I love to travel...love to go...but also love coming home. I came home last evening after 5 fabulous days in Northern Virginia...spending time at Pam's lovely home...shopping and lunching with Pam, Kitty, Amy and Baby...visiting two amazing stores in Maryland (The Queen's Ink in Savage and Accessories of Old in Bethesda).
But, let me start at the beginning. I left my home at 5:15 Wednesday morning. It was 68 degrees and sunny...a really beautiful morning. I had a layover in Atlanta and while sitting at the gate waiting for my flight, I kept hearing the weather person on CNN repeating that they were expecting some serious storms and tornados in the Washington, D.C. area...the prediction was that they were to arrive around 5 p.m. Well, guess who else was due in at 5? Yep, my flight was due to land at just that time.
I figured they would delay our flight but much to my surprise, they boarded us on the plane. I got myself settled in and started on my book only to hear the flight attendant say that she's sorry but she needs to give us a status report. Hmmm, sorry and status report in the same sentence does not sound good...at all. And, it wasn't. We were asked to deplane and to wait in the gate area...another status report was to come in about an hour. An hour later, we boarded again and after sitting and waiting for our turn, finally took off for Dulles. We got to Virginia only to be told that we had to circle above Lynchburg for about a half hour.
We landed in Dulles to some clouds and some blue skies but after about 15 minutes on the tarmac, another horrific storm blew in. If you were a fly on the wall, you would have heard the following conversations I had with Pam.
6:45 p.m...."Hi, Pam. We've landed...but, for some reason, we're sitting on the tarmac."
Ten minutes later..."Hi Pam...still here. Still not moving."
Ten more minutes..."Hi Pam...we moved. But only about 100 yards and now we're sitting between two runways. The lightning is pretty spectacular. I can feel the plane swaying in the wind."
Twenty minutes later. "Hi Pam. Still here...not moving. A plane that landed after us got to go to the gate before us. What's with that...it is so NOT FAIR!"
Ten more minutes. "Hi Pam. The plane at our gate can't move...they aren't letting planes fly out of here right now. So, still here."
Sometime later. "Hi Pam. I'm at the main terminal. They brought a shuttle out to our plane since we can't move. Heading to baggage claim."
Much later. "Hi Pam. I'm at baggage claim and the carousel is turning but nothing is coming out. Will let you know once our bags come."
Nine fifteen p.m. "Hi Pam. Can you believe that I finally got my luggage? I'll wait for you outside Door 5."
Poor Pam. She had been sitting at a gas station 5 minutes away waiting to pick me up and watching the storms blowing in and out. The patience of saint is what she had...for sure!
After dinner out, we headed to her house...which had no power but was charmingly lit by her son with little tea lights and candles. Sometime during the night the power came on. Whew!
We headed out to Maryland on Thursday and had the opportunity to visit with Patty (the owner) and Lolly at The Queen's Ink. What a fabulous store. We ended up spending quite a bit of time chatting with them and I'm happy to say that I'll be teaching there January 16-19, 2009! How awesome is that?
It was also so cool that Patty asked Pam to teach two classes...one in August and one in September. Way to go, Pam!
I love how the store is put together. The displays are so artfully done and there are all sorts of unique products...very tempting ones, I must say.
Look at the view from the checkout counter. Totally inspirational, I think! I'm really looking forward to my 2 days of classes there in January.
The other great place we visited that day was Accessories of Old in Bethesda, MD. What an amazing collection of vintage items, mostly produced in the 1930's and 40's.
Look at all of the carded buttons. Truth be told, I wouldn't have minded getting one of each...but there's always the little thing called paying for them. :)) And, due to their age and the lack of availability, they weren't like flea market bargains.
Pam and I did pick up a few things and they are in my vintage wire basket right now. I don't think I can bear to cut up the button cards so am planning to mat and frame them.
On Friday, Kitty and Amy joined us for some shopping and a wonderful lunch at Lightfoot Restaurant in Leesburg. I love Leesburg. There are so many cool shops, like Creme de la Creme, an awesome French store, English Country Manor, and, of course, The Cottage, one of my favorites. We also headed over to Lucketts (sp?) and had a chance to check out the Beekeeper's Cottage as well as the large store on the corner.
Do you see the happy smiles? If you want to know why, just check out Pam's blog and the picture she took of the back of her vehicle. :))
On Saturday and Sunday, I had the opportunity to teach three classes at Scrapbooks-Plus with some of the most amazing women. They are awesome creators, play well with others :)), and made me feel totally at home. Despite the heat, it was a fabulous time.
We ended the weekend with a girls' dessert at Pam's house...yum!
So, now you have the whole story. A great time and great to be home. There's a lot of work ahead of me this week. BTW, thanks to all of you who have ordered a kit this month. I'm woefully behind on acknowledging your orders but I promise, I will get to it!
