Tammy, we love the Southport and Oak Island areas too. Southport is like you stepped back in time! That's one area I believe I could live. Calabash is nice too. John, we like the aquarium up that way and there's an area around Ocean City we like. Still have to check out the Elizabethan Gardens. Transplanted, that's an area I don't think we've ever been to, sounds lovely and interesing. ncrescue, We like Salisbury (neat old hardware store called Rufty), it's very quaint and laid back. We'll have to check out the cemetery. Some of the old roses you'll find at older cemeteries are tuff little plants and so fragrant. My husband has a memory of an old cemetery where they had what folks referred to as an old cemetery iris. He took me there one time to see some old family graves for genealogy purposes but they had just finished blooming. Not the Carolinas but here are some places in East TN. I think we've been to all of them multiple times. Have had more picnics in that area than I can count, even winter picnics! My dh grew up in that area and his Dad preached all over those hollows. Roaring Fork auto tour is incredible. Too small to drive RV's, Buses, etc due to old growth trees right up against the road. As I recall there use to be an old country store (pot belly stove and all that was NOT for decoration, lol) along there that we stopped in one day and there was an elderly gentleman sitting outside whittling that entertained my kids (and us) with stories while we looked around. He had as much or more fun than we did. There's another auto tour that takes you back into the hills where a lot of cottage/craft people live and sell their wares and you HAVE to see Cades Cove early morning or late evening. It's a one way loop thru an old mountain community. Most of the homes are gone, but they have preserved a few. Old cemeteries and churches, from the civil war era, lots of trails to hike and so forth. In the spring you'll see huge patches of daffs out in a field where a homestead use to be. Lots of dear, bear, skunks, etc. If you go in the early morn or late eve you'll see more of the critter kingdom. Slow down or you'll miss it!! I've heard people say they went thru it and didn't see the big deal. Those are the people that we pull over for and allowed to pass us. The deer cross from the wooded areas on one side of the road to the fields on the other in the day time and back across in the evenings, and they'll often come right across the road in front of you. Also when you cross the little streams look up a ways into the woods and you may see them in that area. There's a picnic area where kids (and big kids) can wade/splash in the water and we've often seen baby bears with their mamas roaming around. Umm, stay away from them! My daughter chased a family of skunks thru there when she was little calling out to them 'here kitty kitty..' luckily mom must have sensed she wasn't a threat! They also have an old mill arera where they hold special events thru the year. We especially love Old Timers Day with all the fiddle, banjo, etc. players. There's also the Townsend area, Greenback, the old Greenbriar school, the sinks, there are some old covered bridges in the area. There's a small power plant on I-40 right on the state line between NC and TN. If you take off back thru there it goes thru the Cosby area and then on to Gatlinburg. It's one of those areas where the back end of your car meets the front end, continual hairpin turns. Yep, we've roamed those hills, lol. Here is a link that might be useful: east TN

Thanks everyone for your appreciation of my flowers. I was very happy this year because I usually only have my 3 reliables bloom every year. This year I had at least a dozen bloom. There are some buds forming on others, but I think it's too late to see them get to full flowers. I'm also going to miss my yellow desert rose bloom. Maybe I should take it with me. Do they travel well? :-) We still are having lovely weather, but it's supposed to change next week. I'll have to bring in some of my tenders before I leave (jades, desert rose, mamms). I usually leave the Echinopsis, Notos and Trichos out to get a little chilled before I bring them in. Greg, I'm glad you've been to Mexican Hat Nursery and can confirm it's worth going to. I emailed and they also wanted me to call as a reminder. I'm excited--my poor DH. We will only have the mini cooper full of trip stuff so I won't be able to go crazy. Did he plan it that way?

No I don't know them, and my comments were harsh. Mainly because of that innocent little girl, now she will surely know that finances were part of the reason her Daddy hanged himself, and if it does not occur to her this year, within a few years and certainly when she's older, she'll most likely think back to her extravagant birthday party and blame herself. That is why I said what I did about her mother. That kid could have had a $15 cake from the grocery store, 8 friends and pin the tail on the donkey and been just as happy. That party was to indulge her mother's ego. But you know how I am about people not being personally responsible--and yes, it was his fault for not putting his foot down, but regardless as to how much she knew about their finances, her spending was over the top and vulgar. In fact, her life seemed vapid and vulgar, to me. As to many of them. Just what I deduce from what I'm shown, and what they agreed to be a part of. I don't know why I tune in when I do (haven't watched all the franchises, or any complete season) but it's like watching a train wreck.

To some extent some of the pros are probably used to working with turn-key situations. One of my instructors in design school said if he was doing a room or rooms with clients he never delivered things piecemeal. He warehoused everything and did an installation of the room all at once. Of course the room might not be 100% decorated a la Candace Olsen on Divine Design but the majority of the room was installed in one fell swoop and not delivered piecemeal. And he usually sent them off to lunch or away for the day so they were not seeing it partly done. When my parents bought their new house in 1969, they started working with an interior designer several years earlier and picked out everything for the house as it was being built. We moved into a new house complete with carpet, window treatments and fully furnished in every room. Not a lot of accessories but the rooms were essentially complete. The only thing they kept was their old dining room set, which never got replaced (and we still have it). People are afraid to do this even if they have the money. People are afraid it will be impersonal and it will not reflect the owner. I don't happen to think this is true, I think a good designer delivers what the client wants. My dad took a (third) part-time job to pay for the furniture. When it was paid for, he resigned that job. This is how most of the name decorators and designers work, they deliver a finished project, not a little of this and a little of that as time goes on (and on and on). So that may be why many pros look at the room as a whole not at the sofa or the wall color as a particular piece. The next two rooms to be done in my house are fully designed down to bedding and or upholstery and the demolition hasn't even begun. I am not a wait and see how this looks then wait and see how that looks and then try this or that sort of person. The room is almost complete before it's even started.