MacKenzie-Childs Traveling Tote

This is going to a long post so help yourself to a cookie while you visit ;o)

Dear Blog Friends,

Twenty years ago, I wrote a list of three life goals.

1.  Learn to make a good pasta salad.

2.  Finish hiking all 46 mountains in New York State that are over 4,000 feet in elevation. (some of the most beautiful mountains in America)

3.  Travel

So far I am 2 for 3, and still working on traveling the United States.

What is a Traveling Tote, and why are we doing this you say? It all started in January when a text message was sent to me by Patti @ Pandora's Box telling me that the Courtly Check tote bag was on sale and that we might want to take advantage of the reduced price. After I bought mine, she contacted Sarah at Hyacinths for the Soul and Linda at More Fun Less Laundry (love the blog name) wanted some fun too. 

My dear friends Tami and Colleen are also MacKenzie-Childs "collectors" so we invited them to share their adventures. Sorry, neither of them have blogs. Tami might share a photo of her sweet self this summer, and I'll include it in my September post.

Of course, we named the totes and bags ;o)

Debbie (Miss Aurora) @  Mountain Breaths 

Linda and Miss Rosie @  More Fun Less Laundry

Patti and Miss Kenzie @  Pandoras Box

Sarah and Miss CC @  Hyacinths for the Soul
Tami and Miss MC la Mer
Colleen and Miss MacKenzie Joy

Miss Aurora's maiden voyage was to Tybee Island in March. She enjoyed leaving the snow behind, and going to the beach. 

Over Mother's Day weekend, Miss Aurora transported picnic items to a private 35 acre garden in the village of Marcellus. A few times each year, the Hanford family graciously open their gardens to the public with proceeds going to benefit a local non-profit agency. 

Miss Aurora went to our camp over Memorial Day Weekend. She said I stuffed her too full and brought everything but the kitchen sink. The tote has a roomy interior so it's very tempting to overload it. 

Miss Aurora and Miss MacKenzie Joy attended the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY and the chic tote was filled with a bottle of champagne, crackers, strawberries and cheese. We loved the Rhinebeck and Hudson Valley area, and read that National Geographic Traveler proclaimed the Hudson Valley region as one of the top 20 destinations in the world. It's designated a National Heritage Area is steeped in history, natural beauty, culture, and a food and farmer’s market scene. 

While Miss Aurora was waiting in line for a tour of Old Savannah, she decided the pirate would look mighty handsome holding the tote.

              Miss MacKenzie Joy (Colleen's bag) made her debut in February to celebrate                                                                            birthdays with a group of friends at Zeina's.

Miss Aurora went to the Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid in February. Not exactly an exotic journey in the snow, but a fun adventure.

Cherish your friends and the memories by doing crafts together. We are a group of seven women that get together on a regular basis and we recently celebrated two birthdays and made it a crafting day. I enjoyed filling the tote to the brim with gifts and supplies.

Tami's tote, Miss MC la Mer. went to a needlepoint class.  She also loves going to Cape May and thus her beautiful name.

Miss Aurora was seen visiting Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah in March.

   Miss Aurora can dream right? She'd like to take her pretty self to the Cinque Terre to see the 

                     centuries-old seaside villages on the rugged Italian Riviera coastline. 

              In each of the 5 towns, colorful houses and ancient vineyards cling to steep terraces.

xxoo

Debbie

Tybee Island, Georgia

We recently enjoyed a slower pace and returned home just in time to host Easter dinner for my family of 12.

Local seafood and atmosphere 

 Enjoyed seeing two lighthouses on the island.

We had two beach days. The other days were only 55-60 degrees.

 Miles of white sandy beaches

 We grabbed lunch at Lady and Sons in Savannah on the day we took the trolley tour.  Filled my shopping tote with some southern goodies.

Spanish moss dripping from the trees in Savannah.

A very laid back island (no ball gowns), we enjoyed the nature trails.

Creative small businesses

Cherokee Roses blooming in March

Lights out! Sea turtles dig in the dark. Tybee has incredible turtle ponds.

Loved the polka dot shutters on the cottage across the street from ours.

Tybee Island is a picturesque, casual town located 20 minutes east of Savannah, GA. Perhaps the most laid-back destination on the southeastern coast, Tybee Island offers something for everyone with its miles of white sandy beaches, incredible turtle ponds, wildlife-filled marshes and epic sunsets.

Who can resist this home with a 45 foot Porch with views of the Ocean. It even has an Elevator in the kitchen to haul groceries.  Surely, one of the finest homes on Tybee.  I was going to take a photo of it, but felt awkward.

 We rented a cottage on Horsepen Creek, and the property had some of the most beautiful azaleas I have ever seen. I have since found out that the owner's mom was an avid gardener until her health began to fail in her mid 80's. 

 Her favorites were azaleas, camellias, and day lilies. She had many varieties of all three. She had rooting beds for azaleas and distributed many plants to various friends for over 40 years.  He said there's at least several thousand plants around Savannah that she rooted from cuttings of various varieties. The house he grew up in was on 1 3/4 acres and probably 1/4 was in various flower beds. In his early days he had to dig many holes when he would have rather been out in the adjacent woods.  Probably spurred his "turn to the sea"--he could get away in a boat whilst his younger brother got stuck with the digging. 

I have a million more pictures, but I don't want to bore you. After a long New York winter, everything looked so lush and beautiful so I just kept taking pictures.

Thank you for stopping by!
xo
Debbie