Greetings, internet darlings! Today is a very special day. After 52 weeks, 160 posts, and endless cups of coffee, we are celebrating our blog’s 1st birthday! (Ok, technically we don’t turn one until the 18th, but patience has never been our strong suit.) We have so loved being a part of your lives over the past year, bringing you three doses of Southern and New York goodness every week (sometimes more if we were feeling particularly generous/festive). This blog started as a way for two 20-something Kentucky ex-pats living in Brooklyn to figure out what home meant to us, to delve a little deeper into our roots while also forging new adventures in this city, and to tell human stories, both ours and yours. We’d like to think we’ve done a pretty decent job of sticking to these precepts, even when the cold or the commutes or the daily grind got us down. And the thing that has kept us going is you, your stories, your feedback.

So from us to you, here’s a big ole hug and a thank you for sticking with us this far. After a year without any holidays or days off (the internet doesn’t believe in snow days), we’ve decided we’ve earned ourselves a little blogcation. So cheers to you, and to us. We’ll see you in two weeks! And we can’t wait to see what the next 365 days have in store.

In the meantime, to help tide you over in our absence, here are some of the posts we’re most proud of from this first year (after some agonizing and teeth gnashing, we’ve narrowed it down to a sweet 16 — the Sophie’s Choice of the blogosphere). From playlists to pillows and thoughts from you folks, these are the ones that continue to make us smile. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them as much as we enjoyed making them for you.

August Playlist: Highway Cruisin’: We’ve made a lot of playlists over the past year, but this one continues to be one of our favorites.

Bless your heart, New York. You tried to make a mint julep.: One year later, you still haven’t learned, but hey, we tried.

Kentucky Seven (My Southern Heritage): Or how Zelda learned to love the Dixie in her blood.

An Open Letter to the Late Great Nora Ephron: Dear Ms. Ephron, You officially ruined us for life, for love, and for New York. But we love you anyway.

Home is Where the Throw Pillows Are: In which Zelda does some nesting and tries to apply the term “home” to New York.

October Playlist: Drizzly Morning, 3 a.m.: Our favorite playlist out of the bunch, and still our go-to soundtrack for writing, napping, or any rainy day.

Ease On Down the Road: Scout had to give up her car (Neville) when she moved to New York, and as she trades driving for sidewalk stomping she reflects on roads past, present, and future.

The 10 Minute Rule: You run into an acquaintance you haven’t seen in a while. You chat. Everything is smiles; our lives are going great. Then, about 10 minutes in, the truth starts to come out.

The Cab, The Cockroach, and The Crying Girl: According to Ted Mosby and Co., there are three things that make you a true New Yorker. Scout’s officially done them all.

A Cow on the Roof of a Cottonhouse, or How I Learned to Love Bluegrass: Scout stops worrying and just embraces the music of her people, of America, and of the Coen brothers’ finest film.

In the Heart of a Wooded Mountain: Lots of nostalgic pining for summers at sleepaway camp in North Carolina, combined with a healthy dose of why female friendships are so important.

Required Reading: Volume One: The first entry in what may be Zelda’s favorite series on the blog, this one was all about awesome Southern lady writers and the stories they tell.

All Other Nights: Scout reflects on being both a Jew and a Southerner on Passover, her favorite holiday.

Gilded City: In a corner of one of the many museums of New York, Scout reflects on the art of the Ashcan School, the Gilded Age, and the cracks in the golden armor of this fair city.

When the Sun Goes Down in the South: Some thoughts from Zelda on one of our favorite summer pastimes: nights at the track, betting and drinking and watching the horses fly by under the floodlights, otherwise known as Downs After Dark.

Just Folks: The Series: And last, but certainly not least, is all of you! Our favorite thing about this project has been hearing from all of you about home, wherever you find it, and the crazy burgoo of Southern experiences in New York. So thanks. We couldn’t have made it this far without y’all.