Bon Annee!

Well, the offices here at PP headquarters are looking quite spiffy what with the new paint and all. I confronted a dust bunny behind our Accountant's desk that sat there and said, "Hey, what's up." I'm just saying, a vacuum was definitely in order.

In other news, hey, it's New Year's Eve! Fish is doing things up in style, as usual. (You know you want to ring in '09 with your favorite Frenchman.) DJ JAZ starts spinning at 10 pm. And then there's a four course supper for $50...(wine pairings with each course are an extra $15).

Bon Annee!

1st course: Fried local shrimp spring roll with thai vinaigrette

2nd: Pan-seared scallops with local peppers and pad thai noodles

3rd: Roasted duck breast with crystallized ginger, haricot vert, smoked bacon potato gratin & duck jus

4th: Fudge chocolate cake with white chocolate mousse, divine chocolate sauce & peppermint ice cream

For you die-hard fans, our regular dinner menu will also be available. Oh, and at the stroke of midnight, we'll have a complimentary champagne toast.

Let's recap: delicious, affordable food, champagne toast, funky vibes and great people. Rock on, 2009.

And finally, special congratulations to our Charleston Magazine pal Misty Lister, our New Year's Eve bride at Lowndes Grove!

Have yourself a merry little painting party...

Season's Greetings, sportsfans! Just back in the office today after several days of holiday merry-making and hope you did the same. Short post today as I'm all tuckered out and covered in paint freckles. Yes, we're doing a little New Year's spruce up over at the PP headquarters offices. Things are shaping up nicely and hey, it's always nice to wear jeans. For the record though, baseboards are bad. Very bad. More when the paint dries.

Simple pleasures & the PP year in pictures

'Tis a blustery day awfully close to Christmas, and the PP offices have thinned out with folks taking time to visit family and friends. I hope you get to do the say, Internet, because it's important to take time and sit with some good folks and laugh your biggest belly laugh and hopefully eat something wonderfully warm and/or comforting. (I keep my pleasures simple, people.)

Here's a peek at the PP year in pictures for your enjoyment. Safe travels and cheers to all of you.

The Giving Tree

Yesterday, Lowndes Grove and the PP family reached out to a neighbor in need. The Florence Crittenton Home is a local non-profit that provides a therapeutic residence and support for pregnant and parenting young women, ages 12 to 21, and it's literally right down the street from Lowndes Grove. Unfortunately, like many area non-profits, it's experiencing severe financial difficulties, largely due to our struggling economy.


So, to support these great women and spread some holiday cheer, Lowndes Grove hosted a festive gathering, complete with homemade cookies, hot chocolate, holiday music and gift cards hung on an evergreen tree for the moms and children’s most needed things. Macy Gray, Lowndes Grove GM Ashley Gunnin's cat, was a hit with the ladies too, even if she is a bit shy.


Was talking to some friends about the "state of things." It only takes a minute to get truly down about the economy, war and all around struggle. It's enough to stop you in your tracks and keep you from doing anything at all, which is the greatest trap of all. I suppose when it comes down to it, you just do what you can. Like Mother Teresa said: "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."

Puttin' the BAR back in BARgain

You like that? That's what writing nonsense and doodling on a conference call will do for you, kids. Magic!

But truly, Happy Hour drink prices (subhead: during these trying economic times) are nothing to sneeze at. As a reminder, Fish now proudly offers Happy Hour, or as the French call it, Bonne Heure, Monday through Friday, from 5:30 until 8 pm. During which time, you can partake in:

$2.50 Bud & Bud Light

$3.50 well drinks

$4 specialty cocktails

$5 house wine

$1 dim sum!

And, far be it from me to reccomend something I did not actually try. I was present for Fish's inaugural Happy Hour and I must say it was an extremely pleasant, yummy, relaxing and affordable experience. Hip hip hooray!

While we're talking economic conditions, I must say I am always fascinated and delighted by what advertisers, artists, writers, marketers and creatives of all shapes and sizes will do to make us laugh in spite of our worries, anxieties and other things that make our shoulders crawl up toward our ears. AND reveal little moments of greatness and beauty while they're at it. For instance, take a look at this WWII propaganda redux that is just as true today as it was in 1939.

Check this out, too. I was talking to some folks the other day about our collective "need to know," especially during times of uncertainty. We want to know and feel good about our decisions: from who is growing our vegetables to taking the time to handwrite a note...or NOT, as the case may be. This is genius and also somehow disconcerting. Pay someone to write a lovely card for you (strict no stalking policy). I'm just not sure how I feel about it and yet, as a writer and lover of paper, I'm thrilled. Mmm, mixed feelings. Still, nice stationery! Take a letter, Maria!

Patrick Properties, how refreshing!

What's up at PP today, you ask? I bought a whirling dervish from Zinn Rug Gallery today. And then I informed several PP staffers just exactly WHAT a whirling dervish is. I'm a big Rumi fan so it just sort of follows that you also adore the dervishes.

In other news, several of the PP staffers and I are partook of Fish's inaugural Happy Hour last night. I'm pleased to report that the mood at the Fish bar was, in a word, HAPPY. One might even say CONTENT. One could so far as to say DOWNRIGHT GIDDY. I am NOT making this up. Who knew $4 specialty cocktails could make one feel so dandy?

In WAY other news, I have been utterly obsessed with this vintage advertising blog. May I ask, for one quick second, why the golden light in the 1960s and '70s? Did it say comforting? Trustworthy? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Gardens, red snapper, HAPPY HOUR!

One of my personal heroes, Alice Waters, is at it again. This time, offering her services to President-elect Obama. Check out the full article here. Ms. Waters' request, sent via letter the day after the election, calls on Obama to "set the tone for the changes we need to make in the way our country feeds itself. The purity and wholesomeness of your campaign can find a parallel in the purity and wholesomeness of the food at America's most visible and symbolic address: the White House." That's right, turn that White House lawn into a Victory Garden in the spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt.

It's not such a revolutionary idea. It's a request to bring hope and change to what is perhaps our most basic need: nourishing ourselves.

While I'm on the subject of food, the Post & Courier ran a piece this weekend about the plight of the red snapper. It seems that the federal government is poised to shut down the harvest of red snapper in the South Atlantic, commercially and recreationally, and close down miles of the offshore to bottom fishing due to research that shows the species is in steady collapse. Local fishermen, including our own Mark Marhefka of Abundant Seafood, are, as you might imagine, worried about their future. FYI: Fish has already substituted vermilion snapper for red snapper on the menu. But the passionate debate continues, on and off the water. For more information, go here.

Let's segue to something a bit more fun: HAPPY HOUR at Fish! It begins today. Details are as follows:

5:30 until 8 pm, Monday through Friday

$3.50 well drinks

$4 specialty cocktails

$5 house wine

$2.50 Bud/Bud Light

$1 dim sum

Are we clear? Fabulous. Meet you at the bar.

Actually, I spent a moment at the Fish bar on Friday night. And many thanks to PP staffers Courtney Jo, Charlotte, Rachel, Shannon and our own Managing Partner Randall Goldman who helped add some panache to Brennan Wesley's photo shoot. If you play your cards right, you may get to see some outtakes later in the week.