Nearly 8 years ago Kevin and I bought our dream house... a spacious bungalow in the funky part of town.  It's where we brought both of our children home.  The house is on Sans Souci ... it means No Worries.  We also refer to our little slice of heaven as Shangri-La.  The pictures of the backyard live up to the name.
Now... it's with mixed emotions that we are putting the house on the market so that we can pursue another dream of ours and that is traveling the world with our children.  I've spent the past four months sprucing up the "old girl"... she's 90 years old and I'm sure that if her walls could talk, she'd have grand stories to tell.  Shangri-La and all of its glory will be missed, but saying goodbye only opens up the next chapter in our lives.


Shangri-La is a 3 bedroom / 2.5 bath home.  It has a studio, pool, koi pond and swing set in the backyard.  All of the landscaping is mature and flowers bloom all year long.  It's paradise.


The kitchen has just been completely remodeled by me and my brother.


The master bedroom overlooks the pool.


The master bath has an iron tub and two person shower.


The girls' room


The guest room


The Front Room


The Living Room


The Dining Room


The Breakfast Nook (also known as Maisie's art studio)


Kevin's Studio


Local Resident


One last photo of the dining room and front room


It's a great old house with great character.  So happy we've been part of its history. 

Let me take you down.... cause we're going to Strawberry Fields.... A lovely day today spent with good friends out on Ambrose Farm on Johns Island... picking pounds of strawberries.  Fresh from the ground and straight into a blender for smoothies.  What a peaceful Sunday.

A very busy weekend for us... the Blue Angels took to the skies for four days practicing and putting on air shows in the Charleston Harbor... it was a truly spectacular sight watching these pilots weave their way over our house.  Mind blowing !!   I was so impressed.  Maisie was partially thrilled and Juliette couldn't see the fast flying planes.... she could hear their roaring engines, but her eyes just couldn't catch up to the spectacular sight of these planes doing their aerial ballet. 

We spent the weekend putting the finishing touches on ShangriLa... and while I pressured washed the house, stained the back deck, planted, pruned and purged... the girls painted and primped... getting ready to become America's Next Top Model.  Help me !!!!

The girls LOVE their new beds... we call them Upstairs and Downstairs... and signs have already been posted upstairs that the downstairs resident has to ask before being let into the upper sanctum. Really?

Maisie is absolutely nuts about butterflies and ladybugs.  She has a special language that she speaks to them.  I can recognize the sounds but she has to translate everything to me.  When we were in Brookgreen Gardens over spring break she was beside herself to be inside the butterfly exhibit.  The rule was that you could not touch them... but as we all know with Maisie... rules are meant to be broken.  And in all fairness, the guide said nothing at all about not being able to gently coax her winged friends on to her arms !!

What a fantastic spring break I had with my girls.  We beached it a bunch !  We're so fortunate to live near the ocean.  What a great feeling to wake up and decide which island we'd like to spend the day on.  Our vacation consisted of a "camping" sleepover with 4 of Maisie's BFF's and their dads... too cool.  I was the only mom in the bunch and it was great to see the dads interact with their daughters. 
We also had a brief, but fun day at the beach with cousins Jaime and Lia.  We ended the week by taking the girls to an indoor water park in Myrtle Beach (not my favorite place in the world) and they of course loved it.  Who wouldn't when you are 6 and 4 and staying in a hotel, swimming for seven hours straight and eating at "fabulous" restaurants.  I say fabulous, because the dining experience was a bit revolting... anyway.  The trip ended with a lovely day at Brookgreen Gardens in Pawleys Island where the dogwoods, azaleas, and poppies were breathtaking, as were the butterflies in the new butterfly exhibit.  You have to love being surrounded by nature.  It makes me happy !! 
Happy Spring !!