IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM JOIN 'EM

 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

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

                                                              

                                                                           

 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!

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!

   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!

   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!

    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/