I had my very first party at the cottage! I always have a mother/daughter icecream sundae party the Saturday before Mother's Day at my home but this year I wanted, of course, to have it at the cottage. Well, the cottage has not had a weekend opening until now so... it was a little late this year. We had so much fun! We had about 60 guests who toured the cottage, visited with friends, ate and ate and ate and as a bonus...my friend Rita brought her handmade jewelry and so we shopped. (You may see her jewelry at www.myhandmadejewerly4u.blogspot.com )

Did everyone check out the article about the cottage in the Montgomery Advertiser? Paul wrote a really nice article about my place and I think he captured the things that I consider special. He did rename my child though! She is Caroline Lacey and the Caroline was not mentioned so everyone has started calling her Lacey now!:) (I think she prefers that, actually) But, that aside, I did appreciate his kindness towards our efforts.

Here are a few pics - my disc space is low so I can't add them all this time. One of my special families left me an unbelievable surprise in the cottage after a family reunion they had - I'll tell you about it in the next blog -til then-

Here are the pics of the playground and of the big wonderful kid's party room.

OK - as for the dance classes - Tisha and Destin start classes in September on Tuesday afternoons. They will teach children's classes, an adult class and also youth cheerleading. You can call for info or come by the cottage on the evening of August 25th for registration. We are so excited to be able to offer these classes. I know that they will fill up fast.

As for art classes - we were not able to get a schl for a weekly class yet but we do have an artist/art instructor that is available for birthday parties. She comes to the cottage, furnishes all of the supplies and works with the kids (or teens or adults) to complete a painting. I will have her price list and info available at the cottage for those of you interested. Hopefully, we will be able to get weekly classes soon.

The article about the cottage will be in Sunday's paper. We have had a lot of parties just from word of mouth and a few fliers, but hopefully, the article will introduce us to a lot of people who need a unique place with lots of heart to entertain their family and friends.

No idea what the subject of the next blog will be... there will be one though because I am getting the hang of it now :) til then***

Well, here are some of my favorite things around Lacey Cottage. The Lazy Susan was in a booth at Eastbrook flea market - just sitting there, all beautiful and perfect. Have you ever just been rendered unable to move or speak when you saw something beautiful? I literally floated over to it, the whole time afraid that someone would knock me down to get to it first. I had never seen one like it and the color was unbelievable. The color palate for the cottage had not included turquoise but that changed the minute I saw Miss Susan! It became the little pop of color that you see throughout the cottage. The beautiful Susan was placed on the center of the dining room table UNTIL I realized that everyone would be moving her to make room for things much less important (like food!) Now she rests on a shelf that keeps her safe but very much in sight. Because after all, everything at the cottage is there to be enjoyed!

How about the piano? One of my best friends in the world lives in TN and she gave me that gorgeous thing! She was the one and only person who from the beginning saw my vision and she saw the cottage when it was very much still a daycare. She thought of "Lacey" as well. Well, I mean I thought of it 14 years ago when I named my child "Caroline Lacey" but she actually thought it would be a great name for the cottage. Thank you Melissa, for all of the hours of shopping for the cottage and for having "your people" meet "my people" in Bham to get that beautiful piano here!

My other best friend (dating all of the way back to 11th grade at Jeff Davis High School) had her whole family in on the making of the cottage. Her wonderful mom did all of my sewing and managed to turn everything from generic to one of a kind. Ms Bernadine will NEVER know in 1000 years how much I appreciated her. Mr. Charles (Lorri's dad) made this wonderful table behind the couch. He used driftwood that is twice as old as I am to make it and it is encouraging to see how beautiful it still is after all of those years. ;) (He and his son make a lot of different pieces, all handmade, check them out at melonwood@cox.net ) Lorri helped me shop for treasures all across the state and one of her older brothers came down and did the weathering on the fireplace fence and lots of other "artsy" things. What would I have done without the Culbreths??? Love ya'll all so much!

I also remembered to put a picture of the kitchen and a little snippit of the children's room. I will get a better shot of the kid's room because it is really a big fun room and I will also take a pic of the fab playground. I have one child and one "almost teen" party this weekend so the jumpy castle will be up and running. I can add pics all by myself now so .... I can add them when I want to not when "I am worked into a schl!!:)"

The next post will be about the art lessons that will be available, as well as the dancing and cheer classes starting in September and also about the article that The Montgomery Advertiser is running on the cottage. til then...

Look at this wonderful old sewing machine! Larry and I had a rainy Saturday all to ourselves a few weeks ago... so we decided to go to some flea markets to look for treasure. It was the type of stormy day where even at mid-day it was dark. There was a constant rumble of thunder and it just felt very magical. We found several fabulous items like a very old window with the panes still in one piece, some lattice work in need of mending and this old Singer sewing machine. The cabinets are not hard to find but this cabinet had the sewing machine! I just could not believe how beautiful it was - I had him load it up and take it to the front while we finished looking down each and every isle. When we got up front there was a little crowd gathered around looking at it but like she had promised, the sales clerk had clearly written "SOLD" on a ribbon and tied it on the cabinet. After small talk with the clerks, Larry went to bring the truck down. One of the ladies insisted on wrapping the cabinet in plastic so that it would not get drenched. She opened the last drawer to wrap it and she said "there is an envelope in this one." I reached in and got the envelope and just stuck it down in my purse. When we got in the truck I pulled it out, and my friends, IT WAS A LOVE LETTER!
This rainy dark magical day had produced a very old love letter. It was handwritten, as any self respecting love letter should be, and it was from a man who was thought of as a "friend" by the recipient of this letter. He started by telling her that he hoped his admission of feelings for her would not hurt an otherwise wonderful friendship but that he could not let her "go" without knowing how he felt. (Oh no - where was she going???) He told her that he believed that he knew her better than anyone and that he was sure that he and only he knew how to make her happy. He said that the relationships she had experienced had all left her empty and heartbroken and that he would never hurt her. He said that he knew she could not change her plans and stay but that if she shared his feelings there were many ways that they could be together. He ended by thanking her for letting him get his feelings out in the open and also pleading with her to meet him and let him know what she was thinking before she left. He signed it "always, Stephen" Well, I was all teared up and I wondered how this old tattered letter ended up in a sewing machine drawer. Did he write it and never send it? Did he stick it in that drawer or did his mom find it and hide it there? Or maybe, he did give it to her and that had been her sewing machine and she had kept it there close to her. Had she met him and did she share his feelings? I had no way of knowing her name because the envelope had a single word on the front and it was smudged - perhaps from a tear!!!!Ohhhhh! I would love to know if she "left" or if she made this story have a happy ending. What do you all think?
I think next time I will tell you all about the Lazy Susan I bought in turquoise that inspired one whole room of the cottage. til then...

Hey Everyone! I don't know why everybody is having so many problems leaving comments! I am getting lots of e-mails saying I tried to leave a comment and couldn't - I am just glad that you guys are visiting. I will add pics of the kid's side and the playground and also of the kitchen later this week - I wanted to mention that Tisha Woodham is going to teach dancing lessons at the cottage on Monday nights starting in September. They will have an adult tap class and of course, classes for kids.
I have lots and lots of parties booked for June and I already have people calling about Christmas parties!!! Two families have booked family reunions with me this summer - I have 2 different little girls turning 13 with disc jockeys and the whole nine yards in July! I ended up having 4 senior teas this year because we opened a month later than I had planned. Hopefully next year I will have dozens of them.
I wanted to mention that the cottage is located at 508 Coliseum Blvd. I had two clients visit the blog today after calling to get info after riding by and seeing my sign. Since the website is not ready it was perfect for them to check out the inside (although, just like a sunset, pics do not do it justice!!) :) I have a wonderful story to tell you all next time about a fabulous piece I bought for the cottage. Until then...

Look! I did it! Well, actually Caroline is home from the beach and she did it but even so, we have pics - Be sure and glance at all of them - you have to visit "old posts." (Caroline said that everyone will know this!) OK - let me know what you think of the cottage guys!

Lacey Cottage

This blog is against my better judgement...since I have no idea what I am doing. It is true though that many of my friends live a long way from here and are interested in what is going on in my little cottage. I will attempt (with much help) to add my pics and to keep you posted on the exciting things that happen over at Lacey Cottage.

First of all, Larry and I went to a party in Dothan about 10 years ago and we went to a friend's party at a vineyard... I came back from there saying "We really need a place like that in Montgomery!" My vision was a homey place that you could rent and bring friends in for baby showers, wedding receptions, children & adult birthday parties and so on - the big draw being that you could use your own caterer, prepare the food yourself or even have a cook-out right there. This keeps the cost way down and gives you OPTIONS!
We started looking for a place way back then but it had to be quaint! Not just something on the by-pass. We searched in Mulberry, Pike Rd, downtown Montgomery and 10 years later some friends of ours were closing their daycare in EASTBROOK!!! Eastbrook is quaint, as a matter of fact, Eastbrook is perfect!
We started reinventing the building and turning it into a cottage. It was about a four month project and every minute of it was thrilling! Not many people saw our "vision" early on but everyone was on board before we finished. Friends started helping and donating and shopping and getting the name out there and before we knew it we were having our first party.
I love being able to offer the cottage for the whole day and not trying to book 2 parties in one day. It gives people a chance to come early and decorate, then go home and get ready and come back all rested and ready. One lady told me that she had several friends from out of town attend a senior tea she had for her niece and that after the party she and her friends sat around my big table and talked and laughed for 2 hours before packing up and calling it a day. She said that was the best part of the party!
Hopefully, the cottage will bring lots of fun and joy to people in Montgomery and the opportunity to do something for someone without "breaking the bank!":)
I will get some pics on here and we are also getting a webpage soon - be patient with me!