Beachy Birthday Trip ~ Part One

Hey everyone! I'm back!!! We had one of the best vacations we've ever taken and one of the best b'days I've ever had! Thanks to all who wished me well, privately or on here. I took over 120 pics, don't worry~ I won't make you look through all of them, ha. But I do have a LOT of goodies to share today, so will divide them into sections, if I can.

The first pic doesn't really have anything to do w/this post, but I wanted to make sure to thank Jayne P. from Florida for the darling floss holder she sent me for an exchange we were in together. This was her very first one and I think she did a great job! Thanks so much Jayne!! (the fabric is actually a little darker)~ that dang flash did it again! LOL

We left at exactly 4 A.M. to go through the mountains of Virginia in the cooler hours and stopped overnight just outside of Charlotte to break up the longgggggggg trip. The campground used to be called Carowinds or maybe still is, but it had a new sign since we'd been there. It is right next to a themepark.

This log cabin is actually the registration office in disguise. They have some arcade games in there and a pool table I think. (I didn't go in this time, but had yrs. ago).

They remodeled their pool over the yrs. but opted to use salt water instead of good ol' chlorine. It tasted just like the ocean ~ yuck! :)

As soon as we got our camper set up, my honey whipped this beauty out of the fridge, cuz my b'day was the very next day. He had it hiding under something so I wouldn't see it in there. He had ordered it earlier in the wk. and picked it up the day before we left. Sneaky, huh? :))

It was delish and we polished that baby off in a couple of days!!

My sweety gave me some b'day $$ to spend in a nearby CROSS STITCH shop!!! (Stitch and Frame Shop in Rock Hill, SC) It was one of the main reasons we stopped overnight. LOL

It was only about 10 mins. away, so off we went. I had been there yrs. ago, but they had changed owners about 4 yrs. ago. Peggy was a sweetheart and we had a good chat before I even got started 'shopping'.

The shop was sectioned off into 'rooms' that were open to each other. Lots of shop models and patterns galore, plus a framing dept. that Peggy got her start in. (I didn't get a pic of that part of the store, however). The minute I walked through the door, I was in cr. st. heaven! :))

Believe it or not, I missed a couple of rooms! But I think I got the majority of them.

As I was sorting through all my stash I'd acquired(while hubby was patiently waiting for me in the van), trying to figure out what all I could actually buy and what I'd have to put back(wahhhhhhhh!), Peggy told me about their b'day discount(saavy shopowner that she is)!!! My eyes got real big and I told her the very next day was my b'day, does that count???? so she told me to pick out a complete project~ graph, fabric, threads, etc. and she'd discount that! Well, needless to say, that was all it took!

I love the way she had everything so organized nice and neat, esp. the fabric. Stacked and divided by color and thread count. It was very easy to find what you needed. And boy, did I find what I 'needed', LOL!!

Peggy is on the left and her helper Maggie is on the right. ( I also went back the next morning before leaving for the beach, which was a few hrs. further south) after starting a new project that night in the camper.

You know how you just keep thinking about some 'stuff' that you didn't get the first time around??? So when I went back, she had two other helpers working, but I didn't get their names or pics. Those gals were very pleasant and helpful too.

Thank you ladies for such a fun visit! Peggy also does mail order too from her website, so be sure to give her a call.Here's the goodies I came home with. One was even in the clearance bin and I 'rescued' it! LOL

This one even came w/the star tin frame! and most of you know how much I love Americana!

Here's my fabric stash, and as you can see, several had red clearance stickers, so I had to 'rescue' them too!

She even carried some 'WOOL' that I've been 'needing' for a couple of projects......

and here is the project that I chose to work on while at the beach. Ironic that I chose 'snowmen' when it was extremely hot there!!
I know, I know, I told you all I was in the mood to work on Halloween in the last post. (I lied)LOL

This is what I've gotten done so far. I'm using 18ct. Cork Linen, Wild Bluebell, I think it's called, worked over two w/overdyed perle cotton, but of course I ran out of 'Bamboo' so this is as far as I got. It is a little more variegated than it shows in the pic.

This is a sneak peek of a b'day surprise from a very special lady that was waiting for me upon my return. Can you guess who stitched it??? I will show the completed stitchery, along w/ some more goodies I received from some very special friends,
and also the rest of the trip on the next post, so stay tuned~~~ you won't want to miss out!! LOL

Thanks always for stopping by and your sweet comments! I love hearing from you and thanks to my family and friends for making this b'day one I won't soon forget, but mostly to the Lord for allowing me 51 yrs. on this earth!(I was finally getting used to being the big FIVE-O)

~ugh!! LOL It's taking me awhile to get used to this new decade!

*Tanya*