We started down in St. Pete visiting our oldest daughter and her family. This is where we started every day:
Kris has a beautiful wrap-around porch and we would sit at one end or the other every day and evening. Once it was time to take Liv to school, we were off for the day and what adventures we had!
We did lots of eating out and shopping to get ready for Caitlin's 17th birthday that weekend. We were also on a bit of a quest to find some special pieces to help her finish her house. She is renovating a 1920's home and is trying to keep it as authentic as she can while still having all of the modern day conveniences. Her biggest project so far was the addition of wood paneled walls with tons of molding detail, a beautiful coffered ceiling and the installation of new "old" corner cupboards rescued from another house.When we arrived, she was just finishing the last of the painting and we were "lucky" enough to help her move in her new dining room table and chairs as well as paint a piece of furniture for her to use for some storage until she finds just the right piece. I did not take any pictures because she is waiting for the refinishing of a silver chandelier given to her from a friend out of her old home to be installed before the big reveal but it is GORGEOUS!
We also hit the road one day to pick up an old green bench she had purchased. St. Pete used to be known as the "Green Bench City" and it was quite a coup to find one of these old benches. For this trip, I ended up squished in the back bed of her car sitting on the legs of the bench so it didn't fall out the open hatch.
Another day saw us bumping down the road in a rented truck to purchase an antique wardrobe. The seller told us since it came apart in four pieces, it was very manageable. Wow! Manageable if your father is the Hulk. But, in true "Ravn" fashion, our tenacity helped us get that thing not only into the truck but back out and into her house.
Here we are in the cab of the truck. I just had to have a reminder even though I will NEVER take another "selfie" again!!
All of the bumps, bruises and not-so-nice words were worth it because this beauty fills one complete wall in her living room and gives her TONS of needed storage!
Another day found us off to some of our favorite stops while down that way. We swore we were just going to window shop, but, the best laid plans....
I know it looks like we went wild, but we REALLY restrained ourselves! We could have done so much worse! And, some of what I got were Mother's Day gifts from Kris. I did make one more large purchase but that will be for another post.
After wearing ourselves out that day shopping and enjoying a wonderful lunch in a beautiful setting, we picked up Liv and headed to a favorite Italian market to shop for an easy dinner.
This place goes on and on and is huge! It is kind of overwhelming to the novice so I was super glad Kris was there to herd us through the crowds.
In the few hours that we were not out and about, we were cleaning, unpacking or gardening. We went to bed exhausted every night but loved every minute of it.
So, those are the highlights of the week. It was followed by a super busy weekend but I will tell you all about that in my next post if you will promise to stay tuned.
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