Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co

Adam's Story...

2012-02-26T10:03:00.001-08:00

I am taking this time and opportunity to deviate from writing about my business The Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co, and speak instead about someone whose life and and life's journey is very dear to my heart... His name is Adam.
Adam is 20 years old. He is a charming young adult in the prime of his life...but he is engaged in a fight to preserve the quality of his life. Adam has severe Cerebral Palsy from birth and some severe anxiety behaviors that manifested in his late teens. Adam is very bright, very sensitive and above all wants to have a future. Adam dreams about his tomorrows. Adam's life is dreaming about his tomorrows....
Adam is 20 years old, looking at turning 21, and is now in a Medicaid level nursing home that houses very debilitated Senior Citizens. These elderly are waiting out their last days with bodies and minds that have betrayed them. Many have Alzheimer's and dementia and are unaware that there are any tomorrows. It is a place that we do not like to think about...a place that most of us hope we will never have to see....a place that we send our hopeless and helpless to die...So.... Why is Adam here? He is here because there is no other place that would take him...because of his severe disabilities and his anxiety disorder...
Adam feels his future slipping away...so naturally his anxiety is mounting... and that in turn threatens to insure that all of his tomorrows may be spent wheeling himself through the sour halls of this last stop place or potentially another one even worse...He clings tightly to his past which is a childhood of love, acceptance, community, Special Olympic's athletics, and limited independence. A past that was given to him by a singular loving family that opened their hearts and home to him when he was four. A family that accepted him and his disabilities, that invested their time, love and resources in him after he was removed by social services from a family that could not provide adequately for him or meet his physical needs. This foster family is still in his life ... still loving him and trying to emotionally support him...but any power they ever had to help him has been stripped away by "the system".
Adam is at the mercy of "the system". He is at the mercy of our tax dollars or lack thereof, of legal waivers or lack thereof, of agencies and more agencies and their employees who often refuse to think or perform outside of the box. He is at the mercy of the ragged rips and tears in this great Country's safety net. The safety net that our politicians assure us is there...for the helpless...for those that absolutely cannot provide for themselves... but it is not... for Adam...he is in free fall... and we must catch him before he hits bottom.
The people that love and support Adam, the family and friends who care about him now have no power in his life! How did this happen? How can the fact that it did happen be used to effect change? That is why I write today...that is why I will continue to write...

This article will be continued.... please pass it on to others ...Adam needs resources.. resources that are not available to him...help by passing this on to shed light on a dark corner in our state's (VA) and nation's policies that show a complete absence of resources for our most vulnerable citizens...physically and emotionally disabled foster children.

Thank you for following...
Lynn McPherson
Owner of the Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co...bringing the Chesapeake into your home and Holidays!
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Tax Time

2012-02-09T11:17:00.001-08:00

There is always this dark cloud that hangs over February and it has nothing to do with winter weather! It is that ominous time when the books have to be finalized...gone over and gone over again. It is a time of unease... When doing better is celebrated but also has the propensity for biting you in the butt! It is a time of gathering paperwork... Looking for that document that you knew you were going to need now...but has mysteriously disappeared off the face of the earth since you got it in June! Doing 1099's and hating passing them out to those that worked so hard to help you better your bottom line. It is the month where you have to straighten up any messes that linger from the year before... Dot all your I's and cross all your t's... And hold your breath until the accountant announces...either you owe??? or you are getting back???? Whew... So glad that's over...time to get back to paintin' and Santa makin'..and next year's bottom line.
Oh! and for those of us who have kids in college it is also the time to fill out FAFSE :(( government forms to get financial aid for your student. These are based totally on your tax returns and will take another day of frustration to complete! There is no way Valentines Day can compensate for the negativity that tax time wreaks in February! Although the chocolate can be a help!
Thanks for following!
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

NEW IDEAS...JOIN US

2012-02-02T07:23:00.001-08:00

Typically January and February are the "new"idea months for CBCC. We have already made our (long) new idea list and thought that before we move forward we would ask our fans and customers for their input. Every year we get many face to face suggestions from our customers...each one we value so much! They always help fuel our creativity and keep us in touch with what our customers want. This year we thought we would start out by sending out this invitation for you to go to Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co on Facebook or simply comment on this blog with an idea for an ornament design or an idea for a future Santa. We will pick one (or maybe more) to implement... And the ones that we choose will get the first one we produce free with their name published as the idea behind the new product! We will dedicate a blog with a picture of the product and a picture of the idea person with it! Hope you will all get involved!!!! We love our customers and friends and fans and will also be sending out this invite by email to our constant contact friends.... So you might see it twice...
Give us a great idea and then look for it later at our shows and on our website!! We are excited and hope you will be too!
Thanks for following...
Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your home and Holidays!
Lynn

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM JOIN 'EM

2012-01-28T08:15:00.000-08:00

I am always the last one to embrace a new trend...by the time I am ready to embrace it, it is usually on its way to defunct! I hope that does not prove to be the case now that I am a new member of Facebook! It is kinda funny though that the day that I join the Facebook multitudes is the day that Facebook announces it's upcoming IPO! ...so now that I am joining THEY decide to become part of the Wall Street elite establishment....Hmm ...Everybody better start looking for the next new thing cause now that I have embraced it it is probably doomed!!! I am the 800,000,001 person to join and I have to say I am kind of excited about it! I do have to give all of the credit to my #1 Facebook, business, and life friend Shawnette...who has been taking care of all of Chesapeake Bay Christmas's social networking from the beginning! I was just a backseat driver and we all know what we think about backseat drivers!! She is also the one who actually did all of the setting me up and getting me connected...and we all know it would have never happened if I had had to do it myself! I still do not know quite how to navigate the system...so bear with me! I am now an actual administrator of the CBCC Facebook page so I hope to be contributing 1st hand (not backseat driving!) real soon! So in honor of the Facebook culture, change my status from Cyber-Challenged to Cyber-Hopeful...thanks for following!
Lynn
Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas

FOLLY BEACH

2012-01-25T06:35:00.000-08:00

We have come back to Folly Beach S.C. on a spur of the moment whim to collect the oyster shell clusters that we needed to finish the rest of our Oyster Bay Santas. When Shawnette saw that the temps down here were going to be in the upper 60's we made the hard decision :) to load up the car with our buckets and boots and come on down!!! Yesterday we made the mile long trek down the beach with our rolling container tagging behind to gather our shells. It was eerily foggy on the beach taking our our minds to haunted places and to the ghost stories of our youth. It felt like we were walking into a fog that would fold us into it never to be seen again! But we persevered and got to our favorite oyster place and did the shell collector stoop for several hours. We left loaded with mud laden treasures that we will scrub and bleach and shine up to be added proudly to the feet of our Oyster Bay Santa ( the remaining 50) that we were not able to finish in 2011. We love what we do and all of the awesome business trip opportunities we have! Gotta go! Back to the beach for one more oyster haul...and then back home to work .... with Folly beach a fog laden memory begging us to come back again.

Thanks for following....
Lynn

Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your home and Holidays!
www.chesapeakebaycristmas.com

ANNAPOLIS ...Old and New Chesapeake Bay

2012-01-09T07:20:00.000-08:00

My husband and I made a grab at a quick get away this past weekend to start off 2012 on a great note. Our first stop was Annapolis, MD to visit our son who has recently moved there to work for Ducks Unlimited, a wonderful organization dedicated to restoring wetlands and habitat for migratory waterfowl. You can visit their website at http://www.ducks.org/ . It is a worthy choice for a contribution to support conservation efforts for the waterfowl and wetlands restoration around our majestic Chesapeake Bay! Look them up!
Anyway...we arrived in Annapolis and picked up our son from work and took the tour. What an interesting and picturesque city...marinas and boats everywhere! It is definitely a city defined by the water, specifically the Chesapeake Bay. The Blue Crab rules and is served at every eating establishment in a wide variety of delicious ways! As sailing capital of the mid-Atlantic, it is a city that invites you to leave the land and spend some time challenging mother nature out on the open water of the bay or the smaller rivers creeks and coves that snake up into the mainland requiring you to cross multiple bridges(large and small) when traveling any short distance. Downtown is a quaint Main Street that maintains the character and charm of it's historical past. The shopping is amazing, as is the opportunity to eat drink and be merry in cozy cheery red brick surroundings. It seems to be a city of young professionals and college students. Smartly dresesed young people abound along with the polished Naval Acadamy Mids giving the City yet another layer of nautical dimension. You will find no high rises here...only a small feeling neighborhood centered city that invites you to enjoy all of the bounty that the Chesapeake Bay has to offer. We enjoyed our time here with our son...eating, drinking, shopping and admiring a town that has managed to stay small even though it is big... and has kept it connection to the water, the watermen, and the environment alive!

We are back! Look out 2012 here we come!

2012-01-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

Yes here It is...the first physical evidence of a New Years Resolution! We are back,determined to blog out hearts out in 2012! We will be doing our normal ramblings but will also be keeping you up to date on our show schedules, new designs, website improvements , and all of the worthwhile news and causes we take on!
We want to take this moment to thank all of you for a fabulous 2011 and pledge to you an even more energized and vibrant 2012. Shawnette and I are already totally engaged in our planning, organizing, and visualizing the path and progress of this new year. Join us in welcoming this year of great mystery with the resolution to fill it with happy, productive,and memorable days! Look out 2012 we've got plans for you!
Thanks so much for following...
Lynn

ChesapeakeBayChristmas.com.... bringing a little bit of the Chesapeake into your home and Holidays!www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Mood Swings of a Professional Nature!

2011-09-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

   We had a very full plate this weekend with Mathews Market Days and Bark in the Park in Williamsburg where we partnered with the Wiliamsburg chapter of the Parrothead Club to raise money for the Heritage Humane Society. Thank you Cindy Mikeliates for taking on the responsibility for manning the booth and taking orders for our Faithful Friends Santas (see website). We did have a very nice weekend except for the downpour in Mathews Saturday morning. We will be drying out for awhile after that one...but over all it was a gorgeous sunny (although very sweaty!) weekend!
   It is nice to have today to recover before starting a very busy upcoming week. We will be executing a list that Shawnette and I made during our downtime at Mathews. It was a very long list with some very involved items that only took up a very small piece on the page but will take gobs of time to accomplish! We are now committed to the Swiss Cheese method of of accomplishing goals...punching holes in our list until it morphs into the next one.
    We do have some very exciting news that accounts for a lot of our time management challenge this week and the next several. We got our first large order from a national gift chain for our Psalms in the Sand ornaments! We are venturing into uncharted territory and having to learn new things about distribution, UPC codes, and packing and shipping for a large retail chain. Just getting out a very large order when we are going into full swing with our own retail craft show schedule is a challenge of a larger scale than ever before. We are in a kind of happy panicked state that is very confusing emotionally :) To stress or celebrate that is the question....so we will yoyo back and forth accordingly! Happy excited....panicked stessed....let's try to go with Happy and excited for now!!! I will see you in the morning Shawnette, my friend and partner...be charged and ready to go!!

Thanks for Reading...
Lynn

http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/

Bringing a little bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Laboring On... in Santas Workshop!

2011-09-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

   Today is Labor Day!...for Chesapeake Bay Christmas that means that our labor will intensify exponentially from now until Christmas. We are on the fast track now and there is no turning back. We are presently preparing to release our new 2011 Chesapeake Santa...hopefully by late September ( we are behind schedule but working hard!). We will also be finishing up a Santa we have designed for a group down in Bath, NC to raise funds for their organization and another new design of ours will be coming out soon (an awesome  Pirate Santa!) Look for many new and exciting one of a kind Santas at our shows.
    We have shows scheduled almost every weekend from now until Christmas which you can check on our upcoming events page on our website http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/. Shawnette and I are both having minor anxiety attacks regularly...but not to worry these are just fuel for our creativity along with the increase in coffee consumption and occasional 4 hour energys we use to keep the long hours ahead of us!
Santas workshop is gearing up and we will not stop until all of our Santas and ornaments are finished and delivered into the homes of our great customers. Look for our email announcing the release of our 2011 Chesapeake Santa! Hint...he has a feature that makes each one unique and different from all of the others! We know you will love him and cannot wait to get your feedback.
   FYI there are only 112 days until Christmas!!!
   Thanks for reading,
Lynn
http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/
Bringing a little bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Earthquakes and Hurricanes!

2011-09-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

We just got our power back yesterday after being without it for 5 days in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. Many of my friends and neighbors still do not have power, water or phone yet so I know that we are blesssed. Three days before Irene arrived here central Virginia experienced a 4.9 level earthquake! Wow! How could two such random low odds events happen here three days apart? I think we Virginians... neighbors and citizens should feel proud for handling these events with calm, courage and perserverance. Our hearts go out to our friends that have suffered damage, or bodily harm as a result of Irene and quake. Eventually the hardships, and pain will pass but the stories will remain to be told and retold. The kindness of neighbors will be remembered and built upon to form stronger communities. We will go forward a little stronger and better prepared to survive whatever mother nature has yet to send our way.

Thanks for reading,

Lynn

http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/

Don't forget to Be Happy!

2011-07-26T07:32:00.000-07:00

This year has slipped away so quickly and so quietly that it is alarming! It seems we are working so much harder than ever before...without the return on investment that we would like to see. But we know we are in the best of company and that the fact that we have managed to stay in business during this economic downturn is a victory in itself. We do not mind the hard work...it is life affirming in its own way. What is harder about today than a few years ago is that the mental stress level seems to have gone up disproportionately to the work load. I find this hard to explain except maybe some of it may be mid life physical changes , along with empty nesting, layered with the economic downturn and finished off with lot of media and political propaganda that's only goal seems to be to keep all of us off balance at all costs. I will continue to navigate through it the best that I can trying to focus on all that is positive in the world. I know that I will not find the positive things on the TV, radio, or in the newspapers...I try to take care of myself physically, remember to take lots of deep breaths every day, and try to get outside everyday and appreciate my physical world...look at the stars...dig in the dirt...feel the heat and the cold of our planet instead of living always in the temperature controlled world that we have created for ourselves...disconnect from my devices as often as I can....It is so hard though! It is a shame that we have to consciously be aware of and combat the mental stress and fatigue that has become ingrained in our life style... There does have to be a way to simplify and appreciate and be happy....I will keep searching...let me know if you figure out how to do it!
Back to my Santas...they are a good source of stress relief....they make me Happy!
Thanks for reading...
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing the Chesapeake into you Home and Holidays!

King Ingjald the Evil Advisor!!??

2011-07-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

Ten days of silence...I should be ashamed. I am going to have to admit that it was not for any noble reason like being too busy with Santa production or marketing or shows ( although that does continue at an escalating pace!) but because I discovered Ancestry.com! Wow...now I am sure I could not be trusted with a personal facebook page or an i phone or anything that cyber connects my life anymore than it already is. I am now a genealogy addict! I cannot stay away from my family tree...I have to say to myself...paint for 2 hours then you can have a 30 minute break to do a couple more generations....! When I got a hold of one of my great grandmothers lines that took me all the way back to the Roman Emperor Constantine I... I was done! Could it be possible that Royalty, and Vikings with names like Svedi the Sea King, King Ingjald the Evil Advisor, and and even a Saint or too have passed on their genes to me...well according to ancestry .com it is so ( I will say that many of the connections are not totally beyond question!) but even if a few did prove to be true I am feeling way better about myself that I did before I delved into my pretty interesting past! I have ...a 10th great grandfather who bought Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket from the Indians...I am a 1st cousin to Benjamin Franklin 7 generations removed, my 11th great grandfather was a sea captain that sailed the second ship Speedwell that originally accompanied the Mayflower on its voyage over here but had to turn back because it was taking on water...he then later came to Virginia on the ship America in 1634 and was given a land grant right here in Charles City, VA!!! And it goes on and on...I even share a common 18th great grandfather with the British royals...should have gotten a wedding invitation! Anyway it is fascinating and I have only just begun...if only one small bit of it turns out to be true it has given me a new interest in the past...in mine and that which is all of ours...history...an amazing story that defines us, inspires us, prepares us and teaches us...happy ancestry....give it a try...its addicting!
Thanks for reading
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

I love Mac... who knew how much!

2011-07-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of new posts but I have had an unexpected illness that I have been dealing with. My son's dog Mac started feeling puny over the weekend. By the time I took him to the vet at 7 am Monday he was at death's door! His condition went downhill so fast on Sunday that by Monday morning he could barely walk and was so very ill... I felt so guilty that we originally did not give it much thought when he stopped eating on Saturday and just wanted to sleep. We thought it was just a digestive issue or a bug or something....
It was something!....a massive systemic infection that we will never know how he got it.. The vet is at a loss and he has been on IV's and antibiotics since Monday. I spent most of Monday in tears....fearful that we were going to lose him. I had no idea how deep my emotional attachment was or is. I cried uncontrollably in front of other people....I don't do that! I love my Mac...more than I ever knew! I promised him if he gets better I will take him on his walks faithfully everyday and throw his ball whenever he wants and stop complaining about all of his hair on my carpet and in the corners of every room. I know he heard me because he wagged his tail when I made these proclamations! I have been visiting him 2-3 time a day and am hoping we will be able to bring him home to his spot on the sofa tomorrow. This has been one of those experiences that I never want to have again... but lets me know how much I really love my pets and how important they are in my life. I love my Mac and my Gizmo...they give their love unconditionally... humans are not so good at the unconditional thing...but heaven help me if one of my kids ever got this ill...! Keep on loving, keeping on feeling, keep on giving...
Thanks for reading,
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing the Chesapeake into you Home and Holidays!

Yorktown Market a Wash Out!

2011-07-09T02:59:00.000-07:00

Today's Yorktown Market Days was cancelled due to the heavy rain that continued to fall last night and into this morning. I had just walked out to the car to head that way when Maydel called to tell me it was going to be cancelled. I am thinking about going back to bed but thought I would get this post out first while I enjoy a cup of coffee...which will keep me up so I will probably get in some early morning painting. I have a bag of spiral shells right next to my painting table begging to be transformed into college snowmen! Hmmm...Blue... I think...ODU, CNU, Virginia, WVU,....
Catch up with us in Williamsburg on Prince George St. from 3pm until 6pm tomorrow at the 2nd Sunday Visual and Performing Arts Show. We will have free T shirts!

Thanks for reading...
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

This Weekend... Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg

2011-07-08T06:21:00.000-07:00

We have two markets scheduled this weekend! Saturday morning we will be in Yorktown at their market days on The Riverwalk. We love this market. It is so scenic and invigorating sitting on the Bank of the grand York River in such a historical setting as Colonial Yorktown. The farmers market is always fabulous...at least 5 produce vendors to choose from... along with live music, great food and a great array of artists! We are hoping that it will not rain!
On Sunday afternoon we are going to participate in a new event that just came on to our radar a couple of weeks ago. It is called 2nd Sundays and it is in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg! It is a visual and performing arts event with about 20-30 vendors, live music and great food on the 400 block of Prince George Street from 3pm-6pm. (at the same time on the 2nd Sunday of each month) We are excited to do this event because we LOVE Colonial Williamsburg and have not ever done an event there! It looks like it will be a perfect weather day...so come down everyone we would love to see you...and we have some free T-shirts for all of you who come by and mention this Blog or our facebook page! Come by and say hi...
Thanks for reading...

Lynn

ww.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

bringing the Chesapeake into you Home and Holidays!

Is it Wednesday??

2011-07-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

   It is already Wednesday! A short week always wreaks havoc with our production schedule. Oh...that's right we don't have a production schedule! Just multiple lists that we scratch off and add onto with gusto. But it is still a challenge to get it all done and have everything we need in the right place to get it done. My house is ground zero. It is where all the Chesapeake Bay Christmas inventory is either stored or distributed. I have an office ( Ha!) a large shed and two large trailers filled with stuff! then I also rent a storage unit about 2 miles from my home that is usually full. Shawnette has half of her shed full in addition to one spare bedroom and overflow into the kitchen...oh I forgot to mention that every room on the first floor of my house has got Santa or painting projects going on. Kitchen table, dining room table, painting table, dining room buffet, front hall desk....all covered with CBCC stuff! I know it drives my husband and kids crazy! ( It has gotten worse since all the kids have left...I have stopped trying so hard to contain it and have let it creep into every room like a spring time wisteria vine!) Sorry guys thank you for your patience!
   Everyday my friends and fellow artists who help me get everything done come by to pick up and or drop off what they need to work on and what they have been working on. So my front door is is rather like a revolving door most days along with a phone that never stops ringing! Now that is is summertime some of the kids ( 20 somethings) are home..or coming home...or leaving and then coming back with friends....or who knows where they are? What day is it?
   Yesterday Shawnette came to pick up a few things she needed to work on some Vintage Virginia Santas. She had a small mental list of what she needed ( first mistake) so we went to the shed to get the first few things, then back to our storage trailer that sits in my side yard to get the rest. We first thought the wine bottles were in a drawer in my office but soon found they were not....they must be in the trailer.
so out we went to get them....where we immediately started looking for the cardinals ...remembered she needed boxes so got those and then sent her on her way....without the wine bottles! This would not have happened 5 years ago...but somehow we have both entered that new realm of middle age short term memory impairment! I have been relying on Shawnette for years to protect me from myself and now she has dared to join me in my disability! Heaven help us!
   So organization is key ...and disorganization is our nature...it is a miracle that we get anything done! But we do! ...and we will...and we will continue to manage to meet our goals. We will keep fighting the battle with our disorganized selves and now that we have added memory impairment to the equation... prayer is a wonderful thing....just another bump in the road...a small one at that!
Thanks for reading,
Lynn

www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing the Chesapeake into your home and holidays!

July 4th Recriminations

2011-07-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

Scolding Ourselves!

America drives me crazy...letting all of our smart selves grow fat and lazy
TV's never ever turning off...talking heads spewing vitriolic stuff
Nobody even knows their neighbor, except when they wanna be a blamer
Manners are all out the window , been acting like we all star on Bravo!

Kids are new heads of households, only need their parents for the bankrolls
Where is the country we were taught, was born for a freedom so hard fought
What about our fore fathers dreams, lost somewhere between the left and right extremes
Let's all stop! ... look around, game on time! get the... rebound!

Get our noses out of all our devices and look around for a cause that will entice us
we still have the blue print there, a constitution that screams for laissez faire
So on this our 4th of July celebration, let's remember what a strong amazing nation
That we were, think we are, that we can still be by far

Cause there's one thing that is true, for us all, for me and you
In this country there's still choice... certainly all have a voice
It can be soft, it can be loud, it can be pissed off, hopeful, proud
But ...if we don't all decide to friggin use it,
we will G*# d#*m more than likely freaking lose it!

(C) Lynn McPherson July 4 2011

Lynn
Thanks for reading!

On the Road Again

2011-07-01T04:01:00.000-07:00

   We are off to the Nations Capital today. (Actually MD) for a two day show at the National Harbor. We are very excited to do this venue as it is the new hot spot in the DC area! It is like a mini-NYC sitting on the shore of the Potomac river right on the MD side of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Unbelievable high end shopping and eating and the choice of amazing accommodations. There are water Taxis to take you up river to Alexandria and the Nations Capital that depart from a state of the art Marina which is the focal point of National Harbor! They have a huge July 4th weekend planned (Concerts, fireworks, food and the Market!) and we are happy to be a part of it! We have some special July 4th pins for the occasion! Come and see us and mention this blog or our facebook page and get your free ornament!
    Then on Monday we move back down 1-95 to Fredericksburg to be a part of their July 4th celebration. We have been part of this event for the past 5 years and continue to enjoy it.They have it all for a family 4th of July celebration....food, music, lots of kids activities, car show, and tons of high quality art and craft booths! As always it will be hot... but isn't that what we all expect on this National Birthday Celebration. We can't wait to see all of our loyal Fredericksburg customers...we have a free ornament for you too just mention....you know!
   By the time we get back home we should be exhausted...hopefully still functional. We will be setting up our booth and tearing it down three times in three days! A marathon of work, sales, fun, and sun! Just like we plan to do, remember to drink lots of water!!! Stay hydrated and have a wonderful Holiday weekend. Happy Birthday to all...remember to celebrate the human rights and freedoms we all enjoy in our beloved USA!
Thanks for reading!
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

...Slow Down Gotta Slow it Down!!!

2011-06-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

   My son Josh and I always agree to disagree over the poetic contribution of a lot of the RAP he listens to...I decided I would write him some 50 something rap! After hearing it he told me it was poetry but he would not listen to it if it was a song!....So chime in boomers what do you think about my
Boomer Rap...Slow Down Gotta Slow it Down ...would you listen?

Exponential, sequential, hyper up to my potential
credentials, essential, feeling so inconsequential
XP, 3G, amp it up, God help me!
4D, don't wanna be, take me back to Born Free!

Micro Macro soft n hard...Apple, Droid I'm gettin scarred
Text me, skype me, twitter me , facebook status glitter me!
Stay in Constant Contact, Linking in for the full impact
Weave my Dreams on Web pages, barely deal with gas gauges

Animated overstated feeling very antiquated
OMG, never say never, be my BFF 4eva
Blogging for the world to see, used a false identity
Google, Bing, and web bots too, raised on Captain Kangaroo!

Slow down... gotta slow it down... slow down... wanna throw it down!
Can't keep going round and round gotta put our feet back on the ground
Slow down...gotta slow it down

Exponential, sequential, hyper up to my potential
credentials, essential, feeling so inconsequential
XP, 3G, amp it up God help me !
4D, don't wanna be, take me back to Born Free!

Alternate our energy, solar, windmills set us free!
Generate, accelerate, pretty soon obliterate
build McMansions, want Expansion, loose our kids to all the tension
TV... easy.... queasy... Swiss cheese brains are breezy....!

Hybrid cars, going to mars, catching fireflys in jars
DNA genetic codes, unlocks the door to motherlodes!
Exercising on the wii, kids aren't allowed to climb a tree
heads are growing, thumbs are blowin', Darwin tell us where we're goin'

Slow down... gotta slow it down... slow down... wanna throw it down!
Can't keep going round and round gotta put our feet back on the ground
Slow down...gotta slow it down

Exponential, sequential, hyper up to my potential
credentials essential, feeling so inconsequential
XP, 3G, amp it up, God help me !
4D don't wanna be... take me back to Born Free!

Wall-street, no balance sheets?...makes its own rules... so sweet
CEO'S all make a billion, want a zillion, all reptilian
Common man he needs a plan, got an ADD attention span!
stress?... forgot to mention.... anybody gotta pension??

Anxiety, society, gave up all sobriety
Pills, thrills, feeling ill, when did we all lose free will?
kids are selling... all misspelling... like a car wreck, so compelling
under attack, looking back, remember when there was no Crack!

Slow down... gotta slow it down... slow down... wanna throw it down!
Can't keep going round and round gotta put our feet back on the ground
Slow down...gotta slow it down...slow down...gotta s l o w i t d o w n...

Exponential, sequential, hyper up to my potential
credentials, essential, feeling so inconsequential
XP, 3G, amp it up ,God help me !
4D, don't wanna be, take me back to Born Free!

Hurricanes, climate change, Watch it all on the stock exchange
Liposuction, fat reduction, all part of the false seduction
Botoxed skin, everyone's in, but try n tell what they're thinkin'??!
Growing old, feeling sold, golden days are not foretold

Legislation, taxation, take away our vacations
Thinking back never had control, listening to our rock and roll
Take a deep breath, settle down, no longer want to move uptown...
Love me a creek, gotta get some sleep, take off my shoes and dangle my feet...

Slow down... gotta slow it down... slow down... wanna throw it down
Can't keep going round and round gotta put our feet back on the ground
Slow down...gotta slow it down...slow down...gotta s l o w i t   d o w n....s l o w
d o w n.... g   o   t   t   a       s   l   o   w    i   t         a   l    l        d    o    w    n...

(C) June 26 2011 Lynn McPherson

Thanks for reading
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Deltaville and Yorktown double the FUN!! Next National Harbor!

2011-06-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

We divided and conquered two farmers markets this past weekend and they were both lovely. First of all the weather was superb...warm with little humidity... a nice breeze but no wind...perfect for selling santas and seashells by the seashore!
    Deltaville farmers market was as usual like a mini vacation. It is such a great location... creek frontage, gorgeous gardens, large wonderful shade trees, an intriguing maritime museum, great food at Bill's Bistro, and a great variety of artists and food vendors! If you have never been it is a must do in my book! Even if we did not make a penny there (but we always do!) it is worth the trip just to soak up the natural beauty and energy of the place! Like I said its like a mini vacation rather than work doing Deltaville.
   Yorktown is another must do farmers market. This location is also vacation material...as a matter of fact it is a major vacation destination for many and with good reason. Great River views, wonderful beach, historical Yorktown and the River Walk shops and restaurants right there! The assortment of food and produce vendors is amazing...Yum....!! They have it all! The artists are very high end and they keep it that way so that treasures are always there to be found. The best part of all is the wonderful York River and its magical spell. You can imagine all of the historical events that have happened right there on the banks of this river. It is a powerful picture as it meets the Chesapeake Bay right where we sit selling our Santas and ornaments. It is such a rejuvenating experience being there...especially when the weather is perfect like it was last weekend.
    We both had good times at our respective locations and maybe we will switch next month if we decide to do another two for one special. I hope you will come out and join us if you have not already.
   This next weekend we will be at the National Harbor up in the DC area right across the Woodrow Wilson bridge into MD. We are anxious to try this new location. We have heard great things about The National Harbor and the great Shopping ,Restaurants, Accommodations and Entertainment. It is supposed to be top notch get away weekend material. We are excited to be a part of their market on the great Potomac River! Once again if you come by and see us and mention our blog or facebook page we will have a free glittered starfish ornament for you! Come by and say hi....can't wait to meet you!
Thanks for reading!
Lynn McPherson

www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing a bit of the Chesapeake into you Home and Holidays!

Pray for Adam an everyday hero

2011-06-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to talk about my friend Adam. Adam is the foster son of my best friend and partner Shawnette. Adam has been with Shawnette and her family since he was four years old. Today he is 20. Adam has a fairly severe case of Cerebral Palsy and is very compromised in his use of his arms, legs, hands, and mouth. He can speak but very slowly and with very poor pronunciation.Very few people can understand him. Adam's mind is amazing he is above average in intelligence but socially he is young. Adam needs constant care because he needs help dressing, taking care of his personal hygiene, and eating. He cannot write, he can never drive, he has a lot of spasticity in his movements. Social Services and his friends and family and the group home he is now in have been unable to find him employment because of his limitations.
   Adam is still under the umbrella of social services. Adam had to be removed from Shawnette's home in his late teens due to behavioral issues that to this day have not been diagnosed or understood. Adam has been medicated and treated extensively with behavioral therapy. During this time social services tried to end Shawnette's permanent foster relationship with Adam against her will and Adam's will. After a very hard fought costly and complicated legal battle social services backed down and apologized to Shawnette and her family... but that was it. Social Services did not have to follow the same laws as we do and they were not held responsible for their actions when they acted irresponsibly and illegally. Adam came very close to death and had to have multiple surgeries because of injuries incurred during a bad placement by Social Services during this time period. Adam was blessed to finally end up in a group home that stabilized his anxiety and gave him a place he could be comfortable away from his home. Adam is hoping to get placement in the Virginia Home sometime in the near future but he is on a waiting list that is unknown in its length. Adam's best friend Otto has already been placed there.
    It is Adam's desire to overcome his affliction along with his placement in a caring group home that accommodates him and his disability with grace and dignity, that are both the catalysts that have brought him to a stable, happy place. But now new foster care laws are threatening to make Adam be moved for at least the 5th placement until he can be placed in the Virginia Home. Change is not an easy thing for Adam and often it brings him back to self destructive behaviors. If he displays any of these behaviors then he will be disqualified from getting into the Virginia Home...so why??? Why! move him?....the answer is probably money. What the powers that be do not take into account is that if he is moved suddenly and without being prepared they will probably have to ultimately deal with another hospitalization or medical placement (Way more expensive!) caused by not paying attention to his history. Read the file folks...or you will be spending more money than ever when he falls from his stable place that we have all paid for dearly in time, love and constant reassurance that all things will work out for the best in the end. Please let it be so that we have told Adam the truth... that all things will work out for the best. Adam cannot fight his own battles and Shawnette has been disregarded one to many times by an agency that has incredible turn over and little follow thru. When a new social worker takes over Adam's case, Adam seems to be nothing more than a file folder...It should be a file folder that fills several drawers and has continuity, but it seems each new worker only has limited history to go by thereby each new social worker seems to start over at square one...I am not sure where all of the documentation goes?
    I am asking for everyone who reads this to give Adam and Shawnette a spot in your prayers. He has nearly finished the race, scored a touchdown, and hit the jackpot with a pending placement in the Virginia Home. Pray for social services to truly keep his best interest at heart...Pray for wisdom and calm and consistency in Adam's life. Pray for his protection....
     thanks so much for reading...Shawnette has no idea I am writing this and I take full responsibility for all that I write. Let truth stand and shine the light!.
Thanks for reading

Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing a bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Double Trouble

2011-06-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

   This weekend Shawnette and I are splitting up to attend two farmers markets at the same time. Two times the fun...two times the work ...and hopefully two times the profit! Shawnette will be in Yorktown on the waterfront Riverwalk area from 8:00 to 12:00 with the usual set up of Coastal Chesapeake Santas( on sale for summer! Look for the Blue Coat Special!), ornaments, garland and our infamous college crabs and Sand Dollars! So for a wonderful scenic, historic,and fabulous farmers market go by and see her! Mention that you saw us on Facebook or thru this Blog and she will give you a free ornament!
     I will be going to the Deltaville Farmers Market this Saturday. This is another lovely venue at the Deltaville Maritime Museum right on the creek side waterfront. This Saturday they will be offering free boat rides and many many local artisans to see and appreciate! This market is from 9am to 1 pm and is always a treat. They offer lovely breakfast and lunch selections at their onsite cafe...coffee too! We always love going to Deltaville!
     I will have a little bit of a different set up than usual. I will be bringing our Chesapeake Santas but in addition I will be featuring our new line...Santas Faithful Friends! this is another one of our collectible Santas that features Santa with one or two of his favorite friends...his dogs! We offer up to 50 breeds of dogs that we can put on this Santa and personalize him with your dogs name and breed! This Santa will be on special Saturday at Deltaville for $65.00! His normal retail price is $84.95 so that is a 25% discount for the summer! If we do not have the breed you are looking for onsite we will make your santa and ship him to you for a minimal $5.00 shipping charge! So come out all you dog lovers...we have the perfect gift for you and your dog loving friends and family! Christmas shop early or just splurge for a summer Santa! I will not have our ornament line with me this week ( you have to go see Shawnette in Yorktown if you are looking for our ornaments!) If you tell me you saw us on facebook or thru this blog I will give you an extra $5.00 off on a purchase of a Santa ( already reduced for summer!)
   We will both be looking forward to this Saturday in our respective locations. I will miss Shawnette's company of course...she always takes care of bringing goodies so I will miss out on the munchies so I guess I will just have to make up for it by visiting one of the many food booths or the cafe at Deltaville! I promise to drink my water Shawnette...you better too it is going to be hot!

See you all on Saturday!
Thanks for reading,
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing a bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Rivah Fest ... HOT!!!

2011-06-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

     We did the Rivah Fest in Tappahannock, VA for the first time this past Saturday. It started with a 4:30 am wake up call to pick up Shawnette at 5:30 am and arrive in Tappahannock at 6:30 am. Our usual set up takes us about 2 hours from start to finish, but we like to be one of the first to arrive so we do not have to battle with other vendors for unloading spots and parking. We were so pleasantly surprised to arrive at a very well manned and organized event which provided something very few shows do...volunteers to off load all of our stuff! We barely carried one thing we just directed the eager volunteers who carefully and quickly had our whole set-up unloaded and stacked neatly behind our tent spot. What a great way to start the day! This gift allowed us to very leisurely set up our booth and even organize inventory that had gotten a little jumbled over the past several weekends. It was a very nice morning and even on the pleasant side with morning temps although we knew we were in for a scorcher later on...
      The shoppers were a little late getting started but things started to roll at about 11:am. We stayed steadily busy until about 2pm and then it came to a screeching halt. It was pretty much self explanatory...the 95 degree day we had been promised arrived with a vengeance! The people on the streets were fanning themselves frantically with fans being distributed by savvy politicians. The candidates had seen their opportunity to put their names on just the right thing... fans! What a clever ploy...we even sought out one of those fans and used it shamelessly for all to see...someone named...Tribble... for Commonwealth Attorney???...got us to inadvertently campaign for him at the cost of staying a little cooler! These community events are perfect venues for all of the local and state politicians to shake hands and speak their platforms and generally annoy at least half of the folks they approach. You have to look out for spontaneous stickerers who will slap one on you without even asking for your support first. Politicians!.. you gotta love em!..especially during the big election years! ( I say this lovingly since I am married to an X-school board member who had to campaign himself for two terms! and myself who handed out many a sticker!)
    Anyway the scorching heat pretty much brought our busy day to a premature end...but we did well, met many new customers and fellow artists, sold some Santas and ornaments and generally enjoyed the day. It was a very comprehensive and well organized event which this year went especially well for the ice cream, lemonade and smoothie vendors!.. good job Rivah Fest!... we will definitely plan to do it again next year! Let's hope for a little less heat!
    Tappahannock is a great little historic River town....quaint old courthouse area, cute shops, the majestic Rappahannock River running thru it... if you haven't been, you must plan to go. Check out Lowery's for some of the best local seafood ever! Oysters to die for and then dream about later!

Thanks for reading,
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Happy Endings

2011-06-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

   At Cape May we were the new kids on the block so we got a lot of attention from the locals and vacationers. We were extremely busy for the first half of the day which is historically when the serious shoppers come out. We handed out a lot of cards to those who wanted to wait a little later in the year to purchase and we met many new customers that promised to check out our website! It turned out to be a beautiful day and weekend and we were very happy that we had added the Jersey Shore to our new destination list. Many customers gave us new leads on other good Jersey/NY shows and shared our enthusiasm for breaking into new territory.
   In addition to the Show itself we had great walks on the beach each evening , combined with great pizza from the Pizzeria next to our hotel....and ice cream too...which we justified with a run on the beach....excuses, excuses! We walked to the Wildwood boardwalk and saw all the roller coasters and Ferris Wheels and carnival amusements right on the boardwalk! That boardwalk looked a little more like the MTV Jersey Shore variety! We did not have the energy to investigate after a busy day at Cape May! As usual after our walk we fell into bed early and slept with all the energy we had left!
   There was a circle of life beach experience that we witnessed that I have to mention. On the first evening beach stroll after the show, we were on our way back to the motel when we noticed a large seagull tussling with some kind of sea creature. We thought at first it was a fish...but as the match progressed we saw that it was a large blue crab! The seagull kept grabbing at it but the crab was equally aggressive in protecting himself...both claws up and snapping! Eventually the gull grabbed the crab by one claw and started to lift off and carry him away to feast on him somewhere else...but the Crab would have none of it and quickly grabbed the gulls foot with his other claw! So now they both had each other in a death grip...a Darwinian stale mate! The gull was expressing his pain more openly and immediately landed to grapple some more...but the crab would not release his death grip. The gull had now given up his grip only concerned with getting the feisty crustacean off his foot...so the next round he lifted off again and slammed the crab against the wood jetty close by! The crab dropped into the shallows and the gull landed close by to nurse his foot in the surf! We saw that the crab was still visible and approached him carefully. We were shocked to see that the poor fella had lost his claw in the heat of battle but other than that he seemed to be OK. Gladiator Gull was still hurting as he waded back and forth in the surf tending to his foot. He was obviously not feeling too happy about his loss of dinner and dignity! We had witnessed a survival of the fittest struggle that ended in a draw....and that was a happy ending in our book.
    We love you Cape May and Wildwood Crest and Jersey Shore.... we look forward to another visit! You were everything and more than we had hoped for! Next stop Tappahannock, VA for the Rivah Fest! Come out Saturday June 18 and see us! Mention this blog and get a free ornament!
Thanks for reading!
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

bringing a little bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

The Promenade

2011-06-15T04:56:00.000-07:00

In Cape May, New Jersey they have a Promenade rather than a Boardwalk. It is simply an asphalt walkway that meanders along the beach with occasional food and entertainment businesses that front it on the beach side of the street. All of the Inns, homes, hotels etc are across the street from the beach so there are no real waterfront accommodations. Promenade seems to conjure a more romantic vision than Boardwalk but they basically both mean walkway. I like the word Promenade because it also alludes to movement and dance and it just sounds so musical! As a beachfront walkway it is automatically a wonderful place to be so when we signed up for the Promenade Art and Craft Show we were sure we were in for a treat...and we were. The Promenade is the front porch for a stunning beachfront town and was a perfect setting for a late spring art show. We had pure architectural nostalgia at our backs, a pristine beach and the powerful Atlantic Ocean in front of us. Unlimited seafood, ice cream, pizza, hoagies,and fudge were tantalizingly close, teasing all of our senses.
We set up our booth bright and early Saturday morning under the threat of a slight chance of thunder storms. As soon as we had everything up and out for display there they were with a vengeance.... Rain!...bucketfuls!...lightning sent by the mythological Gods!... and thunder that had us cowering and laughing at the same time! It gave us the jolt of adrenaline we needed to replace the coffee that we had quickly downed before dawn. The other artists offered us friendly banter and encouragement and the storms eventually cleared. We had lost a couple of hours and had to scramble to make up for time lost. The vacationers came out of their turn of the century accommodations and the Promenade Art and Craft Show was underway...
To be continued....
Thanks for reading!
Lynn

Chesapeake Bay Christmas Goes to the Jersey Shore!

2011-06-13T08:59:00.000-07:00

Shawnette and I arrived home safely and soundly last night at about 1:30 am from our latest adventure with CBCC. We went to Cape May, NJ the southern tip of the Jersey Shore to participate in a Promenade ( Boardwalk) Art Show! We had decided to push outside of our normal travel diameter and try some new shows. Many of our customers had told us we needed to push up into Jersey and possibly some of the other New England beach communities with our coastal line of Santas and ornaments so.... our first choice was the Jersey Shore!

   With visions of the beach antics of the Jersey Shore cast playing in our minds...we left our familiar Virginia habitat and drove up the Eastern Shore into Ocean City, Md. We then traveled on to the beach communities of Fenwick Island, Betheny Beach, Rehoboth and finally Lewes, DE where we boarded the Cape May-Lewes Ferry for a wonderful trip across the Delaware Bay to arrive in Cape May, NJ. What a lovely trip it was! Beautiful weather and picturesque beach community after picturesque beach community landed us in one of the most amazing beach towns I have ever seen.... Cape May, NJ!
   We knew immediately that we were not in the land of the MTV's Jersey Shore ( thank God!) but something more like a genteel gem that had perhaps the feel of a Charleston, SC mixed with a Beaufort, NC but exceeding both in its grand scale of delicious Victorian architecture that overwhelmed us with its detail and color and visual intricacies. Grand hotels and Inns one after another...sitting perfectly along a wide flat perfect Mid-Atlantic Beach that seemed to have never been touched by storm or catastrophe! The smell of Philly Cheese Steaks and pizza scented the salt air ....
    We were welcomed by friendly folks that could have been mistaken for our fellow southerners with their high level of hospitality and helpfulness. We were so happy to be there in that place at that moment for a boardwalk (Promenade) art show with a back drop that was supreme to any we had ever done before!!!
   To be continued!!!

Thankful...

2011-05-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

I just want to thank all of my friends and family for their love and good wishes on my birthday. I know I have expressed a little bit of disdain for birthdays at this time of my life...but thank you all for ignoring my my rants and making my day a sweet one. What's one more hash mark next to my name anyway....another year wiser, another year hungrier to get it all in...love to all and thank you! Thanks for reading...
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Come on Jimmy! It's Never too Late...It's Never too late!

2011-05-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

   Has it really been 10 days since we posted?? Time seems to be the most valuable commodity to all of us frustrated baby boomers...its passing is our greatest concern. I blogged earlier about time being the measure of life's potential...and that thought just adds to the frustration of those of us who have surely passed the half way point of our days on this planet... So now I am going to jump to the fact that I went to my first Jimmy Buffett Concert last night! Yea!! Shawnette my partner in Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co, took me for my birthday!...another frustrating event (birthdays that is) in the scheme of middle age! She is a die hard Parrot Head who bursts into Buffet songdome at the slightest provocation with all of the accompanying hand and hip action! She knows every word to every song and never tires of listening and living her life to his laid back beach philosophy. I was not a true ParrotHead...I have always liked Jimmy's music but not with the vigor and obsession of his dedicated Parrot Head Legions! I believe Shawnette called me a Buffett virgin when she placed a flower lei around my neck in the concert parking lot! Being called any kind of virgin at my age was a little infatuating and that was only the beginning of an amazing night... If you noticed I said I "was" not a Parrot Head....but now I am not so sure. Maybe I am going thru a Parrot Head metamorphosis...emerging a little more relaxed about where time is taking me and how I am going to get wherever I think I need to be...relax Lynn.... enjoy the journey!!!

                               Yes I am a Pirate two hundred years too late
                        The Cannons don't thunder, there's nothin to plunder
                                        I'm an over fifty victim of fate.....
                                but its "never" too late...its "never" too late

                         my edited version of a Pirate Looks at forty by Jimmy Buffet

Shawnette... I guess we can both cross something off our bucket list today! thank you for a great Parrot Head birthday experience!
Always... your friend... Lynn

Thanks for Reading
Lynn

In the spirit of Buffettdome
Check out our margarita time Santa @ www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your home and your holidays!

Rain...

2011-05-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

Rain. We have had a lot of it recently and there is a tendency to gripe and complain about it because it interferes with our plans...especially if it is on the weekends when we (the Chesapeake Bay Christmas Company) are out there in the elements trying to make a buck! However in light of what the folks along the Mississippi River basin and all the rivers that flow into it are living through we can count our blessings! I want to offer up prayers and positive thoughts for those experiencing profound and life changing loss at the hands of mother nature. It is just another reminder that we are all vulnerable to life's twists and turns and that we need to rejoice and be glad in each and every day that we have, and especially each day that we are in a position to provide for our families and help others less fortunate. The next time around we could be the ones in need. Enjoy our rain... today it is a blessing to our gardens, our farms, our wildlife, and our souls.... but we should all be smart and begin to prepare for tomorrow...thanks for reading
Lynn

www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your home and holidays!

Miniature search

2011-05-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today I worked on finding replacement miniatures for this year's new Chesapeake Santas. Darice discontinued making the anchors we were using on our "Keeper of the Light" Santa and I have combed the internet looking for one that does not cost a fortune. So far nothing found. I am also trying to find a replacement lantern and fishing poles.... also a dead end. We are looking for a mini oyster, crab or lobster work boat for our 2011 Ltd Edition...that will be a real challenge! If anyone out there has any leads let us know!

To Blog or not to Blog?

2011-05-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

   I am back! So sorry for the lapse... it seems the good writing habits that I established in the Ultimate Blog Challenge have already failed me! I would like to use the excuse of being so very busy that I could not get to it but that would not be entirely true. We have been busy! We are back on the farmers market circuit which means a craft show every Saturday, which means loading and unloading my Toyota Sequoia 4X a week, monitoring inventory, weather watching, adapting to the weather, keeping our energy level and physical level high on top of our normal weeks of painting and Santa making and website management, and bookkeeping and ordering materials and supplies! Yet it still is a matter of choosing to blog or not to blog. Last week I chose not to blog! I chose to have a low stress week. I focused on individual tasks as I did them without allowing the avalanche of tasks that needed my attention to distract me from the one I was performing. It was a bit of a survival tactic! I need to have these weeks sprinkled in here and there to keep my sanity. I concentrate on creative time rather than productive time. This goes back to some of my previous blogs where I speak of creativity kicking into high gear when my stress levels are peaking. It is an automatic cut off switch that allows me to recharge my battery and get back to my to do list with a new vigor!
   Usually writing is a creative endeavor, a de-stressing activity...but letting it go occasionally is too! I need to figure out how to write about things that may seem mundane to us but interesting to our readers. I have had to stop at this point and try and figure out where I am going with this blog and am coming up blank...I think I already made my point....So I am going to take this as a cue...and end it.... and get back to my CBCC list... www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com.
   Thank you for reading....promise more inspired entries to come!
Lynn

Farmers Markets...Battles and Balance!

2011-05-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

    We are off! The starting pistol has fired and Shawnette and I are off on our marathon race that will take us thru the spring and summer and into the fall doing local farmers markets almost every weekend until our holiday markets begin in the fall. It is an exhausting yet rewarding adventure of small intimate venues where we have time to interact with our customers on a more relaxed level. We also enjoy the scenic locations of our farmers markets.....Irvington,VA...Urbanna, VA...Yorktown...Tappahannock, Deltaville, New Kent...all beautiful weekend destinations most on the water in the Middle Peninsula and the Northern Neck with plenty of boating, fishing, and swimming.
    I personally love the water! Any body of water makes me happy. Just sitting on a bank or beach or shore or even just an edge ... the water calls to me to dip in a toe or a calf (if clothed) and of course my whole body if I am lucky enough to have the opportunity! Oceans, Bays, Lakes, Rivers, Creeks or even a rain swollen ditch bring out the child in me! It does not take much...just water..! So I consider myself so lucky that my business www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com takes us straight to these beautiful bodies of water that keep us inspired and invigorated and wanting to do more with our coastal and nautical lines of ornaments and coastal Santas.
   We really are lucky Shawnette and I...but as the season stretches on we do begin to get a little weary. We have to remember to take the time to stay fit and in shape to be able to endure the heat and the moving of heavy displays and inventory. We fight the temptation ( usually we lose) of indulging in the wonderful food available to us at these venues. Exotic baked goods, breads cookies cakes, fresh seafood,ethnic food, kettle corn, funnel cakes, ice cream are all continually walking by our booth in the hands of others calling to us to partake! It is always the battle of good vs evil...and evil is so much more satisfying! But we continually re-commit ourselves to the good and battle on! On the good side is the equally pleasing array of locally grown produce available to us at these markets. While we may fall from grace with the delicious food at the shows... we go home loaded down with healthy organic fruits and vegetables to eat at home during the week thus making up for our Saturday indiscretions! Battles and Balance, striving for health and enjoying an occasional fall from grace ...that is life...and life is good!
   Come out and see us some Saturday! You can check out our calendar at upcoming events on www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com. We would love to meet you and share our line of coastal ornaments and Chesapeake Santas and coastal home decor with you. Come out and sample the food, and load up on the local produce that nourishes your body and soul. Come out and buy local and support the local farmers and artists and economy. Farmers markets are where its all happening....come and see! Thanks for reading!
Lynn

I just had it in my hand a minute ago??!!

2011-05-05T04:50:00.000-07:00

We are in full swing again. We will be attending farmers markets and street fairs every weekend from this weekend thru labor day. Check out our calendar at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com under upcoming events. Our spring orders are stacking up and we are having to work at keeping up. I am still feeling disorganized. I think it is going to take another 2 or 3 days dedicated to organization before I get things the way they need to be for optimal efficiency. Of course that is really a stretch to think that we would ever be operating at optimal efficiency! We have just learned to laugh at ourselves on a regular basis for our loss of brain function and the huge amount of time we spend looking for things we just had in our hands a minute ago!!! Usually we have a least 2-3 of these conversations each day.... Shawnette, I called you to ask you something really important...but I forgot what it was??? I will call you back when I remember..., I was just looking at that catalog yesterday!.. It has to be here somewhere!!!, Where are the Assateague lighthouses?? I know we did a bunch of them earlier in the year? Are they in the trailer??.or the shed??.or the office??.. or at your house??? Ughhh!!
When you are short term memory impaired it is imperative that your maintain some kind of cohesive organization or you spend way to much time looking for stuff! I am having to learn how to get organized and stay that way. When I was younger ( I think that was just a few short years ago!) I could multi-task like a machine. I never needed a list and if I stored something in my grey matter it was easily retrieved with just a thought! NOT ANYMORE!!...if anything were to happen to me I would be remembered by my lists! They are everywhere! they are piled up on my desk and work tables, they are in my purse and in my car! They are on the fridge and on my calendar and on the bulletin board! They are my lifeline! At least they are evidence that I am still trying, still working, still producing, and not giving up!
Thanks for reading!
Lynn

we welcome you to our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
we bring the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Posted more wedding pics!

2011-05-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

I have gone back and posted some new wedding pics on the older posts "Calm after the Storm", "Dancing in the Dark" and the "Joy, Beauty and the Calm before the Storm" posts. If you would like to see them just scroll back to the older posts and check them out!Check out this new picture we just got of our wedding favor ornament we did for the wedding! We will be adding a page to our website for wedding ornaments and designing custom ornaments for weddings.Check it out www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Thanks for reading!
Lynn

Bin Laden gone! Our nations decline is not!

2011-05-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

   Last night I was watching the Apprentice and painting Pirate Crab ornaments when NBC announced that President Obama would be addressing the Nation about an important news development. My reaction was surprising to myself. I actually had a minor anxiety attack. I assumed that for the President to be making an unscheduled news break on late Sunday evening that it would have to be a catastrophic news event! I immediately said a prayer for the event to be good news rather than bad but I actually had little faith that that would be the case. The result of course was good news for our country...even though it involved the violent death of many people including the infamous architect of 911.

    I have been looking at why I jumped to such a negative conclusion when I heard the announcement of the news break. I have become conditioned to receiving my daily dose of violent, immoral and indecent news...it has become the standard of the day. Even this good news was actually rooted in at least one of the above...but it brought with it justice for those who died in 911 a crime committed against all humanity. I am glad this chapter in our nations history has come to an end...but I am still fearful for our future as a country in this new global world. I hope that my fear will spur me to contribute good and solid work and spirit to this country that seems to be setting its bar ever lower to survive its own disappointments in itself. We must do good work to combat and counter balance the bad that seems to be becoming more acceptable to us. We must not allow mediocrity to become the new norm. We must look to raise the bar higher and not let it fall any lower. We must be willing to examine ourselves honestly to make the changes necessary to bring honor back into our institutions and into our hearts and souls. Lets get back to our roots of honesty and courage and ethical behavior. Lets stop setting immoral examples and celebrating our right to set them for the whole world. Yes we do have that right...lets recognize that as our right, a right that we will choose to decline..that we will choose to walk away from for the health of our children and their children and our great nation "under God" with liberty and justice for all. Let us once again be an example to the world...not what we seem to be becoming..a country of entitled apathetic rationalizers!
   The Bin Ladens of the world threaten our physical bodies our safety...they threaten our lives. Our own cultivation of mediocrity and immorality threatens something far worse...our souls... and the very foundation that this country was built on!
Thanks for reading,
Lynn

Finished the race!

2011-04-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge! I did it...blogged 30 consecutive blogs in 30 days! It has been a great motivator and help for getting into a writing rhythm and for establishing a new habit. I hope that I will continue to blog on. Thank you so much for those of you who came along for the ride, I hope it has not been to painful! Thank you Matt and Alex for letting me share my experience of your experience! Blogging about your wedding has been a great inspiration and source of joy. It is also a great coincidence that the first of Alex's bridal portraits were shared today and I can post them with this final entry for the challenge. Thank you all...it has been a pleasure! Here are Alex's pics! Matt will be in the next bunch!

check out more at www.elisabphotography.com they were fab photographers we highly recommend!

Thanks for reading,
Lynn

and don't forget to check out our online store atwww.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Home from the Honeymoon! Turks and Caicos!

2011-04-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to reveal where Matt and Alex went on their honeymoon...so I guess since they are back it is OK to reveal that they went to the Turks and Caicos. They have reported having a wonderful 5 days staying in a small cottage on a remote bay on south side of the the Island of Providenciales. They stayed in a cottage owned by Matt's uncle who graciously offered them a stay as a wedding gift! What a great gift John...thanks! This honeymoon cottage is for rent so anyone who would like to experience what Matt and Alex did here is the link to it...www.TCvillas.com ...click on the Stones Throw Villa. I am going to post pictures that say it all...no need for a bunch of verbiage! Caribbean bliss!

The Royal Wedding...

2011-04-29T05:03:00.000-07:00

I have spent the wee hours of this morning watching Catherine and William's royal wedding. It was really a beautiful affair full of pomp and circumstance. It was very pleasing to the eye and ear...full of visual fare! Everything was perfectly orchestrated...even the weather cooperated! Perfection...
I must say however that having just experienced helping plan and pull off my son and daughter-in-laws wedding two weeks ago, a wedding that was everything but perfection and pomp and circumstance...I will stand by the unpredictable nature that our wedding embraced! Our bride and groom were faced with challenges every step of the way. The guests also had to meet the challenges that the more than stormy weather of the day presented. The grace that was shown by all involved as each new challenge presented itself gave us a wedding that will be as memorable to those involved as the royal wedding will be to the world! I will stand by Matt and Alex's affair as the one that all had to rise to the occasion...the one that all did...and the one that produced an affair that even Kate and William could not best...not even with Britain's Royal treatment behind them!
Good luck to you William and Kate and bless my royal couple Matt and Alex!

Thanks for reading,
Lynn
visit our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

bringing the Chesapeake to your Home and Holidays!

Santa Workday!

2011-04-27T04:57:00.000-07:00

http://chesapeakebaychristmas.com/test/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=41

Today's blog will be brief as I am heading over to Shawnette's house for a Santa workday! We need to finish up a few of our Bountiful Bay lines and put together our first Sanibel Santas for a shop in Fort Meyer Fl. We are getting our spring inventory in order to take to our spring markets before we make our new designs for the fall. We offer our standard designs at about a 15-20% discount at our spring shows to encourage spring and summer sales.
Our farmers market schedule starts this Friday and will continue until the fall. These short weekend selling opportunities have been a great new venue for us to showcase our Santas and nautical ornaments to a new customer base. This year we will be participating in the Irvington, VA (1st weekend of month) Urbanna, VA (2nd weekend of month), Yorktown, VA ( various weekends) and Tappahannock, Va (4th weekend of month). These markets offer us locations that are closely tied to the Chesapeake coastal river lifestyle and are also summer destinations for families going to the Rivah!
We have our Farmers market schedule on our calendar at http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/ so you can check out where we plan to be on which weekends. We hope you will all come by and see us and check out our spring/summer inventory for great bargains! We love these markets ourselves because they allow us to purchase locally grown produce and other amazing food products offered by Virginia entrepreneurs! The food and crafts that are out there at these local markets is mind boggling. Most of these markets are a short 4 hours on Saturday mornings...just the right amount of time to shop, get some spring sunshine and fresh air and visit with your friends and neighbors....and of course stop by and visit us at Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co! We look forward to seeing you! But for now I must get myself together for a day of Santa making. Have a happy productive Wednesday...

Thanks for reading,
Lynn

we welcome you to our online store at http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/

bringing the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Mentors and New Ideas!

2011-04-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

Ok...a friend and mentor of ours , Charlene Saunders from Women Working for Women (WW4W) www.ww4w.com has been faithfully reading our blogs and giving us much needed encouragement and advise on increasing our traffic to www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com. She has made a video for us, taught us about social networking (off the clock) and always been there when we need any networking advise. Charlene is one of those rare individuals who has bottomless energy, a jy-normous heart, and a very acute business sense! If you have spent any time around her at all you realize her business is such a natural fit for her because she genuinely cares about women succeeding in their businesses, more than anything! ( except her adorable daughter and family!) We know that we are only one of hundreds of others that she is working with, yet we feel like she is our own little secret...that she is totally focused on our success. That is her gift. If anyone reading this blog feels in need of business mentoring please go to the above website WW4W.com and give Charlene a shout out! She is an awesome mentor who is always growing and educating herself in the field of networking, marketing and branding.
Now to the original title of this blog...New Idea!...Charlene sparked one for us! If you go back and read the past 10-12 blogs I have written you will see they have all been about my son Matt and his new bride Alex's wedding. I was very involved in this wedding but one of the major contributions I made was to design and produce wedding ornaments to give as bridesmaids favors, wedding guest favors, and family favors. So after consulting with Alex (the bride) we came up with the vision for each ornament and the rest was up to me and my friend and other Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co artist Mary Albert.

For the bridesmaids ornaments we got pictures of the dresses including the wedding gown and painted sand dollars with the bride and two of her bridesmaids on either side of her with their dresses and shoes being showcased. We only did their bodies and dresses because we could not fit all of the bridesmaids on to any one ornament so we kept them generic.

    The wedding guest ornament was a revised version of our Love Sand-o-gram. It featured LOV E written in the sand at the beach with his and hers flip flops and Matt and Alex's baby's doggy prints in between. It had Matt and Alex 4-16-2011 written on the back.
     The third family ornament was a view of the building in which they had their reception, The Freight Shed in Colonial Yorktown . It featured a sign by the front door announcing their wedding and had pieces of their wedding attire draped on the bench in front of the building. All of the ornaments were hand painted and ribboned and tagged for hanging but also given with a small plate stand so they could also be used for home decor!
    So the new idea came from Charlene who suggested we start a wedding favor line to compliment our coastal Christmas line that we have done for the past 15 years. Shawnette and I had talked about a bridal wedding favor line occasionally in the past but never really did anything to get it off the ground. So this is our first step toward getting it off the ground! We are announcing that we are looking for bridal favor business. If any of our readers know anyone interested in bridal favors go to our site www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com and/or email us at sales@chesapeakebaychristmas.com. We would love to design and paint them for you!
     Thanks Charlene for nudging us to start this line! Thanks for your passion about what you do! Now its back to work... back to the drawing board...new ideas...new inspirations... new energy!

Thanks for reading,
Lynn

we invite you to our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
bringing the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

and check our Charlene's site Women Working for Women at www.ww4w.com
tell her we sent you!

Back to CBCC

2011-04-25T11:44:00.000-07:00


2009 Ltd Edition Santa "Blue Christmas"

Today I turn my attention back to Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co. It has been on the shelf for the past month while we worked on my Matt and Alex's wedding. Now it is catch up time! I still have so many items to get ordered to complete the new Santa designs we have planned for 2011. We will be doing a new Lighthouse Santa, our 2011 Ltd Edition Chesapeake Santa ( to be announced later) , a New England Coastal Santa (yet to be named), a Bath, NC Pirate Santa, and possibly a Sanibel Santa (inspired by our trip to Sanibel Island, FL) plus our many assorted one of a kind Santas that we do every year. We love the design phase where new ideas swirl around us until we settle on fabrics, colors and all of the many coastal accoutrements that we must find to bring our Santas to life. It is once we have decided on all of the details that all of the glitches of production come to life. We need 300 of these and then found out that they are no longer available...we get our shipment of 80 of those and they are the wrong size...adjusting and searching and redefining is how we must move forward.
    This has been a challenging year because many of our suppliers are having trouble getting their product from China. We also have had many of the items that we have used every year on our Santas for 15 years all of the sudden become unavailable for the same reason. Our little blue crab that we ordered over 1000 of each year is now no longer made. We have to figure out what we are going to do to replace it! It looks like we will have to go back to hand sculpting them out of fimo clay in order to fill our crab pots on our Santas this year! One more time consuming thing that we will have to work into our schedule! We need 300 oyster clusters for our new Ltd Edition...we must go to South Carolina and hope we can find this many clusters where we saw so many last year...fingers crossed! Everything is up in the air until we have finished an Edition!
    Now that we are wholesaling some of our Santas the pressure is even more intense. Shops expect to get what they have seen at the wholesale shows at their designated delivery date as we all do when we order something. We just have to pray and adapt our way around our own order and production shortcomings. We are just keeping all the balls in the air as well as we can and hoping we will have what our customers love and want when all is said and done! Challenges....daily challenges...catastrophes averted...problems to be solved...back to a normal day at Chesapeake Bay Christmas!
Thanks for reading,
Lynn

we welcome you to our website at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
bringing the Chesapeake to your Home and Holidays!

Celebrate!

2011-04-24T04:35:00.000-07:00

PS04 Grace Psalms in the Sand

Today is Easter. Today is a Holy day...the holiest day in the Christian Faith. This day we celebrate the Ascension of Christ into heaven...not just His soul but His body and soul. A miracle. A miracle of a Father reclaiming His Son...a miracle for a mother and family and friends who had to watch their Son and Brother and Friend suffer the insufferable. A miracle for us who are so far removed from this event yet are bound to what it offers us...today... now... Redemption...Renewal...and Life's ultimate Reward. It is spring and we feel natures energy ...we can feel our own life's blood rejoice. There is the promise of renewal and redemption in the air. All we have to do is to claim it.

Thanks for reading,
Lynn

Happy Easter!

Time is our life's potential!

2011-04-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

SG03 Sandogram

    Well I have been blogging all week about Matt and Alex's wedding...and here it is Saturday again! I am ready to move back into the present and get back on task! I am ready to start new lists and new projects. My business, Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co awaits, as does my home ( projects always to be done here!), and my book project with my friend Adam! I have much to do and I always feel like I do not have enough time!
    Time is so slippery and elusive...it leaves us behind so easily without giving us second chances. It is up to us to grab it, manage it, and pack it full of meaningful work( that produces meaningful results). It is up to us to fill it with new experiences and friends and family! Time is the vessel that we must fill or it will leave us the same as it came to us... as unused potential. If it leaves us without us converting that potential energy to real spendable energy then shame on us! It is lost forever...no second chances!
    Make your plans ahead of time...start each day with a plan ( I love lists!), keep moving throughout the day...avoid diversions ... end each day with at least one thing done...finished accomplished! Preferably something you can see and gaze upon and feel great about getting it done! There may be many things that will not get done in a day..so keep giving them a part of each day...but always pick one thing that you can finish and put away and admire its accomplishment at the end of the day!
   I love to finish small painting or writing projects daily...I love to hold them and look at them and say I created that...or read them and say I wrote that...(doing that right now as a matter of fact). I love to leave behind pieces of myself through work. Do something for someone that needs help...that is one of the best uses of time's potential energy. It will be passed forward through the ones that you help...gaining exponentially...( we all saw the movie "Pay it Forward"...awesome use of time!). Just use your time...do not let is slip away! Procrastination is one of my worst personal flaws so I fight this battle daily and I know many others who do too! (all who I have passed my genes to!). Fight the battle!...fill your time well!...energize your life and your world and leave behind your potential...converted!

Thanks for reading!
Lynn

visit our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
bringing the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Wedding Day.... part 8....Cleaning up a Storm!

2011-04-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

   The gift had been received, the riverfront restored to a calm moonlit vision. We stood outside for awhile reminiscing with family and dear old friends...winding down...laughing breathing the storm scrubbed air. I was reminded that the whole day had been out of our hands but firmly in much more capable ones. We had been blessed. The bride and groom were happy and still celebrating with their friends inside ... the music still spurring them on...but time was winding down...it was time for the party to end. I do not think anyone wanted it to stop...but we had a contract we had to honor.
   Van and I and our rock solid friends would be the ones who stuck it out til the end..Chris and Allison, Jeff and Carolyn, Shawnette(of course!) and Gary, Dean and Tucker all cleaning up around the edges of the party. We let the kids continue to dance and started to load the gifts and the leftover everything into the cars. Some of the kids stopped what they were doing and pitched in...thanks Genevieve, Elyse, Tuller, Matt , Nick, Cole and many others ( I know there were many more if I missed you please forgive!) for being so thoughtful! Clean up is always such a let down. This night was no exception. We were all weary...feeling our age...our feet....our aching lower backs ...just wanting to get it done.
    We could not get Amanda to stop the music so there were kids still dancing on ( champagne bottles in many of their hands!) We were 45 minutes past our end time when the music finally silenced... and then the final wow moment of this celebration...the lights came back on!...as if to say...now the party can be over! The lights came on sending the last of the revelers out into the night to party on at the hotel...and left the rest of us with weary backs and feet to finish up the clean up! I was barefooted slushing through the puddles, panty hose shredding with each step as I picked up the flowers on the floor, broken beer bottles, and all the trash that had not made it to the cans ! Van and Chris had supervised all the heavy moving of everything. Matt and Alex left after helping...Van who was crippled by foot pain gave the word!...we had done all we could do...we closed the doors, locked up and ended the most memorable wedding EVER!
    Our Plan B had taken many turns...Plan C, Plan D and on and on, but the miraculous quality of the entire day culminated with an event that surpassed anything we could have imagined! It dwarfed plan A...it taught us all a lesson...and increased our Faith that all things work together for good!
    I would now like to challenge William and Kate to throw a wedding(royal or not!) that is as much fun as Matt and Alex's was! We will be available for consultation if you would like to talk!

Thank you!!!    Shawnette & Gary, Mr. Chris and Ms Allison, Carolyn and Jeff, Deane and Tucker, Matt Smith, Genevieve, Ryan Tuller, Wales and Lauren, Jake and Josh, Nick and Cole and everyone who helped set up and clean up this wedding...but most of all thank you Matt and Alex for loving each other and Alex for the impeccable vision and planning! ( even though it was taken out of your hands!)
Pictures will be coming soon...check back!

This is the end of "the wedding blog"...thanks for letting me blog on...as a part of "the ultimate blog challenge" a 30 day consecutive blog challenge to help me sharpen my skills and help me get ready to blog about Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co! Welcome to the world of social networking....aaghh! ;(

please visit our online store at http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/

bringing the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Thanks so much for reading!
Lynn

Wedding Day... part 7...Calm after the Storm

2011-04-22T03:59:00.000-07:00

   Alex threw the bouquet and Matt threw the garter...wow is that a different tradition than it was back in the day! It was like a nightclub act..very burlesque...everyone knew their part...so adorable...I loved it! The music continued on and the dance floor stayed full! Several people left and changed clothes and came back including Alex. Shoes were off...people were searching for their things in the dark when they took their leave. Generation Y danced on!
     It was hard to have conversation in the room with the music and now that the storm had passed, people were migrating out to the river front to breathe in the fresh air and have the conversations that they could not have inside. It was clean, cool, and fresh outside. The wind was gone...there were stars, the water was like glass and there was a full moon that we had not been able to see earlier in the evening. When I saw the moon I was reassured in an earthly yet superstitious way that the whole day had played out exactly as it was meant to. This calm... on the benches... behind the tent that was lifting off only a short time ago, was a reward. It was the calm after the storm, it was the gift at the end of a crazy night! God's Gift.
Continued...Wedding Day part 7...Cleaning up a Storm!

Pictures coming....check back!
Thanks for reading,
Lynn

visit our online store at http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/
let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into you Home and holidays!

Wedding Day... part 6...Dancing in the Dark!

2011-04-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

The music was now in full swing...Matt and Alex had had their first dance and it was fabulous! The other planned dances had been aborted due to the lights out conditions. The dance floor was alive with beautiful 20 somethings( generation Y) celebrating ...something they do very well by the way! I had just happened to look out the window to see a very conspicuous "cloud" across the river that looked suspiciously like many I had seen before in Oklahoma. It was a dark solid mass...a wall cloud was what they were called...massive... reaching down almost touching the ground . Others must have been concerned too because just as my nephew announced there was a tornado warning in Gloucester, others started coming forward with the news. The music played on! I started out to the tent to bring the brave (or foolish) souls who were out there into the building. Of course it was mostly men and they all assured me that they were watching and they were safe...not to worry...it would be OK! I heard statements like "tornadoes don't cross water!" I thought...Yeah right let's stake our lives on that one!

My concerns were overruled and I took myself back inside to wait it out...why worry?...the music was so enticing...everyone was dancing...young old and in between...so....I joined them! We were celebrating with a vengeance ...storm or no storm... this party could not be stopped! Of course we did not know that at that moment the storm was destroying a middle school 5 miles away and taking lives of innocents in their Gloucester homes. We did not know that. We are so sorry for that today and offer our prayers for those who were affected. We only knew that we were not in control and that we were happy and that the storm was moving away from us...we partied on! Baby Boomers along with generations X,Y and Z!!..we were united in our celebration of Matt and Alex's nuptials...we were all dancing in the dark! Go Carter!...Go Carter!... Go Carter!... my 5 year old nephew...(generation Z) he had the moves...he was amazing! and Elizabeth you were so beautiful and so grown up!

Our DJ Amanda (http://www.fatcatdjandkaraoke.com/ was great. She did not miss a beat. She kept the party going as if it was any other normal event. The catering staff did the same...our two bartenders kept pouring...out in the tent with no concern for the weather. The waitstaff had smiles serving in the dark, cleaning up and whatever needed to be done! Everyone was high on the celebration and the weather and the candlelight! My mom said she thought maybe someone had drugged the food because everyone was so crazy happy! I am sure the alcohol had something to do with it but it was so much more...it was energy without bounds! It was a storm that left us untouched...it was Plan B that morphed into plan C and then went on to incredibly surpass plan A...it was Memorable...Memorable!
to be continued ...Calm after the storm!

Pictures will be coming!!! Check back... go back and catch up if you have missed posts!

Thanks so much for reading!
Lynn

we welcome you to our online store http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/

bringing the Chesapeake to you Home and Holidays!

Wedding day...part 5...Celebration Time...Come on!

2011-04-21T04:58:00.000-07:00

    We had made it through the ceremony and actually got the photography (www.elisabphotography.com) (all the family pictures) done. The wind was still raging but the rain had held off until our guests had all made it into the Freight Shed to be seated at the tables, or to the bar that was set up in back of the tent. Our tent was quickly changed over from ceremony set up to dance floor, DJ and bar set up with the dance floor in the middle. By the time we finished with the photographers the cocktail hour was in full swing...the drinks were flowing and the appetizers being passed. There was a sense of having survived something ...as the weather continued to deteriorate! We were no longer checking on the storm as we felt we had overcome the most important obstacle...that was probably a mistake! The caterer Alex and her mom had chosen (http://www.sweetwatercuisine.com/) set out a beautiful appetizer spread that flowed seamlessly into a scrumptious dinner buffet. Everyone seemed happy and busy getting to know their neighbors. Van and I both went from table to table welcoming guests and meeting those we had not yet met. It was a festive mood. The room was lovely and all seemed happy young and old!

Matt stood as dinner was coming to an end and welcomed all and gave an amazing tribute to his family and to Alex's family especially her dad Brad Hardy who had passed away when Alex was in her second year of UVA. After hearing him speak there was no doubt that he was no longer my little boy but a man that stood alone, firmly rooted in his love for Alex. I cried...again! Jake gave his best man toast and once again this mom was so proud! Julia (Alex's sister and maid of honor) gave her toast and made us all cry again. She was beautiful and it was so obvious how much she and Alex loved each other and how much they missed their dad. I know it must have been very hard for Melissa (Alex's mom) to celebrate her daughter's marriage without her husband Brad by her side. She looked beautiful and proud and I wished I could take some of the sadness that should not have been there that day away...but I could not. She carried the burden for herself and her children, and showed my son that he was now her son too... and I was proud of her. Melissa we did it!

     I forgot to mention a very key moment that happened during the toasts...right after Jake gave his...the electricity went out! Dark...but amazingly Alex had decided to use colonial lanterns as the focal point of her center pieces and we were now sitting in a candlelit room in colonial Yorktown with a storm raging outside. It was pouring rain, thunder shook the building and lightning illuminated the sky and the wind...the wind was incredible....but it was cozy and romantic and a bit exciting in that darkened room. Everyone just carried on almost as if we had planned this to happen. I heard people speak that this is how it was when Yorktown was first established so it just made this wedding historically correct...but there was one major problem....no music!!!
   One of Alex's bridesmaids who was from Yorktown offered to let us borrow a generator from her parents home, so we sent her with a close friend and a pick up truck to get it...and an hour later the DJ had moved inside and hooked up her equipment. The kids had pushed the tables to the sides of the room to make room for a dance floor and we were back in business! or were we? There were waterfalls flowing off the tent...it had a life of it's own and it was not a safe place to be any more. At that moment I looked up and over the tent and saw a cloud on the other side of the river (Gloucester) that sent chills through my body. I had lived for 5 years in Oklahoma and I recognized a wall cloud when I saw one! I had my nephew get on his I-phone and pull up the radar....Tornado warning in Gloucester...we were in harms way!

To be continued...Dancing in the Dark!

Pictures will be coming soon...waiting for them...check back!
Thanks for reading!
Lynn

Wedding Day...part 4..."Did he Kiss her yet??"

2011-04-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

The glass doors opened and Alex and her brother William stepped through. Just the music "Canon in D" brought my emotions to right behind my eyes..but laying eyes on Alex ... more beautiful than you can imagine...exuding a bridal aura that was almost visible...like the Old Masters used to paint around their Madonnas, was almost more than I could bear. I saw her tears and mine started to flow in response. Then I looked at Matt and saw that aura reflected in his eyes, a look that told me all I needed to know. I reached out and took Van's arm as a new level of calm enveloped me...but it was quickly interrupted by the tent rising up and crashing down... still tethered but trying very hard to free itself. The level of noise was deafening. Alex and Matt joined hands to say their vows. I sent up another prayer..."Please Lord we are so close...be here in this tent with us and help us get it done! " There were a few more groans and flaps and minor lift offs and then the wind subsided. We could hear Pastor Dave miraculously! We could hear Matt and Alex say their vows and exchange rings. The storm seemed to have calmed. As I watched, Carter (the ring bearer) stood behind Matt, at perfect attention with his hands behind his back gazing up so seriously. Then he turned to Jake (the best man) and tugged on his pants and whispered something to him. I saw Jake smile and answer but I did not know what had been said. Later when I asked, Jake told me Carter had asked him "Did he kiss her yet?" A few short moments later Carter got his wish and Matt kissed Alex and it was done. The bridal party filed out and went to get their portraits done. We were married, Matt was a husband, Alex a wife, and we were in-laws! The McPherson family had a new daughter and the potential for future generations. God had heard our prayers.... and it still was not raining!

Hope...Faith...Love...Joy...Grace ...I had witnessed and experienced each of these on the amazing journey this wedding had provided. Each of these words expresses an emotion or quality that is so essential in living a meaningful life. Each word is a gift from God. He provided all of these and blessed this marriage with His protection....and now it was time to celebrate!

to be continued ...Celebration time ...Come on!!!

Thanks so much for reading!
Lynn

Will be adding pictures as soon as I get them! Sorry for the wait...check back... as they come in I will add.

Please visit our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Bringing the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Wedding Day....part three...shake rattle and roll!

2011-04-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

Ready...groomsmen on their way...ready....shuttles from motel running....ready...guests arriving at Freight Shed...ready...Carter and Elizabeth (flower girl and ring bearer)...ready...transportation for bridesmaids and bride ready...Shawnette at the tent handling timing for ceremony...ready...Van and I leave motel arm and arm into the raging wind to walk to the ceremony! Once the wind hit my face and hair I knew that worrying about anything was futile. I did not even take a purse with me...no brush or makeup or anything else to try to "fix" myself later. I would arrive windblown and stay that way for the rest of the evening. The miracle was that it still had not started to rain yet! We had 140 people coming to Yorktown to celebrate Matt and Alex's marriage at a time when most people were at home glued to the weather channel watching a deadly storm zero in on Yorktown. Thankfully we had not taken the time to know the strength and breadth of this storm we were just happy that it was not raining yet...our mantra was ...just get us through the ceremony and let us get a few family portraits done before it does!
     Van and I got to the Freight Shed at about 4:10 for the 4:30 ceremony. I had not seen the room since the caterer's and florist had worked their magic. That is exactly what they had done...it was amazing. the linens and centerpieces were elegant and simple...the food tables looked lovely....the cake classic...it was everything Alex and Matt had hoped for! A new sense of calm settled over me.
    Guests were arriving and being seated by the groomsmen. Even the tent had a simple elegance to it, the Florist had placed the Hydrangeas on aisle seats and the twinkle lights and lanterns brought a subtle elegant ambiance to the shaking, rattling and rolling tent! The violinist was playing gentle classical music but there was still a sense of adventure in the air. The impending storm had everyone's expectations on edge, would we beat this thing...or would we end up in OZ!
   I stepped back into the Freight Shed and the first thing I saw was my niece and nephew dressed in a beautiful dress and the smallest tux I had ever seen. They looked so sweet it almost made me cry. Then the Bridesmaids arrived and they were...I guess the young people would say "hot"...I would say breathtaking! but I had not really imagined breathtaking until Alex walked in! There was that combination of Joy and Beauty again...intoxicating!
    I went back outside to get ready to be seated and there was my first born son... my Matt. He was as handsome and radiant as I had ever seen him... almost as much as the bride. I felt so happy and proud and relaxed at that moment. He offered me his arm and we walked down the aisle...he kissed my cheek and then went to stand with the pastor. I briefly thought about how I felt the first time I held him...but my thoughts were soon brought back to the present. The tent heaved and strained against its tethers, it groaned and creaked and flapped its sides...everyone was hushed and expectant. Mother Nature was telling us that only with her blessing would we get this thing done...another prayer ( probably many at this point) went up!
   The violinist was cued and the music for the groomsmen to take their places began. They were all very gorgeous too! I mean elegant and handsome! Then the girls came down the aisle...they seemed to rush a bit...but who wouldn't with the tent shuddering and complaining the way it was. Next it was time for the kids to walk Bella (Matt and Alex's shi tzu) down the aisle. There was a delay...had Carter decided he would not do it?... Another 30 seconds passed and then they emerged from the building with Bella leading the way....they made their way down the aisle exuding an aura of pure sweetness. They were Poster children for a bridal party...they could make a living doing this! ( Yes they are my niece and nephew!) Carter handed the dog off to Alex's mom just as he had been instructed and then they both went right to their marks and stood...perfectly! The music changed and that was the cue for the entrance of the Bride! The glass doors opened....
to be continued....The Wedding Day part 4
Thanks for reading,
Lynn

Wedding Day ...part two....Joy, Beauty and the Calm before the Storm

2011-04-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

The Caterers www.sweetwatercuisine.com and Florist www.flowercupboard.com were readying the Freight Shed for the arrival of 140 wedding guests. The violinist (elegant music) was arriving shortly along with the Pastor Dave. The bridal party was out getting their pictures taken by the photographer www.elisabphotography.com as was the bride... all those hours of Alex's planning were approaching the final hour. Alex's time line printed and distributed was now being followed by all involved and it was timed down to the minute!

    The wind was now registering at about 30 mph sustained reminding us that the best laid plans... and Shawnette and I were fighting the valiant fight with getting on our panty hose!!    Aghhh !!! getting through this step was like squeezing through the eye of a needle...the price of wearing a dress...the price of hosting a wedding...the price of not embarrassing your kids! Once done dress was on...shoes on...make up on (once again with Shawnette's help...I usually do not do make up!) jewelry on...Ready!
     Now keep in mind that my cell phone was now registering about 50 calls since 10:00 am that morning...how did they do weddings pre-cell phone??? My body was dressed and ready but my brain was mush! What was the weather doing??? Still no rain ...hoping and praying...but the wind was relentless and the sky getting scarier and scarier...and the promise of the weather forecasters was inescapable! We were in for a wild ride! Please Lord let us get through the ceremony and then we can all get into the Freight Shed... a nice brick building decorated and ready for the dinner reception! But first we must get through the ceremony in a wildly flapping, ready to lift off tent!
   My heart was with Alex and what she must be feeling on this much anticipated day. The day that was supposed to be warm and mild and sunny...the day that should have been a perfect outdoor wedding day! I was so afraid she would fall apart...that she would let the wind take her composure, and the storms her ability to enjoy her day...

I saw her coming back into the motel after her outing with the photographer and she was radiant! Joy and beauty together is the most intoxicating combination and she was it! Why was I worried?... Alex was a survivor a seasoned trooper. She had already suffered true loss in her life when she lost her dad a few years prior to this day...a day that she surely longed for him to be there! She had embraced the importance of this day...and what was the real truth about its significance...and weather was not going to stand in her way. After all she was marrying my son Matt...how could a little rain and wind get in the way of that! Alex was composed, radiant and beautiful and that was all I needed to settle my own fears. At that moment she became my role model...I was so proud of her! We were ready!

Wedding Day to be continued in Part 3

thanks for reading,
Lynn

We welcome you to our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
...

Wedding Day!...part one...Working up a Storm!

2011-04-19T03:14:00.000-07:00

   We awoke to steel grey skies and wind wind wind ...but no rain yet...still hope! This was the day that Matt and Alex, her Mom, Shawnette, Van and I had worked so hard for. I felt a little anxious so I know how Alex must be feeling! The prayer that had been offered daily for a week was spoken once more and I spoke to myself about having faith!
   We met with friends and family in the motel restaurant ( which was amazing by the way!) for a great breakfast. I was only good for a few bites though so Shawnette and I shared an omelet. Then it was on to the Freight Shed to offload all of the bar goods, paper goods and decorating materials. These items filled my large Toyota Sequoia, Shawnette's Exterra, Van's pickup and the back seat of my son Jake's pick up! My cell phone stayed glued to my ear as everyone checked in to confirm schedules and plans....and it was not long before I realized what I had left behind! I knew there would be something...there always is! The white twinkle lights had not made the trip down so I called my neighbor Bob and asked him to go on a search of my house and garage and trailer to find them. This was a desperate measure as I was not happy about having to expose my less than clean and unorganized home to my next door neighbor...Bob! After several tries at opening boxes and moving more boxes he called to say that he had found them and they were on their way! Thank you Bob! you saved the day!
     In the meantime a whole army of help... friends and family had arrived to help us decorate and set up the bar and secure the tent as the wind gusts gained strength and the sky spit and sputtered and we wondered how this thing was ever going to work!.... but lights went up, lanterns went up...bungee cords and duct tape and ladders came out... and the men got the bar iced down and organized to service a crowd that we knew would spend much time in front of it! There really are times when women must admit that we do need men for some things and this was one of them! (Although Shawnette was still in firm control!) Thank you Van and Mr. Chris and Matt Smith, Jake,Wales and Josh and a small army of others!
     It was now time for the caterer and florist and cake crew to arrive and work their magic...but they were late...so I headed back to the motel to start the process of everyone getting dressed and meeting with the photographers...Shawnette stayed at the venue until the professionals arrived. I flipped on the TV to check the progress of the storm that was marching toward us and to see what its time schedule looked like...I was not happy with what I saw... Faith, Faith and more Faith...another prayer goes up!
    The bride and her mom Melissa arrive...we are really going to have a wedding...come hell or high water! What an appropriate little phrase this was for this day! The wind continues to gain strength but there still has not been much rain...just some spitting and sputtering...hope!
Wedding Day....to be continued!
Thanks for reading,
Lynn

we welcome you to our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Part two of.....Hoped, had Faith and now I Believe!.

2011-04-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

It was now Friday afternoon and Alex had made the decision to rehearse the wedding in the tent rather than out on the lawn as was the original plan. We had to delay rehearsal for a short time as everyone was coming from all over VA to attend. I could tell Alex was a little blue about giving up the outdoor ceremony and settling for having it in the tent behind the Freight Shed (http://www.yorkcounty.gov/freightshed ) But she was a trooper and kept her chin up as we proceeded to iron out all the details for the next day. The wind was gusting and the river was swollen with whitecaps and small waves crashing on the rocks. The sky continued to grow darker.

At 6:00 pm we all walked (or rode) up the hill from the riverfront to the Cole-Diggs House, which is now the Carrot Tree Restaurant (www.carrottreekitchens.com), for the rehearsal dinner. We took over their first floor and were treated to a very nice and tasty colonial fare dinner. The dessert was amazing (carrot cake or chocolate cake) and we all left very fat and happy. This was the official beginning of the wedding celebration. The wedding party and all other younger guests headed straight for the Yorktown Pub to kick off the celebration! (www.theyorktownpub.com) The more mature (baby boomers ) returned to the motel (http://www.dukeofyorkmotel.com/ )and met in one of the rooms that we had designated the "hospitality suite". It was stocked with alcohol, soft drinks, Large coffee maker and many assorted snacks! We sat around and reminisced about raising these young people and all that we had experienced bringing them to this time in their lives and ours. We were nostalgic...we
were happy.

     My husband Van and Shawnette and our friends Chris and Allison decided at about 11 pm to walk over to the Pub and check in with the younger contingency. We arrived to a very jovial and animated crowd being served by a very worn out looking server! I sat down and nursed a cocktail while several of the wedding party visited with us. They were so sweet to share the stories of their history with Matt and Alex or their memories of sharing their time with our family through the years. I was so glad we took that time to spend with them in their natural environment :). The bride left early to go home and get rest before the big day. The rest of the group partied on. We departed about an hour later and were out by 12:30 pm!


    Woke up at 7 am and it was "the wedding day"!!! Opened the curtains to a steel grey sky, waves on rocks, and wind wind wind!
to be continued....Wedding Day!
thanks for reading,
Lynn
we welcome you to our online store at http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/

Hoped, had Faith.... and now I Believe!

2011-04-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone who has been supporting our wedding plans with your prayers! You did it...we did it ....we had a wedding that I do not think could be any more memorable or any more fantastic! It was in God's hands and although we sweated it every inch of the way (against His instruction!) he gave us a perfectly memorable wedding day! As you know the weather was what we were up against on Saturday April 16th the day my son and his bride picked to be their day for a picture perfect outdoor waterfront wedding in Yorktown, VA. Need I say more?!!! Where do we start?

       We tracked the weather forecast daily starting one week ahead of the wedding. I had 4 weather websites each inhabiting a tab on my homepage Internet....I just refreshed them each day and looked for the most optimistic for Saturday April 16. Everyday they each became less and less optimistic and more and more statistically sure that it was not going to be a good outdoor wedding day! Little did we know...
     Friday we arrived in Yorktown at the Duke of York Motel to start receiving our out of town wedding guests. It was a picture perfect spring day on the Riverwalk! There were blue skies, budding trees, sandy beach, a nice breeze, colonial atmosphere, and a very nice little Motel to accommodate us! It all put us in a very hopeful state of mind.
    The tide was turning though and by the afternoon the gentle breeze was taking on a little more aggressive posture and the blue sky was turning grey. By the time of the wedding rehearsal at 4:30 pm, as much as we wanted to deny it, we knew that we needed to rehearse this wedding under the tent rather than outside on the green lawn where Alex had planned for it to be. It was at that moment we faced the fact that this was not going to be the wedding that we had planned.
To be continued....
thanks for reading,
Lynn

we welcome you to our online store www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Hoping....for a lot!

2011-04-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

I will leave for Yorktown in the morning and I am not sure whether the motel has wireless. I am going to post now just in case I am unable tomorrow and Saturday. I hope that is not the case.
I am very excited to see friends and family that I have not seen in a very long time. It is going to be so much fun having such an eclectic group of people all together in the same place at the same time. Many of these people only know of each other through family legend and now they will meet each other face to face. I hope all the stories that are going to be compared and scrutinized will hold up to the test of what has been told! Of course we have the problem that all families have ...a few members that do not mix so well. Hoping that the crowd will make keeping a safe distance easier than in normal gatherings. I will say my prayers now that certain subjects are avoided between different family factions. I will hope my Dad will behave himself...... and that goes for all the 20 somethings and their idea of what a good party is! I am hoping for a lot... just hope it does me some good. Why I feel like I should assume any responsibility for anything is really a question I need to delve into...some other time. The overwhelming emotion I am experiencing right now is excitement. I am happy and I hope my son and his bride are feeling happy too. There goes that hope word again...I use it a lot ....I love hope...it is what make us human.
Thanks for reading,
Lynn

We welcome you to our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into you Home and Holidays!

BFF's

2011-04-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

Packing...I hate packing...because I have no protocol, no method.... just haphazard placement of items into a suitcase. When I finish I do not have any confidence that I will arrive at my destination with everything that I need. As a matter of fact I am confident that I will most certainly have left out something of utmost importance. This I have proven to myself over and over again.
Packing for the wedding weekend seems to be double the pressure. I certainly will not have time to be running out to procure items I have left behind. I must be thorough in and able to foresee all possible needs for myself and my family. My sons and husband do pack for themselves, better than I do actually, but there is always that little something that they will look to me for. This time I will have it...safety pins, scissors, hair dryer, tylenol, something!

The truth is I just called my faithful organized friend Shawnette and asked her to bring all the extra goodies she usually brings when we travel to craft shows. She is the one I always depend on to have all the details covered. Thank goodness she will be there to be my back-up this weekend too. It gives me such peace of mind knowing I have a BFF who will have my back. She is going to take on so much responsibility this weekend as we do not have an official wedding planner. So Shawnette will step up and keep all the wedding participants on schedule and on task...after all most of them are just the same kids she and I have been nagging all their lives anyway. She has already talked me down at least twice from small anxiety attacks...and she will have to keep talking as the weather forecast for Saturday is still awful! I am standing by yesterday's blog and having Faith...and if mother nature brings her wrath at the time of the wedding I will still have Faith.... in Shawnette and my other BFF's who will step up and get us all through it! Friends are everything at a time like this!
Thanks for reading,
Lynn
We welcome you to our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into you Home and Holidays!

Having Faith...and a Plan B

2011-04-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

     I hope you will eventually forgive me for blogging endlessly about my son's wedding. I am going to try and be short and sweet because I have guests in my home and I am having a hard time sneaking in my blogging time. Right now my to do lists look pretty good and there really is actually little to do beyond the obvious... except have faith. We are looking at an outdoor wedding on Saturday afternoon in Yorktown and that seemed like such a wonderful thing one year ago when the plan was born...but now the uncontrollable looms large and the weather forecast is for thunderstorms and rain and high winds! Of course we have a plan B... but our hearts and souls were never really fully engaged in plan B! So when we made plan B it was totally without looking closely at all the details that would be involved if we had to use it! I am not really inclined to start really looking at plan B because that would some how be like giving up...and saying that I think we will actually have to use it. Are you starting to see the catch 22 situation that is presenting itself?
   I want to have faith that all will be well and that there will be blue skies and sun at 4:30 in the afternoon on Saturday. If I did truly have faith I would not engage in worry because there is no return on investment with worrying. I am worried. Plan B keeps finding its way into my thoughts...each time with new details that we have not thought of before. If this is happening, then we will have to do that...but if that is happening we will have to do this...and on and on. But I know that the most important thing is to keep it all about the spiritual things not the structural details. The important things are love and family and friends and celebration....all of which will survive a little storm if it comes our way.
     We must try to keep the Bride from becoming anxiety ridden over all the Plan B thoughts that I know she is also having! The Bride and the Groom and their mental state Saturday will be the determining factor as to how everything goes...thunderstorms or no thunderstorms! Moods and attitudes are contagious so I am determined to keep mine high and light and fully capable of handling all Plans...A B or C! I am choosing to have faith, to place the uncontrollable factors like the weather where they belong, in God's hands. That will leave mine free for whatever...even if it is an umbrella!
Thanks for reading ,
Lynn

   Welcome to our online store www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
We want to bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Our Prodigal Son

2011-04-13T03:30:00.000-07:00

      Our out of town wedding guests are starting to arrive. Last night I met David our #4 son at the airport. David is from Spain and he has been visiting us yearly since he was 13. He is now 26, the same age as Matt, our son who is getting married this weekend. David has slowly become part of our family over the past 13 years that he has been coming to VA from Spain to spend time with us. He and Matt are like brothers which is why he is here...to be one of the groomsmen.
   David is 2 months away from completing medical school in Spain and becoming a doctor. I am as proud of him as he were one of my own. It is funny looking back to realize that is was only by God's grace that we ever met David. We had just returned from summer vacation in June of 1997. The phone rang and it was Shawnette ( my friend and business partner) telling me that she had received an emergency plea from an acquaintance that two brothers were on their way to VA from Spain and that their host family had had to back out from keeping them at the last minute. This acquaintance was a coordinator for a foreign exchange program and knew Shawnette had boys the same age as these boys. She was calling everyone she could think of to find a home for them. It was one of those calls that required an immediate response...one that would have immediate consequences. I had to consider whether to take a 13 year old boy who spoke little to no English into our home for 3 months with no time to prepare myself or my family. These boys were on the plane... arriving that evening! I guess it is obvious what my answer was. I did say yes but with much trepidation. As I said there was no time to prepare or talk with my family...my decision would affect their lives as well as mine but I could not find it in my heart to say no. So David came to us and his brother went to Shawnette and her family and the rest is 13 years of wonderful history. They are both members of our families.
    David made the trip from Spain in the middle of his last year of medical school to stand with my son Matt when he gets married...brothers...in every way. Each year when we greet him at the airport our hearts open to welcome our prodigal son home. Time melts away and the time that he spends with us becomes treasured time. Our sons have in turn traveled to Spain to spend time there and know David's family as their own. It has been a sweet story, one that I would not trade for anything.
    It was a split second decision that bound two families together forever. That is a decision that I will never regret...but as I look back I find it rather miraculous that I did say yes...that day...to a boy that needed a place to stay. Was it in our family's destiny...it does seem that way. I really think that I had no real choice that day...that it was already written. Welcome home David...now we can have a wedding!
Thanks for reading
Lynn
We welcome you to our online store www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Challenged!

2011-04-12T03:52:00.000-07:00

I almost missed a day! But here I am 6:00 am blogging before my morning coffee. Keep that in mind please. Blank...nothing ...nothing....words on a page...that's all it really has to be. If I was not challenged to do this for 30 straight days this page would surely be blank . In addition to that it was not only a challenge but it was an Ultimate blog challenge and that makes it ever so much more challenging! If nothing else I always rise to the occasion. Speaking of occasions...I have a little one myself this weekend. Gotta go!.. Shawnette and I are having our manicure/pedicures today. Just a little treat that we are squeezing in between dropping off the dog at the groomers then going to Michael's to get white organza bags for the wedding ornaments we just finished, and then on the the car wash to get the the bird poop and doggy nose prints off of the windows! ...then back home to clean house before the company starts rolling in tomorrow. I think I will make a lasagna....
thanks for reading,
Lynn

we welcome you to our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
where we bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into you Home and Holidays!

Laughing out Loud...or is that crying?

2011-04-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

    I am getting emotional!...I never saw it coming...not so soon! I knew on the Wedding Day when the music started to play and the wedding party made their entrance that I would get emotional. After all I cry at parades and I never have been able to figure that one out! But this is crunch time and the list still looms very large. I want to take as much off the shoulders of the Bride and Groom as I can, so they can relax and truly enjoy the vision they have worked so hard to create. This is go time...gitt'er done time...the tough get going time and I am getting jittery and soft and weepy! What is up with that?
    I am the mother of three boys and that is the crowning achievement of my life. I have always been a boy's girl, a tom boy my sons could be proud of! I taught them to catch frogs and not to fear snakes and to love the outdoors. I pride myself on being adaptable, on welcoming change and challenges... on never being afraid to get my hair wet or my clothes dirty! I have never been an outwardly emotional girl and most of the time I remain somewhat detached from my own emotional state. So what is up?
   I am sitting and staring into space thinking about this wedding and what it means for my son and his bride, but also for me. Where is this life affirming ceremony going to take him and our family...and me...how did I get to this point anyway? Am I really 53 and a mother of the groom? Will there be babies in the near future...am I ready for that? Am I officially old now? I don't want to be! Will my new daughter feel comfortable with me? Will she love me? ...will I love and honor her the way she deserves? Will my son be a good husband?.... In my heart I really do know the answers to these questions but I still want to be quiet and envision the answers are all as they should be.
   The fact that I am blogging when I should be crossing things off the list speaks to my state of mind and the fragility of my heart. I feel like I want gather my three little boys to me and ask them not to grow up, but to stay with their mommy forever! OH Brother! did I write that! They would laugh out loud at me! I think I want to laugh out loud...no I think I want to cry... this is insane!
    Matt...you are my first born and you were the first to leave. I am so proud of you and all that you and Alex have already accomplished! I am so happy for you both and the journey that still is ahead of you. I hope that Dad and I have done our job and that you will meet your challenges with honor and grace. I wish you joy in each and every day of your life! I love you... sweet baby James.
    Jake you better give me a lots of time before you make any announcements! Josh...let's go for a walk on the nature trail....
LOL Mom

Thanks for Reading
Lynn

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let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays

Expectation...One Week to the Day!

2011-04-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

In one week my son Matt's and his bride to be Alex's wedding will have come and gone. I will be on the other side of an event that has consumed them and me and many others for the past several months. There is so much planning and inviting, and shopping and thanking, and giving and taking and moving and arranging....and worrying! A wedding is bigger than Christmas!...and like Christmas, the wonder and joy of a wedding is in the expectation. Expectation is the defining emotion of a wedding. We expect a perfect beginning to the lives of the young couple starting their journey together. We expect to send them off on that perfect beginning with a perfectly planned ceremony that minimally consists of...the white dress, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, the beautiful setting, the spiritual blessing of the union, the music that evokes tears and joy, the flowers, the food and finally the celebration!
The expectation of what will my wedding be begins somewhere between puberty and the engagement (for girls anyway!) and grows steadily as the appointed day approaches. We all remember what it was like as a child to wait for the arrival of Christmas Day. A wedding is the adult equivalent of Christmas. We picture the day in our minds, and then we put our hearts and souls into making that expectation a reality. It is really quite a stressful endeavor but we must deny the stress so as not to let it mar the creation of that magical day. Magical it must be because it will become a memory that the young couple will cherish forever. We plan every detail to set their wedding day apart from all others...to personalize it and give it a signature that says this is your day! Expectation is the emotion of the day ...we expect them to cherish the day, and each other and their loved ones and their families and the whole idea of joining their lives together. A wedding is the send off party for the rest of their lives! It should be a great celebration!...a celebration that is the culmination of all the expectation that preceded it. There will not be another day like it...ever! Hopefully!
thank you for reading,
Lynn
we welcome you to our website www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into you Home and Holidays!

My Path

2011-04-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

This is day 8 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. It has been a true challenge. I took on this task to try to increase the visibility of my blog about Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co. I also wanted to develop a daily routine of writing and exploring the way my business is tied to my personal life. What I have found is that the two are completely and indistinguishably intertwined . Chesapeake Bay Christmas is the structured frame upon which I can express both my creative and artistic nature and my disciplined mathematical, and logical nature. It weaves in and out of my everyday life like a path through the woods. It takes me places I have not been and it takes me home again. It allows me to explore new places, to study the things that interest me, and it gives me a rhythm to which I can pace my life. It is predictable and it is unforeseeable. Every idea that I process enters the realm of possibility of being a new product or line or way of producing such. Every common sense idea or sensible thought I have may become a better way to run my business, to get things done more efficiently. Some days my business is only a shadow of my life, but on some days and it is the center of my universe. Since my children have grown and gone the time I have to devote to my business has grown considerably. Most days it is very satisfying to consider all that I have learned and continue to learn thru the framework of CBCC. Some days I long for more as my human nature demands. Everyday CBCC moves forward as it twists and turns in and out of my family life and my spiritual life. I always strive for balance but know that it is being out of balance that brings movement and change and new ideas. New Ideas are the fuel of living and of The Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co....
Thanks for reading...
Lynn
We welcome you to our website www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com . Enter the coupon code SPRING15
at checkout to receive a 15% discount on all purchases thru May 1.
Let us bring a little of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays.

Check...check....double check

2011-04-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

Dress to seamstress....check, Ornaments shipped...check, Appointment for dogs to the vet...check, house straightened (not cleaned) ....check, trip to Ben Franklin for paint for wedding ornaments...check, hose and underwear and bracelets for wedding purchased....check, air conditioner fixed....check, Haircut....check, Phone calls to suppliers made....check, Coordinated out of town guest arrivals....check, checked in with Restaurant hosting rehearsal dinner, spoke with the bride and my son about wedding details...and am now painting wedding favor ornaments! Check , check and double check....I love crossing things off my list it is so therapeutic! I even took the time to sit on my back porch and soak up some glorious sunshine...it felt so divine! Thanks for reading and sorry abut the ramble. Short feels right again tonight...
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

bringing the Chesapeake into your home and Holidays

I Need To.......

2011-04-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

This will be a very short blog as I still have hours of work before me tonight. I am ribbon-ing and tagging the bridesmaids ornaments for the wedding so I can send them to Alex in Charlotte, NC to wrap with the rest of their gifts this weekend. I will be chained to my paintbrush this weekend to finish the 80 wedding favor ornaments needed for the guests. Mary has to finish another 12 specially designed Yorktown Freight Shed ornaments to give to the family members of the wedding party at the rehearsal dinner! I am swimming in ornaments right now as I will be sending off 108 Sand-O-Grams and Lighthouse ornaments in the morning to their Oregon destination.

I need to clean my house. I need to grocery shop. I need to get the dogs to the vet and the groomer. I need to pay the bills. I need to get my dress altered. I need to get our heat pump fixed, and the car washed and I need to lose 20 pounds all tomorrow! Oh yeah and there is that little wedding thing that is coming up and all that goes with it. That is taking up 4 separate lists right now! and I just wrote another one! I need to read my last blog and start looking for all the great things that are surely coming my way. Counting my blessings right now....and they are many! I will have a wealth of material to write about...when I have the time! Take a deep breath and breathe...just breathe!

Thanks for reading!

Lynn

www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

bringing the Chesapeake to your home and Holidays

Roll Tide!

2011-04-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

   I am experiencing bloggers block...so I am probably going to ramble a bit hoping some inspiration will come. I have joined the Ultimate Blog Challenge which does just what it says...challenges me to blog 30 straight days in a row. I joined knowing that these next two weeks will probably be the busiest of the year with wedding plans for my son and his Fiance'...lots of out of town guests coming...Chesapeake Bay Christmas rolling along...list after list...so why not add a daily blog to the pile?
    I have always found that when I am the busiest and the most stressed that that is when I seem to get my best ideas. When there is stress and stuff that cannot be controlled in my life somehow something wonderful always takes root... perhaps to bloom later...but nevertheless it takes root. So when I feel overwhelmed I try to take a deep breath and know that there will be some really good things that will come from it. Does this sound really weird? It does...maybe even a little bi-polar, but it is a positive force in my life. When things seem to be at their worst or most stressful, rather than despair taking over, an amazing energy seems to emerge and carry me through the crisis. This energy brings with it a creativity that blesses me with inspiration and a wealth of new ideas.
    I am sure this energy evolves as a form of self preservation but in the end it provides release from that same stress that caused it. Good springing from bad, clouds with silver lining, always darkest before the dawn....all of those phrases kind of elude to this. So I am learning to not fear the downturns in life or the busy times of life so much. I know they will bring a lot of wonderful blessings with them and it will be up to me to recognize them and put them into action.
   I saw a phrase that I fell in love with a couple of years ago during one of those very stressful periods...and it said " The lowest ebb is the turn of the Tide". Isn't that an awesome thought! I immediately painted it on a crab shell and a sand dollar to add to Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co's Coastal ornament line....a good idea right! Count your blessings...especially when you don't feel like there are many to count! Do not fear the next thing around the corner but embrace it and squeeze out every bit of crazy energy that it has to offer! Right now the stress and the blessings are flowing, so I expect the tide will be rolling in soon!
Thanks for reading!
    I want to dedicate this blog to my brother John...one of the busiest, energetic creative people I know!
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Say Yes to the Dress!

2011-04-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

I am deviating from blogging about my business today so that I can blog about my least favorite thing in the world....shopping...clothes shopping! If you have been following any of my previous blogs you probably already know that I am going to be the mother of the groom in an upcoming wedding. You know what that means...oh yes you do...I have to go shopping for the dress! Aghhh! I do not wear dresses anymore and it has been years since I bought a new one. The thought of venturing into the big snooty fancy department stores was really daunting! Dressing rooms, bad lighting, bad body, bad sizes, were all haunting me, trying to get into my head, telling me I could make due with something already hanging in my closet. I never want to stand out anyway. It was my usual MO to blend in and not be noticed....and that is what I had talked myself into....but my girlfriends would have none of it! They took charge...informing me of the date and time that we would go shopping for THE DRESS!
    I knew I had been bested, and was in way over my head. I would be going !   My girlfriends would have their way and that meant they would find me proper wedding attire...not my usual black uniform! I dreaded and I fretted and I considered calling in sick...but I knew it was inevitable. So in preparation... the day before the trip I spent almost a whole day watching a marathon of "Say Yes to the Dress"! I had never seen this show before and it was quite entertaining really...almost addicting. Watching brides try on dresses looking for the perfect one...over and over....tears and problems and tears and happiness finally blissful happiness when the right dress is found. I saw girls of every size find their dream dresses. If they could do this thing then so could I!...Right? I felt a little hope seeping in. I told myself that I can do this....I can do this...I can ...I can... I will!
      So off we went the next day... me and my escort of three of the best friends a girl could ask for. I was in capable hands so I just held on for the ride! They picked the stores, chauffeured me to to them, combed the racks, picked out dresses, brought them to me, gave me honest opinions, gave me encouragement, and ......yes found me the dress that was perfect for me!
     The minute I put it on I knew it was the one. It was the one! But always second guessing myself, I still went on to two more stores to make sure there was not a better one waiting for me. Hours later there was not... so I went back to the dress that I had already said yes to and said yes again! Done! It was done right? Wrong!...we still had shoes to find, underwear to consider, jewelry to pick out. We made the trip to the shoe dept and found the perfect shoes just like that! It was too easy...how could that be? Because it had to be.... because I was done...spent... unable to shop for one more thing. There is no exhaustion like clothes shopping exhaustion. It breaks you down like no other activity. Mentally, physically, I felt like I had done a triathlon....a fashion triathlon!...I would sweat the small stuff later.
    Later. The dress hangs in my closet waiting to makes its debut. I have tried it on several times because I like it so much. I have found the jewelry...and I am ready to go... no one will see the underwear...right?! Thank you girlfriends...you are the best!.
thanks for reading,
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Numbers ,Timelines and Dreams

2011-04-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

   It is Sunday night and I am finishing up painting 36 Yaquina Head and 36 Haceta Head Lighthouse ornaments for a shop out on the Oregon Coast. This is the last order I need to finish before I can turn all of my attention to my son Matt and his fiance Alex's wedding which will be held 12 days from now on April 16th in Yorktown, VA.
    It seems I am always gauging my life by what painting projects and Santa Editions I have before me to finish. There is always one there that I need to start or need to finish and my days start to be numbered by their progress or lack thereof. Checking them off the list becomes a form of therapy for me. Having this numbers and time game to play is a true blessing although sometimes it does not feel that way. Having work before me that I have designed and created for myself...and that someone else desires is the one of the true gifts of my life. I started this little business 15 years ago with no idea that I would be doing it 15 years later. I started it because I loved to paint and I loved to make gifts for others by my own hand. I did.... and so I continue to do today with the help of my partner Shawnette and my great friends and fellow artists Mary Albert and Lindy Brammer. We all work within the framework that I described above. What do we need to accomplish next that will allow us to move on to this or that...the things that we aspire to do and accomplish above and beyond what we do everyday.
    As we all get older it starts to feel a little more important that we clear the calendar more than occasionally to do the things on our bucket list. Here at CBCC we paint and we make Santas and we load the trailer and we unload the trailer and we plan and we learn and we start all over again... but the rest of our lives seem to call to us a little louder. Our joints ache a little more and our eyes need stronger correction to see what we need to see, but our hearts still yearn for what they have always yearned for.
    My business came to fruition because it is one of the things my heart yearned for. My intention breathed life into a small but satisfying small business that has grown every year for 15 years, but it now has taken on a life of its own. It has goals that must be met and timelines that must be honored and ideas that must be born. Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co is its own entity now. It has become a full time job... and there are only a few of us that can do it! I now find myself yearning for other things and I must figure out how to do all that I want to do in my life. But I do know that I am blessed to have this dilemma and the knowledge that I also have the power to figure it out. Everyday I will make my choices and forge ahead . I will continue to play the numbers and timeline game. I will bring my life experiences into my business and bring all that I have learned through having my business into my personal life. I will carve out time to do new things! I will strive for balance...Zen....Karma all those illusive terms we use to name what we strive for...a happy heart.
   Tomorrow I will stop my painting and Santa making and bookkeeping and phone calling for a short time while I turn my heart and attention to a joyous occasion in my and my families life. A wedding. A wedding of my oldest son and the lovely young lady that he loves. I will watch them start their lives and I will pray that they will make some of their dreams come true while they maneuver their way through everyday life... that they will live a prosperous everyday life while following their dreams. That the two melt together into one.
Thanks for reading,
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

Coming soon...A Chesapeake Bay Wedding...A Bountiful Bay Wedding

2011-04-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

   I spent the afternoon in Yorktown, VA with my future daughter-in-law Alex and her mom Melissa. We were there to listen to the violinist that will play at the wedding, and make the final music selections. We met the violinist in the Riverwalk area and we sat at the edge of the water while she played. It was really magical listening to that beautiful instrument play the traditional wedding selections with the York river and blue sky as our backdrop.I felt my first twinge of tears trying to make their way onto my face. It surprised me.
   This wedding is so special in so many ways. It is our first born son getting married so everything is new and exciting. His fiance' Alex is a beautiful young woman who we already feel is a member of our family. They have been together since becoming high school sweethearts 8 years ago and they have been committed to each other since then. They have done such a great job planning and executing every detail of this upcoming wedding.
   Everything is going to be simple and elegant and understated...and they have chosen a most wonderful backdrop for their ceremony...the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at Historical Yorktown. It is so beautiful and it reminds me why I love what I do at the Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co so much. This Bay and all the history that has defined it lends a proud elegance to its beauty. You feel that you are standing on hallowed ground looking out on the same sight that those who have gone before you have shared. This is the feeling that I hold onto when I am designing our Chesapeake Bay Santas and ornaments....proud, elegant and bountiful....full of stories, full of life, full of the our very earliest history. It makes me so happy my son and his bride will begin their journey on the banks of the York River where our country began its proud journey to become a great example of freedom to the rest of the world. What kind of Karma is that!
Thanks for reading
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas
www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas

Wedding Bells!!!...I mean ornaments!!!

2011-04-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

   My oldest son James Matthew is getting married to the love of his life Alexandra Hardy two weeks from today! I could blog endlessly about this wedding and how excited I am, and also how stressful it is to coordinate such an affair. ( not just me of course!) The details are endless but the excitement keeps the frustration at bay! One of the tasks I volunteered for enthusiastically was to paint ( or have painted by our most talented artist Mary Albert)... 75-100 wedding ornaments to give as wedding favors. We have been asked to do this for other weddings many times in the past and have come up with some really nice designs, so it was pride and honor that I signed on to come up with several great designs for this most important wedding. The first design was one to be given to the bridal party ( bridesmaids). We decided to paint the bride in her beautiful dress flanked by two of her bridesmaids in their beautiful dresses holding their flowers and pointing their stunning pink and blue be-clad feet out for all to admire! White dress with Blue shoes and Blue dresses with Pink shoes Is the featured fashion statement of this sophisticated bridal party. Our design was painted on large sand dollars and ribbon-ed and tagged as an ornament but also given with a small plate stand so the girls could display them on tables or counters as a prized piece of home decor. Our other designs are equally as fun...I just need to get them all done on time...which is two weeks from today!
   It is so much fun to be able to do this for my new daughter-in-law. We do these kinds of things as part of Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co all the time...but when it is for your own it takes on a special meaning. It makes me happy to know these little ornament jewels will last well into the future, reminding its owners of a lovely little wedding held on the banks of the York River where a stunning young couple started their lives together.
Thanks for reading!
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

Spring into Action with SPRING15 !!!

2011-04-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

    Today is April 1st...April Fools Day! I have never been one to plan elaborate or even simple pranks on this notorious day... but I have certainly been the target of many. My kids favorite was to rubber band the kitchen sink sprayer handle so that when I went turn on the faucet in the morning I got the cold stinky stagnant water that had been sitting in the sprayer hose... right in the face!! Oh the good old days...! Today I have the house to myself as all of my guys have grown and left the nest...but I do believe that as we speak they are remembering some of those past April Fool's Day stunts they pulled on good old Mom! So what to do to make today special??
    Today Shawnette and I are running our first coupon special on www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com ! Beginning today and running thru May 1st we are offering 15% off on any purchases made on our site! All you have to do is enter the coupon code SPRING15 during the checkout phase of your shopping trip and the savings will be automatically deducted from your purchases. This coupon is just in time for last minute special Easter gifts or purchasing a very special Mother's Day gift...or even better getting a head start on this year's holiday season!
   Our new Psalms in the Sand (hand-painted Sand dollars) offer a wonderful choice of 6 ornaments/home decor each with inspirational words written in the Sand on the Beach with corresponding inspirational Bible verses written on the back . You can also order these ornaments without the verses on the back but instead with a place on the back of each shell for a name, date and personal message! We call these SAND-O-GRAMS and they are a wonderful way to send a very special and personal message to those special people in your life!
   You can also check out our Coastal Angels and Beach Babies that make great Easter and Spring gifts for those special someones! We have a new line of lighthouse ornaments painted on spiral shaped seashells...we call these Sea Lights and they are one of a kinds! We presently offer Cape Hatteras, Cape Henry and Assateague with more coming in the near future!
   There are so many new things to look at and we would love you to do just that. Log on to www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com and be welcomed to our online store. Come for a visit or come to shop....you are welcome anytime!
   We promise there will be no unexpected surprises....only a great selection of unique gift items to bring the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays! So use your SPRING15 coupon and let that be your April Fools Day Surprise!
Thank you for reading!
Lynn
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas
www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas

Sending Santas!

2011-03-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

     This morning I sent 8 Guardian of the Gulf Santas on their way to shops in Edisto, SC and Fripp Island, SC. It always makes me happy to send our Santas out to beautiful shops where they will find great new homes in different parts of the country. Knowing that our vision and handiwork and something that we have made has been given value and appreciation by others is a feeling like no other. It is this feeling that keeps us working hard everyday to create new designs for our Santas and our ornaments. We live for the positive feedback we get from our customers and the new ideas they send our way. But back to what I was saying earlier, there is nothing like packing up our Santas and ornaments and sending them off to all points north south east and west! The farthest we have sent one of our Santas was to Australia. We have also sent them to England to Scotland, to Spain , to Alaska and to Hawaii! We are proud of every one of our ornaments or Santas that leaves our homes bound for other parts of the country and world.They represent a little piece of the Chesapeake and the Mid-Atlantic Coast wherever they go! As soon as I sign off on this blog I will be going right back to painting 72 special order lighthouses on spiral seashells for a shop on the coast of Oregon. When I am packing them up to send them on their way I will get that special satisfaction of knowing that my treasures will soon become someone elses.....
thank you for reading!
   Check us out on www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com and don't forget to order between April 1st and May 1st to use the SPRING15 coupon code at checkout and get a 15% discount on your online order.. Let us send you some of our well loved treasures for you to have and pass on to others... to bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your home and holidays!!
     We will be starting our show circuit in May and we will post our calendar on the website very soon so keep checking back!

It can't be Saturday again!

2011-03-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

The weekends are coming too quickly as my son's wedding and our farmers market season approaches. We swore we would be ahead this year when it came time to hit the road every Saturday with our wares and our aching lower backs! We are not ahead. We are behind as usual....but with a few differences. We have acquired a wealth of new knowledge about social networking, marketing, product representation, website security, website design and manipulating our own website software, analyzing our own stats, mass producing ornament lines, and staying organized ( well we are still working on that one!). This has been a year of learning and we have faith that using this knowledge and continuing to learn will pay off! But in the meantime it is time to pick up the paintbrushes, get out the glue guns, and get back to making the things we are learning so much about selling!
Thanks for reading....
Lynn
check us out @ www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com, www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas , and www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

Website improving ....15% coupon to check it out!

2011-03-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Just a short post this morning to let our old and new customers, friends and family who are visiting our website in the near future to be patient with us. Our website is and probably always will be a work in progress. We are in the process of making new categories to make way for new product and to make finding product easier for our customers. Right now our Online Store page will not have all of the categories that we actually have on the website...so just click on any one of our categories that are there and once you are into the site all of the categories available will appear listed on the left in column form.There you can then find all that we have to offer. We are also re-doing our upcoming events page to a much more user friendly calendar format. We are trying to get all of this done early in the year so our website will be at its best for the 2011 holiday season....All year for that matter!
We have added our facebook, twitter and blog links to the website so navigating these will be a snap. Starting April 1st we will be running our first website special called SPRING15... Just type this code in at checkout and you will get a 15% discount on your order. This coupon brings the spring deals we offer at our farmers markets, and spring shows to our website too! Take advantage now... and for all of you that do, we will offer another exclusive coupon just to you! We want you to join our family of happy customers who have found a way to bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into their homes and holidays!
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Thanks for reading!
Lynn

Over and Over and Over Again

2011-03-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

   Once again I have allowed more than a week to fly by without posting. It has been a busy week for both Shawnette and I. We are working hard on different projects and keeping in touch by phone and email to document our separate progresses and setbacks. Having a home based business allows certain freedoms that a conventional storefront or business location does not. One of those I am exercising right now which is working in my PJ's while my oatmeal and coffee are brewing in the kitchen. The downside is that your personal life is constantly interrupting and tempting you to put your work on the back burner and take care of the things that pop up spontaneously around you. Shawnette and I are both a little ADD so it does remain a constant challenge to stay focused and on track! I feel like I just derailed from my original line of thought just now so back to business....
Shawnette has been staying on top of our foray into social networking and she has been doing a phenomenal job. This week on the advice of Charlene Saunders our mentor from Women Working 4 Women www.ww4w.com we offered some our our product to Freebies and Giveaways facebook.com/Freebies-and-Giveaways on facebook and were very happy to say that that small donation of product earned us over 150 new facebook fans on and several new visitors to our website www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com . We are also participating in donating prizes for the game night Charlene is doing once a week and that has helped gain us many new fans also! We are now believers in cross marketing...Thanks Charlene! Shawnette has also started Santa making...she broke the ice and made our first 24 Santas for 2011...we have finished the design phase and are moving into the hard labor phase!
So what about me? I have been filling out show applications, finishing up our materials and supplies orders, painting special order lighthouses for a shop in Oregon, working on our website design..... but more than those I have been obsessing and working on my son's upcoming wedding. Last week I went with Alex my future daughter in law to finalize the design and furniture placement in her venue, then went to her final dress fitting, attended a bridal shower, did invitations to the rehearsal dinner, opened boxes of decorations that I was able to order from Darice ( a wholesale bridal catalog) and re-ordered the items that arrived broken, consulted with the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner, finalized hotel reservations for our family and several of our guests, shopped for the outfit (still don't have it!).... whew it makes me tired just typing it!!! Oh yeah...and we did our taxes in the middle of this week also!! thank God that is over!
   After listing our accomplishments for the week I feel a little better about things...but we still have so far to go...but that is life isn't it? I guess I will worry when we have nothing to do on our to do list!!
      Just got off the phone with Shawnette...going over our list again as we will continue to do again and again and again. She just told me she posted a special for our Psalms in the Sand ornaments on facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas so please go check it out . It is a great deal!! and please visit our website www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com to see all we have to offer! Thanks for reading!
Lynn

Making Networking a Priority!

2011-03-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

We attended the WW4W business networking trade show on Saturday and enjoyed it a lot. We gathered some good leads by raffling ornaments and a Chesapeake Santa. We met a lot of very interesting entrepreneurs and attended some very informative workshops on social networking and marketing your business. We are on a very intense learning curve right now. Most of it involves technology and we are trying to embrace it. Shawnette is more tech minded than I and I am leaning hard on her to learn it and teach me! Charlene Saunders from WW4W has been helping us by sharing information with us and being a cheerleader for us. We are not sure how she does all she does with being a mom, a business owner and the leader of WW4W...we are in awe. She is encouraging us in our blogging efforts, and our facebook and constant contact efforts. She is taking us down some new paths of marketing to groups through facebook and we are thankful for all of her mentoring. We have been doing CBCC now for 15 years...but we are just now trying these new avenues for promoting our business. I hope that at the end of this year we will be able to look back and say that it was an invaluable decision! Thanks again Charlene and WW4W!
We are offering a coupon for purchasing product from our website between April 1 and May 1. Just enter the code SPRING15 on the checkout portion of the website and you will automatically get a 15% discount! This is the coupon we promoted at the trade show...so please visit our site and enjoy! Look for our new Limited Edition Chesapeake Santa coming out this summer!

Thanks for following
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
www.WW4W.com
www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

Women working 4 Women Networking Show Tomorrow

2011-03-11T04:36:00.000-08:00

Today we will be getting ready to attend the Women working 4 Women Networking Trade show tomorrow Saturday, March 12 at the Hampton convention Center...upstairs!! Come out and see us and over 50 other vendors offering opportunities for women who want to start their own businesses. We will be offering one of our Limited Editon Santas for raffle and will be giving out a coupon that gives our customers a 10% discount on any purchase made on our website from April 1st thru May 1st!!
There will also be several informational workshops and seminars that can benefit the small business owner. Gina Watkins from Constant Contact will be teaching a workshop on using Social Media for marketing your business. You do not want to miss this free opportunity to learn, learn learn! Join us as we will be there to do the same Learn!
Thanks for reading!
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

Falling down the "Rabbit Hole"

2011-03-08T04:52:00.000-08:00

Since entering the world of blogging and social media marketing we feel a bit like Alice must have felt when she fell down the rabbit hole. Things that come to mind are parallel universes, science fiction meets ice cream social, and exponential, mind boggling, information. Overwhelming is an adjective that hits the nail on the head...but we will grab hold and hang on for the ride and turn that adjective to prosperous, profitable and triumphant! Then we will begin again with something else that overwhelms us!
Thanks for reading and come and see us this Saturday at the Hampton Convention Center at the Women Working for Women Trade show. We will be upstairs from the RV and Boat show....

Rainy Days and Sundays

2011-03-06T06:50:00.000-08:00

Today looks like it is going to be a total wash out. Rain all day....great air though, open windows are a must! I think today will be a good day to take on my last bastion of total disorganization....my office! As soon as I finish this blog I am going to go into my office armed with trash bags, and a clear and calm mind to try to bring order to CBCC's nerve central. I will be cleaning out and off, sending things out the door...then putting them back into designated labeled spaces...getting rid of the multitude of piles that inhabit the space now! I am already visualizing clean and orderly shelves, labeled drawers with a space designated for every item, floor space with carpet showing wherever there is no furniture, and NO DUST! I know that visualization is the first step so I am well on my way...but I also know that I must create a larger Chaos before order can be restored...! That is what has continually kept me from beginning this process or at least completing it! Total Chaos scares me... so I dance around the need to confront it in order to rid myself of it!!! Somewhere in there is a metaphor for life???...so I will leave on that thought go forth and ORGANIZE and know that the end result will be worth all of the anxiety that this task will entail! Thanks for reading....
Lynn
Look for games and giveaways on our Facebook page this week...Also we will be at the Hampton Convention Center Saturday, March 12 for the Women Working for Women Trade Show. Come down and see us...we will be looking for work at home high productivity artists who would like to join a very hardworking team.

www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

Technology spells Trouble!

2011-03-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

   I apologize for being AWOL for the past week. This has been a challenging week for us at CBCC as every piece of technology that we depend on seemed to decide to fail at the same time! In a single week we had a virus take over one of our computers, our Visa/MC terminal broke, the paypal system we recently upgraded our website to use was not working properly, and we had a power failure on the computer that has our business software and temporarily ( Thank God!) removed our entire 2010 books from anywhere that I could find it! I was in the middle of putting the finishing touches on the 2010 books and printing reports for taxes when the lights started to flicker and I quickly moved to back up the files just as....THE LIGHTS WENT OUT!! That's right when I went back to open the file again it was GONE!! I had a weekend of angst thinking I would have to reconstruct my whole year of everything....but I called my friend and MYOB expert Susan Burdette and she talked me through finding the file over the phone! I love you Susan...if anyone following this blog needs a business software expert in the Richmond/Williamsburg area she is the best!
   So back to the fact that it has been a week of Technological Tragedies!... things are looking up... it is Friday and we have replaced our Visa terminal( and learned how to use it), fixed the Paypal problem (with a little help from our friend Tim LeGrand at Host International), are wiping the lap top with a virus clean and starting over( thank you Gary!), and yes we found the 2010 books good as new
    Shawnette and I felt our patience and our aging brains pushed to the final frontier this week... but in the end we prevailed!...proving you can teach old dogs new tricks and there is still some gray matter left at our disposal when we absolutely need it (and friends that know their stuff too)!
   Now maybe we can get back to what we do best....making the best Coastal Santas and Coastal Christmas ornaments in the business...Thanks for reading!
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Back on Track or Just another Monday

2011-02-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

   I want to apologize to those that have been following or checking in for letting a whole week lapse without an entry. I threw a Bridal shower this past Saturday for my future Daughter in law Alex. I hate to admit that I am easily overwhelmed and needed to totally focus on this event last week!
   The fact that Chesapeake Bay Christmas Company operates from my home ( and many of my co-workers homes too!) means that I had a lot of moving of messes to do in order to pull off this shower! Since my office is always in a state of total chaos I did not even try to clean it up for this event. I just made sure on the day of the shower that this door had to remain closed...preferably dead bolted if I could have managed it. My office is actually a converted formal Living Room right off my front foyer! If my guests caught a glimpse of this chaos my cover would have been totally blown!! But my office is really just the proverbial tip of the iceberg! In order to throw this shower I had to reclaim my Dining Room, ( Santa Central...where we put together our Santas and all other construction of our ornaments, garland etc!) my kitchen, ( where all of my paperwork that is currently being addressed such as bills, marketing, and scheduling... amasses in many small piles) and my den (where all of my painting of ornaments occurs!) Basically I had to move mountains before I could even begin to clean my house and pull off this bridal shower. The real challenge was moving my organized chaos in such a way that I could be able to go right back into production as soon as the shower was over. So everything got picked up and moved into guess where?....the office!
   While doing this, my anxiety level was constantly trying to ramp up and take over...I had to fight valiantly to keep it beaten down to a low roar! It made me realize just how much I have going on in my life...how many balls I am trying to keep in the air...and how many of them may be on their way to the floor before I go in for the catch! There goes my anxiety again!!! But on the other hand it made me see how invested I am in Chesapeake Bay Christmas!...how much of my creative being has been forced to thrive under its need to grow and survive! I realized how I love this business and how it has brought me so close to my dedicated friends who are in this with me!
     Back to the original point of this blog...the bridal shower! I moved my mountains, scrubbed my floors, polished my furniture, cleaned my carpets, decorated with pink and Tulle and flowers to my hearts content, and made some pretty decent food...in addition to Shawnette and Carolyn's wonderful contributions. I do need to say that without Shawnette's help on the day of the shower I would have locked myself in my bedroom and had a full blown anxiety attack! but since she was there to help...we had a very nice event and nearly everyone on the guest list attended! I met members of my future extended family, we took pictures and laughed and laughed some more. It was all good. I was happy that I did it and I spent all of the next day doing nothing! I am still picking up bridal confetti and eating pink chocolate kisses!
   Today I am back to CBCC business. I have emailed vendors and reps, called my working friends to give them 1099's, made my 22nd list for this month, blogged, made several business calls, paid bills, spoken with two friends, walked my dogs, and brushed my teeth! and most important I am busy making my messes again...back into the swing of CBCC! I still have 10 more items on my list to accomplish today so back to work I go!
Thanks for reading!
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas
www.cbcc57.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

Viva Valentines Day!

2011-02-13T16:23:00.000-08:00

     I want to take a break from writing about the early history of Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co. to wish all of my friends, family, and customers a Happy Valentines Day! Even though we are in the gift business we have always rather ignored this holiday ...probably because it is a holiday that usually causes me( and a lot of women friends) to stress over coming up with something new and unique and somewhat romantic year after year. We usually just fall back on the traditional stuff, a card, a teddy bear...candy! But you know what...that is OK! Even though again we are in the gift industry... I hate feeling like I have to buy something to fulfill my Valentines Day responsibility. So as a gift business owner I am absolving all of my friends, family and customers of thinking they have to buy a gift to have a great Valentines Day. Give a card, write something from the heart, do something for your spouse or loved one that shows them you are thinking about them. Let all that is unspoken be the focus of the day!
    Ladies we all know that there is only one thing that truly makes it Valentines day for our guys... and it is not chocolate! Now guys... we ladies need to know that you are thinking about us and appreciating us. See what you can come up with besides buying something!! It might be harder, but I would bet it would be much more memorable. I remember the best Valentines day I ever had was when my husband left written clues all over the house that led to some kind of gift. For the life of me I cannot remember the gift but I will always remember the romantic clues and searching through the house laughing the whole time. It was the effort he put into making the occasion fun and that made it special.   Don't let the gift retailers be the only reason you feel you have to celebrate Valentines Day, you know it is a day driven by marketing expectations. Set your own expectations and then surpass them!
    I have been inspired.... next year look for a small thought driven gift from Chesapeake Bay Christmas for Valentines Day. It will be something beautiful that you can write your feelings on to be preserved and kept for years to come! But you don't have to buy it...to make your day a special one! Just make it your day! Be in love!

Thanks for reading!

Lynn

www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

Neptune Nightmare

2011-02-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

   I am going to pause our early history after this blog. But first I must share the experience of doing our first very large juried outdoor craft show. It was the end of summer 1996 and Chesapeake Bay Christmas was now having moderate success . We had built a small wholesale clientele. We were attending some small craft shows, church bazaars, high school shows, and local park shows but we were ambitious and started applying to some of the biggies! Our first success came when we received our acceptance to participate in the Neptune Festival Boardwalk Art show in Virginia Beach. This was a show that had over 300 exhibitors and drew huge crowds every year to celebrate the end of summer.We were elated!
   So we spent weeks figuring out our displays and tents and inventory. We packed it all up in my very large conversion Van (mommymobile) and headed to the beach in a state of excited anticipation. This was one of those situations where ignorance was bliss. Had we known what we did not know we probably would have tucked our tails and run for the hills...not the beach! But we had a Van full of coastal treasures and we were going to make some money!
   We arrived and set about setting up when we realized our first mistake. We had come with a $50 sun shade type tent and what we saw was an endless row of perfect 10X10 $500 artist tents. Oh boy...embarrassing...but we set it up anyway...and rationalized that it would make us stand out...grey and white stripes were cool?? Right? Unfortunately we were soon to find out why they were not!
   The tents were set up tight as sardines. There was no space in between at all... being a good neighbor would take on new meaning! Our tents backed up to the back rail of the boardwalk( which would ultimately be our salvation!) again leaving no space on any side. So we had set up our entire booth in a row with not an inch of space on either side and guess who our neighbor was???That's right a stained glass vendor..with gorgeous very expensive pieces hanging on all three sides of their tent. We had set up our display without taking into account that we needed to leave a space to come out from behind our desk to restock and help customers etc. So every time we tried to squeeze our way out front some part of our bodies would brush against the side of their tent to the tinkle tinkle clank clunk of very expensive glass with nowhere to go! We were not being the best neighbors and it showed in the faces of these poor glass artists who had had the unfortunate luck to end up next to the new kids on the block!
    This would have been bad enough...but we were not through with our learning experience! We were at the beach. What force of nature do you always encounter at the beach? Wind! We had wind like a monsoon ( oh never fear...the rain was on the way!). Wind that picked up our entire little tent and wanted to carry it down the beach a couple of blocks! We did not know about tent weights and bringing buckets to fill with sand to anchor down the tents...all we had to fight this wind was a small bag of Bungee cords! So while I held on to the tent to keep it from flying and knocking down our neighbors displays, Shawnette took to the back railing with her bag of bungees and went to work! We had bungees going everywhere...and our poor neighbors reluctantly had to let us bungee our unsecured little tent to the front legs of their very well weighted down tents ( in self defense ... of course!) To this day Shawnette has the title of being the Bungee Queen and she still makes sure that every year at the beach...even though we now have our sand buckets in place...we are bungeed properly to the back rail just to make sure! She is a true Bungee artist!
   What next? the rain of course! Wind was just the appetizer and rain was going to be the main course of this nightmarish Neptune Festival! Our cute little grey and white sunshade was just that... and only that! What do you mean it is not waterproof?? Could we have been anymore unprepared! Oh and one more thing ...it did not have any sides! So what were we to do...give up and go home?? No way..we had brought an enormous blue tarp for just such an occasion! Only one problem...our tent was squeezed in tight between its neighbors...and it was starting to rain..and how were we going to get this tarp around and over our cute little tent after the fact? I think all we had left in our bag of tricks were a couple more bungees and a couple of clamps and absolutely no room to work in the wind and the rain. Have you ever tried to tarp something in the wind???and the rain?? Step in Shawnette once again! She was fearless! While I held and handed and pushed and pulled, she scrambled and climbed and squeezed and bungeed and clamped. We both said we were sorry to our neighbors at least 100 times! Then finally it was done! Now we were a blue wrapped monstrosity in a sea of stately white artist tents! We really stood out now, but miraculously we had done all of this tent wrapping without breaking any expensive stained glass Hallelujah!
   We survived the weekend. The weather got better. We made a little money. We learned a lot of lessons. We were now on our way to becoming seasoned veterans of the art/craft show circuits.
Shawnette is still the Bungee Queen! We still do the Neptune Festival every year and we still bungee to the back rail...just in case!

Thanks for reading!
Lynn

Check out our website and other social networking links

http://www.chesapeaekbaychristmas.com/
www.facebook.com/chesapeaekbaychristmas
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

Back at the Beginning Again

2011-02-10T06:44:00.000-08:00

    Ok ...I have been writing the story of CBCC in a bit of a circle. I am sorry for any confusion but I can only say that that seems to be the way my brain functions these days! I started at the beginning, then digressed back twice and now I am back to where Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co started to become its own entity, to breath on its own, to stand on its own legs so to speak.
    It was 1995 and I had made my first several sales, was working like a fiend, had entered many craft shows that were BIG shows ( I did not have the sense to start small!) I was scheduled to do the Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach at the end of September on the Boardwalk. It was a huge deal for CBCC a great launching pad so to speak! This was a big show right in the heart of our customer base. It was three days of marathon of crowds, beach weather, and a set up nightmare! I NEEDED HELP! Circle back once again to my good friend Shawnette!
   I asked Shawnette, my friend from PTO and play group, ("In the Beginning" blog) if she would give me a hand....because I was in over my head! She graciously jumped in with her signature high energy and encouragement and positive outlook...and we have been doing this together ever since. Honestly this little business would have never come to life without her steady influence. She has been the calm force that has allowed me to continue on as the creative mess that I can sometimes be. She is always positive, always has my back, and always cuts through the crap! (whoops....sorry) I will not gush anymore except to say that Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co would have been shipwrecked years ago without her help!
    It was also at this time that two other wonderful friends and artists came on board with CBCC. Lindy Brammer a wonderful gifted artist who gave my line such an upscale boost! She designed many new ornaments and painted like a fiend to help us keep up with busy show schedule and new wholesale accounts. I also got the help from her talented husband Lee who was a graphic designer/photographer. He was such a help in the early days when we were trying to figure out website stuff and brochures and everything marketing! Then we still needed help and Lindy led us to an acquaintance of hers, Mary Albert. Mary was an artist like no other. She could paint in the most amazing detail. I would sketch out rough ideas and she would bring them to life in such an amazing way. Her level of detail was so refined that our customers had trouble believing her designs were actually hand painted . My team was in place now and we had something really outstanding going on!

Follow our next Blog ""Neptune Nightmare" to hear about that first big boardwalk craft show in Virginia Beach!

Thank you so much for reading!

Lynn

www.chesapeaekbaychristmas.com
www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas
www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

Out of Order

2011-02-09T05:32:00.000-08:00

    As I started sharing the history of the Chesapeake Bay Christmas Company I had made an unconscious decision to leave out a part of its story that was a very unpleasant part of my life. But in order to be honest I felt I had to give that part of my story a place on the page. .
    When I first arrived in Virginia (1990) I met my first friend. We became very close very fast as I had left my life behind in Oklahoma and did not yet know anyone in New Kent, VA. She was a good friend. She admired my painting and encouraged me. We spent many hours together doing many craft projects and eventually decided to start our own craft company together and to start attending craft shows with the items we produced. We did this together for a couple of years but our friendship began to feel the pressure of a business that we did not see eye to eye on. It ended badly. It was not either one of our faults it just was what it was. I bought my partner 's stake in the business to end it as positively as I could, and sadly (after trying every way to save our friendship) I had to leave them both behind. It was one of the hardest times in my life.
    As this chapter closed I knew that I would continue on and start over with a business of my own... and I knew that I would call it "The Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co". That was all that I knew though, and those first steps toward building a business were not only scary but marked with the failure of a small craft partnership that went before it. I would take stock over the next couple of years of what I had learned from this...and try not to make the same mistakes again. I would also try to heal my hurt of losing a friend over business...a lesson that I vowed I would never repeat!
   So I guess this blog should actually precede the last one. I just made the decision to share this part of my history because it is actually a part of Chesapeake Bay Christmas Company's foundation. The good the bad and all in between have brought me forward to this point in time where I am who I am and that is good.
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There is nothing like that first sale!

2011-02-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

   I cannot begin to tell you what making that first sale of something that I had created by my own hand felt like! To see my product being sold on the shelves of a gift shop (well really a gift shelf in our local drug store!) was a most incredible high. I really have never quite reproduced that feeling since. It gave me such a shot of courage and confidence that I could do this...I could make this into a business, I could start making my own income!
   That was really the pivotal point that changed a hobby into a business. I became a driven saleswoman... making cold calls on shop after shop within a days drive of my home. I think many of those first sales were really pity sales because I was so bad at selling my product. My voice would quiver, my hands would shake..I was a mess, but thankfully my ornaments were selling themselves! My list of shops was growing....enough that I was working 20-30 hours a week painting. That may not sound like much, but as a mother of three small children it was a lot. But the satisfaction of having a business that was mine, was intoxicating. It kept me focused when it was hard to find the time get everything done, when it was hard to stay up late into each night painting, producing, and doing paperwork. It was hard work but so much more satisfying than any job I had held in the past. I was home with my kids putting my all of my energy into them and into building the foundation of The Chesapeake Bay Christmas Company.
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Thank you for reading and being our cheerleaders!

Lynn

come and visit our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
talk to us on facebook at             www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas
follow us on twitter at                  www.twitter.com/chesbachristmas

"In the Beginning"

2011-02-05T17:45:00.000-08:00

Now that I have relived our amazing trip to Sanibel Island in the first five blogs, it is time to come back to the present so that I can do what I set out to do with this blog originally....talk about the Chesapeake Bay Christmas Company and all of the folks who have been a part of it for the past 16 years! That's right 16 years...just typing it was surreal because it does not seem possible that it was that long ago that Shawnette and I started building this little business that has become part of our hearts and souls.We have been growing Chesapeake Bay Christmas Company little by little year by year.

In the beginning...we started this business based on my love for painting and giving of handmade gifts, combined with a love for the area ( New Kent, Va) in which we live...between the gentle rivers the Chickahominy and the Pamunkey which in turn feed the majestic rivers the James and the York which flow into our country's most noteworthy bay "The Chesapeake". Our love of this place and the resources it provides were the beginnings of the niche we would start to carve out for ourselves in the gift industry.

I had grown up in Virginia but had spent 17 years of my life moving around this great country with my husband Van as he climbed the corporate ladder of Reynolds Aluminum Recycling Co. We moved back to Virginia ( New Kent) in 1990 with two young children and our third on the way. Our first son Matt was born in California, our second son Jake in Oklahoma and #3 Joshua would be my fellow Virginian. It was the desire to stay at home with my children that fueled the need and the desire to create a business that would contribute to our household and allow me to be at home when our children were small.

I met Shawnette soon after the kids entered school. She also is the mother of three sons (our first thing in common!) We were both moms who were involved with our kids at school so we became PTO moms and room mothers and everything else that that entailed. We also were part of a play group that got our younger children together once a week for some major roughhousing and playtime. This play group was an amazing source of friendship and creativity and support that we all provided to each other. It was during this time that I started to paint on local oyster shells mostly to entertain myself and to give to family and friends as gifts. I then started to attend some local craft shows with what I considered moderate success. My self esteem was growing so I made an amazing first step as a business woman. I ventured into our local Cardinal Drug Store and made my first sales call! Success!...I actually sold 25 hand painted oyster Santas... and that was the fire that ignited the creation of The Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co.!!.

Stay tuned history continues in next blog

Farewell Sanibel

2011-02-04T05:27:00.000-08:00

Friday of our week on Sanibel had arrived and with it a feeling of sadness that we would have to leave this warm, whimsical place and go back to the cold of our mid-Atlantic homeland. Now don't get me wrong...we also come from a beautiful place where tourists come from across our country to see. But we were in a full out love induced state with Sanibel Island where we were looking at real estate magazines and imagining ourselves there forever...living a stress free blissful existence with nothing more than shell collecting, beach walking, eating, reading , bike riding, swimming, paddle boarding, kayaking, and sunbathing to fill our days, prioritizing them in different orders each and every day.
Dream on Golden Girls!! our destiny and our plane awaited to whisk us back home to our our hubby's, our kids, our work and more snow!!! We packed in a subdued state, talked in low tones about our wonderful week, started coming down with a cold, and once again wondered whether our suitcases would make the 50 pound weight limit with the extra shells we had packed into them. We went to bed that night to dream of ankle deep shells on beaches, walks to Sanibel Lighthouse, unlimited chips and dip every night, Zinfindel, Kahlua and vodka beverages, bike rides to Tarpon Bay, fog like no other fog, a stare down with an angry mob of seagulls, a paddle boarding ponytailed senior, shell bombing birds, a dolphin drive by, Spoon Billed Roseates, gators and skunk-apes, Tomlinson and Capt. Austin and last but not least Randy... I mean Doc Ford!
Farewell Sanibel....we'll be back!

Lynn McPherson
www.facebook/chesapeakebaychristmas
http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/

Stalking "Doc Ford" Again

2011-02-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

Shawnette ( my friend and business partner in Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co), and I have wanted to go to Sanibel Island since 1996 when we both read our first Randy Wayne White Novel "Sanibel Flats". We have read and reread every novel in his series of 18 books! Mr. Whites protagonist of the series is Doc Ford. He is an intellectual/marine biologist/ex-NSA operative who takes you along on awesome Florida/global adventures laced with wonderful Florida and world history, political intrigue,amazing character development, twists and turns,and some of the most evil bad guys one could ever imagine. After years of reading his books and being dedicated fans we are also sure that Doc Ford is probably a character that Randy loosely bases( with lots of fiction of course) on himself ! Therefore now that we were here on Sanibel Island we felt compelled to identify all of the spots we had read about in his books, and walk the same paths that our beloved characters had walked, and imagine where Dinkins Bay, the stilt house, and Tomlinson's Sailboat were.....but most of all we wanted to meet Doc Ford...I mean Randy!!
We were really not very good stalkers. We arrived on Sanibel one month before Randy was scheduled to be at his two local restaurants (Doc Fords) signing books. Good planning!... but we still had this little bit of hope that we would just coincidentally through good karma... trip over him sitting in the corner of "Doc Fords " waiting for us to come by and say hello, or maybe run into him walking on the beach, or shopping at Jerry's market, or eating lunch at the local marinas... Fantasy laced with hope is a wonderful thing! Just the possibility of a Doc Ford/Randy encounter kept our entire week at Sanibel high with child like anticipation . We explored and visited as many Doc Ford hangouts as we could and talked about the books as we went. We drove our other two travel companions crazy with our talk! ( although I am sure they will read the books after listening to us for the week!) Needless to say we did not randomly run into Doc...I mean Randy...but that was OK because it gave us reason and permission to come back to this magical place....next time with better stalking intelligence.
We are waiting anxiously for Randy's next book to be released on February 22nd (see link below)
Visit our website(below) to find the finest Bay Santas and Coastal Christmas Decor anywhere!!
Follow us tomorrow for "Farewell Sanibel"
Lynn McPherson
http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/
http://www.randywaynewhite.com/

Into the Everglades

2011-02-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

   For those few friends and friends who are actually reading this blog...we say thank you for hanging with us as we learn the art... and nuts and bolts of blogging. We will not deceive you and so we must say that it is our #1 intention to increase our company's visibility on the web and to drive more folks to our website http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/ ! Shawnette and I are both technologically challenged ( I much more that she...I do not even have my own facebook page yet...for fear of knowing too much about my kids lives!)...so once again thank you again for bearing with us.
        Ok that does it!! back to our story...Into the Everglades

       It was now Thursday of our week long trip to Sanibel Island...and we were now ready to venture off the island for a side trip to Everglades City (about 60 miles SE of Sanibel and known to be the gateway to the everglades). We were on a mission....to take an air boat ride into the everglades...with our clipped coupon to Speedy's Air boat Adventures!! Wow what adventure seekers we are ...the Golden Girls meet...the wild Florida swamplands full of Alligators, snakes, Skunk Apes( oh yeah!), and best of all Captain Austin!!!...our 20 something  air boat driver at Speedy's! He was a blue eyed cutie about the same age as the statistical average of all of our own sons ( and we have 10 between us!) and we could tell he was elated to be the lucky purveyor of our menopausal group into the the "Glades".
    We all stepped on board, trying to act air boat savvy, our hats and sunscreen in place, my arm linked through my mom's (76) who was such a trooper! Captain Austin told us we could not wear hats because it was going to be a wild and woolly ride like a roller coaster....Yes!!! so hats came off, ear protection went on and we were off!!! Well almost...we puttered across the canal to be shown a large alligator parked conveniently on the bank, he looked ferocious...or did he?? We would later wonder!
    And we were off...again...this time through he mangrove tunnels, where Captain Austin navigated with amazing precision...as he could have easily decapitated any one of us at will with a minor steering adjustment! We needed to stay on his good side for sure! We were looking , looking , looking for the illusive Skunk Ape (Big Foot of the Everglades) and most of all for Gators! We looked and looked some more only to see a few birds ( that we could now identify due to our Tram tour of the Ding Darling Nature Preserve on Sanibel...we were such good students!) flushed from their peaceful perches by our extremely noisy air boat! I really do think someone should invent a silent air boat so we could actually have a chance of seeing a gator or a Skunk Ape!!! But nevertheless we did get a great ride full of back sliding turns out of the mangroves and across the grasslands...enough to quench our mid life quest for adventure! After all we did have Captain Austin to talk about for the rest of the day... and whether or not the one alligator we saw was real or a plant!!?
      We drove back to Sanibel that afternoon only to find that all of the Everglade Gators were parked on the banks of the canal that ran right along the shoulder of HWY 41 The Tamiami Trail. I think they were car watching along the HWY,a gator's version of Nascar, which must have been much more exciting for them than hanging out in the actual Everglades Swamp...go figure! We must have counted at least 100 on our trip back to Sanibel...lounging ever so contentedly along the banks of a man made highway ditch!!! We checked Gators off of our list and that only left the Skunk Ape to titillate our imaginations of unknown and unseen Swampy Things!
    Join us for the next installment "Stalking Doc Ford... Again"
Thanks for reading and once again check us out on http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/!

Into the Mangroves....

2011-01-31T16:00:00.000-08:00

We finally decided to venture away from the beach, and the shells and the shell bombing birds to explore the rest of the island. We started with a quick drive around Sanibel and Captiva exploring the other beaches to make sure they were not better than ours ( for shells that is). They were not. So after stopping in at some local stores and ...a restuarant ... Doc Fords.....he is mine and Shawnette's #1 hero in the Doc Ford series by Randy Wayne White... which you really must read if you have not already!) Randy ( the author) opened a chain of restaurants named after his, strong but silent, hunky marine biologist/CIA operative protagonist that he obviously modeled after himself!!! We were hoping to find the author in residence but unfortunately we did not. :(
So next we decided to learn a little something about the island so we signed up for a tram tour of the nature preserve that takes up over one half of the island. We had a great naturalist that entertained us as he educated us on the birds, reptiles, fish but most of all the giver of all life on the island...The Mangroves!! I cannot even begin to tell you all that we learned about these life sustaining tangled trees that lined the bay side of the island. I can only say that it was so interesting ..that everyone should see a mangrove coast and explore it and marvel over its complexity! They make you feel childlike,very Tom Sawyeresque..I cannot explain it...you must go see!
OH and tune in for our airboat ride in Everglade City... to make you feel like a true explorer of wild and untamed places.....tomorrow....
check us out at http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/ ...coastal decor, bay santas, nautical ornaments and home decor....we are known for our Chesapeake Santas...Clam Nativitys, Psalms in the Sand, and College crabs and sandollars!!!
For the next 5 followers who sign on to follow our blog we will send a free T-shirt
http://www.cbcc57.blogspot/
www.facebook/chesapeakebaychristmas

Sanibel...Where Shells Fall From the Sky!

2011-01-29T06:03:00.000-08:00

Where were we??? Oh yeah...walking on the beach on Sanibel Island , practicing the Sanibel Stoop, when suddenly a large mollusk (of unknown species...reddish brown and white, scalloped (clue?), and still breathing) falls from the sky and lands at my feet! What in the world??? I look up and see nothing but blue sky?? We had noticed that on this beautiful morning the tide was low and hundreds of these particular mollusks had washed in and deposited themselves at the waterline...waiting to be taken back to sea..but also providing a smorgasbord buffet for the seabirds! ( Royal Terns, plovers,and regular old seagulls, the healthiest you have ever seen!) Anyhow back to the smorgasbord...the birds were working hard at getting their beaks into the small opening of these bubble blowing mollusks... eating with gusto when they were successful and very frustrated when they could not! But these guys were problem solvers...have you figured it out yet??....Plop another one falls from the sky!!! You got it right??? That's right ...these problem solving birds were picking them up , carrying them up to about 75 feet and dropping them back to the beach to open them! ( Or hit annoying tourists...I am not sure which!)
Amazing... and that was only one of the new and magical things we encountered on this gem of an island!
Tune in...I want to stay here on Sanibel as long as I can...stretch it out ...eventually I will get back to the present!
Tomorrow...Into the mangroves!!!

Back to Sanibel!!!

2011-01-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

   Well things have quieted down since the unfortunate security breach of our website yesterday. We have personally responded to all of our customers who received the crazy phishing email...and we have been told by the authorities that we will probably never get to the bottom of it as these types of breaches are a very common occurance on the internet. Soo...I want to get back to where I was so rudely interrupted.......Sanibel Island...
    Shawnette and I and my mom and another dear friend Carolyn had planned to leave Atlanta after the Gift Mart and leave for a week of sun, sand and sales on Sanibel Island, FL. Sanibel is known for its wide variety and number of shells that wash up on its beaches everyday. We had heard about it for years and always wanted to see for ourselves...so this was the year!!
   We left Atlanta in sub freezing temperatures and arrived at the Ft Meyers Airport to 70 degree + temperatures. We got to the condo we had rented and it was lovely...with a beautiful view of the Gulf of Mexico right from a Florida style lanai (GOLDEN GIRLS STYLE) where we could sit and eat...and drink...and visit...all while watching the sun rise and set!! Yes we could see the sun rise in the morning and set in the evening...both from our LANAI!
     We changed into beach attire and went straight to the beach...it was everything we had hoped for...shells everywhere and of every description. We would be able to take home shells perfect to put on our Santas...shells that would give us happy thoughts everytime we placed them in  their packs. The shells were so different from the mid atlantic varieties and interesting. We immediately assumed the position that they call the "Sanibel Stoop" just like everyone else on the beach..bent over head down picking up shells. We were in heaven!! Pen shells,Whelks, conchs, jewel boxes, kittens paws,scallops,lace murex, coon oysters...(wow what is that?)
   More to come on Sanibel ...where shells fall from the sky... stay tuned!

We've been Hacked!!

2011-01-26T16:23:00.000-08:00

Today has been a nightmare! The unthinkable has happened...our hotmail account has been hacked. Our customers received emails asking them to send copies (front and back) of their credit cards and a copy of their Drivers License in order to process their orders (Orders that did not exist!). I have been on the phone and email all day putting out fires and trying to get to the bottom of the scam. We reported it to the police, our web host, our website designer and hotmail. The consensus is it is being done by hackers from overseas who will hit and then move on. I hope that none of our contacts who got these emails reponded to their requests. We apologize to all of our loyal customers for the inconvenience and will update by email, facebook and blog to keep the information flowing. We will be working hard to update our security so this does not happen again, but many experts have said that it is almost impossible to be bullet proof. It does not appear that any personal information was accessed and that it was only a phishing scam.
I was going to post about our trip Sanibel Island but I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow. Thank you for checking out our blog and stay tuned...we will be having many give aways for those who follow!!!
Lynn

Atlanta Gift Mart and Sanibel

2011-01-25T04:13:00.000-08:00

We left Richmond at 6am Jan 12 on the first flight into Atlanta since the ice storm that had coated this southern city in 4" of ice. We were on our annual trek to the ATL Gift Mart and nothing would stop us. They had to de-ice our plane before we took off...that was scary. We arrived to ATL draped in white and impossible to navigate! We took the Marta(subway) to Peachtree Center ( Gift Mart) and had to get a hotel room right there because we could not make it to Marietta where we ususally stay. But we were there and we embarked on our usual search for new items to put on our Santas and new ideas for our own ornament lines. We found pelicans, lobster traps, and even a parrot( you will have to wait and see why!) We found a great new miniature line that will make our little Santas very exciting this year! We visited many shell vendors and found many new gems! We also won a Kindle in a raffle!!! Yeah!!!After 3 days of traipsing up and down escalators and looking for bridges from Bld 1 to 2 to 3 it was time to move on to the second part of our trip.... SANIBEL ISLAND, FL!!! More to come.... remember to check us out....at http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/ and at www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas we are like finding buried treasure!!!
Lynn

One Step Forward......

2011-01-24T16:35:00.000-08:00

This is it ...I am now officially blogging! I am talking to myself as usual, trying to make sense of this technologically tangled universe. I am learning this because I must... to move our business forward in what seems to be a vacuum... but I know that it is really potentially the exact opposite. I will be learning how to link up and hook up and tweet and post and all that stuff...but for now I invite all who come to read this to visit us at http://www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com/. and http://www.facebook.com/chesapeakebaychristmas WE ARE ALL THAT!!! when it comes to coastal Christmas Decor!
Lynn