A weekend getaway with Mr. Willow

We spent four days in Savannah, Georgia. What a gorgeous place! The houses and trees with all that Spanish moss are something else.

We drove to Tybee Island for dinner and stopped at the Crab Shack and had a low country boil. What a treat-mussels, two kinds of crab, crawdads, shrimps. potatoes, corn on the cob. Incredible!

Mr. Willow and I took a trolley ride along the river front. It was his favorite price- free.

Talk about a picturesque graveyard.

Did you know that Savannah has 7 million tourists a year? We saw these horse drawn carriages all over the historic district. They are much more charming than the tour buses that we saw everywhere..

Hats, hats, hats!

The first few hats I picked up in Oregon. I fell in love with that first one. It didn't get put with my other purchases and my son took me back the next day to get it. Such a sweetie. He probably got tired of hearing about the cutest little cupcake hat. You can't help but smile when you see it.

Did you know

we carry Romantic Homes magazine? I could spend all day looking at the gorgeous photos of people's homes and gardens. In May's issue, they had some wonderful ideas for a Mother's Day tea.

Lollia, I love it!

One of my favorite things in the shop is Lollia. I love the packaging, the fragrances, the price point and the product itself. The shea lotion comes in 4 oz tubes for $25 and the little tubes are only $8 for under an ounce. We have the little parfums for $10 and they are in the cutest teeny bottles. The large parfum bottles are on their way. I think Relax (lavendar and honey) is my favorite. My daughters love Wish which is sugared pastille. Other popular scents are Breathe(peony and white lily), Inspire (1000 flowers), Imagine (flowering willow and lotus) and Believe (cabbage rose and citrus) . Don't you just love the names! This is a great company out of Colorado.

A boy and his dog

This is my son, Nate and his dog, Libby, who as you can see are huge Beaver fans. I invited myself up for a visit this past weekend. He and his family live in Scappoose, outside of Portland, Oregon. I timed my visit so I could go Monticello's Garden Event on the 9th but more on that in another post. Just wanted to introduce my son.

Can you believe the size of these cakes!

Guess you can't really tell but they have seven layers and are about 15" tall. Unbelieveable!

Just got back from Portland and

I had the best time. I spent Friday with my new friend, Sharon. I had never met Sharon in person but she was the type of person when you talk on the phone (she is my rep for some lines I carry at the shop), you feel like you have known forever. I told her I was coming to Portland and we agreed to spend the day together. We meet in St, John and she took me around to some really fun places. The day got away before I had a chance to take a photo of Sharon but I did somehow manage to get a photo of the dessert we had at lunch. Don't know if you can tell how dainty this little red velvet cupcake is.

We spent several hours at this great place called the Monticello Antique Marketplace. Here are a few pics of the shop. I didn't take very many because I didn't want to miss out on any goodies (more pics to follow on what I bought).
Thanks, Sharon for a wonderful day!

Don't know it you can tell but there are three little chicks in here. Sooo stinkin cute!

Thanks!

Just wanted to thank all our wonderful customers. Last week, I asked for help with coming up with a tag line for the shop. We have gotten dozens of great ideas. It will be tough to pick just one. I am impressed with not only the creativity but the willingness of our customers to take the time to give us their thoughts. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You ladies are the best!!!

Girl's Night Out

My daughter, Amber, is greeting everyone and asking them to chose which sucker they would like. This time our gift was a sucker with a discount ranging from 10% to 30% good for Girl's Night only.

Tami is helping Bev with our make and take project. We had fun with games and drawings. Cindy A. won the drawing with the cute spring centerpiece and how Renee L. guessed the exact number of jellybeans (1239) inthe basket, I will never know! Thanks to all who came. I know it is a very hectic time of year.

Yum!

Greek Feta and Olive and Pear and Pomegranate are the newest additions to the Wind and Willow cheeseball mixes. The Pear and Pomegranate is my new favorite. Although I don't think there is a bad one in the bunch.

Just made the Spinach and Artichoke cheeseball mix but instead of making it a cheeseball, I made it as directed but then spread it on puff pastry, rolled it, sliced and baked it at 400 for 10-15 minutes and it was great.

Not that anybody cares, but

I just love my new vacuum cleaner. It is a Sears Kenmore Intel Clean Vacuum. I have spent many, many hours the last few weeks making sure my house is "Intel Clean". There is a sensor that tells you when there are particles going thru the tube. If there are a lot, the button is red. If there are some, it is orange and when there are little to none, it is green. Just had to share. If you are in the market for a new vacuum cleaner, I highly recommend this one.

Our Afternoon of Bliss

Chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate truffles, chocolates, chocolate covered eclairs, and Wind and Willow's new Pear and Pomegranate Cheeseball. What could be better than that!

Champagne, of course. Sista One and Sista Two look like they are enjoying themselves.

Then, Amy(not pictured) showed the gals how to make the cutest little boxes for what else, chocolate.

This little cutie couldn't stop at making just one box.

Aren't these sweet. Thanks, Amy!

Oh, I wanted to share the easiest recipe for chocolate truffles. These are soooooo yummy. After mixing the ingredients, I usually put it in the fridge to cool a little before rolling into balls.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Melt a 16oz bag of chocolate chips, add a 16 oz container of chocolate fudge frosting and a teaspoon of extract of your choice (cherry, vanilla, orange, rum, you get the idea). Roll into balls (your choice of size), then roll into topping of your choice ( finely chopped nuts or cookies, coconut, cocoa powder, sugar, etc).

You're are invited to an Afternoon of Bliss!

Join us at Willow Creek

for an Afternoon of Bliss

March 20th Sat. 3pm-5pm

~blissfully delicous sips and nibbles

~blissfully relaxing chair massage

~blissfully fun make and take project

~blissfully wonderful drawing

All this is our gift to you, our blissfully fabulous customers!

Speaking of gifts, we have one for you (while supplies last)

Happy Birthday, Zeke!

And here is a pic of the birthday boy. Zeke is 8 years old today! Yeah, Zeke!

What did he bring me today?

Let's see. I got Poo Pourri. What a hoot this is. The tag line is Spray the bowl before you go and no one will ever know!

I love these sweet little plates. They are hand made from the East Coast. Such fun words like Joy, Believe, Inspire, etc.

I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow brings!

I love the UPS man!

He is like Santa to me. I see that big brown truck and it is like Santa's sleigh. I wonder what he is bringing me. Today he brought me these beautiful rabbit cannisters and plates, I can't wait to see what he brings tomorrow!

More Spring Goodies!

These magnetic covers sure dress up a mailbox. They have wonderful ones for all the seasons. I love changing out my own mailbox every couple of months.

When things warm up, these little guys will look so cute in the garden. The weatherman said it was going to snow today but so far it is just cold and windy. Can't wait for spring!

Look What's New!

It feels like spring. Well, maybe not outside but in the shop spring is here. Here is a few photos. So many goodies, it will take a few days to show you. I have so much to share.

These gorgeous canisters have a bee design that is truly elegant.

I love these aprons. They are so cute and even better yet, they are made in the good ole USA!

These are really nice candles. The scents are wonderful. The color in the photo doesn't do them justice.

This little guy is named Fudge and I truly believe he smells like chocolate. Who could resist?