our weekly in review:

Celebrating 16 years of Marriage:


My parents took the girls for the day, and J and I set out on my absolute favorite adventure....our beloved boat, Little Sea Hunt!  But first, we headed out to Stacks for brunch, so he could have a seafood omelet.  It was nice...a breakfast date with my hubby...I can't remember the last time we did that.  It was definitely BC!  From there we headed to the boat landing preparing to take the boat over to Daufuski Island where we were going to rent a golf cart and spend the day...only we made a slight detour to a different boat landing in Old Town Bluffton...you know, because J wanted to see a seafood recipe book down there (notice a seafood theme so far....the poor guy must be feeling some deprivation being a prisoner to a vegetarian wife and all;)  Anyway, as I mentioned we took a slight detour down the May River to go see his book.  Yes, we easily could have driven or ridden our bikes there, but isn't this fun? And interesting to note, when you arrive via boat, instead of land transportation, you see things from a whole new perspective.  We spent several hours talking to local shop owners, walking around and seeing the sights, some of which have been there since before the Civil War!  And with J's nudge and encouragement, some of my Dragonfly Inspirations Creations may be in a couple of those shops in the very near future!!!!  SO excited!  J and I sat on a patio for awhile and just hung out, and then we headed back to the boat.  We were kind of procrastinating a tad, as the weather was iffy....but as it turns out, the storms stayed west of us..like they missed us by a mile or two, literally.  And trust me when I say you do NOT want to be out on these open waterways during the storms...even if we don't (or rarely) take the boat right on the ocean, we are pretty much almost on the ocean, and it's all connected....been there, done that! Anyway, when we returned to boat, we were slightly hungry, so we sat on the boat for a snack...and then a police officer came down, and we actually just wound up chatting with each other for probably a good hour and a half to two hours!  At that point, we had to leave or we were going to lose daylight and be unable to go out for our anniversary dinner via boat....but we found a restaurant and dock on the way, and stopped at Buffalo's on the very beautiful Palmetto Bluff.


We enjoyed, perfect weather, and breezes, and dolphins, and sunset....amazing and beautiful day together!  Wow time flies, 16 years, 19 together!


 



Fairy Girl making pancakes from scratch:


Perfect night! Good music, good food, good scenery, good people!  Palmetto Bluff!

About a year ago or so, some of you may recall when I applied primer to the dark cave of a tiny half bath (dark wine...was like that when we bought the house five years ago.). The primer was such a relief, I just let it stay as is. But now tired of plain white, and I literally despise painting bathrooms (after two bathrooms in our WI house where I had to tear down wall paper)....so my compromise, a cute inspirational/coastal border. NOW I'm happy 

 

new furniture.....new style :D

It's amazing how one little furniture rearrangement can make such a huge difference in the flow and energy of the home. The way I had this space set up over the last five years, with a tall couch choking off half the windows and the view of the forest, was literally stifling...and it didn't really hit me until about a month ago! I had it set
up so our fireplace and tv was the focal point...now the backyard and fire place are focal, with the tv sort of blending in.
Sunshine and breezes flow freely now! 

 Piper seems a little uncertain....HIS familiar smells are no present (yet:)...oh, and we don't let him lick on the couch....he's not liking that:(


(and the couch is not really that close to the fireplace...that is just where the furniture delivery guy placed it and I snapped the photo asap:)

MADD (not Mother's against drunk driving...although I can't think of too many who are for it:)

Yesterday...went to Michael's....no kiddos....I think I was there for about three hours. I also think I might have a condition....I shall call it "Michael's Attention Deficit Disorder." I'm quite certain it's already a thing, just may not have been named previously.
Basically, I went in, not to buy, but just to look around, observe, learn, get inspired for a new and cool idea I have for my shop. I did accomplish that; made zero purchases towards that idea.
But somehow I found this nautical canvas ribbon. I knew I had to have it. And then I knew I had to create a nautical wreath for our front door....because you know....boating.

Then I saw these amazing large distressed letters of the alphabet. I think I walked around the store with them for two hours. I didn't buy them.
Then I found some smaller, colorful letters....I chose: S-E-A (that spells "sea," because you know...embracing our coastal life-style)
Then I knew I had to create a wall hanging for the downstairs bathroom...which still has primer on. We never finished painting it....it's been over a year. I'm happy with the bright white primer...it used to be a dank maroon in a small, enclosed space .... It kind of freaked my girls out...the white is good....anyway, I started wandering the store aimlessly trying to figure out what to do with those letters. And then I found a gorgeous ocean blue distressed frame...but not for that bathroom. Soon went back for more letters ... S-E-A...again ...and craft paper ....and, and, and..$100 later (after my teacher discount)....I have a bag full of cool burlaps and glitters and things.
So I'm sure y'all agree now, that if anybody has Michael's Attention Deficit Disorder...I do. I'm also willing to bet a few of my friends do too!
And if you're still reading this long-drawn-out post, you're more crazy than I am. 😜
The end!
(Finally:)
I created these last night:

Every year they are able to reach higher and higher up onto the tree:

Four Years in our SC home today!

and in honor of this anniversary...we room-swapped....again:
2011 girls have their own bedrooms:  
http://ourpathoflearning.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-princesses-new-chambers.html


in 2012 they decided they wanted to share a room, so we painted and moved them into our large above-garage, bonus room space:
http://ourpathoflearning.blogspot.com/2012/08/tour-of-my-girls-new-sweet-garden-suite.html











 
2015: three years later, many of the toys out-grown and donated, after three years of fun and memory-making as younger girls, in their Garden Suite, it is time for them to have their own space again:

 



and full-circle: the bonus room is back to a guest room and storage room (you know, no basements on the coast...the stuff has to go somewhere:)...and now add to that, my Dragonfly Inspirations Studio...I LOVE it!


My view from the window is of my backyard forest...this is VERY inspiring...my forest is my Muse:)

Happy Halloween! Blessed Sanhaim!

fall decorating in process......