"Still it's a real good bet the best is yet to come."
-Frank Sinatra

WEDDING WORK ALL WORTHWHILE PT 4 (WRAP-UP & HONEYMOON) + DATE 14, 2011

My mother gifted Slade some cowboy watercolors that she had purchased years ago and never had known what to do with until now. They hang in our living room and make me me think also of Mama's skirt and how I guess we've all been waiting for Slade for a long long time and just didn't even know it until now, how he so easily fits right where we all so badly needed someone strong to do so. And he's kind of a cowboy.

No idea who the artist is. Don't even ask me. I really enjoy them though. Great gift.

The thank you cards are a two-card affair, with one piece of blank stationery (the same from the welcome bags) that contained a quick message to thank the guest for coming Easter weekend, and a simple thank you color bar image with a white box on the underside, in which I drew quick illustrations of the gifts that we received.

packaged

I think that they turned out fun and I enclosed a bit of beautiful confetti so that all correspondence from us remains fun and festive.

interior illustrations

A really great friend of ours, Mr. Andy Fung of Chicago, wrote the most awesome article about our wedding (and boots, hangovers, and Jennifer Love (!)) and it was by far one of the coolest gifts we have ever received. You can read it here and I do thank him for rating our's the second best wedding as we did attend theirs in Dallas and it was awesome.

We stayed in a family home on Seabrook Island for a week and had the most divine time. WE are very very good travelers, Slade and I. Not a single moment was wasted and we cooked huge meals in our enormous kitchen and spent a ton of time on our private dock, both catching crabs and not.

my husband makes me two types of pork for breakfast, which means that I have married the right man

off of the dock from the house

Fishing appeared to be somewhat of a lost cause though Slade did continue to man up over and over again and continue to try.
And there is most definitely something to be said for the big sky effect in SC.

And while fishing itself was not a success, we had lots of luck catching crabs and we actually got quite good at cleaning these dirty things.
Fun for city kids. And Slade can make a vicious crab cake.

from Red's at Bohicket Marina

There are signs that say that alligators are dangerous all over the place at Seabrook. So dumb.
The egrets are pretty though. Pretty until they're eaten by...

Mean Gene is the alligator that resides in the pond a small distance from the house and he is a very long guy. Sometimes you can catch him splayed out on the banks catching sun or occasionally & very specifically placed under a bough that supports egrets.
Very sneaky, Geney.

We took an amazing private boat tour through Charleston Harbor, past Ft Sumter and of course under the gorgeous Charleston Bridge. The weather was sunny and clear and we had the finest time making little vodka drinks and asking our captain as many questions as we could.
Slade could be serious about boating life. I think that I could too. Or maybe I'm just thinking about boat drinks that I cold be serious about.

The tour was fantastic and I must say that the way to sightsee in Charleston is by private boat. None of the tourists and all of the gorgeous sights. And it really and truly is a fabulous, beautiful city.

I had spent that morning and early afternoon with John Carroll Doyle, from whom I took an art lesson. John is fascinating and very layered and his paintings are remarkably thoughtful & intelligently done. He is completely self-taught and has created quite a niche for himself with both a remarkable studio space and a beautiful gallery just blocks away.

During the last part of my lesson, John painted a simple still life that he had set up. It was so satisfying to watch someone else go through the process and I was especially influenced by a scraping technique that he used to eliminate hard edges after the paint has set a bit. I think of the lesson I took & him often and very much look forward to taking another.
Perhaps at Christmastime.

This very magical day was followed by dinner at FIG, which I had just been dying to go to, but was so incredibly booked for our entire stay in South Carolina. And us being super-awesome and courageous travelers, we went anyway, waited patiently, put our name on the list for the bar and sat with adorable locals, all of whom had been to FIG multiple times and had much to say about the restaurant and the city.

FIG stands for food is good and the chef, Mike Latta, has been in all sorts of publications and is additionally very very handsome (which is perhaps why I pay attention.)
His food is creative, local, seasonal, beautiful. I ate a coddled-egg-something there that I sometimes dream about.
Outstanding evening. Outstanding day, really.

We walked the nearby Folly Beach, which was gorgeous. Perhaps we are too easily impressed, but I have been landlocked for so long and I just love to see water. We also worked on our ridiculous sunburns as only cityfolk really can.

a little tennis

When I had come to South Carolina over Christmas break, my precious father John, had showed me the Angel Tree and it was my honor to show it to Slade. He grew a tad suspicious on the way there as you take a questionable looking road that calls to mind Dateline episodes that describe people disappearing on deserted rural roads. But as soon as you see the Angel Tree you understand all of the hoopla-- It's truly awesome.

click to enlarge

The ride to Seabrook from Charleston is about 45 minutes and so we had plenty of time to look at the millions of churches that line the roads, dotted with all sorts of backwards & funny things all along the way. There were a few things worth turning around for, one being the house above and two being the lady lessons being offered on Fish Day. The house above won my love because of the tent in lieu of home repairs and/or additions and the mixed patio set up, all facing the busy road. Awesome awesome awesome.

My last honeymoon funny comes courtesy of the blonde toupee gentleman from the airport. This man's denial covers not only the unfortunate hairpiece, but the obvious and shameful swimsuit as shorts maneuver. I have no idea why flying on an airplane has become a day at Wal-Mart, but I am obviously taking over the Vice Mag Do's & Don'ts.

And maybe the very last honeymoon funny is Slade's apparent vacation exhaustion and sunburn, topped with a brand spanking new tourist t-shirt. Love it. We had just the best trip.

It was without a doubt the very finest ten days I have ever had in my life. We are no doubt loved by so many and continue to adore one another. I think that we are both happy to be married and happy that its to one another. Life is good & simple and good when its simple, who cares about lost programs and having dry hair?!

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