Travel – Page 27 – Karla's Cottage

Homesick before I even leave, but just ask Beth, I’m kind of a whiner about things

parties, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 8, 2009

Since I'm going to be away for over a week, I thought I would "pre-post" a few entries that would come up while I am away.

As much as I love travel and look forward to meeting up with good friends and having adventures, I'm basically a homebody. I'm homesick already just thinking about being away. So I thought I'd show some pictures of my house. Probably more for me than for you, I'll be able to turn on the computer any time and take a peek at my sweet home and not feel as lonely for it.

Here are the front steps, that I mosaic-ed in a vining pattern. I wanted something organic looking, in honor of my Dad, who was an avid gardener. I was working on these steps while we waited for the test results that diagnosed his cancer.

My favorite place in the house, though, is Sugarwing's room. I'll never forget when she was old enough to talk and she told me, "Grammy has pretty things". I told her, "No, baby, this is YOUR room, these are YOUR pretty things". The look on her face was one of the most special things I have ever seen. I will always treasure that moment with her. Its a joy to me to know that she loves her room as much as I do.

My kitchen is extra special to me, because my son, Sugarwing's Daddy, custom built these cabinets for me.

He is a talented carpenter, but no longer does that work. He has to take good care of his hands now, since he is a massage therapist. Which is also a handy skill to have in a son! Especially when my back goes out like it did last week.

I can still get him to do a special project for me here and there, though. He and I ripped out the old stair way and rebuilt it last year.

It will be hard to be away from my little Dorkies for 8 days too.

But those 8 days will fly by fast, and soon, I'll be walking through my front door again to a house full of barking dogs jumping up and trying to sniff out where I've been all week. And honestly, I have a GREAT week planned, with my best friends and so much fun to look forward to, so I have nothing to complain about. But like I said, I'm a homebody and will miss my house and my gardens, and my fairy grand baby, and all the dorkies.

In the meantime, Andrea will be having a "Show me your Crown" party and there is no way I could miss that. I might have a few around…. So, please join in on Wed. the 10th for that, and please link up and show your royal head gear too.

I've been very lax all week in returning comments and emails. Since I hurt my back, my time in a computer chair has been limited. I've read and enjoyed each and every one of them, sorry if I didn't get back to you. Also, with this trip, I will be even further behind. Please keep in contact, I do read them all, and each is entered into the monthly drawing. This month's prize is a vintage wallpaper covered journal that I made.

Sweet Sioux

family, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 28, 2009

We're back from Sioux City, and it was an emotional trip, as well as being filled with all sorts of Sugarwings Fun.

When I was a young, divorced, and penniless, mom with two rambunctious sons, my Mom took us in. She had been transferred to Sioux City, so my sisters packed us up in Indiana, and drove the boys out to her home in Iowa, since I didn't even own a car at the time.

My Mom has been gone a few years now, but I will be grateful all of my life for the help she was to us when I really really needed her. She not only took us in, she helped take care of my wild and crazy boys while I worked and got back on my feet. To do that, she sold her cozy little one bedroom cottage, that was just perfect for her, and bought this beautiful, old brick palace with space for a family.

That house was so stately and special. Going back to see it again was heart wrenching, but was the first thing I had to do when we got to town. The house meant a lot to Mom too, she'd been through some rough times, and not so nice men in her life, so owning a house like this and being able to support us when we were desperate for help, was a boost of confidence for her. She was so proud of how hard she had worked and this house was kind of a symbol of all she had done for herself to get to that point. And was she was even prouder to be able to say that she did it "without a man".

Dear Abby and Ann Landers had been raised in this house. (I'm sure I could have used some of their advice at times while I was a single mom) And it had once been a fantastic neighborhood. But the area seems to be going down hill, now. It made me very happy to see "our" house so well cared for and tended to. It looked like a huge, and multi-generational family lived there now, with a grampa in the garden and babies on the porch. That seemed fitting.

While in Sioux City, we visited Palmer Candy. Sugarwings was pretty happy with that part of the trip….

We bought a case of their Cherry Twin Bings, as souvenirs to give to family and friends here at home.

Down along the river, a monument to Lewis and Clark has been built in the years since we lived in that town. The fairy grand baby figured it was part of the playground equipment.

Since we were doing a lot of driving around and sightseeing, we promised to stop at all the parks we passed for Sugarwings to get out and stretch. My husband's mom is a kid at heart too and she was happy to do more than just stretch when we made park stops.

Traveling with a two year old meant lunches at places like Chuck E Cheese instead of quaint roadside diners my husband usually prefers. Usually, we tryto eat local cuisine, like Iowa loose meats, but for this trip, it was a lot of hotel food and kid friendly restaurants.

Honestly, we didn't care what the meal was, just spending all that time with our little one and doing things she loved to do made this trip one of the best of our lives. Finding a hotel with a water park was the best part of the trip for her, we stayed at a Holiday Inn downtown Omaha that seemed to be empty except for us. We had the whole pool area to ourselves.

And right now, Holiday Inn has a special. Stay 3 nights at any hotel they own, and get a 4th free in August. We plan on going back to Omaha in August for Sugarwings birthday to stay at this one again. I threw my back out on this trip, and didn't get to play in the water park. I sure enjoyed the hot tub, though. When we go back in August, I look forward to splashing around on all the slides.

Since I hurt my back, I won't be going to see Aunt Caroline this week. Thank you all for the well wishes and prayers for her health, it sounds like she is doing well. I hope that I can go to Florida to see her for her 101st birthday in June instead.

Visting Carol and maybe Caroline

antiques/junking, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 25, 2009

Beth and her husband treated my husband and I to dinner out on Friday night! It was such fun, but like many "double dates" after a while the guys talked golf and we started talking junk. Then, we realized that dinner was over and we still had a lot to say, so we made plans to continue the conversation Saturday morning at estate sales.

Beth took me to the world's BEST Estate sale in Kansas City. The BEST. Everything was exactly to my taste and style and the prices were reasonable. Luckily, it was the second day and the good prices were cut in half. Sadly, because it was the 2nd day, most of it was gone. I still seemed to manage to get some things that I just love (sorry, no pics right now of these- you probably wonder why I even am yammering on about it if I am not going to show you stuff, huh? I'm just still excited, it was such a fun day out.)

Not only was the estate sale a blast, (who wouldn't want to wander around in a Shabby Chic, French style, antique filled palace and shop at garage sale prices???) but the whole day was fun. My couple of hours turned into all day, and we went to visit our pal, Carol at Raised in Cotton.

(these pictures are from her shop)

This is a bit embarrassing to admit, it was my first trip to her store. She is a treasured friend, and has been my roomie on a couple of trips. We email chat constantly, but Raised in Cotton is on the other side of Kansas City and I just never get that far.

But, now that I have seen it, I'll be making the trip again. I loved everything about it, and saw lots of things I wanted.

Maybe I get too attached to my purchases?? I'm falling for statues now, and have started a collection. I was thrilled to find one here! Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find one of these girls with a pretty face? Often the faces are flat looking or the girl has feet like a man. Why is that always happening with these 50's and 60's ladies? I see it all the time. But this girl is a dainty one and I just love her.

I also bought the vintage lace shirt. Its a bit snug, but I'll wear it unbuttoned. (I know this is a BAD photo, makeup from the night before, bed head and a red nose. No, I am not a drunk, wasn't hung over. I just left for garage sales at 7am and am not a morning person)

We are doing our Memorial Day weekend a bit backwards. I worked all day Sunday, adding some items to the boutique, and cleaning the studio. Then on Monday, we are taking off on a trip. My handsome husband and I are packing up the fairy grand baby and all her paraphernalia and heading to Sioux City, Iowa to see family.

We hope to stop at the Omaha Zoo on the way home, weather permitting. If all goes well, on this long trip with a toddler, we might go to Florida next weekend. The baby is staying with us for a couple of weeks while her Hippy Chick mom is vacationing, and we are using the time to do as many fun things as we can.

Although, our reason for the trip to Florida is not so fun. My Great Aunt Caroline is in hospice care now. She will turn 101 at the end of June and knowing her will, she will make it and will probably keep on going till 102. But… I can't help but worry.

Last year, blog readers generously made 100 cards for her 100th birthday, and she was so touched!

I'm hoping a little dose of Sugarwings will be good for her, so we are tentatively planning a trip down to Howie in the Hills, Florida to see Caroline. She is the best story teller I have ever met, and I'd love for my little fairy grand baby to hear one of her tales.

But for now, off to pack and get ready for Sioux City!

When I get back, I'll announce the winner of the Cottage Charm Giveaway.

You can enter my drawing by leaving a comment on any post. To enter other giveaways, visit Kim for a list of sites.

Happy little Garden Fairies

celebrations, fairies, parties, Travel, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / May 17, 2009

This past weekend at Jenn Hayslip's home was over the top beautiful, just like she is. Every inch of her home is swathed in gorgeousness. She never missed a detail of making our visit the best it could be.

It was all such a pleasure, that this is how I felt all weekend, ready to burst with joy!

We weren't just treated to Jenn's graciousness, we were treated to a giant dollop of Southern Hospitality by her neighbors too. They offered up guest cottages for some of us to stay in. Here is the view from our balcony.

Not a bad scene to wake up to each morning, huh?

You guys might have heard me gush a few times about Silverbella and how much I love going there? Well, of course, I love that event and always will, but this trip to Macon was even more special. I always say that the best part of Silver Bella isn't the classes(but of course, they are interesting and its great to meet the talented bunch of instructors). My favorite part of Silver Bella is the camaraderie, of meeting like minds and spending time with a group of women who feel the same way.

Jenn's classes were adorable, her home, the treats, the day trips, the limo, all of it was abso-freakin-lutely special. But most of all, it was the time to just hang out and talk, bond, and laugh for hours that made this so remarkable.

Jenn never missed a detail, and provided for all of our needs in her own extraordinary way. And I love details! Her attention to our care and happiness created a magical time, where we could forget about "real life" and be silly, happy garden faires for a few days.

Thanks, Jenn, for bringing together such a delightful group for such a memorable weekend!

Our Romantic Surprise Getaway

Moving to DC, Travel

By Karla Nathan / December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!

I have a new post, that for some reason, understood only by those people who "improved" Typepad…..any way, who knows why, but my NEW post from Tuesday popped up AFTER this post from Monday night. So, please scroll down if you'd like to see it. And Happy Holidays! May your Christmas be filled with joy and laughter and lots of happy memories to look back on.

We're back from our romantic, surprise getaway! And look at our rustic, cottagey accommodations!

Isn't it adorable??? Actually, this is called Jefferson Pools, it is a hot mineral spring bath house, named after Thomas Jefferson, who used to bathe there. It is part of the resort we stayed at, and I have to say, as lovely as the resort was, I just fell head over heals for this little part of it!

Of course, I didn't realize when the hotel shuttle dropped us off for our one hour dip in the hot springs, that it was going to be quite so… rustic. No heat. No frills. No ROOF. And the day was topping out at about 26 degrees. I'd do it again, it was a fun experience, but I'd do it on a warmer day! And I would bring something warm to wrap up in when I got out of the steamy water. There was actual ice on my sweat pants when I went to get dressed after my dip!!!!!!

This is the resort we stayed at. The Homestead, in Hot Springs, Virginia.

We were lucky enough to have a tower suite.

Of course, with that 26 degree weather, we didn't get to use the balcony, no matter how tempting that beautiful view from it was.

And look— the room was PINK!!!!!!

This little alcove was a cozy , warm, spot to relax and read while sipping wine. I didn't even miss the balcony.

There were lots of old fashioned details that I just loved about the place. I was glad that the bathroom had not been updated to something sleek and trendy. The building was over 200 years old and wasn't trying to pretend to be something it was not.

Everywhere I looked, there was something interesting to see.

With plenty of old photos of the hotel's past on all the walls.

Newspaper clippings and stories about all the presidents who had stayed there.

But the best part was High Tea served in the lobby every day at 3pm while we were serenaded with Christmas music on the piano. Those scones were served warm from the ovens, and the whole hotel smelled heavenly from all the fresh baked goodies.

Imagine my surprise to see so much pink everywhere. The combo of pink cushions, with celedon and aqua walls in this walk way to the spool, spa and gym area was one of my favorite places, too. I guess I had a lot of faves.

The walkway offered a view of the backside of the building, through its old, wavy glass windows.

The swimming pool was filled with natural mineral spring water too. In a slightly more luxurious form than at Jefferson Pools.

Yep, it was kind of schmancy there. Can you see why I was blown away?

She seems to like it there too.

Here is part of the grand lobby where the tea was served. This photo was taken before the party, but by about 2:30 each afternoon, the room would fill up with dozens and dozens of families and couples ready to relax and sip tea. Teams of waitresses and waiters with tray after tray of teapots and treats would file through the room going form table to table passing it all out. I'd go back just for afternoon tea. My husband wasn't as impressed as I was by this, but humored me and sat and sipped along.

He's pretty sweet.

But the poor guy never did get to make it out onto the golf courses. And this place has the oldest first tee still in constant use in the country.

Did I mention the food????? OMG

The BEST. Every bite I ate while there, and I did have more than my share of bites of food, was wonderful. It seemed kind of old fashioned and the menus reminded me of something you would have seen in the 50s or 60s, not in a typical restaurant today. I liked that, and the fact that the building wasn't afraid to show its age. That place had a history to be proud of and didn't feel like everything had to be brand new and shiny. As a person feeling my own age and history, I appreciated its imperfections brought on by age and its time worn loveliness.

In a time when local shopping centers and malls are constantly being abandoned for bigger, better, newer, shinier places, it is wonderful to see a business that has thrived since 1766 and is still going strong. As much as the luxury and beauty of the resort appealed to me, the historical aspect was even more interesting.

Oh, but I did enjoy the luxury!

I’m just a girl who can’t say no to sparkles!

antiques/junking, Etsy Goodies, fairies, family, paintings, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 29, 2008

More from Karlapalooza- here is a picture Heather took of me, buying- what else?? Gems! Sparkling gems. I was like a magpie that day, constantly stopping for every sparkle I saw out of the corner of my eye.

This guy had piles of boxes of jewels and I couldn’t leave his booth. No prices were on them, he said they ranged from $1 to $7. I told him I’d make a pile and if anything was over a dollar, he could pull it out.

At first, I was trying to be polite and not hog all the good stuff from my friends, but they made their choices and moved on, so I piled it high!

He actually charged me much less than $1 each, because I bought so much. I ended up spending $35 there, not all of this is from that booth. But I didn’t spend over a dollar on anything here but that crystal stoppered bottle, it was $6.

I bought a few baggies of jewels for $3 a bag, and picked out the ones I wouldn’t use. We went to a friend’s house for a cook out last night and I knew his little girls would love to have some jewelry to play dress up with. I promised to bring them more next time I come too.

Heather Karlawski made the most lovely tussie mussie for me, and I thought that was just another example of how much we had in common, since I brought a tussie to her too!

And Kitty Karla had rolled up and decorated pretty vintage papers for us. I haven’t been able to bring myself to unroll it yet, it is too pretty as it is!

And yes– I found some hats! I pulled the flowers off of them and kept the flowers, leaving a couple of the naked hats behind for Heather to work her magic on and foof up. Have you ever seen how pretty Heather makes her hats?? Wow, they are beautiful.

I also bought old calling cards- notice the "Bella" card? I foresee many Silver Bella projects with that image!! And the two dolly dresses are for Sugarwing’s babies. I think that all of her toys at her Grammie Karkie’s house should vintage.

My favorite find of the day was the cake plate all these pretty purchases are sitting on.

It is a metal cake plate music box. When you wind it up, the plate turns and it plays "Happy Birthday"- plus it has roses on it and was only $4!

Sugarwings calls every cake a "happy" since they are often served with a serenade of "Happy Birthday".

She has her 2nd birthday coming up and I can’t wait to bake a cake with her and set it on this cake plate so we can sing along.

I miss my little fairy grand baby!!

I decided that for her birthday on August 16th, I would make a book to give her.

Here is my first sketch and this is the text that will be on the page:

"Sugarwings has a best friend, named Twinkle. Twinks is actually a dog, and Sugarwings is a little fairy girl, but these two think they are sisters. Isn’t it nice when your sister is your best friend?

Of course the two do fuss and argue sometimes. Often they want the same cookie or toy, but they have learned to share."

I have plans for paintings of them at a tea party, with Twink’s head cocked at an angle because she doesn’t understand why the baby is eating pretend cookies and is wondering where the real cookie is. And another page of the the puppy getting Sugarwing’s toes. A total of 6 illustrations and 6 pages of text. Not a big book, but just right for a two year old.

I didn’t take as many photos at the flea market as I should have. We were enjoying the day too much and didn’t stop for photo ops often. Here is Heather and Lori admiring some cute dolls.

I did take LOTS of

pictures of Heather’s home- and by the way, it is even prettier in person. When you walk in, you just feel tranquil, with all the soft colors and pretty things around.

I’ll show more next time!

And remember my TWO giveaways end in a few days, and it is not too late to enter. I will add a piece of the jewelry I bought at Karlapalooza to the prize pack of summertime bright color jewels I have wrapped up for the August giveaway.

And if you are interested in any of the little watercolor sketches from the previous post, the two pink cupcakes and the dove are spoken for. Thanks, Amy, Ruby, and Bobbi!

How to become a fairy, and the Hat Whisperer strikes again!

antiques/junking, celebrations, fairies, family, how to's, Silver Bella, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 3, 2008

At a sweet shop in St Augustine, I picked up a bag of Key Lime Pie hard candies. I can’t belive I still have this many left, they are so good and they remind me of the beach every time I pop one into my mouth!

I miss the beach!

So while my mind is still lingering in vacation mode, I made some scrapbooks to send to Bobbie, Sissy, Randy and Kevin as a momento of our trip.

By the way, the bikini babe is my Sissy who is in her SIXTIES. She’s always been a teeny tiny thing.

One day while sitting on our balcony and watching a storm roll in across the ocean, we saw a rabbit hop across the sand.

That is why I turned these pages into "beach bunnies". I didn’t know there were rabbits on the beach. I thought that all those long eared hopping rodents lived in my yard and were busy at home eating my plants while I was on vacation.

I filled the books with lots of memories of the trip.

This cute, scallopey edged card stock comes in a package at Michaels. One $9.95 package made 4 scrap books, with some left to make at least one more.

I used my binding machine to put the pages together into a book after they were decorated.

Here is how I turned us into fairies:

I made 5×7 copies of a picture of Randy’s garden and wallet sized copies of a photo of the three of us, then cut us out.

Hosta leaves in the garden photo were cut away with an exacto knife. I cut around the plant, so that I could lift the foliage and slide our picture underneath.

Before gluing the photo down, I spritzed Glimmer Mist on watercolor paper, glued the cut out picture of us to it, then drew on wings and cut it all out.

Once the wings were done, I slid the sister picture under the hosta leaves in the garden picture and glued it all in place, then glittered and dood dadded it up.

On Bobbie Sue’s album, she is holding a magic wand, on Sissy’s she has one to hold. I used vintage stick pins for wands and just poked them through the photo at an angle and added a drop of glue.

I tried to add a lot of hand drawn elements, like lady bugs and vines on the pages that show us setting a bag of lady bugs free in the garden to control pests.

Randy raises butterflies, so can’t use any chemicals out there.

I used a lot of Glimmer Mist some pages before adding photos, and did all the writing and drawing with metallic or sparkling pens, so the books have some shimmer to them.

While in St. Augustine, I put my Hat Whispering skills to work.

Most vintage hats I saw in this touristy area were EXPENSIVE. $38-$200!!! My goodness. Lots of hats were in these antique shops, but few were in my price range.

While in one fancy antique mall, the hat search looked hopeless, but I told my sisses that I felt one upstairs, and walked up the stairs, around the corner and into a back room right to it. Loaded with pink and red velvet roses, it wasn’t cheap, but it was affordable and beautiful and some how it had called out to me.

I bought only 3 hats all week, for $4, $9, and $15. But, it does go to show that even in a high dollar shopping area, with the right hat hunting skills, millinery flowers can be affordable!

I kept my souvenir shopping to a minimum. 3 hats, lots of candy, these two shells, and a handful of old charms. Oh, and a pink St. Augustine hoody. I love trashy tee shirts and sweat shirts from tourist trap shops.

The shell necklace pictured IS NOT from a tacky shell shop!!

It is hand made over 80 years ago by my great aunt, Caroline. The lovely box was hers too. She gave me those years ago, along with the turquoise pendant that was her mother’s and the wonderful green glass bead necklace that her grandfather made. Yep, lucky, lucky me!!

Speaking of lucky- I got all the classes I signed up for at Sliver Bella! I was at the keyboard the minute sign ups began. Here is what I signed up for:

Secret Santa Diary/Pam Garrison, Saturday 1:00pm

Home for the Holidays/Pam Garrison, Friday 11:30 am

Christmas Pageant/Teresa McFayden, Saturday 8:30
am

Soldering For Virgins/Sally Jean, Friday 8:00am

Winter Faerie Shrine/Kim Kwan, Saturday 1:00 pm

Total 510.00

Yes, the price went up this year, but it is worth it!! If you haven’t booked your trip yet, do it now before it is full, I can promise you it will be FUN.

100 happy years

celebrations, family, give away, Travel, tributes

By Karla Nathan / July 1, 2008

I miss the beach already. But it is good to be home and have little Sugarwings back in my arms again. Her hippy chick mommy let my fairy grand baby come and have a sleep over tonight since I missed her so much.

But while I was away from Little Sugarwings, my sisses and brother were fun play mates.

Sissy, Bobbie Sue, and I did sand sculptures, picnicked on our balcony over looking the ocean, and shopped, shopped, shopped between family visits.

We danced on the beach in the dark wearing glow sticks too. No, I wasn’t drunk at the time, and even though you probably think I must be quite soused to do this, I am not drunk now when I am posting this photo of a 50 year old granny in a swim suit with a glow stick in her cleavage. Good thing the beach was deserted, I am not the graceful sort and dance a bit like a delirious cow. One decidedly ungraceful ballerina-esque jump had me landing flat on my back in the sand.

As wonderful as the trip was, the highlight of course, was Great Aunt Caroline. Now, that is one graceful, gorgeous, and gracious lady.

She is so sharp, entertaining, and full of stories, it was a delight to listen to her speak with such wit and charm. At 100, she can still tell a tale that has a whole room enthralled from beginning to end.

She was touched by all of the cards, and couldn’t get over the fact that so much time and work went into them.

She has been making beautiful things all of her life, and that cane next to her is a good example. She told us how she collected drift wood from the beach, cleaned and polished and decorated a piece to make this cane.

The painting that I am pointing to was done by Aunt Caroline’s mother, my great grandmother.

And we heard stories that day about how my great-great-grandfather was an artist too. He was a farmer who made beaded jewelry in his spare time. He also collected shells from the beach and hand wired them together into curtains for his parlor. Caroline remembers the tinkling of the shells as the breeze blew them together.

Our Sister Trip was priceless, and the visit to our aunt’s 100th birthday was just the best, and all of your cards helped make it even more special.

Caroline remembered the dress she was wearing in this photo that so many of us used in the cards and was pleased to see it. She told us about making it herself, that in the 30s, all of her clothes were hand made.

For the party, I wore the pearls that she had on in the photo and she also recognized those and told me she appreciated me taking such good care of them. Like I had done something nice for her??? She is really something sweet.

This darling lady is one of those people that looks you in the eyes and makes you think that you have to be the most special person on the planet. She has a sincere caring quality about her that just melts your heart when you meet her.

Since she was so touched by the cards everyone made, I wanted to show you my appreciation by adding a few more prizes to the drawing.

All the cards pictured today are by the people whose names were randomly drawn.

Jen, Alice, Robin, Lili, Melissa, Sherry, Irma, and Sandy, please send me your addresses and I will send you a thank you prize.

I just wish I could do something for all of you for doing this kind and thoughtful thing for my aunt!

As Caroline said when she blew out her candles, "I wish you all this many happy years!"

I prefer white furniture to the White House

antiques/junking, Moving to DC, Travel

By Karla Nathan / February 17, 2008

I’m having a lovely time in our apartment out East. Although it is hard for me to not have anything to do…. I am used to keeping busy. I need to set up an art studio next time I come out or I will go crazy. I’ve done some shopping, some sight seeing,and I filled the freezer with ready to go meals for my husband. I must be bored, if I want to spend the entire afternoon of Vaelntines Day baking and freezing food.

Luckily, Robin, a blogger friend, met me today to keep me company.

We met at Starbucks, and both got phone calls from our husbands to check on us, the guys were worried we were meeting up with internet predators instead of blog friends!

I made sure to get a photo of the guy behind Robin so I could show my husband and pretend that he was right.

Here he is, my new buddy, Thrifty Miss Priss. He does look a bit shifty. But he seemed so nice on the blog!

The REAL Robin was such fun, we ended up talking for 2 hours. She brought me the cutest nesting birdie in a trophy, I promise to get photos of it when I get home, what a perfect gift!! She made one for my buddy, Beth too. Beth and I are getting together on Thursday for some co-craftiness, so I’ll take it to her then. In the mean time, I’ll set them both on my computer where I can enjoy them and try to decide which one I can part with!!

I am in love with the antique shops around here!!! I wished I had a truck with me instead of a camera while shopping. This is the dining set I have been day dreaming about forever. But it would be a bit complicated to get it back to Kansas, and my luggage is already full.

I bought a set of these little plastic plates for Sugarwings and I to play tea party with. That is easy enough to pack.

And when I bought a few of these old blue bottles, I thought, that isn’t so bad either, they’ll be fine in my bags.

But then, I found more bottles. And some paper mache buckets. And some more bottles. Then I found even more bottles.

I’m sure I’ll figure a way to get them all home, and turn them into decorated button jars. Yes, I am just sure I can make them fit. Somehow.

Did I mention that I also found some old hats?

This seems to be the land of prom gowns and flowered hats. Everywhere I look, I see gorgeous, feminine, flowery things.

The hats I bought should be fine, if smashed, I bought them mostly for the flowers, I peel them off and glue them onto other things. And these hats I found are ENCRUSTED with flowers!

I’ve found so many curly-q, carved chairs too. All of this furniture is just my style.

I need a truck!

It causes me pain to go home without this $89 table that just screams my name! I just don’t find stuff this cool at these prices back home. And here I always brag about shopping in Kansas and the low prices. Well, yes we have great prices, but our stuff is more country looking, or primitive, or traditional.

Of course, there is stuff in this style back home too, but not in the abundance that I’ve seen it here, or at the prices I have seen here.

Also, I came across more than one store that was predominately pink and white!

Heck, I feel like canceling my flight home and renting a U-haul and buying a load of stuff to redecorat my house.

One thing I could take home with me, was an IDEA. Look at these stairs!!

I have a plan to pull up the ugly carpet from my stair way, and cover each riser in a different vintage wallpaper, then paint the steps white. Trouble is, my stairs were built to be carpeted, and are very unfinished looking. It will take lots of bondo (meant for car repairs, but great for painted furniture repair too) and sanding. I’ll have to router the edges too. The steps at my house are plain boards, builder grade, not cool, old stairs. I now, HAVE to make them LOOK like cool old stairs. I have a mission!

Here is another tempting piece from Lucketts. Just a bit big for my suitcase. Heck, I am wondering how I will make hats fit, what am I even doing thinking about buying salvage?

In the spring, Luckets has an outdoor flea market. Oh, I will be back for that! The outdoors is pretty cute and fun to poke through now, just picture this area filled with 60 different dealers.

What a pretty thought!

I also went to downtown Leesburg. It was quaint and wonderful, but I didn’t have much time. A lot of the decor there is more traditional or formal like I expected this area to sell.

And OLD. This is a gown that might have been worn by Dolly Madison, from the looks of it!

We ate dinner at Rivercreek Country Club over looking an extraordinary view of the Potomac while in Leesburg. My husband had to work there for the day, I had tagged along and gone on the shopping trip while waiting for him.

We also took a train into downtown DC and looked at dinosaurs and monuments and the White House.

But of course, to me, nothing downtown DC compared to the dining room table I saw at Lucketts! Am I shallow? I was defiantly feeling like Becky Bloomwood in the Shopaholic NY book, when she pretends to go on a museum tour and ducks out to shop. If I could’ve gotten away with it, I would have gone back to that antique mall and skipped all the dino bones. Yep, that is shallow, alright.

Maybe it was because it was such a chilly gray day, and I was bundled up like a cocoon to keep warm as we walked the city. If I go back in the spring with the cherry blossoms in bloom, maybe I will get into exploring the city more.

Some how, I think I’d still prefer the white, ornate furniture to the White House!

I’m spending a lot of time blog browsing too, since I haven’t got any work to do. And Ebay browsing, which can be dangerous when you are bored and killing time!

But here is a blog that will keep you from boredom- check out Angela’s pink round up for Valentines, so many pretty pink links to visit.

That is where I am going now.

I could get used to this……….

I do tend to run on, don't I?, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 28, 2008

Did I enjoy my trip?? Look at this goofy grin, it says it all! I had a blast, wallowing around in all that luxury.

We even had sunshine and warmish weather for most of the trip.

After a long, dark, and cold winter in Kansas, I had almost forgotten how a bed of blooming flowers can lighten up my heart.

I could have been perfectly happy just staring at the colors all weekend and soaking up some springtime.

Honestly, I enjoyed sitting in a rocker in the courtyard with Victoria magazine, listening to the fountain as much as all the time I spent in the spa!

And I wasn’t the only one enjoying the lovely weather.

This little guy seemed happy to pose for me.

I was missing Sugarwings when I saw the kid’s pool area. There was more than one pool, this one, as well as the adult pool near it, and a pool out side of the Ladies lounge area at the spa. I thought about peaking to see if there was a guy’s pool in their lounge, but thought it might not look good to the CEO of my husband’s company if I was thrown out of the club because I was checking out the men’s spa.

Brisk, spring time air was a bit too chilly for me to brave swimming any way. It didn’t seem to bother these guys, though.

Walking around the property and soaking up sunshine along with the perfectly manicured beauty of the surroundings was enough for me.

Everything about this hotel was PERFECT down to the last tiny detail, such as serving butter shaped like golf balls!!

Which brings me to the food. It was just almost too pretty to eat! (but I managed to try it all anyway)

For Thursday’s dinner at the country club, we meandered through the club sampling food from a dozen or more themed stations set up around the club house.

Orchids in each appetizer??? How decadent is that????? It about killed me to eat a scallop and then watch my empty cup with its pretty little blossom get carried away on the waiter’s tray. If I worked there, I’d be in the kitchen washing each one off as they came back in empty cups and putting them into water to make centerpieces.

I hope they were saved!

But then, I am the person who can’t throw away a poinsettia at the end of January because it is still valiantly trying to cling to life. Does anyone else suffer from January Poinsettia Guilt Syndrome?

Okay, back to the pictures of pretty stuff!

We were served a roof top buffet for lunch one afternoon.

And the awards banquet dinner was beautiful too (of course!)

Gourmet food does tend to be tiny, but they pack a lot of flavor into every bite!

I kept calling it all "Top Chef" food. I had ceviche as a snack one afternoon and closed my eyes to pretend Chef Tom was there next to me. (if you are not a Top Chef fan, you should at least watch the show just to see his eyes!! I have a crush on that man)

And then, of course there was the spa. I had a facial the first day, and was told to come early and enjoy the spa facilities. I wish I could have taken photos, but didn’t want to intrude on the privacy of the other women indulging themselves there.

Some people stayed all day, going from the whirlpool, swimming pool, multiple lounge areas, sauna (eucalyptically wonderful!), steam room and back again. Laying around eating fresh fruits, sipping teas, and having beauty treatments.

There was so much to offer. I loved the individual shower rooms, set up so nicely with all you could ever need in them. Then, the big mirrored dressing rooms were filled with any item you might wish to primp with. It was like Willy Wonka land for grown women instead of kids. Candy dishes set out with combs, brushes, creams, gels, anything you could desire before dressing and leaving.

I looked at the clock a lot to see how long I had been relaxing. Five minutes drag for me when I am just sitting in hot water.

Maybe it was because I just loved being outdoors so much. I went for long walks to explore the neighborhood and see the flowers.

"The River" is the name of the shopping center across the street from our resort.

Its too bad I wasn’t hungry, the restaurants were had wonderful views of the mountains and the fountains. On the other hand, the free food they were filling me up with at our hotel was too good and I just had no room to sample anything else!

I browsed mostly, admiring the cheerful, blingy California style.

But not so much the California price tags.

But, if you know me, you know I found the sale racks!

And not only were these Tees on sale- they had faeries and crystals on them!

The one on the right is my souvenir for the trip.

I fell in love with these too, but didn’t really need new sandals, since I had bought some for the trip.

And anyway- I was given a pair of Crocs as one of the many gifts they kept giving us!!!

This is just a bit of the loot they showered on us, along with books and treats. Oh and of course, the entire weekend, with flights, meals, spa treatments, golf, etc.

My husband also got a $100 gift card, but we were so overwhelmed with the generosity we had been treated to, that we donated it to the company charity. They have a fund for employees with financial difficulties. Such as one of the workers at a course my husband runs, she lost her father recently and had no money for a funeral. The company paid for all the costs for her! Now, doesn’t this sound like nice people to work for????

We were so well cared for and pampered while there.

Its too bad I am not a bigger drinker, the wines and cocktails were fabulous too. I decided this New Zealand white is my new fave.

I met so many friendly people, and should not have worried about snooty country club types. I have figured out, that at any gathering or group meeting, people can seem distant. But if you just go up and say hi and introduce yourself, they are usually just as happy to meet some one as you are.

Everyone that I talked to was as welcoming as can be and no one treated me like I didn’t fit in at all. Even if I was the only one goofy enough to be taking pictures of all of my food and acting like a dork of a tourist!!

But there is no place like home and it is wonderful to be back in Kansas with my own little "Dorothy".