Because the world is a giant mess and getting worse by the minute it seems,I’m escaping that reality and just posting pretty pictures instead. Last week Jack & I drove down to Wake Forest to clean out his dorm room for good. His girlfriend Elizabeth and her amazingly lovely mom, Anne, invited us to stay with them at their house in Pinehurst NC instead of having to go to a hotel. And I can definitely tell you, southern hospitality is TOTALLY a thing!!

First off, we made it to Washington DC in 3.5 hours (normally about 5 hours) and all the way to Pinehurst in 8.5 hours (usually around 10-12hours) including a 30 minute lunch break of no driving. I was doing 74mph on the Belt Parkway!! Unheard of and if you live here in NY or travel around here, you know that never, ever happens– not even on like a Tuesday night at 3am. This may be the only part of the “new normal” that I actually enjoy and find positive. I think we averaged around 82mph for the whole trip.

When we arrived, I had my own room waiting for me which was perfectly “my” colors (even matched my luggage!) with fresh cut roses and candy by the bed. And there were Hershey Kisses in the dining room. And she’s a Cure fan! Its like Anne and I were meant to be friends! (the only thing that she doesn’t enjoy is cursing. you guys know me and know that would be a problem for me. but i did it! no cursing at all for 3 days! its like a miracle!). So not only was their home at Pinehurst lovely, and the town and community they live in beautiful, most importantly Anne and Elizabeth were so super nice and sweet and genuine and welcoming. They even took us out to dinner at a real restaurant to celebrate Jack’s graduation (restaurant=unheard of here in NY these pandemic days) and drove us around everywhere. The thing that stood out to me in a funny so-not-happening-in-new york kinda way was that each person in their development had their names (first and last) and the address printed on their mailboxes. All I could think was why don’t you just post your credit card and social security numbers on there too! The south is so nice and so different. In the best way!

Anyway, I did a little shoot for Jack & Elizabeth and a picture or two for Anne too. The furry creatures are Fox Squirrels. I am so not a nature photographer, I definitely don’t have the patience. And let me say its really annoying when your “client” lives in your house and stands over you telling you what pictures you can and cannot post. PS. Isn’t Elizabeth gorgeous?