Fun news to share

I've been keeping a secret for the past several weeks, and I'm excited today to share it with you.

Most of you know that I live in Durham, North Carolina, which is a wonderful, beautiful place to be most of the year. We love North Carolina, and we really like Durham, but this area of the state (the Piedmont) is hot in the summertime. As in H.O.T. And humid as well. Ugh.

So for years now we've dreamt of a place to get away from Durham in the summertime. We've looked at so many different places over the years, but never found just the right spot.

And then last summer my husband took a fly-fishing class in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. We rented a condo there and I went with him—not to fly fish, just to hang out in Blowing Rock. I've been a fan of Jan Karon's since 1993, so it wasn't hard to convince me to spend some time there. Besides, I love the Blue Ridge Mountains. Something about them speaks deeply to my soul.

Here's a sunset photo I took. You can tell these mountains are old, can't you?

One thing led to another, and we ended up looking at various properties in the Blowing Rock area. And I am so excited to tell you we ended up buying a condo there this spring!

A condo is a good choice for us. Although it affords less privacy and less space than a cabin or house, it also involves less work. We want a place to get away and relax, not to get away and do yard work.

I shared this photo on Instagram back in March. This was the view outside the dining room windows of the condo:

That beautiful view was my reward for having just moved this stuff into the condo all by myself:

Here's what's been happening. The condo was partially furnished when we looked at it—beautifully staged by a local interior designer. She has furnished the living room, dining room, and master bedroom. In fact, she offered a package deal for us to purchase that furniture, but even the discounted price was $30,000 (yikes!). We politely declined and I set to work furnishing things.

The photo above is mostly kitchen equipment and basic bedding, some of which we already owned and some of which I bought (thank goodness for the great deals at Amazon and Target). We want the condo to be a fully-functioning second home, so we're trying to equip it thoroughly. . . but it's amazing how much stuff you need to outfit a kitchen!

We ordered beds to be delivered immediately after we took possession, so at least we had a place to camp. But beds were pretty much all we had for awhile. Here's how the living room looked on the first night:

And the kitchen:

As you can see, the only furniture at this point was a little barstool! But if you look closely you can see a coffee maker and toaster as well as my ancient KitchenAid mixer. (When I won a new KitchenAid several years ago, something told me I should hang on to the old one!)

We've come a long way since then, and I'll post some photos with furniture soon. We've spent a couple of weekends happily hiking mountain trails and visiting antique stores. Here's my favorite find so far:

It's a classroom pull-down map from the 1940's. Isn't it fun? The surface can be written on with chalk; maybe we should label Durham and Blowing Rock.

I guess it's fair to say that what's been keeping me busy lately is a dream come true—a little getaway of our own. The best part is that it's less than three hours from our house, so we can enjoy it often.

Thanks so much for allowing me to share my fun news. Now, I could use your help! Do you have any tips for furnishing a home-away-from-home? I'd love to hear them!

Joining Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life