Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Pink Palace


      WOW,  this 1848 mansion in Charleston is really called the Palmer Home and it is where Elizabeth and I stayed while attending the Innkeeping Conference. You can see why we called it the Pink Palace! What an amazing place. It is consistently voted one of the best B&Bs in the country and is still run by a descendant of the original owner.            
                                                     My room is on the top floor on the far right.



It is a charming little bay window with just enough room for a bed and stunning views of the harbor from all of the 12 foot tall windows [when the shutters were open]. Above is sunrise from my bed and this is my bed side table lamp. It was just a treat to go to bed or to wake up in that room! Our suite also opened right on to the "piazza" which ran the whole length of the building. It was a lovely place to sit at night after the conference and sip a glass of wine while the light faded over the harbor and the ships sailed into the bay.










                  We had breakfast every morning in the "drawing room" of the Palmer Home.
                                      I tell you we felt like true Southern Belles!!!!



Sunday, January 19, 2014

Piece of P.A.I.I.




 No, P.A.I.I. is not something you eat! It is the Professional Association of Innkeepers International.
Although K.C.'s Innsitting Service is not a member, I did get to attend their Innkeeping Conference this year in Charleston SC. I went with my friend and client Elizabeth Padilla owner of the Dove Inn. We had a great time, got to meet lots of other innkeepers and see all the latest innovations in the industry.











One of the reasons to go to a conference like this is to take classes that will make you better at the art of Innkeeping. I took several cooking classes - this lovely garnish is from a class called "the well dressed plate". I also listened to a psychologist talk about how to work well with your spouse - I have vowed to "honor" Kirk more for all that he does to make us good Interim Innkeepers. Another great class that I took was about Innkeeping technology trends - hard to keep up with all the changes but I try.





 The Innkeeping Conference also offers many opportunities for networking. Here I am at a booth with three fellow Innsitters. We are all members of Interim Innkeepers Network and although I have shared emails and contacts with these ladies for years, I had not met them in person until this conference. So, that was really fun for me. Of course I also got a chance to make lots of new contacts and hopefully a few new job opportunities will come my way - you never know!











  It wasn't all work - the
 "Hats off to Innkeeping" party was a lot of fun.
Elizabeth and I chose to wear cowboy hats but other Innkeepers had on crowns, ski hats, fur hats or sombreros. We had a blast!




One night there was a dixieland band that played music during our dinner. That was also a lot of fun.














                                          Where do you go for business conferences??

Friday, January 3, 2014

Christmas Cookies




  Yes, I know Christmas is over but at our house we are still eating Christmas COOKIES and we love it! Of course they do not look like this anymore - the really pretty ones were picked out on Christmas Day.

 Actually my favorite Christmas Cookie is this old fashioned gingerbread and I thought I might share the recipe with you so you could enjoy it next year.










   The dough is pretty simple:
   1 C butter
   1 C sugar
   1 egg
   1 C dark molasses
   2 T vinegar
   5 C flour
   1 1/2 t soda
   spices
Cream first two, add next three, stir in flour & LOTS of spice -at least 3T of ginger and whatever else you like - chill 3 hrs.



Then, roll and cut the dough into Christmas shapes and bake at 375 for 5 minutes.
Next comes the really FUN part - DECORATING!! The basic frosting is just powdered sugar, water and food coloring with LOTS of adornments - just let your imagination run away with you.
Look at this great gingerbread man that Kirk is making - AWWWW!

   

HO HO HO!  It's CHRISTMAS!

What is you favorite Christmas Cookie??