HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LEIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it is finally here!!! Leigh's 50th Birthday. Can you believe it. 50 years old. I always pictured 50 year old women with cat eye glasses and toilet paper wrapped around their head to keep their "hairdo" in place while they sleep. Well, times have definitely changed!!!!! 50 lookin real good!!! Happy Birthday Leigh - enjoy 1/2 doz of those Hunt's raw oysters for me!!! I am sure there is no better place in the world to be than Rosemary in the Spring to celebrate. May this be the best 50th you will ever have!!!! Luv ya, Caterina

OH NO!! IT HAS CAUSED DRAIN BRAMAGE!!!

See!!! I lost 2 months!!! Im thinking it's already May!!!! We are up and running as of March 17!!! Not May 17!!! Lord Help Me!! Caterina

WE ARE BACK!!!!!!!!!!

OMG!!!!! Last Tuesday, MARCH 9, the building a few doors down from us was struck by lightening. Since we are in a downtown area - all the buildings are connected - so guess what - THAT'S RIGHT - WE GOT ZAPPED TOO. Gone were the phone system, voice mail, intercoms, computers, internet - EVERYTHING!!! SO, THE FUN BEGINS - calling, and calling and describing our situation over and over and over again with the ever so courteous (but let me tell you - totally uncaring and unconcerned AT&T people). My blood pressure is shooting up just typing this. After days and days and days of telephone technical support, replacing and resetting modems, then finally BEGGING them to send someone out only to be transferred to someone else - and starting the whole process over and over - BECAUSE IT APPEARS THAT NOONE MAKES NOTES IN OUR CUSTOMER FILES - NO MATTER HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU TALK TO - THERE ARE NEVER ANY NOTES IN OUR CUSTOMER FILE!!!!!!!! They kept saying - OH, IT IS NOT AN AT&T ISSUE, IT'S IN YOUR LINES - IT'S IN YOUR COMPUTERS - IT'S IN BLAH BLAH BLAH but NEVER AGREEING that any of our problems were related AT&T service or products. Then the I.T. person comes and says No, not in the lines!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's AT&T's problem. Then again, AT&T says - not ours. WELL - FINALLY - somebody did find it WAS AT&T's LINE from the alley to the building. Why can't they just send someone that knows what they are doing right off the bat. OOOHHHHH NOOOOOOOOO, it has to take a whole week!!!! A WEEK!!!! This is 2010 - not 1970. What in the world?????!!!!

So - any of our wonderful customers want to know "why aren't they responding to my email" or why aren't they answering the phones - it just rings and rings and rings - WELL - now you know!!!!!

BUT WE ARE BACK UP - as of 9:30 am today, Wednesday, May 17, a whole week later - AND READY TO GO!!!

What did we do before we had the internet? How in the world did we conduct a business?

I feel much better now. Caterina

See Our Segment on ABC 33/40's Talk of Alabama

Leigh and I were thrilled when we were approached by a local TV station about doing a segment on our business. When asked which one of us wanted do the talking during the interview -- there was no doubt -- loud-mouth Caterina, of course!!! As usual, I always have something to say and Leigh would rather be off camera being the brains of the business!

We hope you enjoy!

Caterina

Birmingham Chapter of WCAA host Scot Robbins

We recently had the pleasure of hosting the seminar "Roman Shades And Creative Cascades" with Scot Robbins. Scot showed us his techniques for producing beautiful roman shades and innovative cascades. This event was sponsored by the Greater Birmingham Chapter of WCAA. Everyone had a great time learning how to take our business to the next level with the help of Scot's vast knowledge and experience.

Hoover High Interior Design Class Visits Pate-Meadows Designs

About 20 students from the Hoover High Interior Design Class visited our studio on Tuesday. Teacher Teddie Butcher, organized the event. We met her when we spoke at the Alabama Association of Family & Consumer Sciences.

Hopefully they learned something in addition to how fabulous Caterina is!!!!

Our Picture Gallery is Updated

Hugs and kisses to Anna (Leigh's daughter) for uploading all the wonderful pictures that our customers have sent in. Be sure to check out our picture gallery with the all the new photos. Sorry we got a little behind, but keep sending in all those wonderful pictures!