The Paper Doll House

This past weekend I got to get away with 3 friends (Susan, Jenny and Janelle) to a scrapbooking/bed and breakfast retreat, and it was so needed and wonderful.

(Janelle, Susan, Jenny, myself and MaryKim-the owner)

The 4 of us (along with other ladies) had been scrapbooking together for years. The last few years we'd go to Susan's so that she could take care of her family (her husband has ALS) and still enjoy scrapbooking. It was a great setup for all of us.
Last spring after nearly 5 years of fighting, Susan's husband Andy passed away from ALS. At the funeral the 4 of us were talking and the conversation bloomed into what we could do to help Susan. I suggested we scrap the weekend away at her house. We all decided we needed to do a weekend scrapbooking get together at her house or somewhere else. Jenny did some research and found a few places to choose from. The Paper Doll House was the one we choose-and we choose right!

The house was built in to 1800's and it has the charm of that time period-with modern convience added. The detail of the house was amazing. There were doors everywhere upstairs leading to bedrooms, bathroom, the maids quarters, the attic and the dumbwaiter. It was fun to explore the house.





The owner MaryKim was the nicest, funniest, most friendly person I've ever met. You were her friend the minute she met you! We heard many stories that made us laugh so hard we would cry. She had fun things we were to so-karaoke, wear old time hats to Sunday brunch, and she always turned the music to match the type of food we were eating. And talking about the food-it was amazing and so much of it! Not only was the food wonderful, but we ate it on her Grandma's china and they served you and cleaned up after you. Oh it was heavenly!
There was another group at the retreat with us. They were a group of 6 ladies that had been coming there for 6 years. They knew MaryKim and played many practical jokes over the years. The made the weekend more memorable and fun. We found out that the year before while MaryKim stepped out, they numbered and wrote notes on 351 yellow sticky notes and left them hiding around the house. She had found about half of them and had them kept in a jar for safe keeping.
On Saturday night the music turned to a birthday song and out came a cake for me. The searched high and low until they could find the birthday hat for me to wear. I was so surprised that she knew my birthday was coming and that she celebrated it with me.
This is a must do again weekend. To be able to get away and scrapbook and spend time with friends was priceless.