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.'

Traveling giraffe goes to Greenville

After much protest - not from Tess, but from her Uncle Greg - Traveling Giraffe left its first stop in Columbia, where it had found a loving home at the Maxwell's. I think it really liked the fine view of the lake from their back porch, and the constant little girl sounds echoing throughout their beautiful home. But it was time for a new adventure, and just before Thanksgiving, I went by the Maxwell's to claim Giraffe, promising them that Giraffe would certainly make its way back to a place where it was once so well-loved.

And so we were off - Giraffe and I - on a road trip to Greenville. I think it enjoyed listening to the iTunes mix I made for the trip: an eclectic assembly of Deanna Carter, the Troggs, Calexico and Iron and Wine, Gnarles Barkley ... good tunes make for good travel.

My friend Amanda - the next unawares recipient of Giraffe - met me at the Place of Peace at Furman. If you need renewal, go there. It has magical powers. Much like Traveling Giraffe has powers of spreading cercie love and joy wherever it goes.

First – renewal, second – serendipity ...

After the Place of Peace, Amanda and I headed to downtown Greenville and I surprised her with Traveling Giraffe. We took him to lunch with us. Turned heads. Smiles. Friendly commentary. Envy. "I want a Giraffe!" exclaimed the grown man at the table beside ours.

Amanda took Giraffe home that day and surprised her daughter Stella with it. As you can see from the photo capturing the moment, Stella is quite enamored of Giraffe. So enamored, in fact, that she's given it a name!

Say hello to Georgie Giraffe.

The perfect guy cercie

I spent time this week at the Museum of Natural History in D.C. The T-Rex replica was particularly exciting. If only my friend's son Noah could have been there with me. He's a two-going-on-twenty-year-old dinosaur buff. Can name 'em all. So I went by the museum shop on my way out and bought Noah the Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs pop-up book by acclaimed pop-up artist Robert Sabuda. When I delivered Noah the book today, I also promised his four-month-old brother Liam that he'd get one, too, some day ... as soon as we figured out exactly what he likes besides breast milk. "A pop-up boob book!" his mother quipped.

The perfect guy cercie [giggle].

Annabelle and Peppercorn

Annabelle and Peppercorn were all dressed up for Halloween.

Two basset hounds - fat ones. It's hard to tell them apart, and rarely are they. Two peas in a pod you could say. Or in the case of Halloween night, two 'bees' in a pod. Each has black and white spots, droopy ears, short legs, a long tail -- and on October 31st, bumble bee wings. "If Annabelle and Peppercorn could fly ..." we teased later.

My friend Tonya is a true Cercie Lover. Annabelle and Peppercorn are her babies. She dresses them up every year for trick-or-treaters. For the past two years she's had Halloween photos made of the 'kids' dressed as bumble bees. She leaves the photo with a tiny little bag full of candy at my doorstep on Halloween. A little BOO! cercie.

Save the date

I got a little save-the-date cercie today.

How can a notice about something in the future be serendipitous, you ask? Easy, when you're saving the date for a baby-on-the-way! Two of my dearest friends today sent word that each is expecting her first baby in the Spring of 2009.

Kelly made the announcement by posting a picture on Face Book of a Carolina Gamecocks 'onesie' with a note on it that said: Save the date! May 4, 2009. Karen sent out her daily e-mail poetry snapshot - this time with a special poem attached by Nan Cohen called “A Newborn Girl at Passover" (though she's actually expecting a boy). Congratulations, Kelly and Jeff, and Karen and Jim! And thanks for sharing your joyous surprise news with me. It gave me my cercie rush of the day. I'm starting to get addicted ... more - more - more!