Life in Savannah has been a little crazy lately. I have been busy at work and the city of Savannah itself has been bustling.

This weekend marked the end of the Savannah Film Festival, which is a week-long festival that has gained a lot of attention and praise in the entertainment industry. It is hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design (otherwise known as SCAD) and attracts some big names. This year’s slate included Lily Tomlin, Ellen Barkin, James Marsden, James Cromwell, lots of directors whose names were not familiar to me and … Alec Baldwin. I seriously considered stalking Alec for a period of time. I am not sure if good sense or laziness overcame me, but one did and I did not. I love 30 Rock and have seen It’s Complicated five times several times. He makes me laugh.

Also this past weekend was the inaugural Savannah Rock and Roll Marathon (and 1/2 marathon). I registered for the half marathon when registration was first open, but decided, with my hip issues, to not run it. I had very mixed feelings about it – probably sadness more than anything to not be a part of something so exciting for our city.

The city was ALIVE with athletes starting on Friday. I went to the expo (with my sweet mama) to pick up my t-shirt (which I will feel guilty wearing since I did not run the race) and felt like I was at the airport in Las Vegas. Every once in a while it occurs to me that perhaps I have lived in a small town too long. This was one of those moments.

The amount of people and the booths, and the free swag, and people yelling and calling to me and telling me about what they were trying to give to me or sell to me was honestly… somewhere between pretty cool and a bit much.

Since my deals at work closed this past week, my husband and I decided to come up to the mountains for a breather and another look at the change of seasons. He went right to the mountains from a business trip and I headed out (with my faithful four-legged companions) Saturday morning, having to take very circuitous routes out-of-town due to multiple road closures for the marathon.

My husband and I have named our house in the mountains Serenity Now. This sign greets us in the front hall of the house:

We are both Seinfeld fans and my husband’s favorite character is George’s father – who was known to yell “Serenity Now!!” The name fits. As I make the final climb (and it is a doozy of a final climb), stress seems to leave me.

At the elevation of Serenity Now, the leaves are off of the trees. However, the views into the lower elevations are spectacular. This afternoon (Sunday), we left walking from the house to take a hike which lasted for about an hour and a half.  Of all of our views, these two pictures best capture the variety of colors:

Now, on a cold Sunday evening, we are sitting in front of a fire, enjoying a glass of red wine, catching our breath.

Serenity Now!!

sunrise from the bedroom - table rock on the right and hawk's bill on the left

Have a wonderful week!