"Beacham Series" Party Tomorrow Night + Catch Up!

I'm sorry ok.  I know I have been gone forever.  If it makes you feel any better, the latest issue of "The Beacham Series" is finished!  Thank God.  It is a massive amount of work for three people to do... but Laura and Rod and I managed to finish it up and are convinced it is "the best one ever" (quoting Glennis).  Tomorrow night is "The Beacham Series" party, but before we go into that, lets play a quick game of catch up.  Here's what's happened in the past month...

Glennis and I went to the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World conference in Orlando.  According to beacham.com, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (www.LeadingRE.com) is the largest network of top independent local and regional brand-name brokerage firms in the residential sector of real estate. The 550 firms affiliated with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® are represented by 4,600 offices and 140,000 associates in more than 30 countries worldwide. The organization's leadership is demonstrated by the fact that its affiliates comprise 15 of the top 25 real estate companies in the country. Collectively, LeadingRE affiliates produced nearly 800,000 home sales valued at $225 billion in the U.S. in 2010. In addition, LeadingRE locally-branded affiliates hold the Number One position in sales in 40% of the top 96 markets in the U.S., more than any national franchise organizations. For complete information on LeadingRE statistics, visit http://stats.leadingre.com/.  <--  BIG DEAL. :)

We won first place in the Property Brand Advertising category of the marketing contest!

We also got second place in the "New Media" category...  so many thanks to all of you for reading this blog...  Thank you! Thank you!

Glennis and I worked the whole time, but we took a few minutes to stick our feet in the pool...

and celebrate our wins with a Miami Vice.

Jimmy and Charlotte were very proud of us!

Once we got back I went straight into picking a cover for "The Beacham Series."

Rod and Laura and I went over to Janey Lowe's listing at 94 Peachtree Way and started scouting shots.

We loved this porch shot...

We also loved this picture going into the family room.  Isn't that archway pretty?

Here is Rod setting up for a shot through the front door.

There I am holding the reflector. :)

After we picked the cover we had to get the ad designed for the WINNER OF THE AD SPACE COMPETITION: Calligraphy by Kristen Flournoy Hay

We were thrilled that she won, and we love her ad, don't you?

After the ad was ready, we sent the magazine out to Tucker Castleberry to get printed.

That was a cause for celebration at Local Three!

I spent last week at Tucker Castleberry making sure all the colors were right.

The magazine looked amazing...  So I left it in Kent's capable hands and went to Palm Beach with my love to see his family.

We had such a nice time, and I came back refreshed and ready for "The Beacham Series" party tomorrow from 5:30 to 8 PM.

The party is at Janey Lowe's listing on 94 Peachtree Way.  The house is such a treat.  According to Janey's remarks: Stunning to the studs renovation & restoration of this 1900 era home designed by Frank Neely & Davey Construction. Photographed & published nationally. Sweeping front lawn leads to porch with redwood floors. Bright family kitchen with walnut island, highest end appliances, 2 dishwashers, 2 refrigerators, hand-painted custom cabinetry, walk-in pantry, bfast area, all opening to a fireside den. Handsome study w/exquisite hand stained built-ins& brass lighting. Mstr bdrm suite with its own sitting area, dual walk-in-closets, 3 large other bedrooms. Herringbone brick patio & fireplace. 2 car garage w/full guest house.

Here is the amazing news: this house is already under contract!  So, this really is your last chance to see it!

Here are a few photos just to get you in the mood to see an amazing house.

I hope to see you all tomorrow night!  Email me if you have any questions.  blayne@beacham.com

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Keith Summerour, the perfect glass of wine, my NYE dress...

For those of you who have been reading this blog a while, you know I am slightly obsessed with Keith Summerour.

If you are looking for a laugh you can read this post I write about him 2 years ago titles "Keith Summerour: What makes it a Summerour?"  I think it was maybe my 3rd blog post ever.  Cute Blayne.

I somehow got the nerves to interview him a year later about this house.  It was a wildly popular post.  Read it if you like.

People like Keith's houses because it is modern without being too modern.  It's clean and European and just a tad bit equestrian.  I adore his work, and that is true for Glennis Beacham's new listing at 5549 Long Island Drive. It's lovely and everything a Summerour should be.

The home is beautiful from the approach.  I love the arches (back right), which are so characteristically Summerour.

The heavy wooden doors are very wide (like barn doors), which provides a nice entrance to the home.

This foyer is open and welcoming.

Love this dining room with the wood windows and cathedral ceiling.

The best part about the living room is the curved/trey ceiling.  Oh yea, that fireplace is pretty amazing as well.  Oh heck... I love the floors and the arched hallways as well, so it's all great!

What a great kitchen!  There is so much prep space with the center island, and then you can have people eating at the island closest to us in these pictures.  The wood beams on the ceiling tie the kitchen to the rest of the house and echo the floors nicely.

This is the family room right off the kitchen.  You can see how the wood beams are continued in here, and the oversized windows let you look out to the back (we will see that later).

This hallway leads to the master suite, and is so reflective of Summerour's style with the arched doorways, beamed ceilings and wood doors opening to the front porch.

I like the trey ceiling in the master, and all the windows allow for tons of natural light.  That's also a really cool fan that I am just noticing for the first time!

Look at the archway leading to the master bath!  It's interesting how it's open from the bedroom into the bath, but the shower is off to the side, so it's still private.

Let's head outside!

Not to shabby, eh?

Oh yea, this is the approach to the house.  Amazing, right?  It's like something out of a childhood fantasy.  Once again Keith Summerour=Perfection....  duh.

To see the rest of this dream home, click here.

In other news....  (I'll make this quick... I know you only came for the houses!  ha ha.)

1.

My NYE dress came in, and I couldn't be happier!!  If you don't ignore my horribly messy closet behind me I'll die.  I cropped it as tight as I could.   Now I get to wear this $70 dress that looks much more expensive for the Christmas party and New Years!  Shhh.  Don't tell anyone.  Also, sorry for the confusion in the dress post.  I am FOR SURE going to NYC to see Phish at MSG for NYE (wow!).  I have THE BEST boyfriend ever.  He got us 4 nights FREE at the Four Seasons New York and got us tickets to all four nights of Phish.  He is amazing...  I am a very lucky girl with a REALLY cool dress.

2. 

We finally took our Christmas card picture.  This is usually painful because Ben bitches and mom and I always think we look bad.  This year was a breeze!  My uncle, Rod Collins, took the picture.  He's very talented, especially when it comes to people.  Let me know if you would like him to take a picture for you!

3.

I discovered the perfect glass of wine.  Jimmy and I went to Roswell on Saturday and ate at Salt Factory Pub, which Jimmy claims was the best place he's eaten in Georgia... so there.  This glass of wine is called "Knights Valley" by Beringer.  I went to Beringer when I was in Napa a few years ago and and was really impressed.  I have tried a lot of their wine, but this was the best glass I've had by them.... maybe by anyone.  Do yourself a favor and order a case.  Since I don't know how to talk about wine, I am stealing this from The Wine Enthusiast, "an appealing wine showing likable softness and flashy flavors. The palate brings cassis, mocha, licorice, sweet tobacco, sage, Asian spice and smoky oak; finished long and rich. Notable for its superb structure."  See?  Told ya.

Don't say I never gave you anything! Happy Holidays Kid-Os

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Frazier and Bodin + Georgia's Best Sausage (Striplings)

Houses and Sausage?  The perfect combination! Let's start with the house.

I shot the coolest house the other day.  It's in Dunwoody and is listed by Cia Cummings and Jan Hart.  Address: 590 Old Cobblestone Drive.

This is a Frazier and Bodin home was originally built in 1939, and architect Stephen and Kerry Fuller has renovated it beautifully.

This foyer is breathtaking with the curved ceiling and beautiful floors.

The solarium, located through the foyer, is perfect and allows for so much natural light.

My favorite thing about this house is that it has all the historical elements, but the interior design is perfect for today... very modern.

This dining room is a perfect example of that...  loving the color choice.

Beautiful detail shot that really shows off the trim and the fireplace.

No joke, this might be my favorite room in the house.  It is the wet bar/catering kitchen that runs between the dinging room and the kitchen.  I really like the color of the cabinets and the countertops.  It feels very masculine.  I'm mad at myself for not taking a better detail shot.

Woah.  How beautiful is this?  I actually texted Jimmy and said it reminded me of his grandmother's kitchen (which is beautiful if you haven't checked it out).  I love: the arches, the island, the cabinets, the openness to breakfast room, the green cabinets, and the lights.

This view shows the archway into the kitchen and the base of the island.

And here you can see those green cabinets.  Aren't those to die for?

Can you believe it?  Octagon window cabinets!

How posh is this breakfast room?

Beautiful detail shot.

Here is a shot of the family room off the kitchen.  I'm loving that interior window at the top and the built in cabinets.

Does that rug have orange trim?  So cool!

Isn't this China cabinet a little jewel?  It reminds me of a Tiffany's box!

This is a photo of the hallway off the foyer that leads to the formal living room and the study.  Again, I'm loving the bold use of the green.

How great is this study?  The wood walls are magnificent.

And now we move into the formal living room.  Aren't the green accents amazing?  I think green and white is my favorite color combination.  For sure.

This is the hallway from the living room to the master.  This is such a peaceful photograph.  I really wanted to use this as the cover of "The Beacham Series," but couldn't get the crop quite right...

And finally we incorporate some blue in the master bedroom, which is nice.  I'm really digging the mirror over the bed.  It's the perfect scale... big bed, little mirror. :)

And we end here in the bathroom...  amazing!!!  How pretty is that light?

To see more photos of the home please check out the listing.  You won't regret it!

NEXT-

Striplings Sausage.  My mom has a lake house at Lake Blackshear, and we grew up going there.  One of the best parts about going to the lake is going to Striplings.  It's the best gas station/sausage store I've ever visited!

This weekend I took Jimmy to the lake for the first time (augghhh), and I INSISTED on us going to Striplings to grab the fixins for a pecan pie.  Jimmy LOVES coozies (I don't ask questions), and he was super impressed by the selection... you know what else they have a great selection of (transition?), SAUSAGE!

People from Atlanta are obsessed with it... literally.  Every time we go to the lake someone asks us to bring some back for them...

They have both ground and link sausage.  They als0 have mild medium and hot.  I have only ever tried the mild, but I hear the hot will almost make your head explode (which is a good thing for some people).

Here's a nice picture of Jimmy after we made our sausage selection.  1. I don't know why he put the sausage on the pie crust.... 2. I don't know why he makes that face.  Whatever, it's cute.

We also discovered this little gem!  Pork with Apple Cinnamon BBQ sauce!!!????!!!  Augh!!

And where else can you find 4 Whole Quail?  We would have gotten some if we weren't already having yummy deer meat and ribs for dinner.

There is also a really cool produce department where we grab stuff every time we go!  After this picture there were 3 less packages of asparagus up there.

And the best part about Striplings?  This is next door!

Happy Wednesday everybody!