Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing the St. Petersburg ballet perform Giselle at the Gaillard Auditorium. With wonderful costumes, complicated yet traditional dance and beautiful sets, this was a lovely note on which to end the season. Season tickets for next years performances were on sale, and next year will see the Warsaw Philharmonic, Jose Porcel Flamenco, Vienna Boys Choir, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Bell, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey. Visit the Charleston Concert Association at www.charlestonconcerts.org

Photo of John Payne, by PFE

We are really proud to have our professional photography taken by Peter Frank Edwards, a photographer based in Charleston. Frank has been an integral part of the Lane and Smythe team since the beginning. Please visit his site to see more of his beautiful work!

eclipse one, originally uploaded by laneandsmythe.

Greetings from the front desk.

Last night presented us with the last total lunar eclipse until December 2010. I was fortunate enough to venture out to Sullivan’s Island for an unobstructed view. Although the sky was littered with clouds for the majority of the evening, it was still quite a sight to behold.

Whether or not there is a rare celestial occurrence, I’d highly recommend heading out to the local beaches some night on a stargazing adventure- perhaps a date, an educational experience, or just a fun, relaxing, and inexpensive activity.

A few tips:
- Dress Warmly. (The wind makes all the difference)
- Bring a blanket or chairs. (No one wants a neck cramp from straining, head-back toward the sky all evening)
- Take along important tools: flashlight, binoculars, a thermos of your favorite warm beverage.
- If you’re serious about finding constellations, planets, and specific stars try this interesting widget. Enter your zip code, and the software will provide you with a star map of your local night sky, down to the specific hour.

-Crystal, Office Manager, and occasional blogger

Self-Portrait of Kat Hastie, originally uploaded by laneandsmythe.

Kat Hastie of Charleston, SC will be having an art opening for her latest works Fri. the 22nd of February at 6:30 in the Carroll Building at the corner of North Market and East Bay in the new Art Institute facility. Kat, who also happens to be my mom, has lived in Charleston her whole life, which is greatly reflected in her work and has studied extensively in Italy and the US. Please come support her this Fri. and get a preview of what Spoleto 2008 will have to offer. You can also visit her website at www.kathastie.com.

Download Our Brochures!, originally uploaded by laneandsmythe.

Hi! I’m Matt, the Lane and Smythe Brochure Designer, and I wanted
everyone to know that we’ve started featuring many of our properties
in the sidebar to your left, under the “Brochures” heading! Grab any
or all of them, today!

(You’ll need Adobe Reader
to view them.)

I went crabbing yesterday at Laurel Springs Plantation and caught the biggest crab ever in my life!  Over 8 inches wide for the shell alone.  Here is a picture of it. 

This is good for the area.

Fwd: Our Flowers of the Week, originally uploaded by laneandsmythe.

…and a pretty way to test whether we here at L&S can send photos
via our phones! Expect loads of lovely images of Charleston, SC. We
want this blog to be the easiest way for us to keep you up to date
with our goings on!

I am a real estate agent and mother of two children under the age of 5. It never occurred to me to stop working after having my precious children. Like many other working mothers, I hired a nanny to help with both taking care of children and helping with cleaning. I thought I would hire one person that would be with us until I needed to go off to a nursing home and have my own diapers changed! But since my son’s birth I have seen nannies come and go from my home as though we had installed a revolving door for them. Some stayed longer than others, most didn’t let me know they were quitting. Their way of letting me know they were leaving was to simply not show up– and if I called in a panic I would either be unable to leave a message due to a full mailbox…or their service would be disconnected! The situation with each person varied: one person’s car blew up in front of my house and lost her transportation to and from work, one decided to leave and become a lay pastor of a church, one had a hysterectomy and couldn’t come back, one was enticed to leave by a neighbor for more money and less work (I hired her twice and both times left with out notice), and my most recent one had a stroke and is at home recuperating. Luckily my job has flexibility and my children are in a church preschool in the mornings. I am a full-time Realtor, and it’s nearly a full-time job getting my children to and from where they need to be!

I know there are other working parents who have encountered this same scenario. I have always loved what I do- from being an Art Dealer in NYC to selling high end real estate in Charleston. And when I started my family, I knew that I would want to raise my children in a nurturing environment, while continuing to work, and also volunteer in the community. Keeping organized daily at home and work and having my children on a schedule during the day has helped me keep these three goals, and quality and responsible child care is the most important piece to the puzzle. Therefore, I am working on a business called Bambinia, a virtual nanny service and a support group for working mothers.

Working and parenting is specific to the individual. However, we can learn and grow from the experiences of others, and I hope that with the help of Bambinia I’ll be able to both create an open forum for parents in a similar situation to mine, and give back to a communit that has given me so much, at the same time.