Ornament. Fruit basket. Bombshell. Hike.

Holiday Serendipity. LOVE it.

Authentic Trick Cercie
(Do not try this one at home, unless you're a natural). My friend Craig showed up at my house before Christmas and pulled an ornament out of his pocket. It was for my tree! Come on, people.

Fruit Basket Cercie
Tonya the Christmas Fairy left me a fruit basket: pears, apples, cherries! We like healthy cercies.

Bombshell Cercie
Meg the Christmas Bombshell mailed me a cercie from the ATL. Big box stashed under the door mat on my front porch (because the big box is always stashed under the door mat on the front porch). I took said box into the house, set it on my kitchen table, cut away the tape and pulled out the package. It was wrapped in bright blue and turquoise tissue tied with a fantastic purple tinsel knot. And a note:

"I can't tell if this gift is hideous or fabulous, but it's definitely "hellooo, bombshell."

What could it be?! Oh! A headless Maharaja Medussa Hoola Dancing Goddess that holds jewelry. Of course! It is fabulous, and even more so now that it's adorned with my jewelry.

Hiking Cercie
Sunday was road trip to Ceasar's Head in Upstate, South Carolina. Jordan drove us in his new Jeep. Georgie the Traveling Giraffe was along for the ride - his first excursion into the mountains. Little did he know he'd also see his first snow! Though he didn't hike Raven Cliff Trail with us - nor did he get to meet the Germans who were also hiking the trail (ja wohl!) - Georgie did get a view of Table Rock. He was so ecstatic about this that he kissed me right on my wind-chapped cheek. Danke, Georgie!

One last stop in Taylors, South Carolina after the hike, to visit meine Freunde The Starkers. Georgie was given a hearty welcome by Noah and Liam. He has never stayed with two young boys before and is in for 100% action-filled adventure. Have fun, Georgie! Don't forget to report from the field.

G-Cercie

Just because I haven't posted in nearly half a year (what?!), doesn't mean the Cercie Love has run out. In fact, there has been so much of it that I cannot-cannot contain it all.

But my favorite and immediate Cercies ...

this weekend:

I went to a christmas concert in Red Bank, South Carolina, and Johnny Irion and Sarah Lee Guthrie showed up.

tonight:

I had my first Instant Cercie.

I got a two-in-one g-chat cercie from Seven and Thirty-Seven (see "Blogs I like")

That means I got to chat with my friend Jen (37) and her daughter (7)- at the same time! Seven and Thirty-Seven are new wave mother-daughter bloggers. Only such duo I know about. They rock it. And tonight on g-chat, I got to waste a full 30 minutes chatting online with them. About WHAT, you ask? You won't believe it.

HAM.

Yes, HAM.

'Tis the season for HAM, right? HAM bones. HAM hocks. HAM lettes ... So c'mon, HAM it up!

Spoleto. Rollerderby. Moonvine. Junebug.

In 1995 I went on foreign study to England with a band of miscreants from Furman. Dusti was one of them. We took classes in the mornings, played afternoons and evenings, wrote in our journals late at night. One morning during class, Dr. Radel had us on the topic of art and geography or something, and Dusti shot her hand up to make a comment. "You know, Charleston has a sister city called Spoleto." Many laughed, because they had no idea what she was talking about. But I did! Spoleto is a city in Italy, and in many ways, a sister to Charleston. We share a visual and performing arts festival started in Italy, and celebrated yearly now in Charleston since 1977.

I've been going to Spoleto since high school. And now it's a tradition for Dusti and me to go together. I look forward to it every year. This year, we had (nosebleed) tickets at the Galliard for the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater's 50th anniversary celebration. Amazing. I got a dance cercie when the company performed Suite Otis (a tribute to Otis Redding). I had never seen that piece. I am always delighted and disappointed all at once with the ephemeral nature of live performance.



Georgie the traveling Giraffe went with me to Spoleto, his first experience in Charleston. He seemed to fit right in at Dusti and Jonathan's house. I think this marks his first experience living with cats. Dusti and Jonathan have three: Faulkner, Whitman, and Titus Bramble. I hope they are all getting along with Georgie, and don't mind him on their hearth for awhile longer.

I got a rollerderby cercie while in Charleston, too. The Lowcountry Highrollers in a bout against the Charlotte Bdazzlers. I was surprised by my own enthusiasm to see the Charleston rollergirls win. By the end of the night, we were all on our feet cheering. Who knew?

That was May. Month of arts and music and festivals and ... moonvines. I soaked last year's seeds and planted them about five weeks ago. By the end of May, there were at least three sprouts, then the heart shaped leaves, then the entwined vines reaching for any possible highpoint. And soon there will be blossoms in the evenings. Big white ones! I will post pictures - they will be your moonlight cercies.

This is June. Month of poolside and sweltering Columbia summer heat and ... LUCK? I was at the garden center this afternoon looking for geraniums and a fern, when ... "Hello!" A ladybug landed right on my chest. I slipped my finger close to her so she would crawl onto it. She did, and went up my arm, then flitted off. My little Junebug luck cercie.

Tulips, bread and a giraffe

Tulips



Spring has been full of cercies.

Tulips are my favorite flowers, ushering in my favorite time of year. When I came home last month one day after work, I found a pot of tulips stuck artfully in my fern planter at the back door. Bright pink popping out of all that green. Wonderful! Thanks, mom. :)

Bread
My good friend Lisa Ellis and I have been training for the past three months. She was my inspiration after she did her first half marathon this year. I'm not much of a runner, but I like the weight training. And I like my new healthy lifestyle hobby. Most of the time Lisa and I are good at keeping one another accountable. She slipped a few Sundays ago, though, and dropped off a loaf of homemade bread. I won't say if I at the whole thing by myself, but it was sweet and delightful. Best of all, a dear friend just showed up at my door and surprised me with it. Who does that anymore? Awesome.

Giraffe



I can't say I'm glad I have Georgie back, because Amanda and I had to be sneaky about taking him when Stella wasn't at home. And Stella so loved him - even gave him his name! But Amanda felt now was as good a time as any, and Georgie should make a new journey.

So the traveling giraffe enjoyed a road trip with me to Merlefest in North Carolina. His first trip to the Blueridge. He got to watch a thunderstorm roll in to Banner Elk as the Honda wound around the curves, hugging the mountain rock through the rain. I would have stopped for a photo opp were it not for the crashing thunder and lightening. He really loved meeting Rob and Meg, and got lots of fresh air at the Mast Farm Inn where we stayed. The bunnies there on the Mast Farm were caged, so Georgie felt happy to be free to sit outside our door unattended. He didn't make it to Merlefest itself. They allow children at the festival - but not giraffes - so he'll just have to look forward to another road trip soon to Charleston for Spoleto. We are very excited indeed about that. But don't tell Dusti - it will spoil the Cercie.

P.S. I've added new blog links and inspiration links. I discovered some wonderful folk artists at Merlefest in the vendor tents (Periwinkle Pass and Art Farm). And just yesterday at the Columbia Crawfish Festival, I discovered a local artist who reforms trash into treasures (Jen Ann Miner). Delightful.

Just de(s)sert

I had a play date today with one of my closest girlfriends from Furman. Since she got hitched back in May, it's been a little difficult to get together. But we pulled it off this weekend, and had a full-on day of Girl Fun in Charleston.

It started with pedicures. Next, a fabulous jaunt to Five Loaves in Mt. Pleasant. Not just dessert ... three courses, starting with Asparagus soup with goat cheese, then Tilapia salad with lemon dressing and a glass of wine, topped off by coconut cake with cream cheese dressing. YUM. A little shopping followed by a personal show and tell of Dusti's latest creative endeavor - the Splatter Paint Purse - and call it a perfect day!

Made only better by the invitation to join Dusti, her husband and several other of their friends on a week-long excursion to Arizona this Summer! A REAL vacation, with rented vans and Vegas nights, mud spas, a vacation house and no humidity! Just desert.

"T" Cercie

My namesake Elizabeth "T" Seabrook Jenkins Love - better known among her beloved grandchildren as Mama "T" - passed away in January. She lived 91 years in South Carolina. I think she left an indelible mark on the state, and on many lives of those who knew and loved her. I think of her and miss her everyday.

It was easy to love Mama "T." She was vivacious and fun and full of generosity. One of the most touching things since her passing is how she is remembered by others, even people who are strangers to me, but whom she knew well.

Take South Carolina House member Lester P. Branham, Jr. of Lake City, for example.

I was making the rounds in conversation at a function after work one evening, and ran into a cohort who introduced me to Representative Branham. "Love," Branham stated as he read my nametag. "Yep," I answered. And so it went until he unraveled the story of how he'd met "T" years ago, pastored her church in Orangeburg, and then again when she moved to Greenwood. How he'd married her daughter Laurie, my Aunt, to George in Orangeburg, and knew my cousin and Uncle's brother very well. "Your grandmother was a sure thing. If there was anyone I knew I could count on to show up and do her part, it was 'T'," he said. I beamed, as if he'd just given me a personal compliment. And so I was fully satisfied, if not a little proud, that my grandmother had set such a reputation before her. And that someone I'd never met, who himself had encountered many faces and personalities in his long career, honored Mama "T" by remembering her so well to me.

It was a "T" Cercie.

---------

Elizabeth T J. Love -- Orangeburg
Friday, January 09, 2009

Elizabeth "T" Jenkins Love, 91, of Orangeburg, died Thursday morning, January 8, 2009, at National Health Care of Greenwood.

Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 10, in the Memorial Park Cemetery, with the Rev. Tony Hopkins officiating.

Mrs. Love was born in Charleston, a daughter of the late Charles Walter Jenkins and Laura Seabrook Jenkins. She was a graduate of Memminger High School, the College of Charleston and received her Masters degree from S.C. State University. Mrs. Love worked for 14 years in the North Charleston and Orangeburg Departments of Recreation. She taught in the public schools of Charleston County and retired from teaching in the Orangeburg City schools in 1979. She was a life member of Delta Kappa Gamma, professional education fraternity.

Mrs. Love resided in Orangeburg for 44 years before making her home in Greenwood to be near her daughter. She was a former deacon, Sunday School teacher and teacher of the International Ministry at First Baptist Church in Orangeburg. In Greenwood, she was a member of First Baptist Church and Benson Sunday School class and the Retired Teachers Organization. She was an avid golfer and tennis player.

Mrs. Love is survived by a son, Baylus Cade Love Jr. and wife, Sandie C. Love of Columbia; a daughter, Laurie Love Cone and husband, Dr. George P. Cone Jr., of Greenwood; four grandchildren, Robert W. Cone and wife, Emily, Charles P. Cone, Amy E. Love and William (Billy) C. Love; one great-grandchild, Preston T. Cone; a brother, Oliver H. Jenkins of Charleston.

The family will receive friends from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday evening in the Parlor of First Baptist Church, Greenwood and following the graveside service in Orangeburg.

Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 637, Orangeburg, SC 29116, or First Baptist Church, 722 Grace Street, Greenwood, SC 29649.

Dukes-Harley Funeral Home of Orangeburg is in charge of arrangements.

'Ring' in the New Year

First post of the New Year! So much serendipity in 2008. And 2009 started out with a 'ring' (don't get excited, Mom. I don't mean THAT kind).

Angie and Carly invited me for New Year's Eve. Two very fine parties with very fine friends. The second a bit more raucous than the first, but as it should be.

A good topic for girls at any party is jewelry. And what better piece to discuss as you 'ring' in the New Year than ... well, you guessed it. I wore my hammered gold 'wonder twins' ring New Year's Eve. The setting is raised, and at one time framed a gorgeous piece of green glass, hand-carved with a scene from Italy. Until I wore it out dancing ... I had to replace the broken glass with the best alternative, a piece of green tourmaline that makes it look like something I won at the fair. But it's a party ring, nonetheless, so I wear it when I go to one. Another friend at the party wore her green tourmaline, too, though hers was set inside a swirl of diamonds. Of course we talked about our rings long enough to drink an entire glass of wine.

That was just the warm up for the rowdier party - with the South Americans.

At the second party, it didn't take too much champagne for me to get curious in the guest bathroom and peek into the little wood box next to the sink. It was FULL of amazing rings! All shapes and colors, many of them acrylic, or made of wood with special designs. I snapped it shut. "Don't try one on, Amy. That would be a gaffe." Instead, I went to the hosts and confessed. Lili and Ana laughed when I spilled the beans (not the rings), about discovering their ring treasures. They took me to the room where they kept even more spectacular jewelry from artisans in South America, whose work the two art collectors bring back to sell in the U.S.

Partially due to too much champagne, I gushed and awed at the jewelry, until Lili offered me one of the most spectacular, raspberry-colored acrylic rings. "Here, you take this one," she insisted, and shoved it onto my finger. I was delighted, of course, and got to 'ring' in the New Year with a cercie and smile!

P.S. I gave it back the next morning ... don't drink and 'cercie.'