Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas surrounded by the people you love the most!

I want to say thank you to Andrea at Slightly Askew Designs for designing my card this year! I love how she took my favorite colors (pink and green) and made it look Christmas. Thanks Andrea! 

xoxo

November

November was a fast and fun month!

Jennifer sent me this picture of my Harper! She wrote this sentence all by herself. I love how the girls are learning and growing in their reading and writing.

I visited the girls at the beginning of the month. They were out of school for two days for a fall break and I went down to stay with them while Jennifer worked. We spent a few days just hanging out and snuggling! 

Since Jennifer was working I had to get the girls ready. I must tell you that doing hair is not my thing. I pulled the girls hair into ponytails. They wanted a headband so I picked the big bows.  I think its adorable! But I think it might not have been the best choice for the outfits they had on! 

We had to shoot a short video for the Biltmore Village Facebook page to promote the Lilly store. The theme was the 12 days of Christmas. We had the ninth day...On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, nine Lilly vests! Alex was the brave soul to make the video. 

Lilly Pulitzer's birthday is November 10th. Of course we throw a big party at Palm Village and we like to give away gifts to celebrate! 

It was a fun day! 

The next day I left for Palm Beach to go on a buying trip for Summer 2016. I got to buy for the store in Augusta! 

I wrote about it here.

I had a great time exploring Palm Beach. 

Christmas comes early in the retail world!

I love sending fun gifts to the girls!

I finally had some time off to go and visit with baby Piper. She is just so sweet!

I wanted to stay and just snuggle with her all day long! 

The girls had a Thanksgiving party and made pilgrim hats! The cutest pilgrims ever!

This Thanksgiving was different. Jennifer and her family came to the mountains! They came up for a small vacation and to ride the Polar Express. I was just so happy to spend a holiday with my friends who have become family!

I am thankful for my 19 year friendship with this gal! 

If you know me, you know that I am not an animal lover. But I do love this dog! Winston is Jennifer's dog. I had to take a picture of Winnie while he was sitting on my lap! 

Of course most of Thanksgiving day was spent just hanging out and spending time with everyone. 

The next day I had to work (it was colorful Friday!) and the crew went over to Bryson City to ride the Polar Express! Mom and I met them later on. 

I didn't get to see the girls on the day they headed back home but Jennifer sent me this picture from the tree farm. They stopped at Boyd's tree farm to pick out the most perfect Christmas tree. 

I am thankful that I got to spend a lot of time with the girls in November. They certainly make life fun! 

xoxo

The Polar Express

Last Friday night we boarded the Polar Express! 

I think the kids were excited to ride to the North Pole and see Santa!!

A little backstory for you before I begin this post - When I taught 4th grade we took the Polar Express on a field trip and I thought it was awful. It might have been because I was trapped on a train with 40 fourth graders and they were so loud we couldn't hear the story. When Jennifer told me we were going on this Polar Express trip I shared my experience with her. I was worried. She told me that she thought this time would be better. Plus it was with some of my favorite people so I had high hopes for this trip!

Since it was Black Colorful Friday and I work retail I couldn't make it to the train ride until right before we boarded but they had some fun activities for the kids to do before and after. The kids got to write letters to Santa and roast marshmallows.

We had to walk a long way to get to our boarding spot. We heard that the train would be arriving in less than 5 minutes so we put the kids on our shoulders so they could watch the Polar Express arrive. They were so excited and just so happy! So far so good. 

We boarded the train and found our seats. I really wanted to get a picture of me and the girls for my Christmas card. Hadley's eyes were closed in every picture. oh well.

It was time to leave the station and make our way to the North Pole! 

Hadley watching us leave the station!

The conductor came around and punched our golden tickets. Myles was having the best time. 

Hadley and Harper are clearly so excited about the golden ticket. 

It was time for hot chocolate. The "chefs" danced down the aisle and handed out the hot chocolate and cookies. 

Myles and Kim loving their hot chocolate.

Harper enjoyed her hot chocolate too.

Every picture I took was blurry. I guess it was the motion of the train.

Finally we reached the North Pole! And guess who got on our train? Good ole St Nick! 

Really - this is the best picture I got! Ha! 

But these kids got a great picture! 

Santa left the train and this happened...

The girls were out! 

I think I had a picture of how I thought this trip should be in my mind and it did not happen the way I had pictured it. I don't think it was as bad as my field trip but I still did not think it was fabulous. 

I am not sure that the Polar Express is worth the money. I asked Jennifer if the girls had said anything about it and she said nope.  But Myles, LouAnn, and Granny Janet all seemed to enjoy the trip! 

This is only my opinion and I know that lots of families go on the Polar Express and love it. I am just not one of those people.  I did love being with my friends! I enjoy anytime I can spend with them. Not all memories and activities have to be perfect. They are our memories and I am happy to have had the chance to experience this with my sweet friends! 

On Thanksgiving Day I read the Polar Express book to Harper. We just snuggled in a big chair at the cabin and enjoyed the book together.  I know I will treasure that Polar Express memory! 

Thanks for reading! And if you are planning a trip to ride the Polar Express, I hope you have a better time than me!

xoxo

a sunny state of mind

Last Sunday I flew down to Palm Beach for a trip with my Palm Village co-workers. I was beyond excited to have this opportunity to visit Palm Beach and learn more about the Lilly Pulitzer brand. 

The first night we stayed at The Colony in Palm Beach. The rooms were super girly and just so adorable.

We were close to the beach so we took a walk down to the beach to put our toes in the water. It was so warm. I couldn't get over how warm the water was and that it was November! 

After a stroll on the beach we headed back to the Colony and freshened up for drinks and dinner at the Breakers. It was a long walk but we got to see some beautiful homes and buildings. We all had blisters on our feet when we made it to the Breakers!

We stopped to take some pictures. If you are on snapchat you can get some really cute Lilly Pulitzer filters. I am not on snapchat but Alex is so we got to use them!

 Alex, me, Eleanor, and Lesa

My pretty pink drink and Alex! 

It was dark but I tried to get a picture of the beach. It was a site I hope to remember. 

When we walked back up to our room our beds were turned down with a chocolate at the pillow! 

On Monday morning we woke up bright and early and headed out for a bike ride. This had to be one of my favorite activities. We were able to see the island and got a great workout too! 

 We saw some pretty flowers and trees.

 Flagler Museum

This tree was so neat. It looked like a sea creature. It was very cool.

The bike ride was one of those memories that I will always think back on as a happy time. I really enjoyed this activity. I know when it is cold and dreary I will think back to the bike ride and it will make me smile!

We had to check out of our hotel and head to another hotel for the rest of our trip. But we looked around Worth Ave. first!   

We visited the Lilly store C.Orrico and I picked up some cute souvenirs for Hadley and Harper!

The next morning we woke up early and headed to the Lilly Pulitzer studio in Palm Beach! 

So pretty! 

Alex (the assistant manager at the Asheville store), me, and Luana (the manager at our Mandeville, LA store)

I wish I could share more of the trip but the rest is a surprise! So this is it! I will tell you that I learned so much and I am so excited for what my future holds with this bright and fun company!

It was great to see Palm Beach and experience it. Palm Beach is the birthplace of the Lilly Pulitzer brand. I feel like I understand the brand just a little bit more!

xoxo