The Deep South Manual: September Edition

Run, run, run to you mailboxes ladies and gents. The September Southern Living has arrived! Now everyone take out your "manual" and face the front of the class. Your teacher will go over the finer points of this issue.

First of all, hats off to the folks over in Birmingham at our beloved Southern Living. What a fabulous issue they turned out this month. I believe I doubled the size of my magazine by all the corners I dogeared. My husband and I are true believers in our southern magazines. I stand by Southern Living and he is a Garden and Gun fanatic (I am sure if you egg him on he will guest blog on the issues).

Several delights:

• Page 28 featured Serenbe Farms. For those of you who live within the reasonable driving distance for Serenbe, this is a must see. Take your wife for an overnight trip or pack up and drive down for the day. The houses are breathtaking and idea inspiring through varied architectural elements. The inn allows for ample relaxation and pampering, and there is something truly refreshing about farm to table dining.
• Page 35 is near and dear to my heart. It features recommendations for a Georgia lowcountry road trip. Those of you who know me on a more personal level know that a small portion of my brain is sitting in a chair on the Georgia coast every day. If my dear husband said we could move to Saint Simon's, my house would be packed up overnight and we would be on the road by 5 am. If you are thinking about a trip to Savannah, venture south down 17 and enjoy the simplicity of Georgia's coast.

• http://www.southernliving.com/travel/south-east/savannah-st-simons-island-travel-00417000068690/
• Page 48 is something I have on my list of places to check out. My dear husband has a love affair with the clothing from Sid Mashburn. Sid's wife Ann has now opened her own store. I love the timeless classics they both view as essential to a wardrobe. Ann explains how timeless clothing choices can support your wardrobe for years.
• I could truly go on and on, but you would know too much and not go pick up your own copy of the magazine. I will leave you with one last favorite from the magazine. The highlight article of the issue is The Secret to Being Southern. Tip #3 is something that I am so picky about. I want to preface this by saying I am not here to offend anyone at all, but the description of how to write a charming thank-you note is a blessing to my soul. A well written thank you note can make my day. I have saved a box of good thank you notes and shall we say less appealing notes. I hope to use these some time in the future to teach my peanut how to write thank you notes.

I hope I have left you hankering for more. I feel like I should start from the beginning with my issue and read it all over again. Go pick up your "manual" this weekend and sit by the pool, sip your sweet tea, and educate yourself on the intricacies of Southern culture. I am sure if you encourage me enough I will give away a one-year subscription at some point. I guess you will just have to wait and see!

with Belles and Beauxs

** I am in no way affiliated with Southern Living. While I would love to work for this fantastic magazine in my dreams, in reality I just read and learn the "manual" on a monthly basis.