Collecting Maggies....part 1 here.

If they’re not getting married or having birthdays, then there is a good chance a Maggie in this Farmer’s life is having a baby – 2 out of 3 this year thus far!

My precious little chunk of a nephew Napp was born on January 17 this year and we celebrated prior to his arrival with a shower at home. Since I collect Maggies, these gals usually fall into some line or pattern – for Sister and BFF, this year it was babies… baby boys to be exact! Napp and Henry have made me Uncle and “Uncle” twice over, and needless to say I’m doubly overjoyed!!

For Baby G’s shower (his nickname through his term and it is sticking – although his name, Thomas Henry Griffin, is just about as handsome as they come), we threw a shindig at the Griffins’ gorgeous home – part of the treat for G’s mommy! As a constant traveler up and down Georgia’s highways and biways herself, BFF knows the luxury of a weekend at home with friends and family – only having to leave the house once to “borrow” some forsythia branches for the foyer centerpiece.

A fun group of childhood, high school, college and community friends teamed together to host and celebrate the coming arrival of Baby G. One thing I loved so dearly about this weekend was that it was the perfect weekend – food, friends and flowers! We ate, decorated, rearranged furniture, ate, decorated, rearranged furniture, ate, decorated and rearranged furniture. Did I mention that we ate? Our darling friend Amanda Wilbanks sent over not one of her fabulously fantastically delicious pies, but at least 4!!! Buttermilk, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Coffee, Pecan… ya’ll – those were just the ones I could count! We ate so much pie that weekend, but I am pretty sure we laughed off the calories! There is NOTHING BETTER than being with friends you’ve known since you could walk and having scrapbooks and yearbooks to further enhance the memories and recall the names we just couldn’t remember!

Maggie Griffin and I have a bond over many things (besides pie). We are the products of two AMAZING women who are the products of two AMAZING women – our mamas and our grandmothers. Her Baboo and my Mimi were two of the finest individuals known to tread this earth, and their instilment into their eldest grandchildren for Southern heritage, family strength, tradition and love for beauty is evident in our careers as designers. Even as I write this, I’m tearing up at the memory of these beloved ladies who would have been right there with us moving sofas, setting tables, arranging flowers and hanging plates if they could – after all, they taught us how and so much more!

Love for design and a beautiful, welcoming and warm home came from our grandmothers to Maggie and me – to each Maggie in my collection and me for that matter! BFF and I – we both know that we can waltz right into each other’s homes, merely mention “have you thought about rearranging this or that” and we get going! We call it “fluffing.” Maggie may have been “nesting” in anticipation of Baby G, but, ya’ll, just let me tell you: we love to fluff! We do it for a living at clients’ homes across the South, but there is something terrifically special about fluffing with your friends! We even love to eat fluff and a myriad of other Southern congealed and marshmallow salads, but that is a post for another day!

We switched rugs, hung prints and plates (big shock there I know), arranged flowers, took breaks for pie, stayed up late laughing and telling stories, and then started over the next day. By the time the shower guests arrived on Sunday afternoon, we had pretty much had our fun for the weekend! The partygoers were the icing on the cake! Or should I say pie? Anyways…

Maggie and David open their beautiful home to friends and family often – and now it is home to Mr. Thomas Henry Griffin too. Getting to be Uncle twice in a year is too much fun, ya’ll! Getting ready for those nephews to come is part of the fun too – especially when there is a smorgasbord of pie!

several pics borrowed via