep the boys, so that I could spend the morning of my 40th enjoying a massage. After that, Mom, the boys, and I met Jeremy at "the Pizza Shop" (Waynesville Pizza Company) for lunch, and tonite, Jeremy served up an amazing cake he'd made me from a Krispy Kreme mix. It wasn't, necessarily, the best day for my diet, but still.

It was a very happy birthday.

AG & Me

I'm going to hijack the boys' blog to tell the story of That Time Their Mama got to Meet Amy Grant.

In case you don't know, this is kind of a big deal.

Here's why:

When I was five years old and living in Anderson, SC, my sister took voice lessons taught by a guy named Joseph Lundkovsky. At least, I think that was his name. His name is immaterial. His impact on my life, however, is significant, because one day, he sent my sister home with a cassette bootleg of Amy Grant's "Age to Age" album.

He gave it to Sissy, I assume, to help her learn some songs, and it worked. We ended up learning the songs - in fact, I'm STILL singing those songs - and, being five, I assumed that the fact that we knew her songs must've meant that we knew her, so pretty much, I grew up thinking Amy Grant and I were best friends.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. After years of ridicule for my unashamed love for AG, I was told I'd get to meet her before her Greenville concert with Stephen Curtis Chapman. It might surprise you that I received this news with mixed emotions. While I was excited - SO excited - to meet my lifelong hero (and really, REALLY grateful for the opportunity), I also knew that a 33 year-old bubble would burst when she didn't ask me out for a post-show dinner or even look at me with the same kind of recognition that I'd show her.

But that's not how it went down at all. I've been terrified of the total fool I was sure I'd make of myself when I saw her. My parents, my friend Leslie, and I walked into the pre-show meet and greet at the Bi-Lo Center (It'll ALWAYS be the Bi-Lo Center to me). As soon as I saw Amy, I got a little emotional; the tears welled up. "Oh, no," I told my people. "This is gonna be ugly."

Somehow, though, I pulled it together. When she got to our place at the end of the line, I didn't cry. I didn't hug her. I didn't even use the word "obsessed." I just made small chit chat about how we'd both gone to Furman and, "Welcome back to Greenville."

I have never been so proud of myself.

Nor have I ever been more relieved that someone I've loved from afar for so long seems just as lovable in person as she is in the press.

Also lovable was Stephen Curtis Chapman. I didn't really know much about him, until the show, but he definitely won me over at the meet and greet.

When I posted a picture of me and Amy on Facebook, my friend Amanda reminded me that I've now met three of my heroes - Ashley Judd, Toni Collette, and, now, Amy Grant. That hadn't occurred to me, but she's right. As Amy Grant (who sits atop my Hero Hierarchy) might say, "Baby, I'm the Lucky One."

Happy Anniversary to Daddy & Mama!

For our fourth anniversary, Jeremy and I went to Linville, NC, to spend a nite at the Eseeola Lodge, known better to Jeremy as a place where Bobby Jones spent many of his summers (so where else WOULD we go?!?). Jeremy tried to surprise me with the trip. Little did we know how hard it is to surprise a super sleuth like me. 

Though Jones's birthday celebrations meant we celebrated the weekend AFTER our anniversary, it was an amazing weekend at an amazing place. The leaves were pretty much at peak color, and the weather was picture perfect - cool enough to need a sweater but not cold and coat-worthy. It just felt like a textbook "fall" 24 hours. 

As we drove around the Linville Golf Club - where Jeremy played his first round in 18 months - I thought to myself, "I am SO thankful we got married in the fall, because every year that we celebrate, it will look like this outside."

I am also so thankful that Jeremy has a taste for the finer things; I tease him all the time about having "Sea Island taste and a Myrtle Beach budget," but he has taken me - who'd been to a lot of amazing places (thanks, Mom & Daddy!) - to some of the best spots I've ever seen. 

The Eseeola Lodge is definitely among them. The dinner, for one thing, was one of the top five dining experiences I've ever had. It may actually be top two. Plus, it was fun to HAVE to get dressed up for the first time - maybe since our wedding. 

And the macaroons ...

Let's just say we accidentally spent $40 on 9 cookies. Here's how it happened: at dinner, the people at the table across from us were eating something for dessert that we didn't recognize. We went from thinking it was bread to thinking it was hummus, so we asked our waitress, who told us it was a macaroon, which is one of the things they're known for. Did we want one? OF COURSE. 

Meals were included in the room rate, so we were definitely up for getting our money's worth. She gave us one to take back to our room. The plan was to eat it in the morning. Of course, that didn't happen. When he took the first bite, Jeremy said, "My mom would love this," so at breakfast the next morning, he asked if there were any macaroons left. That meal was the last service of the season for the Eseeola, so we thought they may be trying to unload them, anyway. Plus, if they were free the nite before, why wouldn't they be the next morning?

The maitre'd asked how many we wanted. Jeremy just guessed, "Four." Minutes later, the maitre'd brought out a box, and we headed back to our room. On the way, we stopped to settle up at the front desk. Jeremy reviewed the bill and asked about a $25 in-room dining charge; the girl behind the desk sweetly said, "That's for the macaroons you just ordered."

Say WHAAAA?????

At that point, though, what can you do? So he signed the ticket, and we headed to the golf course. We ate lunch after the 11th hole. They asked if I wanted any macaroons with my egg salad sandwich, adding that they were cheaper there ($3, instead of $6.25!) than anywhere else on property, so Jeremy decided to buy the five that they had remaining, and that's how we headed home with $40 worth of 9 cookies, which, I'll have you know, his mother DID love. 

After all she's done for us, it's the least we could do for her!

Neither one of us can wait to go back. In fact, we're eyeing a trip this spring. We will know, however, that if we want to takeaway macaroons, we should order them at dinner.