Mother’s Day Weekend

My mother’s day weekend was purt near perfect. Our friends Beth and Richard from Raleigh drove down Friday. We packed the boys off for a golf outing with warnings that they should play nice, then we scampered over to Scott’s Antique Market, where we met my friend Mary for a day of junking and hilarity. Also chocolate and Greek food. If you go to Scott’s, you simply must go to the food court and eat Greek. We love the hummus and the Greek salad and the Carolina Caviar. And the desserts. Beth was buying stuff for her antique shop, Knick-Knack Paddywhack. She now has a booth in Hunt and Gather, a spiffy antique mall on Whitaker Mill Road that you should definitely check out if you’re anywhere near Raleigh. I was on the hunt for a glider for the porch at The Breeze Inn, and some “smalls” for my booth at Seaside Sisters. I scored on both counts. The glider is currently crammed in the back of Mr. Mary Kay’s Tahoe for the trip down to Tybee, but I promise to chronicle the before and after transformation I have planned for it. Friday night dinner was at Wahoo, a cool restaurant in Decatur. Saturday morning, the boys forced themselves to go play more golf, and Beth and I made the trip back to Scott’s. After we’d packed her vehicle to the very tippy-top, we reluctantly forced ourselves to stop junking when it seemed Beth and Richard might have to make the trip back to Raleigh with Richard’s bony Presbyterian ass bungee-corded to the roof rack. We then treated ourselves to tickets to the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Garden Tour for Connoisseurs. First stop was the always amazing garden of avant garde garden designer Ryan Gainey. We wanted to climb his tree tower and move in, but then thought better of it. We visited another garden, in Morningside, with a Shakespearean theme, and another with a breath-taking swath of pink and purple foxgloves in full bloom. Then we went home and cooked Beth’s recipe for mushroom-stuffed quail. Yum!

Sunday morning unveiled a perfect Mother’s Day. Both my chicks were close to the nest. Katie and Andy and Tom and my sister-in-law Jeanne cooked us a great lunch, and showered me with gifts. My favorite was the glorious gardenia bush loaded with blooms. The scent of gardenias always takes me back to childhood days growing up in Florida. After lunch I took a long nap, and a walk around our own garden,which is looking lovely right now, thanks to all the blessed rain we’ve had this spring–as well as Mr. Mary Kay’s hard work. Around twilight, Tom and I were sipping wine on the porch and listening to Diana Krall when our good friends Joel and Ellen came strolling up the street to join us. Good times!