Chapter 3: Savannah Welcomes PINK!

~ Petticoats and Parasols ~

hosted by the Queen of the South...

the one and only Jennifer Hayslip.

Teachers included:

Tiffany of Shabbyscraps and Christine of Dollybelle

Guest Speaker:

Jo Packham of Where Women Create

*****

These four beautiful women crowned the weekend with

FUN, FRIENDS and ART...

Jo, Jenn, Tiffany & Christine

{{Before I start, I'd like to note that all of the photos are mine except the one above that I swiped from Jenn. Thanks Jenn!}}

I will officially declare Welcome Night as "Fabulous" and for those of you who know me, know that the color PINK is really not in my vocabulary, but...

I kind of liked it...but ssshhhh...don't tell anyone okay? ;)

It was so dreamy...

Walking into the ballroom was just beautiful.

Everyone was snapping photos like paparazzi as we were soaking in all of the amazing details.

Our tables were smothered in luscious pink linens, feathers, lace, satin ribbons, magnolias and candle light.

There were gifts galore at each personalized table setting and on our chairs too.

It was déjà vu for me as I felt like it was my 5th birthday party all over again!!!  :)))

Let me show you the details up close...they were fit for a princess!

Beautiful metal dress forms embellished with pearls and foof were our table centerpiece on each table...

Our place setting included the crisp white drawstring bag that held our precious handmade name tag, a brown box from Jo Packham that enclosed a special little handmade gift from her, a beautiful feathery embellished hand fan (so southern!) and a pretty pink bag filled with sponsor sweets (not shown here)...

Are you looking at all the details here??? It was AMAZING!

Oh dear...check out THIS amazing detail below...certainly not to be forgotten.

Jenn had Peach Martinis waiting for us!!! Oh Yummy!

I'm not going to tell you how many I drank as the bar tender kept telling me that she had make sure everyone had to have at least one and THEN I could have the rest.

I have no shame...I stood at the bar until she ran out.  :)

And let me make something quite clear here...Jenn was not the ONLY Southern Queen spoiling us that night.

I have to give LOTS of credit and appreciation to Rosalyn~Sue, our gracious Swap Hostess and Southern Sugar Mistress!!!

Rosalyn~Sue made these bags to hold our swap goodies. We had so many goodies that she had to get another bag to hold the rest!!! Can you believe?

I love the little prize ribbon she made for each bag...

I'm telling ya...if you want to impress me, it's got to be all about the details!!! And, I WAS NO LESS THAN IMPRESSED!

I was SO impressed that for just one slight second, I thought that Jenn and Rosalyn~Sue threw this Welcome Party just for ME! But I soon snapped out of it and realized that all the other women there were feeling the same as me...they were being spoiled and gifted too...hahaha

Just between me and you, those peach martinis had a kick to them! Or...was it the quantity? oh heck...it doesn't matter ;)

Okay!...back to Rosalyn~Sue...you are not going to believe what else she surprised me us with...

The Southern Sugar Bar!!!!

Yummy!

I stood patiently in line without ever once saying...

"Are we there yet?"

Instead, I watched closely as other princesses before me were having a hard time deciding what to choose.

I had a strategic plan of how I was going to put one of everything into the tiny little clear plastic candy bag Rosalyn~Sue was handing out.

Heck, I'll be honest here (since I totally got on the bartenders last nerve begging for the last peach martini), I even thought of asking Rosalyn~Sue for TWO candy bags. But with my darn camera in one hand and the last peach martini in the other...I couldn't have handled TWO bags. {aahhh, confession feels good}.

I mean seriously, wouldn't you be thinking the same thing if you were waiting in line for this???

and this?

Fine then, maybe the up close details will make you feel like a pig too and want TWO bags like I did!!!  ;)

um~hum...

See? I told ya I wasn't lyin'...

Don't embarrass yourself by asking for two bags...trust me...

Just take more apple stuff to fill your sweet tooth so nobody thinks you're a pig like me ;)

This was the "roughest" part of the PINK night...

I.have.no.willpower. & God punished me for it...

I loaded my ONE tiny little clear plastic candy bag with those white little round balls only to get back to my room thinking I'd pig out on malted milk balls...NOT!

The white ones were bubble gum :(

The PINK ones were the malted milk balls! s*^t!!!

okay. I love PINK now.

There. I said it.

;)

And last but not least...I LOVE THIS LADY!

I am a confessed stalker of Jo.

(as I said before, I have NO shame but on the other hand, I hope she doesn't come up missing...it wasn't me!)

I have traveled to various events to see her THREE times in the past 5 months. 

Each time I saw her, she was as sweet as the first.

Even though she can't remember anyone's name to save her life, I really do think she remembers ME :)

Yep. I'm the one who travels with a 50 pound suitcase full of her books and magazines for her to sign for me, my family and my friends. So many that she has to take them all up to her room at night and return them to me the next day. Yep...I'm that kind of stalker. I will totally keep Jo in business as long as she lives! :)))

Every time I see her, I tell her she's my Rock Star...

And I tell her that I am so humbled to be standing beside her...

And then we both bust out laughing because of our silliness...

it must be the peach martinis!!!!

:)

When deep inside I know what she's thinking...

"Oh my hell! Jodie, I'm going to have a late night again...where's my pen."

;)

If you haven't had the chance to meet this extraordinary woman in person...you are totally missing out on a REAL personality, a REAL inspiration, and a VERY giving and gentle soul.

Like I said, chances are that she won't remember your name (unless she has her notebook in front of her face) ... but she never meets a stranger ;)

I think that was the sweetest note that I could end this post on, don't you think?

*****

Chapter 4 coming soon!!!

Live (well not really) from Cupcake Central...

It's Vendor Faire at Back in the Day Bakery!!!

And don't forget about my "End of Savannah" giveaway coming at the end of this "book"...it's as sweet as Jo...trust me!

:)