Farewell, Cottonwood

One week has past since the yellow doors at The Cottonwood House have closed for the last time. The past 6 years have been a dream come true and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have lived the dream.

Do I miss it? Absolutely! I miss your smiles as you walked through the door wondering what treasure was awaiting you.

I miss the smell of coffee as it's aroma filled the old barn.

I miss having that one on one conversation with many of you as we got into each others world.

I miss the little children who loved coming with there Mommy's and thinking that it was a really cool shop.

I miss feeling like I was playing house everyday by getting to rearrange furniture and decorate.

I miss having my hubby stop by just to say Hi and get a cup of coffee for the road.

I miss having Jacob and Eli (My grand kids) coming to work with me, sitting at the counter pretending they were Mom-mom's Secretary.

I miss working with my daughters, Carmela and Sondra, Thanks girls, I couldn't have done it without you!!

I miss working along side of Randall who so faithfully entered my inventory each week, Thanks Randall, That is one job I would pay some one to do any day.

I will miss decorating the old barn at Christmas time. Christmas music, twinkling lights, the smell of hot cider and especially midnight madness. How fun was that?

I will miss the parking lot sales and all the vendors who filled the parking lot with loads of great items.

I miss closing up at night, getting into my car and many times feeling exhausted from carrying furniture but yet a deep sense of gratitude and a sense of satisfaction that I loved what I was doing.

And, most of all I will miss each of you, my customers whom many have become my friends.

What will I do now? First of all, let me show you a few memories of the last week we were open.

THE YELLOW DOORS WERE THE FIRST THING THAT GREETED ME EVERY MORNING. IT MADE ME SMILE!

My hubby mowing the lawn for me. It was a sad day when we put up this sign.

This was the our last load the day we cleaned out.
Boo Ho0! I think a box of tissues were in order.

Sammy, my niece along with Sondra. Sammy bought the most beautiful hankerchiefs. She said she will use them to put in a card when sending one to a friend. Sammy is like her mom in the fact that she loves to send cards to friends to make them feel special. Aunt Vern loves you Sammy!


This is Doug and Jessie. Doug is our son and he just got married to his Sweet Heart this summer with an outside wedding at our house. Jessie found an easel to assist her in her love of painting.I just recently saw her first piece of work. She does amazing work. I think you'll be seeing more of her and her art! Love you guys!

This is my best friend. Her name is Vern as well and we have been friends since we were little girls. Vern owns Ashley's gift across the road from The Cottonwood House. If you have not yet visited her shop, you have a real treat awaiting you. We always looked out for each other while tending our shops.

Sondra and I doing what we do best. Moving furniture around. Sondra is small but boy is she strong!

Thanks Hon, Seems like I always had a Honey Do List for you when you walked through the yellow doors, but this was a big one. Cleaning out the store the last day. Thanks many times over. You were and are my biggest Fan! Love YA!!!

I loved all the vines growing around the outside of the barn. But this is my favorite. Fresh Ripe Grapes. Can't beat that.

Carmela vacuuming! YOU GO GIRL!

4 Year old Eli loved coming to Mom-Mom's shop and playing in the court yard with his brother Jake. His daddy worked on some of my furniture. Looks like Eli learned from the best.

We were actually faking a smile for the camera. It was our very last day. We looked at each other and both started crying. Thanks for the memories Sondra!!!

Grapevine Anyone?


It's Nap time for baby Max and he needed a bed. This adorable cradle was one of our last pieces to have been sold. So cute!

Carmela and Her Grandma (My Mom). I loved when my mom would come and help me out every now and again. She also made all the beautiful pillows. Thanks Mom!

Carmela, Max, Eli and Sondra. Taking a break from all the clean up.

Just another one of those Honey Do Lists

Full Load with no room to spare.

So empty!

Good By Cottonwood...snif, sniff

My friend and customer. Naomi is one of those people who always has an encouraging word for me. And oh, does she have a love for dishes or what. She has quite a collection.

I loved this hutch. It found a good home with these cute boys and there dad. Mom is still in shopping!

Nothing new for customers like these folks... driving several hours . They left with some fabulous finds.

Elaine...
You always made our day!

And NOW the rest of the story. This is our garage at our home. It is now full and over flowing with a few things we brought back from The Cottonwood House and things I've been painting and getting ready to sell at the Christmas Open House. That's right. We may have shut our doors at 227 Cochran Street but we are NOT stopping there. Nov 5,6,7 & 8 we will open our home to all our Cottonwood customers with Christmas gifts and decorations along with great shabby chic items and cottage decor. Stay tuned for more info and hours but, Save The Date For Now.

And Once again. Thanks for the Memories and for shopping with us!!!

"Leavin on a Jet Plane"

OK...so it's more like a Blue Jetta...but still

She's off on another adventure...

We don't really want her to go...

but HEY you can only "beg so much"

she's got a life to live and she will live it to the fullest!

I will miss ya dear sis....please come home soon...but in the meantime have a blast!!!

Makin' Memories...

Oh the tears....
I'm sitting in front of the computer, looking through the hundreds of pics we have of Cottonwood...finding it very hard to gain back my composure (come on sonj, control yourself...there are customers here)!

Over the last 4 years, LOTs of memories have been made. And If I can get through without balling my eyes out, I thought I'd take the time to share with you some of my favs...

cold winter mornings running around the store trying to sweat (at least a little) in order to stay warm, turkey hill runs in the summer (break time!), getting trapped on the stairs with my mom carrying a cabinet 5X the size of us while laughing hysterically (not a good combination), eating tomatoes and grapes from the vines, late nights decorating, a surprise delivery from the "snack shack", random animal attacks (bats, cats, wasps, mice!!!), tea time, listening to great stories from random customers, family/friends visiting, watching a happy customer leave with a great deal!, Monday laughs with my sis, midnight madness, Monday morning chats with Mr. UPS man, daily muscle toning (that furniture is heavy!), auction runs...praying as much as possible for the LARGE piece of furniture to not fall out of the OPENED vehicle (crazy mama), hearing mom give a list of "honey do's" to dad whenever he stopped by, my little nephews (boy boy's) playing secretary - teaching them how to be entrepreneurs, thunderstorms in the barn, meeting a new face each day, Monday coffee visits from my dad, joke time with my brother, ladies nite out at Chili's (you know who you are), left over tea food, scouting out the new treasures from our vendors, windexing every big and little piece of glassware (pretty much took all day!), hiding with Carm :), tostoados, the over head light falling from the ceiling & almost taking me down with it, the feeling of owning a little part of Cochranville, coming in everyday feeling privileged and blessed to work with FAMILY, and the list goes on...

random shots throughout the years...

There you have it.
So many memories...
It's hard to look back and think that -- it's all over. But like we've been saying...when one door closes, another one opens. Different seasons come and go & God wants us to embrace EACH ONE. And although it's a hard one to let go, we'll always cherish the memories that we made and say..."it's been a great ride!".

Thank you all for making these last few years at Cottonwood wonderful!!!

Love, Sondra
(AKA, Cottonwood Daughter)

***one more thought***
If any of you ladies or gents have any memories of Cottonwood that you'd like to share...send us an e-mail/snail-mail/picture... pretty much anything. We would love hear your stories, things you bought and decorated with, or any thoughts you have or have had while coming into Cottonwood.