Happy Birthday, Gorgeous

One of our last Friday nights in Charleston was spent at the Gruenloh home celebrating beautiful Anna's birthday. Mike made an amazing dinner (comma of course) Nat & Lily brought bubbles, Tim added to the couple's art collection, and I made Anna a really unfortunate looking (read: hilariously hideous) birthday cake, complete with pink icing and red sprinkles (seriously, I spent a good hour trying to photoshop this cake into oblivion). We played some really intense Uno games and lit sparklers at the end of the night.

                                                                 

I could never begin to say enough about Anna. She's the warmest, kindest, most up-for-anything friend a girl could have. She got the red wine stain out of my wedding dress during our reception in two seconds flat, lent me a dress for her own wedding day, painted my students faces for their end-of-year musical (and stayed for the whole performance) and hosted a going away party for Tim & I on her actual birthday. She is incredible and today, she's the thing I miss most about Charleston. Typically I reserve "happy birthday, gorgeous" for my husband, but I'm making an exception this time. 

School Pictures

My friend Shannon drove down from Columbia on Saturday JUST to visit some of her old students, because she's actually bursting with love for them. When I walked up, they all hollered "MIZZZ COBBZZZ" and ran across a very crowded Church Street to hug me. We descended on the candy store on Market, drinking cokes-in-a-bottle, while catching up on all the good North Charleston elementary aged gossip.

Gelato/Headshots

Nat & Lily, our recently transplanted friends from LA, came over for dinner last night. They know everything there is to know about wine, laugh at all the right places, and indulged my burgeoning (struggling) night-time photography skills. 

Jill Hooper

This gorgeous woman asked me to sit for a portrait back in August. I haven't the faintest idea what she'll do with the painting, but I did get to spend a couple of sunny afternoons in the most incredible studio on Broad, with the warmest, most engaging, talented classical realist in all of Charleston. In between sittings, I'd wander around drinking wine and basking in the Northern light that floods the entire three room studio.

Also I found this under-painting of Tim in a corner! UNDER-PAINTING. This woman has skills, y'all.