As many of you, we had a lot of Christmas traditions growing up - cookie baking, Christmas caroling, tree decorating, gift buying, hiding, wrapping and giving, and hoping for a Christmas Eve snow... Most of these, I have tried to continue with my own children, as have my siblings, which is wonderful and magical. The classic movies played a part as well, and although there are funnier and more "on trend" Christmas movies out there, my favorite holiday movie is still "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen.
Perhaps it's because my sisters and I could imagine that we were the Haynes sisters, dressing up, dancing and singing the "Sisters" song with every choreographed step, or perhaps it's because the heart of the story is about giving back to a person who was a father figure to Crosby and Kaye; but I think that the most likely reason of all is that when they opened up the barn doors of that gorgeous Inn to reveal a snow-covered Vermont landscape that would put Hallmark to shame, my heart grew three sizes that day.
I'm not sure if some of that nostalgia played a part in my desire to purchase and renovate the The Inn at Water's Edge, but what I do know is that I want each person who enters our doors to be enveloped by that feeling of happiness and warmth. To help with that, I enlisted my own "Haynes" sisters (AKA Shaffer sisters) to help decorate for the holiday. This was a treat on so many levels -- not only are they super talented and creative, but we share a tangible and deep love for each other, plus, it's tons of FUN. So here are a few sneak peaks of our efforts to welcome you into our winter wonderland. Please come, relax and "fall asleep counting your blessings".