So…  we all remember my awkward (on my end) encounter with Rhoda from Southern Hospitality at her HomeGoods party a few weeks ago, yes?  Well, sadly, that is just the tip of the iceberg.  I went to her open house a couple of weekends ago – in hopes that this time I would be able to string together at least 10 words and seem a little less, well, insane.  I’m guessing you know how this one turns out, but I wouldn’t want to spare you the awkward details — so that maybe just for a few seconds you can feel my pain…

I arrived at the open house with my mother-in-law and her friend (both of whom had gone to one of Rhoda’s thrifting outings last summer and had met her there), so I was excited that I was armed with a “posse” (ok, fine, they weren’t exactly my posse, but they did give me a ride so I didn’t have to go alone) that already knew her so that maybe I would feel a little less nervous.  Well, I think I at least introduced myself this time, so that is something, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t take 10 words…  While my mother-in-law and her friend were speaking to Rhoda, I was trying to think of something semi-intelligent to say and was coming up blank.  Then, Rhoda asked if we were all related, and I answered the question with as few words as humanly possible and stopped speaking.  The cat got my tongue.  Again.  I may have reached my arbitrary 10-word goal, but I’m guessing I should aim a bit higher next time…  I even forgot to ask to get a picture with her — that should have at least given me a few more words in my conversation word count and a picture for this post, but yeah, this awkward newbie blogger failed on both counts there.

The open house was great — Rhoda has done some amazing things with her house in a short time!  I am in love with the paint treatment she did on her bedroom focal wall, the curtains she stenciled for her bedroom, the chandelier in her living room, the runners she installed on her stairs, the bright cheery color she painted the back of her entry door, the updates in her hall bath that look amazing, the way her beautiful new kitchen turned out, the stenciling in her office, the 3 cute little bird prints hung in her basement – I could go on for a while here…  And, yet, I didn’t mention any of that when I got my second chance to talk to her in person.  O well, next time.  (You can read Rhoda’s recap from her open house here.  I didn’t want to post my pictures of all of my favorite things from her house since it is her house, but you can take a virtual tour of her house on her blog here.)

Once again, Rhoda was very gracious and lovely, and I was an awkward dufus.  Hoping the third time is, in fact, the charm, and that the next time I meet Rhoda that I can act like a normal normal-for-me person.  I mean, once you meet someone three times, you are friends, right??  So, I shouldn’t be nervous about talking to my friend, yes?

Anyone else out there that takes a few meetings before you can act like yourself? Can’t get enough of my awkward-ness?  Don’t worry — I’ll be posting recaps of my recent adventures at the book signings of Jen Lancaster and Young House Love in a jiff.

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