the final days at Furman

The final days at Furman have been what it's like to experience college without the classes.

I finished my final Furman final ever and went to Twiggs, a ladies luncheon place, with my English academic adviser Dr. Shackelford and three additional female advisees.

Twiggs was so relaxing and beautiful and delicious. Tridelt held our semiformal there back in the fall, and there are gorgeous plants everywhere. We sat outside and it felt like we were dining in a garden and there was a gurgling fountain close by and Frank Sinatra playing softly in the background. I think I need to recreate this atmosphere soon!

Dr. Shackelford has been a wonderful adviser. As a freshman trying to figure out my major, I took an English class with her in the spring - an American novels class (American novels from its beginning to WWI) - and took three more classes with her throughout my time at Furman - (American novels from WWI - present, Female Gothic Literature, and Business Communication). She is a warm, kind, southern prissy lady, passionate about her students and passionate about what she teaches.

That night I went downtown to Barleys for some pizza with Jessie, Mandy, Allison, Caroline, Amanda, and others. I got cheese pizza with portabella mmmmm. Then Allison, Caroline, and I went to Luna Rosa for some gelato mmmmm and went back to Allison's to watch The Holiday and try the Polkadot Riesling I gave her for her birthday.

Thursday I woke up bright and early and got some boxes from Lowes, put on Gone With the Wind, and began putting my stuff away. I love Gone With the Wind, I do. I love the romance and the adventure and the characters, but I had to turn it off. I can no longer tolerate how mean Scarlett is to Rhett and how she throws happiness and love away with both hands. He is so kind and loving and she clings to dreams of another man that have no substance. Ugggggh. And Ashley! Kissing her, using loaded words. She cannot be completely faulted because his actions could be interpreted so that she can read into them to her benefit though they don't align with his true intentions so he passive aggressively leads her on. It's a mess. But Melanie is beautiful and so are the clothes and homes pre and post war!

I went to TJ Maxx and Pink Bee with Caroline but did not buy anything; it was simply fun to be with one of my best friends and browse among the pretty colorful things!

Caroline told me grades were up so I checked mine. I squeaked out a B in Biology, so I WILL be graduating CUM LAUDE with a 3.5 GPA from Furman University!!!!!!! I am proud of this. The accumulation of 4 years of hard work. :)

Last night I went to Falls Park to have Spill the Beans with Mary and Nancy and sat overlooking the park. I then joined a group of girls at Stellar, one of my FAVORITES, organized by Brita. I had caprese salad, Shiraz, Moscato, and some flourless chocolate cake with espresso gelato mmmmmm.

Today I slept in until 10:30 - because I can :) - and now I think I am going to find my coffee and get to packing some more. What today holds has yet to be determined!

I hear thunder rolling outside but hopefully that will pass over - or, it can rain all it wants just as long as graduation day is clear. I do know that my parents should arrive in time for dinner, Clint will arrive around 10:30, and the friends have arranged one last outing to the karaoke Barn, but besides that, we'll see!!