We MIGHT be in a magazine!

In a recent and never ending attempt to gain exposure for PJ, I sent an email to several magazine editors. Country Woman magazine is very interested in doing a feature, and requested a photo shoot. The fabulous Jenna Henderson of http://www.jhendersonstudios.com/ came out today and yesterday. The group in residence this weekend were such good sports about being primped and posed! Who knows, this could be your big break into modeling girls!!

I cannot wait to see these photos! Jenna does such good work. Keep checking PJ's photo page for the new shots. Also check out Jenna's blog as she might post some there before I actually get my hands on them.

This weekend I also met a super talented scrapper named Barb. She is a scrapaholic with passion! We are going to team up and do some classes at the Junction. You do not want to miss this when we announce it. She is hilarious and has a scrapping resume to impress! Barb also booked her birthday weekend while she was here. What a GREAT idea! How much fun would that be, and what husband is going to say no?? But HONEY, it's for my Birthday!!

Don't know what the deal is, but all of a sudden I got about 6 inquiries for retreats this winter and spring. If you are thinking of booking a weekend, you'd better grab your date now. It looks like they'll be filling up fast! Yippee!

Out with the Old!

Hello all! The house has been empty for a couple of weeks (oh the shame, Normandy is gorgeous right now!) so I've been working on getting rid of my old ebay inventory. I used to sell children's books on ebay and in elementary schools, but there is no way I can keep that up now that I've found my DREAM job!

This past weekend I set up a booth at the Bell Buckle Craft Fair. If you were there, you know it was a BEAUTIFUL weekend! I really enjoyed myself and my mom even showed up to help so I could take a potty break every now and then. And oh yeah, sneak away to shop too!

My favorite booth (besides the $1 jewelry guy) was from a shop in Murfreesboro called Bungalow. It's just opened up on Vine St. and I can't wait to see the actual shop! The owner, Kim is a delight. She had antiques mixed with new vintage style gift items (think bottle brush trees, etc.) I was so smitten with her stuff that I spurged and bought an antique buffet for the dining room at PJ! It's perfect!
Kim is going to pass out PJ flyers at Bungalow for me, yeah!

PJ is empty next weekend too (Sob! Where are you people?) so I am going to try the Nashville Flea Market. I'll be in Wilson Hall. Look for the Dr. Seuss books and the PJ poster. Come say "HI!" Hopefully I'll be able to sell and not shop, but I doubt it. I love the flea market! Have a great week!

If you remodel it, they will come.

No one can know the joy it gives me to see actual scrappers with all their stuff spread out, cropping their little hearts out in the room we worked so many days in this summer, wondering if it would ever be done! Seriously, I get tingles just walking in there! I know Lori's group from Nashville thought I was Nosy Rosey looking over shoulders at all their pages, but I am truly fascinated! It is the coolest thing seeing everyone's families and the love these ladies have for them displayed with wonderful care and creativity on a table in my house that purposed for that very thing. It's just not often you get to see a dream come true in such vivid detail right before your eyes!

What a great bunch of girls! This group came equipped with "Scrapping Mix" cds, and other libations to keep the party rolling. They had done this a time or two together and you could tell! Again, awesome food Ms. Brenda! Apparently I missed out on the "Brenda rolls." You'd better do those again and save me one!

My next group doesn't come till Oct. 3rd, so I guess I've got a couple weeks to work on things like PUBLICITY. If anyone has any media connections of any sort, throw me a bone! So far, we've been in the Shelbyville Times Gazette, and will be in The Tullahoma News "Tempo" magazine September edition too, but I'd love to reach a broader audience. Wish us luck!! Bonnie

PJ's inagural weekend!!

Alright, it's almost a month later and I'm still grinning about the Junction's first group. Sherrie and gang were an awesome first bunch to host! We had our die-hard scrappers up till 3am and our sisters from Maryland just here to visit and see the sights.

By all reports, everybody had a great time! Ms. Brenda, your food was to die for! Thank you so much! Danielle and Sandy gave awesome massage and nail services. Danielle did mani's and pedi's for 12 hours straight! Those fingers and toes looked fabulous and your customers raved about you!

I knew when I drempt this up that I would love this job. As I was sitting around and talking to all these cool new people (while eating my banana creme tiara cake and sipping my coffee) the notion was completely confirmed. I DO love this job! All the months of intense manual labor, complete family neglect, and financial strain were just vague memories while watching the girls have such a good time. That's what we're here for: making new memories while helping you preserve your old ones!

My camera died that weekend, so I only have a couple photos. I'll post more when I can. Thanks to all my Dream Girls, Glamour Girls, Girly Girls and Cowgirls for a great first weekend!!

Design Weekend!

What can I say about my friends? They are the absolute best! My troops arrived at dinner time Friday night and dove right in to decorating the bedrooms and organizing the Crop Room at the Junction. We stayed up till 2am, then most of the team had to get up at 5:30 to hand out waters for the Bell Buckle Moon Pie 10K run. They returned looking fresh as daisies to put in another whole day of arranging, hanging, and designing.

You know how you picture things in your mind and then when it truly happens, it's almost never as good as you imagined? (My last haircut, etc.) This weekend was the exeption to that rule. Every room looks so much cuter than I ever dared to hope! I've posted new photos on the website.

www.pjretreat.com/photos.htm

Go check it out! Thanks to Natalie (seamstress extraordinare), Mary Dee (chef of scrumdelyicious delights), and designers Donna, Suzanne, my sister Becky (who kept my boys for a week and still came to help), Amber, Devon, Michelle, Marissa, and last but NOT least, my super-talented daughter Livvie! (Who worked non stop for a whole week in preparation for this weekend!) What a team!! I love you all!

Because of this weekend: I am actually AHEAD of schedule! So Monday night when I got a call to host a group of 20 ladies the weekend of July 18th, I said YES! I am so excited to have a booking and to get the chance to show off the Junction! God is truly taking care of me. Now, if He can keep me sane while I check off the other 400 tiny things left to do, I'll really appreciate it. Whoo HOO! We're up and running!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Good Morning! I'm in a rush to get back to the Junction to finish painting the 3rd bedroom. ( Only one more to go!) But it's been so long since I posted, I thought I'd better give an update. Someone told me to renovate an old house will take twice as long and twice the money you expect. I have a grudge against negative people, and I resented this statement. Well, in this case, it turns out they weren't being pessimistic, just accurate.

The CHA guys are on their 5th week here. It was supposed to take 2-3 weeks. We still have no hot water, which makes showering SO much fun! And only one toilet is running. STILL we ARE making progress. Painting is about 75% done, and the crop room is looking FABULOUS! David did a marvelous job on the Pergo, and the paint is bright and fun. It looks like a totally different room! I want to roller skate in there.

My sister and fam came down on Mother's Day and spent a lovely weekend pulling out old toilets and flooring. (: Thanks guys!! Nothing like putting the company to work. My 14 year old suckered in 2 friends to spend the night and paint their little hearts out. Thanks Autumn and Kate! This project is taking a village, but it is SO worth it. This house is going to be incredible! I can't wait to get some scrappers in there. You are going to have the time of your life!

We are taking a much needed budget vacation to FL next week. Packing all 3 kids in the back seat of a Honda Civic. (Hey, 40 mpg!) Pray for us!!

It's all coming together!!

Hey folks! Allow me to dust off and visit with you for a minute. In the past 48 hours "the Junction" has been overwhelmed with workers. Petey, our drywall guy has been working on the scrap room, and there is a crew of about 6 guys installing CHA as well! Meanwhile I've taken up residence in the bathroom, stipping wallpaper and getting things ready for beadboard and the new vanity.
I have to be honest, this is not my favorite part. I'd much rather be decorating or shopping for the house. But I know I will love the results once the jackhammering and drilling is done! I am happily exhausted. Somebody just keep telling me to enjoy the JOURNEY.

It's easy to get lost in the endless lists of things to do. I barely have time to pick up the kids from school and feed them, much less spend quality time with them. Don't get me started on the housework that's not getting done. Every once in a while I just have to take a deep breath and see the end result. It WILL be worth it! Phillipians 4:13 Baby!! "I can do all things.."

I would feel a lot better if I had a booking or two though... (:

Love, Bonnie

WOW my first Blog!

OK, I've just had to reteach myself how to do a website. It's been 7 years since I did http://www.hddsale.com/. So after about 24 hours of techno-strain on my brain creating www.pjretreat.com , anything I write here will just sound ridiculous. Please forgive me.

The main purpose of this blog is to keep my friends and future Petticoat Junction friends up to date on the progress on my dream in motion..Petticoat Junction. Speaking of dreaming..it's almost midnight, and I've GOT to go to bed. I'm going to Scrap, Etc. 2008 tomorrow to pass out my PJ flyers. So, if any of you happen to have gotten here by way of that flyer...Thanks for popping in! Come back to see me. I promise more coherent postings later!

Love, Bonnie