It’s been a long day, but certainly a fun one!
Oprah was awesome!!
We arrived on campus in time to see some of the graduates march in. I just love Pomp and Circumstance!
Check out what seat number I ended up on top of!!
Filing in –
My company –
Thank goodness for the binoculars!!
Here’s my live photo of Oprah!! It was AMAZING to see her in person. She was awarded an honorary doctorate in human letters and delivered the commencement address. It was awesome to hear her voice – I actually felt like she was an old friend because I recognized her voice from many hours of Oprah Winfrey Show watching growing up. My mom just loves her, and I am truly an “Oprah child” (as in, she was on almost daily when I was little). Mom and I thought her speech was good – casual in an Oprah way and connecting her show to life’s lessons. Here were the parts I found most inspiring:
“You are responsible for the energy you bring into a room”
“If you can see the possibility of change, you will be a great success”
“If you can go through life with just a portion of Nelson Mandela’s humility, you will be a great success.”
“You never know what kindness you offer to someone today may live with them forever.”
“You haven’t completed the circle of success until you have helped someone else move to higher ground”
“Listen to your gut. It is always right.”
I took a video, but honestly, this one is so much better (and a lot less work for me 🙂 ) Oprah inspires at Duke Commencement.
There are lots of photos online too.
Exiting the stadium –
We did have a few graduates in the crowd, including Becca, Kath and Leslie, and our family friend David a.k.a. “Duvas the Chuba”! David graduated Summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in the top 20 of his class and with highest honors in Philosophy. I am honored to know him!! We just happened to bump into his father and uncle in the crowd and caught up with him after the ceremony.
Then we were on our way to Duke Gardens for our Mother’s Day Picnic!
We had a fabulous spread of cheese, fruit, wine, salad and of course, bread, Mom’s favorite food!! (Well maybe second to wedding cake)
We had the BEST cheeses to go with it. A heavenly gorgonzola, a local camembert, an English cheddar and a fruited spread
A few salads from Weaver Street salad bar (on my request: tofu and some veggies)
And a delicious Viognier
The spread
My plate. I tried to put everything on at once for photography purposes. Boy it looks full!
A bit more cheese on a cuc
Seconds. I had a few more small bites of cheese. It was a fabulous picnic!!
The desserts ( on a dinner plate)
I had a small taste of each ( on a salad plate)
We were joined by Loveduck cousins!!
Dad got mom some lovely earrings!
We came home, I gathered my stuff and set out on a 2.5 hour drive back to Charlotte. Matt, who had a great time at his bachelor party but only got 4 hours of sleep, was in charge of a Mother’s Day dinner for his mother and the mother of the bears (me!)
WHAT A GUY!! He did a great job –
The menu was Sunburst Trout over Grilled Vegetable Salads with wine –
Grilled radicchio made the salad –
The fish –
I was a little wined out from lunch, but I couldn’t resist a bit more in this beautiful setting. Check out the framed mom!!
Veggies + Salad (I helped with the presentation and salad dressing 😉 )
The salads were great
Mommy Swammy –
A splash more
Thanks, Kanz, for the great dinner!! XOXO
I cannot wait to have the next 4 days to relax and recoup and eat simply before we head to New Orleans for the next festivity
I’m zonked – off to bed!
zestycook says
WOW Kath, Such a fun day all around. Great food for sure and It would be so fun to see Oprah.
zest!
WEEKLY BITE says
Wow! so exciting to see Oprah… I’m a huge fan 🙂
Mara @ What's For Dinner? says
What a beautiful day!! I’ll have to check out the Oprah video…
Julie says
I feel like Oprah should have secret service! She is so awesome and wise!! Love her.
Angie says
What a fun and busy day….I loved Oprah’s quotes, especially – “You are responsible for the energy you bring into a room” – So True!
Dinner looked beautiful…good job to Matt on the table setting! The simple salmon salad looked perfect…and love the mom in the goblet frame!
Melissa @ For the Love of Health says
Kath- it looks like you had such a wonderful day!
I would LOVE to hear Oprah speak and the quotes you shared are amazing- I love inspiring quotes 🙂
Lovely picnic and dinner. Everything looked great!
Have a great night!
Courtney (The Hungry Yogini) says
I was totally an Oprah child too! It was like clockwork. Everyday at 4pm, Oprah’s voice filled our living room =)
I love those quotes. So inspiring!
I’m glad you had such a lovely time with the Mom’s in your life! What a gorgeous food spread. I’m drooling over those dolmas (stuffed grape leaves). They are my favorite. Mmm, I can taste it now.
Lauren says
what gorgeous pictures! just seeing the photography of such delicious looking food makes me want to eat better! Thanks for posting! Looks like you had a great day! 🙂
Help Meghan Run says
What a lovely, lovely day! So cool you got to see Oprah, hang out with both moms and enjoy some delicious food! 🙂
www. HelpMeghanRun .com
Lisa says
What a spectacular day, both food- and experience-wise! My mom loves bread, too. I have to ask – where did you get your shoes? I love the little bows!
And Matt gets a thumbs-up for a tasty-looking menu and lovely presentation.
emmy says
What a great day, I would have been more excited about the cheese than Oprah!
Run Sarah says
Too awesome to see Oprah! Love all the picnic eats too!
Bec says
that picnic looks so good and so does Matts dinner!
Adi (oatonomy.com - repaired!) says
Looks like a really great day. The fish looks awesome! Matt must have done a great job on the grill. Enjoy your recovery time!
Erin says
A truly beautiful day Kath. 🙂
Sarah (lovINmytummy) says
OPRAH!!! Oprah, Kath, Kath, Oprah. Next thing you know, you and Oprah will be hitting the pavement for a cross country road trip. You know you are best friends now, right?
polly says
Hey Kath!
I am so impressed by your amazing travels and EATS! I mean… that picnic was rockin!! Girl.. a picnic to me is baked beans and a cold chicken sandwich. 😉
I hope you enjoyed every drop with mom and Matt is a peach for making you and his momma dinner. Again, your eats are so BEAUTIFUL! I am just so amazed at how fresh and fancy all of your food is! Good golly, my frozen corn niblets seems quite boring. 🙂 hehe
Love to you, my friend! Simple eats tomorrow with Pol! 😉
We have a field trip tomorrow with Abbi’s class… she is totally PUMPED she’ll get s’mores and HOTDOGS.
Katharina says
Gosh! Your Mother’s Day was awesome I can tell! The pictures all look so happy. You look so cute and everything in this post actually does. I want to have a picnic 🙂
Casey says
Ellen is the speaker at Tulane! I love her like you love Oprah! I’m jealous!
Oh She Glows says
Oh wow thank you so much for those Oprah quotes!!! I am goin gto have to use a couple in my daily quote 🙂 I LOVE this one “You never know what kindness you offer to someone today may live with them forever.”
Kristie says
WOW, Oprah live, now THAT is one neat experience. LOVE the quotes. Seeing Oprah in person seems like it would be so surreal… I think that’s awesome that you got to experience it!
Jenny says
That Allan Scott wine is made in my hometown! A small town in NZ a bazillion miles from where you were drinking it. Small world huh?!
Sharon says
Oh my gosh, OPRAH! That is amazing!!!!!
Linda says
What a lovely weekend! I liked what you said about being able to hear Oprah’s voice in person. I hope one day I get to go to one of her show tapings.
theoddbod says
i always had a dream about going to duke, looks beautiful!
Caroline says
Thanks so much for the Oprah re-cap! Wish I could have been there in Wally Wade too!
Is it sad that looking at your pics makes me miss Duke and I’ve only been home a week and a half?
lora says
ive seen oprah 3 times in chicago and she is amazing!!! the food looks great too! I love new orleans and I want to live there soon (after grad school)…when ur there u must eat at Mothers Restaurant, Cafe Beignet and Emerils 🙂
Christina says
It’s so cute how your husband put the table under the tree. Looks like a great dinner setting!
sue says
hooray! what a perfect day!! i’m so jealous that you got to see/hear oprah!
Beadie @ What I Ate Yesterday says
What an awesome day!! I’m so jealous that you were so close to Oprah!
Heather says
Sounds like you had an awesome time! That is so awesome how you got to see Oprah LIVE! That’s a once in a lifetime experience.
Aww, what a sweet Mother’s Day picnic. Everything looks so good! And Matt is so sweet too! He definitely did a good job! 🙂
Have a great week Kath!
Elizabeth says
Oprah rocks!
What a great setting for a picnic – I hear Duke Gardens are great!!
Lauren says
What a fantastic picnic spread! And the dinner Matt set up looks amazing – I love eating outside 🙂
RK says
What a beautiful and fun Mother’s Day! The picnic and dinner both look and sound wonderful and delicious. I am so envious that you got to hear Oprah speak live! Glad you had a wonderful day. Enjoy the start to your week!
thepinkpeppercorn says
What a great day! And a lovely dinner too!
JENNA says
I can’t believe you got to hear oprah speak!! so lucky!!! Sounds liek an awesome Mothers day!
rhodeygirl says
how do you get the radicchio to stay together? grilled radicchio is my FAVORITE (try it with a little bit of shaved pecorino on top- a tiny bit- it’s HEAVEN). but i can never figure out how to stop it from falling apart on my grill.
K says
Your mom has fantastic tastes in food – cheese, bread, wine, fruit, yum!
Oprah’s quotes are lovely! Thanks for posting them!! Matt pulled out all the stops – well done!
Victoria says
Wow! I too am a total Oprah child. Looks like you had such an amazing day!
Danielle says
What a fun day!
I love the picnic with your mom what a cute set up!
Kath says
Lisa ,
They are Land’s End – I have them in green too! So comfy.
polly ,
I need some simple eats!
Jenny
WOW – small world for sure!
Caroline ,
Did you just graduate? You didn’t want to walk at graduation?
rhodeygirl ,
I think the trick is not cutting it too small. He maybe 6thed the head? They chop it up when it’s grilled.
K
Michelle Hisae says
Wow, those look like 2 amazingly delicious and fresh meals! Well rounded, too!
Shannon (The Daily Balance) says
what a great day! dinner looks AMAZING 😉
lauren says
O . M . G. i heart oprah and am all kinds of jealous.
skinny latte says
Allan Scott is one of my favourite wines – glad you enjoyed it! Both lunch and dinner look to die for 🙂
Caroline says
Hey Kath–just in response to your question: no,I did not just graduate. I am a rising senior. I still have one more year as a Blue Devil!
Kath says
Caroline,
Gotcha!
K
KathZS says
You saw Oprah – I saw Biden ( I work at SU and worked all weekend – he was very good!)
I am jealous of both your Mothers Day meals.
1. Because you enjoyed a NZ Sav Blanc – yummmmmy!
2. My hubby has a broken leg, so my dinner was at Olive Garden. Better than cooking it myself, barely!
Enjoying KERF immensly.