Proud.

You can always bet that when I find a new Elle Decor or House Beautiful in my mailbox I let out a mini shriek with excitement, but last Friday was extra special. I grabbed the House Beautiful and parked it on a barstool in the kitchen for my usual quick first glance. I was immediately drawn to the "cottage" and then I read the caption: Interior design by Melanie Pounds! Melanie and I were KD pledge sisters at the University of Alabama where we had almost e-v-e-r-y class together. (For those of you who majored in design you will remember the loooong labs every week). One of my funnier memories of Melanie (in terms of design at least) was when our entire sorority was getting ready for "Black Widow Blast", our huge Halloween party. We had all of our drafting tables set up in the KD house basement, where all of the costumes were also conveniently located. 6 sad design students jacked up on caffeine were stuck in the dunge the entire night while all of our friends were running down to the basement to find their costume for the night. We were bitter - we had to miss the fun party to meet our deadline, but at least we had each other. :) I would LOVE to see the before photos of her house in Birmingham...I have a feeling this guy went through a tremendous renovation. Enjoy: Saladino meets McAlpine meets MELANIE.

I love it.