HomeGoods Party with Rhoda of Southern Hospitality

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending a party at HomeGoods hosted by Rhoda of Southern Hospitality  and it was so much fun!  This is the first time I’ve met a blogger that I follow in person, which was only slightly intimidating.  But the appeal of getting to shop at Home Goods with someone as good at decorating as Rhoda was all I needed to get over any hesitation.  Plus, there was mention of some possible gift cards for the attendees!

They opened the store an hour and a half early just for us to have a private shopping experience and they had some yummy breakfast goodies set up to welcome us.

When I got there I ran into one of my ”in real life” friends, Erica, who I know through MOPS.  She writes one of my favorite blogs called Spoonful of Imagination and has an Etsy shop where she sells fun things she’s made.  She knew some of the other bloggers there to introduce me to, which added to the fun.

We all got $10 gift cards to start off the shopping and then Rhoda did a Price Is Right style game for five $25 gift cards where we guessed the price of items she had picked out from the store.

I could have bought a lot of things while I was there, but I am happy with the three things I came home with.

First was an apothecary style glass jar I’ve been looking for to hold seashells I’ve collected on recent beach trips.  In addition to the shells, I put a little scroll of paper with the date and place I found the shells so I can remember each trip. And there is plenty of room for more beach combing finds down the road.

It is going on my mantle which is in dire need of some decor!

I found this huge sign that has the little house rules on it that are so popular right now.  I’ve always liked the concept, but never found one with sayings on it that fit our family until now.

This one is going in my kitchen.

Erica found one too for her school/craft room – here we are with our signs

I’ve been seeing bird cages everywhere for some time now and I like the look of them, but I don’t have a place where I’d want to display one. So, when I came across this next piece I was excited!  It is just a part of a bird cage, flattened out to hang on a wall. And it comes with little wooden clothes pins to hang pictures, postcards, notes or recipes from.

I need to paint my kitchen before I get these things hung.

After we were done shopping, I headed over to Ballard Designs Outlet for the first time (another place that Rhoda’s blog  turned me on to) and boy have I been missing out!!  They had the chandelier style I’d been wanting so badly before we settled on something else.  I am on the hunt for a console or sidebar that would work as a coffee station in our kitchen and this caught my eye…

The store was full of good buys and I expect I’ll be in there any time I’m in the neighborhood.

It was such a fun day and worth getting up at 6am to have some time to shop without the kids and kick off my blog with a really special local blogging event!