Search Results for: girls night out

If you’re a friend or regular reader of this blog, you’re well aware that I’ve been away for a spell. Sure ’nuff, Jennifer and I took the girls to Litchfield Beach Wednesday night and returned Saturday afternoon.

As I’m with Finley, Ivey, and Nora as they grow, my experiences with them make me grow, too. In short, life isn’t about my dumba**, it’s about theirs. It’s fascinating to learn this as they push me to be a better dad as I realize what’s really what.

As our long beach weekend progressed, a bit of reputation management may be worth a few paragraphs.

I’m going to skip the awesome and fun picture of the girls (all but my buddy, Kennedy) and I piling in the car, and go straight to the dang ‘hair pic.’

First of all, it’s funny. It’s damn funny. Here’s what you don’t see, which makes it better or worse depending on your perspective. What you don’t know is by the time the pic was taken I had missed all shower opportunities, and as my chance appeared, the twins were then asleep in the adjacent room. I decided to wait them out no matter how late in the afternoon (DUH!). The result is a head shot that looks like a lubed-up, bouffanted, and electrocuted sharks a$$. I mean, the next time you see me look like Bruno Mars with the front end of a Kentucky waterfall, please let me know….

What you also don’t know or see is my bleeding feet from pulling the girls around a lazy river. All was calm until I thought it would be fun to have a daddy/daughter moment with the twins, and cruise slowly around the pool. We made it around twice before everyone else saw us and BOOOM, the race was on. As we left the pool I was embarrassed about the red marks I left on the concrete deck on the way out. It’s 2:58AM Monday and after two Sunday afternoon Aleve’s, I’m still sore.

Am I asking anyone to feel sorry for me? Heck NO! It was awesome! Was I a miserable dude eating cheese balls out of a pillow case all weekend? Nope! Do my feet have pieces of skin that look like seven hanging chads? YEES!

Everyone had a big time and we’re always ready to get back to the Litchfield/Pawley’s, and as much as we enjoy watching our girls grow up loving the beach, it’s awesome to be back home in Columbia, SC!

All kidding aside, Mundi’s pic and caption was awesome. I’m just funnin’ around for blog sakes. Beach trips are definitely all about the kids and I love it.

Franklin Jones

Most friends and clients know I don’t usually travel too far outside of Downtown Columbia. This week, however, I’m deep in the heart of Texas. #Wuh?

What’s in Texas??? Why Texas? Well, Keller Williams Worldwide Headquarters is in Austin and we are here to learn. We’re here for four days and three nights to learn from the largest, most forward thinking real estate company on the globe.

Once again, we’re wildly impressed and excited about what’s coming down the pipe for the franchise and our team in Columbia. Mix KW’s world class training with a fun town and it’s obviously a good week. That said, I sure miss Columbia, especially Jen and my girls.

We’ll be back early Thursday afternoon to finish out a strong Q4. This week, however, we’ll be soaking up all we can so we can expose next level opportunities for our families, clients, market, and fellow Realtors who are interested in what we are doing.

Thank you!

Franklin

After spending a few hours getting my car out of the shop Friday morning, we finally started to make our way to the beach. As far as beaches go we’ve traveled off our regular path. We’re spending a week at DeBordieu for the first time (for me, anyway)

As a kid I had never heard of “DebbyDo.” From what I remember, we always traveled about five or so hours to Myrtle Beach (from Anderson). To us it was, “what you did.” As far as I can remember we would arrive at night and troll the Grand Strand for “Vacancy” signs. Every now and then there may be a trip to Charleston but “the beach” meant Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Living in Columbia (and purposely traveling through Manning for various reasons), has us vacationing in Pawley’s Island and Litchfield pretty much every time we hit the coast. Well, on the way to Pawley’s/Litchfield we’ve passed by the DeBordieu Colony sign every time, of course. What I’m getting at is that I’ve never vacationed here. So far it’s pretty awesome! (I know….why wouldn’t it be??)

I’m hoping this week will be awesome for Jennifer. We are with some of our best friends, Michael and Mundi George, and their awesome girls. Our oldest, Finley, is with us, but our twins are at home. :/

What does this mean? Since Finley is five, and the George girls are older than Finley, everyone is pretty much self sustaining. They know what’s dangerous, they can swim, stick a straw in a juice box, turn on a TV, make a sandwich (sort of), and all that. In short, this will be the first beach trip in about six years that isn’t a week of a baby crappin’ and nappin. Many of you know the drill: Sit/stand, chase, sit/stand, chase, sand in mouth, get under umbrella, sit/stand, bottle, “don’t touch that jellyfish!,” get under umbrella, “don’t touch my drink,” sand I diaper, nap, bottle, poop, up and down, bottle, poop, sit/stand. Ahhh…..”vacation.”

This week it’s all about listening to a bunch of little girls giggling in the background, and a bunch of hangin’ out.

The reason for this post is really an opportunity to give contact info while I’m gone.

Amanda Payne – 803-609-0526 – amandaqpayne@live.com
Amy Ackerman – 803-467-0712 – amy.ackerman@gmail.com
Elizabeth Ross – 803-917-3889 – elizabethross.sc@gmail.com

Amanda, Amy, and Elizabeth will be glad to help while we’re gone. If you need to sign a doc, have a pending inspection, or have a closing coming up, I would probably email amy.ackerman@gmail.com and she can handle or distribute accordingly.

Of course I’ll have my phone on the beach or pool without fail. I may not be able to get to it immediately, but I can deal. 🙂

Thank you!

Franklin (and Jennifer)

This weekend the pink turkey (Finley) and fraternal chickens were shipped off to Camp Grandma(s). Here’s how that went, in a word: QUIET.

This is what I mean in plain English: Our kids went to their grandparent’s homes this weekend, and Jen and I had the house to ourselves for the first time since the twins were born. It was a nice break.

Friday night we played ‘hearts’ at a neighbors house ’till around 1:30AM or so. We both slept in Saturday morning till about 10:30AM.

Late Saturday morning we strolled around ‘Soda City’ for an hour or whatever, then grabbled lunch at Cantina and a pair of jeans for Jen at Granger Owings. Saturday afternoon we hung around the neighborhood pool without a care in the world until it was time to go to Mr. Friendly’s New Southern Café with the Georges and Denemarks, which of course was awesome as we all filled up on good food and belly laughs. Jen had the filet while I ordered the tuna steak.

Sunday morning we woke up late again and I watched Meet The Press and Fox News Sunday, horizontally…the whole time, and then the French Open Finals. I have no idea what Jennifer did, and don’t care, as she surely didn’t care what I was doing.

This big talk all typed out, I MISSED MY GIRLS! Jennifer fetched them from the Upstate while I was doing an Open House and on a listing appointment late Sunday afternoon. This all said, we owe our parents a big Thank You for taking the girls so we could have a nice relaxing weekend for the first time in a long while.

If you’re curious, Finley and ‘Nor’Bomb’ (aka, The Loud One) went to Anderson (pic above), while little Ivey hung out in Clinton for the weekend. Apparently a big time was had by all…including Jennifer and me.

Franklin

A training event Keller Williams International calls “Recruit Select” is in the Carolinas Region this week. I’m here.

While we’re only halfway through the session, I can already tell you this is a peel the onion back, drill down, super intense look about how to recruit and retain the best talent in a market, and yes, beyond ‘your market.’

I’ll write more when I get home, but I wanted to post a little diddy because I don’t like to mess up the frequency of the blog.

The individual assessments provided by the company make a ton of sense, and expose a lot about you and others. That said, it’s not ‘just’ about a person’s assessment, but also about how and where a person fits within a team atmosphere of high level production, about how best to communicate, and how not to communicate. In short, this stuff is cool, and actually quite fun to learn about.

The only other time I’ve been to the Raleigh/Durham area is when the Gamecocks pulled out a narrow win at UNC a few years back. At first and second look, this is a beautiful area with a lot of positive things going on.

I’m learning a lot but can’t wait to hug my girls tomorrow night!

Franklin

As some may have noticed on Facebook I’ve spent some quality time in Manning lately. Before Christmas Day, all five of us cruised to Clarendon County to spend an afternoon with the Black family. It was great. We all had a big time together opening gifts and laughing around a Christmas tree. Ivey paid special attention to Papa Black for a long time, Aunt Liz and Finley acted like BFFs, and Nora Jones made sure everyone knew her ars was there.

A week or so before our Christmas, was the perfect wedding weekend of Sarah Black to Renny Buddin. I may be able to type more about the stellar event a little later, but I’m not sure how many pictures have been released. In short, I don’t want the mamma of the bride jumping me for showing too much without permission!

I’ll type this, though. I’ve walked the right aisle (from the church entrance) of the Manning United Methodist Church sanctuary many times. Mr. and Mrs. Black sit on this side, so that’s what I know. Sarah’s wedding was the second time I’ve walked all the way down to the front from the opposite aisle. Those who knew me over a decade ago will remember the first time. During the procession, I watched Sarah Black walk down that opposite aisle, directly behind my five year old daughter, Finley. Jennifer just patted me on the back.

Why am I posting this, you may ask? To have a platform to post a few pics! (I’m not even sure the bride has seen these). One of the reasons the bride and groom chose Stacey Quattlebaum as their photographer, is because of how Stacey has ‘captured’ my girls over the years. Stacey sent Jennifer and me a few the other night..

Thank you for letting me be a proud daddy!

Franklin

Starting off bluntly ,if you don’t have a little girl, you may want to go ahead and back on out of this post because you may not want to relate and will probably get super bored, quickly. Some buds will probably make fun of me for this, too. That’s OK. That said, if you like interesting angles regarding marketing, leadership perceptions, natural attraction, and birth order, this article from the Wall Street Journal hits on a lot of points. Intro the players: Elsa, Anna, and Olaf of Frozen.

Why did this even grab my attention? Well, Amanda and I were cruising Gervais Street in the minivan Wednesday and for whatever reason Elsa’s popularity came up (I have no idea why). One of Amanda’s quick thoughts was Elsa sang the hit song. While “Let It Go,” is the flagship soundtrack of the movie, she was talking to a dad with a five year old that has awakened me a few mornings with, while three inches from my face, “Do you wanna build a snowmaaaaaaaaaan?” That said, while “Let It Go” is more intense, I consider (incorrectly) the songs as equal. According to the article, Amanda is on to something.

So is my wife, Jennifer, when she chimed in after reading the article, “It’s a little off. Anna saved Elsa, got love and dude, and ended up happy.”

Check out the article below. It’s interesting how the pros are scratching their heads about how Elsa trucks Anna in sales.

I know this is a long post but I thought it would be more convenient to just pass the article to you so you wouldn’t have to register with The WSJ and deal with the ads.

The last thing I’m going to say is that for all the little girls that want to dress up like Elsa, damn she was in that room for a freakin’ long a** time. Elsa makes the Flowers In The Attic seem like a weekend with the door shut. (Well, maybe not. The ‘Flowers’ were locked up 3 years, 4 months, 16 days per the mighty Google.)

Look for a Christmas surge from Olaf.

Franklin Jones

By
Ellen Byron and Paul Ziobro
Nov. 4, 2014 3:06 p.m. ET
Anna was supposed to be the star. She has the most lines, songs and love interests in blockbuster Walt Disney Co. movie “Frozen,” and ultimately saves the day.

Yet at cash registers and in playrooms Anna’s older sister, Elsa, a withdrawn, reluctant queen whose powers to freeze nearly doom Anna and the rest of her fictional Norwegian village, is winning the popularity contest.

Elsa products are expected to dominate sales this holiday shopping season, just as her flowing, sparkly blue gown and long blond braid wig ruled Halloween night this year over Anna’s modest, calf-length dress and sensible boots. Retailers will feature more than double the amount of “Frozen”-related merchandise compared with last year, when the film first hit theaters in late November.

“Elsa is double what Anna is,” says Lesa Nelson, senior vice president for children’s merchandise at J.C. Penney Co., of the dolls and other “Frozen” merchandise depicting the sisters. “You sell two Elsas for every Anna.”

Already, more than three million Elsa and Anna dresses have been sold at Disney stores and at mass retailers in North America since “Frozen’s” release last November, according to Disney.

A wide range of products including soup, mouthwash, children’s shoes, dolls, costumes and princess-impersonators depict ‘Frozen’ characters Elsa and Anna. ENLARGE
A wide range of products including soup, mouthwash, children’s shoes, dolls, costumes and princess-impersonators depict ‘Frozen’ characters Elsa and Anna. Dazzling D’s Princess Productions; Wal-Mart Stores Inc.; Chasing Fireflies; Target Corp.; Stride Rite; Jakks Pacific, Inc.
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which currently carries some 700 “Frozen”-related items, expects the Snow Glow Elsa Doll, which talks, sings and lights up, to be among its biggest sellers this holiday season. Wal-Mart stocks about 10% more Elsa dolls than Anna ones, a spokeswoman says.

Retailers are stocking extra “Frozen” toys, clothes and housewares, even soup, to avoid what happened last year. Last holiday season, retailers and manufacturers didn’t anticipate the runaway success of “Frozen,” now the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Stores quickly ran out of “Frozen”-related merchandise, and for months struggled to keep items in stock.

Disney marketing executives were caught off guard by the overwhelming Elsa preference. They initially expected the sisters to be equally popular. But when the movie was released Elsa quickly edged out Anna in terms of merchandise sales, says Paul Gainer, executive vice president of Disney retail, who oversees Disney stores and the company’s merchandise in other retailers.

“This was the first time that we had a story line with these two strong characters together,” he says. “We came in thinking they would be a little more even until we saw the consumer vote.”
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Now, Elsa outsells Anna in costumes, dolls and toys, among other items, and Disney stocks its stores accordingly, Mr. Gainer says. Elsa’s sparkling, light-blue evening gown, worn in the film as she creates an ice palace and sings “Let It Go,” is Disney’s all-time best-selling costume. The Academy-Award winning tune sung by Idina Menzel topped the charts. Parents once sang along, but now lament their children play the ballad on repeat.

Anna’s demure cape and gown is Disney’s No. 2 best-selling costume, Mr. Gainer says. “Anna is holding her own just fine,” he says. “Both girls are above and beyond all the other princesses.”

To meet demand, Disney airlifted especially popular items to retailers from manufacturers, including Elsa and Anna dolls and costumes, earlier this year even though it was pricier than ground shipments.

“Frozen” was created as a princess tale with a twist. Its two strong female characters drew in parents skeptical of traditional princess story lines, as Anna—rather than a prince charming—saves the day. The sisterly love story also made them more willing to open their wallets for “Frozen” merchandise, parents say.

“Frozen” Characters and What Birth Order Says About Their Personalities
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“Elsa has powers and she’s pretty,” says Lucy DeMaso, a 4-year-old from Melville, N.Y., who dressed as Elsa for Halloween. Her mother, Janna, wore a matching costume. “She wouldn’t let me be Anna,” Ms. DeMaso says. “I tried.”

Parents are puzzled by Elsa’s outsize influence. “Elsa doesn’t really do anything but sing this great song and, let’s be honest, she’s kind of a jerk,” says Jill Walsh, of Newton, Mass., whose 4-year-old daughter, Maeve, often dresses up as Elsa. “A lot of moms try to push for Anna- she’s the go-getter of the two.”

A $130 version of Elsa’s gown, which includes a train with “sparkling frost crystals,” is the top-selling costume for children’s retailer Chasing Fireflies, a unit of HSN Inc. The company expects strong sales of the costume through the holidays.

Anna’s gown, which costs slightly less at $124 due to its less complicated design, ranks among other top sellers at Chasing Fireflies.
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“Elsa outsells Anna because firstborns rule at everything—they get all the accolades, they’re the presidents of the United States, the astronauts, the CEOs—anywhere that perfection pays off, you’ll find the firstborns,” says Dr. Kevin Leman, a psychologist and author of the “The Birth Order Book,” which details how being the eldest, middle, youngest or only child affects one’s personality, career and relationships. Anna’s feistiness, humor and determination come from being the baby of the family.

“Youngest children have this inborn ‘OK, I’ll show you,’ attitude, because firstborns tend to write them off and pay less attention to them, as Elsa did to Anna,” he says.

Though a clear No. 2, Anna is a strong complement to her big sister, says Stephen Berman, chief executive of Jakks Pacific Inc., a manufacturer of “Frozen” merchandise. Sales data from last holiday season showed that girls want to have costumes and dolls of each sister so they can play with them together or act out the movie. This year, Jakks started bundling more Anna and Elsa dolls in the same box, and putting role-play items together.

“We have seen that girls are buying not just Elsa, but into the sisterhood,” says Mr. Berman.

Bundling the “Frozen” sisters has boosted sales for Dava McCoy, who owns Dazzling D’s Princess Productions, a princess-impersonator service in Irvine, Calif. Some 80% of her company’s bookings include appearances of Anna and Elsa together, including 15 for the coming weekend.
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Anna appears on her own at parties only about once every three to four months, says Ms. McCoy, adding that she ordered more gowns of both sisters to meet demand. “It’s usually because they can’t get Elsa and they’d rather have Anna than nobody.”

Ms. McCoy is struggling to find actresses who can fill the Elsa role. “She is harder to play because you have to hit all those notes in ‘Let It Go,’” she says. “My girls who are just so-so singers can be Anna.”

Some companies are pushing equality for the sisters. Stride Rite, a unit of Wolverine World Wide Inc., used images of both sisters on every pair of its new line of “Frozen”-themed boots and sneakers.

“We didn’t want to get into a sibling-rivalry situation,” says Kate Cox, Stride Rite’s product director.

At Toys “R” Us, more than half of its approximately 300 “Frozen” products feature both Anna and Elsa together, with the remaining evenly split between Anna, Elsa and Olaf, the film’s comic snowman. The retailer’s Chief Merchandising Officer Richard Barry says Olaf is “a little unsung hero.”

Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. is betting that Olaf will be the biggest hit of its new line of “Frozen” plush toys because he appeals to girls, boys and grown-ups, says Chief Executive Sharon John. “He’s a triple threat,” she says. “Besides, every little girl already has an Elsa and an Anna doll.”

Write to Ellen Byron at Ellen.Byron@wsj.com and Paul Ziobro at Paul.Ziobro@wsj.com

Last night as I was getting in my car I noticed a screenshot text from my niece, Elizabeth Black. If you don’t know me or don’t follow this blog, the pic above is my/our new friend, Mary Clyde Culbreath, holding a sign proclaiming who she’s walking for in a “Relay For Life.”  As you might imagine, I smiled the rest of the way home.

If you do follow this blog, you saw this post about how Mary Clyde and I were introduced. I won’t forget how this young lady came into our lives.

I intended to post the pic directly on Facebook, but the minute I got in the house the twins and I were making what we call a “baby pile!” By the time all my girls were asleep Kinsey’s sister-in-law, Theresa Black, had already posted the pic. I’m glad she did.

Thank you, Mary Clyde! You are awesome and we love how you’ve expressed your admiration for Kinsey.

I think your Instagram bud, Alison_Manley explains it perfectly in the snapshot, “She will be proud to have you in her footsteps.” Alison is spot on.

Franklin

You may or may not have noticed, but the downtown Columbia, SC real estate industry came to a halt Friday afternoon. As Amy and I were hustling towards a rather smooth weekend, and I was trying to deliver a Pelican Ice Snow Ball to Amanda after a successful delivery of Baby James, our broker in charge came in my office; “Have you heard?” George Jameson asked. Thinking I had a problem, I answered, “Oh crap. What?” George continued, “Rhett died today.” Face flush…

I immediately tossed my mouse and flung my glasses to somewhere on my messy desk. Amy turned her chair towards me and we looked at each other and I said, “What the . are you saying?” He said again with glazed eyes, “Rhett Wolfe fell off a porch at the beach and died.” Our real estate world stopped, and after some brief comments of disbelief we packed up our laptops and left the office.

My phone lit up like a Christmas tree for the next two days wanting to know about Rhett.

To me, Rhett Wolfe was a real estate statesman. When it comes to purely Downtown Columbia real estate professionals, I can think of two local legends that lead us all; Whit Moore and Rhett Wolfe. I’m sure there are others, but I see Whit almost everyday of my life. That said, Whit is my bar and Rhett is with him.

Rhett and I saw each other at least once a week, mostly at broker’s open house luncheons. I can remember a few of our conversations. The first that comes to mind is when my wife, Jennifer, was pregnant with our first daughter. While Realtors and a couple of lenders (Heyward and Mark) were standing in a half circle, Rhett said, “You know, Franklin, when I had kids my production went down.” Rhett thought he was taking a dry, funny punch at me. What he didn’t know is that I took it as motivation. I now have three girls and remember his comment to this day.

After I started making some production noise and our signs were popping up around town, he jabbed me again at another ‘Broker’s Open,’ “Someone told me we were supposed to sell listings, not collect them.” I said, “Thank you.”

Some years ago at another agent open house I had feedback sheets scattered around my seller’s dining room table. Fellow Realtors were writing good and helpful things about the house in an attempt to help me get it sold. Rhett filled out a sheet for the sellers to see. It read, “This house is severely over priced. It feels haunted and smells like cat pee.” He signed it-“Whit Moore.” HA!!

Not too long ago Rhett and I found a new bond. Some years ago Rhett lost his first wife, and for whatever reason he read a blog post about me being a widower. Our relationship changed. He learned how I lost a spouse and found love again. He did the same, and it showed. It wasn’t unusual to find each other at Caturra or even Henrys having fun late night. I can remember saying to my wife, “That dude has found happy.” which was a testament to Glenda. Wherever we were, they laughed more than anyone else.

About a year ago Rhett asked me to breakfast at The Original Pancake House at Trenholm Plaza. We talked about many things, including different opportunities moving forward. He referred to me over and again as a family person. I was getting a life and professional lesson from an industry legend, and I loved it. He called me an innovator. I haven’t forgotten the compliment, and surely never will.

Rhett and I often talked about getting together to play tennis. I would have loved to have sparred with my friendly competitor, but honestly, I didn’t want to have my ars handed to me by someone who graduated college before I was born. Now I wish I had…

Getting back to Rhett and real estate. Often times I’ll walk in Whit’s office and we’ll talk things out. A few years ago, in a moment of wisdom, Whit told me that if he was having some trouble shaking (selling) a listing, he’d (painfully, but respectfully) tell a client that maybe he should call his friend Rhett Wolfe and give him a try at it. Lemme tell ya, that is a B-I-G W-H-O-O-P. In our world that’s like Nike telling someone they should try their friend Adidas, or Coke saying, “Maybe you should give Pepsi a shot.”

I could type all night but Rhett would be annoyed that I stayed up this late. All this said, I’m a better person and a MUCH better Realtor because of my relationship with Rhett Wolfe.

If I could say anything to him now I would probably say, “Thank you for helping me. Thank you for making me a better Realtor, and thank you for making me a better husband and dad.”

I don’t have any authority or familial tie to type this, but I know Rhett Wolf was a happy, happy person.

Like late Friday, the Downtown real estate world will stop for Rhett’s funeral Wednesday at 2:00.

F