Kitchen Renovation Complete!!!

The kitchen renovations are finally complete!! You can see the original kitchen (pre-Ashley and Anna) here: http://annamcleod.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html

and then see the kitchen after our initial renovation: http://annamcleod.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html

But the final product is here! Below is a picture of the countertops removed...making way for the granite countertops.

And the finished look, even complete with Windy in the left corner. The look suits the kitchen....we're both really pleased. Mama and Papa came today and gave their approval, too.

Finally after months of waiting and deliberating...it's done!! It will be time for another party soon to take advantage of this space!

In other news, please say a little prayer for our dog, Max. He has pancreatitis (inflamed pancreas, which explains all of his digestive troubles). Fingers crossed that he pulls through it...for now, his diet consists of chicken broth, cooked chicken, and a few pieces of dog food.

Lesley's Wedding in Baltimore

January 4-6, 2008

I got to spend some time with three of my favorite girls from the Tyler Place. Lesley Stein (middle here) got married in Baltimore and Jo Varley (right) from Canada and Taryn (below in another picture) from Australia came. We had a big time dancing at the wedding and catching up on old times!Without suitable men to dance with, Taryn and Jo realized THEY were the best dancers!
At one point, Jo and I got very cold at the reception and came up to our room to warm up. Here we are standing above the heating vent. Crazy girls!

This weekend really reminded me that I can keep close friends who are far away--and when we reunite, it's like we just saw each other last week. How lucky!

New Year's Eve with the McLeods!

Happy New Year's from West Columbia! We had 15 or so of our friends over for a New Year's Eve party, even though I was under the weather (aka, lost my voice, had sore throat). It was a lot of fun! This post reminds me that we have had the camera for two years, and this blog, too (see this posting: http://annamcleod.blogspot.com/2006/01/new-years-in-lexington-county.html) For the party, we made all sorts of treats. One of the featured items was pastry wrapped brie with different jam and dried fruit. This was Jennifer's idea and it was quite the hit (located on the palmetto platter here).

Jennifer and her boyfriend Andy came to stay with us. It was great having them here!

The crowd in the kitchen, feasting on our first batch ever of Chicken Bog (I used Paula Dean's recipe). By the way, our new appliances arrived last Thursday...pictures coming soon once the countertops are installed. We decided to go with granite instead (Blanc Noir) of the silestone because Home Depot had an excellent deal that we couldn't pass up!

Max was really fed up with all the festivities. The holidays actually caused him to have anxiety attacks (I won't go into all the trouble he had)--but Ashley has straightened him out. We're using some of Caesar's Dogwhispering techniques to help him calm down :o)

Buffy and Katie

Around 11:40 p.m. we went over to our neighbors, Nathan and Ann, for fireworks. It was quite the celebration. Here's Andy launching a bottle rocket.

The fireworks set off by the neighbors were professional quality. The show went on for well over 30 minutes.

Nathan and Ashley. Would you believe Nathan is over 70?!

Staying warm with Buffy!

Winding down at Nathan and Ann's...Leighton gets cozy with Mish and Angus.