Road Trip!

Here we go!  I was a little intimidated about driving a 17 foot U-Haul truck to Tybee all by myself but I gave myself a pep talk.  I reminded myself of my "vast" prior experience driving Kristen's stuff to college at UVa years ago and I took courage.

And so we're off!

Halfway to Tybee I made a quick stop in Dublin, GA for lunch and a potty break at Burger King--they have a great field next to the parking lot with lots of room for the truck!  Yeah, I know, not the most nutritional diet but hey, I'm a truck driver and I need my energy--right?

 Next stop--The Coral Cottage!

  

Everything went perfectly--almost everything.

There was one little mishap that happened when I made a slightly too-sharp turn into the yard.  Thankfully this was the only damage...the truck suffered no harm.

Source: Jane Coslick

  Oh well...we're here and it's all good!

Source: Jane Coslick

Heavy Lifting!

The Big Day is here!  Time to load up the truck and head for the Coral Cottage!  We've been planning for and looking forward to this day for many months.  We completed our last-minute shopping (click here for details) and my moving company sent their very best worker...

Not only is he big and strong but he is pretty handsome too (but I digress)...

Actually we are using the Do-It-Yourself moving company.  The price is right and they do it just like you want it done!  Thanks to my husband Henry's strong back and capable heavy-lifting, we are packed and the driver has just shown up:

Yep--the driver is me.  Join me next time for the road trip!

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Go Shopping!

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping!  That's how the saying goes, right?  It's amazing how much stuff it takes to completely furnish a house--even a little house like The Coral Cottage!  

In my last post I showed you some of  the things accumulated for the house so far but believe it or not--we still have shopping to do!  

First stop is U-Haul...

Done!  Now IKEA here we come!

IKEA is a wonderland of home goods--anything you could want and then some for furnishing a home.  The first time Henry and I visited the Atlanta location we wandered around in there for hours and still didn't see everything! 

On this trip we had a list and we stayed focused on it--two sofas, two chairs, and four slipcovers.  Simple enough except this is a self-service store.  Thankfully I have a muscular hubby!  We also bought a few things for another project we will share with you later.  

Hey wait--that's not everything!

Now you see why we needed U-Haul!  It's time to load up and head to Tybee--come back and keep me company!

And Now Comes the Fun Part!

We've spent weeks--no make that months--restoring our beach cottage, The Coral Cottage.  We have totally rewired, added hvac, replaced windows so they meet code for high winds, hung drywall, painted, added flooring--whew!  

And now comes the fun part!!!  It's time to furnish and fluff!  

My basement has been a warehouse for furniture, bedding and accessories accumulated from various flea markets and online vendors.

Likewise in our garage...

Stuff everywhere!  This garage hasn't housed a car in months!

Furniture Loretta and I refurbished is waiting to go back to its old home.

So what do I do now?  Go shopping--what else?  Come back and go with me in my 

next post!

The Coral Cottage on Tour!

Can you believe it--The Coral Cottage is going to be featured in a holiday tour of homes at Tybee Island!

Jane Coslick, who has been working with me to get our cottage party-perfect, asked if we would allow her to include The Coral Cottage on this tour to benefit the Savannah Humane Society low cost spay/neuter clinic.  We were honored and of course, we said "yes"!

It will be a festive way to spend a Saturday, December 8th from 10 to 3, enjoying seventeen Jane Coslick cottages at Tybee decked out for Christmas!  Light refreshments will be included in the price of each ticket at the North Beach Grill.  

Tickets cost $30 (remember it is for charity) and they are available from the Humane Society Thrift Shop at 7215 Sallie Mood Drive in Savannah and on Tybee Island at Seaside Sisters and The Atlantic Beacon Co-op Gallery.  For more details and pictures of the houses or to order printable tickets please click here.

If you live in the area I hope to see you there and if you live within driving distance--think how much fun it would be to spend a weekend in Savannah getting into the Christmas spirit and helping a good cause at the same time! 

Thanks to everyone who reads this blog and has been so supportive!  I hope you will stay tuned  'cause I have lots of pictures to show you as we finalize the furnishing and fluffing of The Coral Cottage!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sending a big wish from my heart to yours for a *very very* fun, blessed, delicious, delightful, Happy Thanksgiving!

My Family on Thanksgiving 2011

I will be back this weekend with another post about the Coral Cottage.  Have fun shopping the Black Friday and after-Thanksgiving Saturday sales and check out my blog on your phone while you're waiting to check out in the stores--hehe!  See you then!

Let's Talk Turkey About Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is upon us.  Many of you are already cooking and planning how you will set a beautiful table for friends and family.  And many of you are wondering just what you are going to do this year and  are still looking for ideas.

Let me offer some inspiration...Even if you're all ready for this year's Thanksgiving everyone enjoys looking at something beautiful.  I'm always saving ideas on Pinterest.  (Not on Pinterest yet?  Well that's another post for another day.)  So here we go...

My daughter, Meghan (who blogs at Loquacious Lady), with help from Lisa, my daughter-in-law set a very beautiful table in honor of my birthday.

Just look at a close up of the placesetting:

Don't you like the old-fashioned mason jars decorated with twine?  How about the mini pumpkins she used as place cards?  The paper plates almost fooled me into thinking they were china--they've really improved disposable plates these days.  The table runner was burlap.  The color scheme and rough textures of the burlap and twine mixed in with the candles and other elements made the table have a very warm, welcoming vibe.

The kids' table was not left out of the fun.  She used paper to cover the table and provided crayons for the children to decorate their tablecloth.  There were also toys on the table.  Check out the kids' glasses--mason jars with lids in which she punched a hole and inserted a straw...brilliant solution to contain any spills that might occur!  The kids loved their table and they stayed entertained throughout the meal allowing their parents to enjoy the adult table!

Last but not least, skirted in burlap,  the dessert table...

 Feeling inspired?  I hope so. And I hope you and yours have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn At Last!

I'm a warm weather girl.  I grew up in Savannah and have always loved the climate there but I didn't realize that, having moved to north Georgia, I have grown to enjoy the cooler season of autumn with its glowing colors--I was in Savannah the last week of October and it was still green--green and warm and sunny into early November!

Now don't get me wrong 'cause I've loved being in Savannah and Tybee Island working on beach cottages in the balmy weather but it was making it hard for me to get into the autumn mood.  That is, until recently...

My kids gave me a birthday party recently (click here for more about the party) and Meghan, my daughter, had fabulous seasonal decorations up all around her home!  

Look at this beautiful mantle--she carved the "M" out of a pumpkin she bought at Michael's.

Feast your eyes on the lovely display she had in her foyer.  She placed it on a furniture piece that used to belong to my mom.  Love it!

Now it feels like Thanksgiving :)  I can't wait to show you the tablescape--it is Pinterest worthy!  If you need inspiration for your holiday table then you need to stay tuned for my next post.  'Til then...

Ta Daaa!

It is so gratifying to take a house from this (sort of like a lady without her makeup on):

To this:

Then finally shutters and the sign were added--even the crew working on the house from Horton Remodeling cheered!  Ta Daaaa!!

Source: janecoslick.blogspot.com

I feel like cheering too!  I'm going to enjoy this little triumph for a few days and then it will be time to call in my brother, Bill Griffin, a Savannah landscape architect to create a beautiful setting for the house.  Stay tuned!

It Must Be A Sign!

The Coral Cottage is getting all gussied up with shutters and a beautiful new sign.  Last week Leonard Miller paid a visit to the CC to create a sign for her.  I blogged about Leonard last week in this post.  Here he is--paint buckets in hand ready to get down to work.

Jane Coslick (who provided all these pictures--to see her blog click here)  also has him working on a surprise for us--here he is at work on it--can't wait to see it all finished. I love surprises!

Leonard has painted many cottage name signs at Tybee.  To see some other examples of his work click here.  He is so talented at lettering--doing everything freehand!  And now drum roll please....May I present.....

It's going to look like such a happy cottage!

Happy Birthday to Me!

What is a blog for if you can't write about something personal?  If you are wanting to read more about my cottage I'm preparing a new post with lots of good pictures of The Coral Cottage for Tuesday.   Or you can check out the archives to see if you've missed a post.

Today I'd like to share one of the best birthday parties I ever had and it was given by my children recently at the home of my youngest daughter, Meghan, and her husband Tom, shown here with their 9 month old daughter, Josey:

It's been a hectic year and I haven't seen my children and their families as much as usual so we decided to just do a family party--all of my kids but one (Jordan and his wife live out of state) and all of my grandkids came.  Here are a few members of the cast of characters:

Our oldest child, Jonathan, with his four kids and holding his niece Charlotte, 3 months old

Our daughters holding each other's babies...Kristen (on left holding Josey) and Meghan (right, holding Charlotte) with me in the middle

My husband Henry and I with our grandkids (L to R Madeline, Anna Kate, Charlotte, me,Josey, Henry, Ella, Tyler, and Violet)

Meghan decorated and set the table beautifully (more on that later) and everybody had a wonderful, noisy, happy to be together family time.  Everybody loved on everybody's kids and we did the usual birthday things:

Lunch--finally a photo that includes my wonderful daughter-in-law Lisa and my excellent son-in-law James

The kids table set with toys and crayons to draw on the tablecloth!

Gifts selected with love

Gifts made with love--Paintings done by the children for me to use at our beach cottage!

And of course, the birthday cake--this one was caramel--birthday girl's choice!

It was perfect. absolutely. perfect. 

Mucho thanks to Meghan who provided many of these pictures--she blogs at Loquacious Lady and I'm sure she would love for you to stop by. Do you recall a special birthday?  Tell us about it!

Someone Who's Artsy Smartsy

I promised you a peek at the Coral Cottage with the shutters hung.  Here is one with just the pair on the left hung.  It was such a sunny, warm day that the picture looks a little faded--sorry but it was lovely to enjoy a day in the 80's at the end of October!

I'm saving the other pictures until after I introduce you to the handiwork of Leonard Miller, an artist who is renowned at Tybee Island for making beautiful signs for many of the cottages.  Here are a few examples from other cottages with thanks to Jane Coslick for allowing me to use her images:

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You can see more of Jane's projects here and here.

 I first became acquainted with Leonard's art when I saw it painted on the dining room wall at a different cottage.  Here is that painting of the Tybee lighthouse:

Recently Leonard paid a call on The Coral Cottage to create a sign for her.  It turned out so well!  We've hung it on the front of the cottage and it looks great!   I'll show it to you soon!

Time to Accessorize!

Curb appeal counts and we have been working hard to make The Coral Cottage as gorgeous as she can be.  You can catch up with our previous progress by clicking on this link:  Coral Cottage Gets a Facial.

One of my readers commented that painting the house was like helping her into her party clothes.  I love that description!  Well now it is time to accessorize!

Here is the Coral Cottage in her party clothes:

And so the fun begins with a little metal awning over the front door.  It's amazing how a small overhang like this can change the house--it adds some dimension to a fairly 
flat facade.

Before

After

Better huh?

Horton Remodeling built some shutters for the windows and painted them a bright lime green!  They are dangling down below the windows in this next photo like a lady is holding them up to see if they work with her outfit.

What do you think?  Do you like them?  Thursday I will show you how they look across the front of the house...hope to see you then!