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Sunday, July 22, 2007

Tour De Southern Pines

To say this Summer is going by in the blink of an eye, would be an understatement. But for me, it has been a great month or so with all the visitors I've had at my house as well as the travelling we have done so far. I have lamented before about being here in NC without any family so my visits to and from them are few and far between, but not so this month. First it started with my Sister Sherry stopping in, then our trip to NY to visit the fam up there and go to Mom's wedding, and then this week, I had a visit from my Dad and my other Momma, Jodi.

Here's a pic of them before the tour of Southern Pines I took them on Saturday.



Would you believe it's been 3 years since I've seen them? Wow--how did that happen? They live in Florida now, and have for 14 years (where did that time go??), but are now thinking of moving to NC, about 3 hours from me in the Lake Norman area, to escape the outrageous cost of living in Florida. Hopefully they don't mind me sharing that their insurance alone per year is over 8 thousand dollars! Their house is beautiful and so is the dock that they have for their boat behind the house, so that part is hard to leave, but they've made the decision to move halfway back home and settle around this area to get a little breathing room again and not just live to pay for the home. I'll try to scan some pics soon so you can see the dock and what not behind the house in case anyone is interested in maybe buying gorgeous "winter home".








One of my favorite places to take visitors, is to our downtown area which is chock full of gorgeous shops owned mostly by locals who are boutique owners, artists, jewelers, chefs--it's a quaint area full of eye candy for the visitor's soul.




Here we have a peak at a few of the shops, Audley Enuff is a great little shop owned by a friend, Valerie. She gets designer clothing and accessories and marks them half off the original price to begin with and is willing to shop along side you to find the perfect items. She picked out 2 shirts for me and then I found a great bracelet. My items had been there a little longer so were even further reduced. All in all, I purchased 125 dollars worth of stuff for 19.00! That's my kind of shopping!

Sweet Basil is a hopping little sandwich, gourmet lunch spot that is hugely popular amongst the locals. I have yet to go there but it's definitely on my list of wanna do's.




This next featured shop is also owned by an acquaintance of mine, Donna. She opened "Birdies on Broad Street" earliar this spring and it is just the cutest store for all of you bird lovers. We stopped in here and Donna greeted us with such enthusiasm for her customers as well as an open door of information about birds, her products, migratory information of any species of our feathered friends you might want to know about, tips on how to attract more birds to your yard, what she does in her own yard--and she is just sooooo enthusiastic about everything, it's hard not to buy something from her! The strangest product in her store? She actually has several kinds of bat cages that you hang in your yard to ward of the insects and mosquitos naturally. She said that all of her bat cages sold out on Mother's Day. LOL. Can you believe that?

Hmm...boys, I think I will stick with my bouquet of flowers and chocolate thank you very much. I am scared to death of bats! Not sure that I want to attract and maintain rental housing for them by choice!




All to soon our tour was over but we did follow it off with a nice seafood luncheon at Shuckers and one last stop at my favorite thrift store, Karen's Attic. We spen the evening making a great dinner and a superb dessert-

Strawberry Pudding

1 1/2 pints of Strawberries
1/2 cup of sugar
1 small package of strawberry jello
**Cook until jello and sugar is dissolved, do not add water, let cool slightly

1 large box of instant vanilla pudding made according to directions
1 cup sour cream
1 container of whip cream
**you can use light everything in this recipe**

1 box of vanilla wafers

Set aside your strawberry/jello/sugar mixture after heated. Mix pudding according to directions, then add sour cream and whip cream. In a 9x13 glass dish, layer vanilla wafers, 1/2 pudding mixture, and then 1/2 of strawberry mixture. Repeat layer. You can decorate the top layer with remaining vanilla wafers if you like. Chill until serving.
**This tastes like strawberry shortcake!!!! YUMMMOOO

I really, really, have been eating tooooo well lately. I was going to include a picture of me and Jodi but the pic of me is horrible. Bleck bleck bleck. I'm going on a diet--and bringing the rest of the pudding to work tomorrow!! LOL

Before I knew it, my visitors were departing once again, but hopefully my Dad will sell his house soon and move up this way so we have some family living nearby once again. Sighh.


I haven't been crafty at all this week so I just thought I'd throw in one my doodles from the other day. Although I will probably color this, I really like the look of black and white drawings. There is something so pure about them.

Tomorrow is send out date for all you SG Swappers!! Several packages have already made it out to their new owners and oh my, what eye candy these goodies are! Everyone's containers are so bright and cheery, it's hard not to be in the summer mood!
Please check out the flickr sites for the packages sent/recieved and the container post. You'll be inspired, too! If you are thinking of joining our next swap--please view as well, you will be impressed with our group of creative ladies!!
Links to the flickr site are within the last post of SGS blog. Check them out and happy swapping!!
Last but not least, if you are interested in making Art Journals, or learning some new collage techniques, check out IHanna's blog, she has a great variety of artful blogs linked as well as a wonderful post of art journalling prompts, tips, and other mixed media tips on this post. Warning, this link could keep you busy for hours!

I found this link that posts about one of the newest Stampington Co issues, ARTFUL BLOGGING, when poking through Hanna's blog--I am so getting this issue. I can't wait to see all the wonderful artists in our "community" in print. Maybe someday I'll get the kuhanas to submit something of mine to one of their publications. I've seen a lot of bloggers that I frequent featured in many of their issues, will you be next????
Have a creative and thrifty week!!!
lucy

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

Wow! I really like your drawing! It's much more than a doodle. I've read your blog before, but never commented and I noticed that sometimes you just don't give yourself enough credit for the creativity you have and the hard times you've seen as well. Glad you've had a fun time with family!

Paula said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful visit with your Dad and Jodi. Your pictures make me want to come shopping in your little town. What great little shops!
Take care...

Anonymous said...

Ive been anxiously awaiting this post on the visit with Dad! Im glad you guys had a nice weekend. I miss you all already.. New York hasnt been the same since you left. I Love you!!
Your sista
Becka