Travels

Texas heat. What can you say about it ... my neighbor says its better than snow, you don't have to shovel hot. I can go with that but dang, it is just stiffling right now... I had a great trip to Long Beach and Chicago and the work part was good too. I stayed over the weekend in Long Beach and visited Fabric Barn - a great warehouse of ribbons, trims etc. that are cheap! I picked up some tulle also in lucious summer colors of melon, lemon and peach. I took a chance on the hotel and stayed here. Its a bit scary at first - on the roof is a sign that says BATH IN EVERY ROOM. The Varden is a historic building (thus the sign stays) that's been modernized in modern European style and I loved it. The staff treat you like family and it was quiet - I abhor slamming doors and noisy children. The room was like a comfy cocoon and everything had its place (plugs for cellphone). For a neat freak like me - that works! Saturday I spent at the Tall Mouse in Cerritos and downtown Orange which has lots of antiques include Country Roads. I found a few tidbits but was saving my $ for the Long Beach Flea and its a good thing because it was FANTASTIC. It was vintage and cheap from A-Z - I was in heaven for 5 hours plus the weather was nice and breezy. I found all kinds of goodies and my feet hurt more than my arms so I wouldn't make a trip back to the car to drop my stash. I found vintage children's books for $5, stitchery, linens, cream colored iron picture frame. What was fun was hearing the conversations - seems that everyone knows each other - dealers and customers. So interesting. I even ran into SB Mary Smilove from Sweetpeas and Snapshots. Small world. I would definitely recommend the LBF and hope to go back again. (I'm having trouble with Blogger now).

This weekend included two classes at By Design with Debby Schuh. You can always count on Debby to include some nifty pages and this time was no different. My favorite was the second class - a vintage travel album that started off with grungepaper. The end result is just too cool - with some paint and ink - voila! a vintage look. And it was nice to finish both of the projects the same day (a little bit at home). Bonus was spending time with Ronda, Cindy and seeing Gigi.

My friend, Laurel has been on my mind all day. Her husband died suddenly last Sunday and I am keeping her in my thoughts. So amazed at her strength and wisdom. She is so beautiful and keeps talking about how proud she was to be Mrs. Gregg Witwen. Lovely and graceful. I am at a loss for words.