Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 99

This morning when I pulled out of my hotel parking lot, I saw a rainbow:

I decided to follow the rainbow to the end, to see if there was a pot of gold.

There was!

This is a HUGE quilt shop full of lovely quilting goodies.  The quilters in this area are blessed to have a treasure of a shop here!

Georgia is lovely in late summer.  I don't want to imply that it is steamy here, but my glasses fog up every time I walk outside:

The southern quilters are lovely, and so is the southern food.  Food like...

Fried pickles!

I have never in my life said, "Yum!  Pickles!"  Rather, I have been known to walk a mile to AVOID a pickle.  A fried pickle, however, just might grow on me.

Tonight I am sitting in my hotel room, catching up on paperwork, knitting, and wishing I had a sodapop.  It took about an hour and a half, but I finally worked up the energy to walk to the lobby to find this treat:

My 99th day in a hotel was a good one indeed!

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 98

I had an absolutely fantastic day at Suzanne's Quilting in Moultrie, GA today!!!  I was busy with my students and didn't get photos of this amazing shop, but I hope to get some for you tomorrow.

I spent a quiet evening in my hotel, making it home.  I designed a few new quilts on EQ7 (yes, this is a teaser -- you'll have to wait for them).  I enjoyed some home-cooked Southern food, aka Chick-Fil-A.  I watched some Netflix and knitted.  I also spent some time bringing my hotel room up to minimal living standards.  Sometimes, something in a hotel room is just so wrong that I can not let it go.  I hate to complain, so I had to fix the problem myself.

Could you have let this go?

Yeah, me neither:

All better!

I bring some special touches from home to keep me smiling while on the road, too.

My friend Michelle from Little Pup Designs made me a wineglass coaster:

I don't drink wine, but this cute coaster makes a great cosmetic remover case:

I smile thinking of Michelle every night when I remove my eye makeup.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 97

After a great vacation, I am back to my great real life -- teaching quilting!

I just pulled into my hotel in Moultrie, GA and will be teaching at Suzanne's Quilting in the morning.  I can not wait!

There are two important things about tonight's hotel:

1.  It is late

and:

2.  It has a bed.

Friend-a-versary

Eighteen years ago today, I met one of my two best friends.  I know that "best" implies that there is only one, but I have two.  I refuse to choose between them; they'll just have to fight it out.

Ahem.

SO, I met one of my two best friends 18 years ago today.  It was the first day of kindergarden for each of our #2 children, both daughters.  We met at the busstop as the girls eagerly ran onto the bus and we pretended to be glad to see them go.  We consoled each other and became instant friends.

During the last 18 years, we have laughed together, cried together, given advice, received advice, listened, blown off steam, and spoken difficult words that could have ended our friendship but only served to deepen it.  We have very different lives and don't see each other in person very often, but we know that the other is only a phone call away.  Each of us feels that we have the better part of the friendship deal, and we're both right.

I am out of town and am sad to not celebrate our friend-a-versary with this dear woman in person.  She willingly gave me a raincheck and I'll cash it in next week once I return home.

For a fair and balanced post, I met my other best friend about a year and a half later at a quilting class; the date eludes me but she is every bit as valuable to me as my other friend.  She is the older sister/young aunt that every woman wishes for.  She has spoken wisdom into my life and I have tried to follow what I have learned from her.  I'm a better mother and wife because of her influence.  We no longer live in the same state, but email and phonecalls keep us connected.  We are now both grandmothers and, since our grandbabies are different genders, we agree that each other has the cutest granddaughter/grandson on the planet!

I hope that you have friends in your lives like these women.  They are gifts from God and I can not imagine my life without them.

How do you celebrate the friends in your life?

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 96

Sniff, sniff, sob, sob -- my vacation in Utah has come to an and.  Boo hoo hoo!  I've been to Salt Lake City many times, but I have never really fallen in love with this state.  I am usually inside, working, while it's blisteringly hot or the inversion is in during the winter months.  I always thought it was "fine" here, but my heart didn't go pitter-pat.

After this week, though, my heart is going pitter-pat.  This is one amazing state and I'm so blessed that I got to see so much of it!  We are definitely planning to visit again and see the parts we missed:  Bryce Canyon, Zion, Dinosaur National Monument, Natural Bridge, Four Corners... Maybe we'll need to come back several times to see it all!

Today was a simple day:

1.  Leave Park City and drive to Salt Lake City.  Farewell, Park City; I shall miss thee!

2.  Stop at Bruges Waffles and Frites:

Belgian waffle with chocolate, creme fraiche, and fresh strawberries.  Need I say more?

3.  Head to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake and see the bison:

RIGHT OUTSIDE MY CAR!  They are HUGE!

I saw antelope, too, but they blend in so well that the photos would just look like photos of the hillside.  I wish I had seen the bighorn sheep, but there are very few on the island and most of the island was closed today due to a bicycle race.  Sigh.

It was very hot and sunny today and I don't do well in the sun.  I didn't get to dip my toes in the Great Salt Lake because I was hiding in the shade inside of my car.  I'm sad about that, but my (shockingly pale) body is thanking me for my sacrifice.

4.  Go to The Mandarin for dinner and order my favorite honey-walnut shrimp:

5.  Share the shrimp with my husband, but only because I like him -- a lot.  For those who have eaten at The Mandarin with me, you know that I DON'T SHARE MY SHRIMP!

6.  Eat one very emphatic fortune cookie:

If it gave me the same message three times, maybe I should pay attention?

7.  Check back into my favorite hotel:

When I checked, the gal at the desk (Jolene) said, "You're back!"  This place is like Cheers!  Everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came.

I'm flying back to the real world tomorrow morning at dawn.  All good things must come to an end, but fortunately, all great things have a way of staying with you forever.

Gifted Quilt -- Emily's quilt

I am blessed to work with some incredible people.  Some make my day brighter.  Some make my job fun.  Some make my job easier.  One person does all of this... and so much more!

I decided to make a quilt for a family that sacrifices while Husband/Dad is away, making quilt shows and quilt show classrooms happen for quilters all over the United States.

I pulled out an old block of the month, finished piecing it, and quilted it with love:

I had fun piecing the back, too:

I hope this quilt reminds this family of my gratitude for years to come.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 95

I went absolutely wild today!

I went to the Hogle Zoo and saw lions and tigers.

And bears:

And elephants:

And giraffes:

OK, I saw some real animals too:

This one excited me because I have always, ALWAYS wanted to see an armadillo.  Check this off my list now!

Some of the animals were scary:

That was a close one!

We celebrated our survival with some ramen:

Be warned -- I am offically obsessed with ramen and will be posting many ramen cooking attempts once I return from this three-week trip and find my kitchen again.

I am now nestled snugly in my hotel room, staring at this curtain and planning a quilt:

Great possibilities, right?

Since I'm on vacation, I am eating ice cream for dinner.  You'll never guess what flavor.

Guess.

No, really.  I mean it.  Guess.

Did you guess?

Did you?

I am eating...

...

...

Peanut-butter and jelly ice cream with graham cracker topping.

Extra, Extra! Read All About It!

I have news!

Last winter, I spent several weeks working on a hush-hush quilting project.  My Handi Quilter educator friends and I tackled antique quilt tops and quilted them with a modern flavor.  McCall's put them together in a special issue:

It is available on newsstands today!  If you can't find it at a newsstand, you can buy it online here.

Do you like the red and yellow flower quilt on the cover?  Yes?  Thank you!  That is one of mine!  Do you want to see a photo of the full quilt?  Here you go:

I quilted another quilt in this issue as well:

These were unquilted antique quilts and they had some "issues."  I must admit that all of my feelings towards them were not warm and fuzzy while I was working on them.  Six months later, however, I've forgiven them for their shortcomings such as bulging blocks, popped seams, and wavy edges.   I now love them and can't wait to see them in person again!

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 94

Today I visited the U.S. Olympic Training site:

I am carrying a torch for Utah:

On my third day in this hotel, I found the coffee machine, and what a coffee machine it was:

Have you ever seen such a thing?  Confession: I don't drink coffee, but I had the chai tea (meh) and the hot chocolate latte (yes, please!).   I am completely impressed with the awesomeness of this machine.  So impressed, in fact, that I might have to walk down and have another hot chocolate to go with my:

CAKE!!!

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 93

I had planned to rest from hiking today and walk around Park City instead of doing anything strenuous, but...

Have you seen the hills in Park City?  My husband uses a FitBit and logged in 13,000 steps.  Be assured that they were either going UP or DOWN.  There are no other choices in Park City!

It was a beautiful day and there was a carnival going on in the city.  How fun!  We walked around, watching people and poking into stores.

I was so excited when I saw this sign:

A boutique full of cake? I have found my people!!!

I walked into the store and was shocked that there was no cake.  No.  Cake.  NO CAKE?!?!?!?  What is wrong with this world?  They sold clothing, if you can believe that.

I stormed out of the no-cake boutique and went to dinner.  The waitress recommended a special table, so we said ok.  Good call on our part:

We felt like honeymooners, just two or three decades late.

I was treated to a pretty pineapple/ginger/basil drink (no-alcohol for me, thanks):

I enjoyed an amazing lamb dish with polenta and veggies (Swiss chard, fennel, ginger, orange, garlic):

I wonder why all fortune cookies don't arrive dipped in chocolate:

This is a small gesture that would change the world.  I am positive!

My fortune:

After dinner, I realized that I still hadn't had cake.  I couldn't find any but consoled myself here:

Yesterday in Moab it was 97*F and sunny.  Today in Park City it was a high of 65*F and breezy.  So glad that this is in my hotel room:

As you can see, I'm suffering.  Please send chocolate cake.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 92

Another fun day in Utah!

I hiked in Canyonlands National Park.  All of the trails seemed to go UP!

They were rather challenging:

Did you see the trail wind in the middle of the picture?  There is a person above it, under the tree line.  The trail goes past the trees at the top of the mountain.

Yes, I hiked that:

Once I got to the top and looked down, this was the trail:

Do you see a path?  Me neither.  I am petrified of heights.  Not being able to see a trail and having the mountain go pretty much STRAIGHT DOWN means I turned around and said "Crater?  Who needs to see a crater?"

I climbed all the way back down to the car.  Steep downhills are just as tough as steep uphills:

I made it safely through several hikes.  The views were worth it:

Sorry, should have warned you about that last one.  If you, like me, are afraid of heights, your stomach is somewhere below your knees right now.

In addition to hiking, my husband and I did a little research.  My theory is that the outhouses with a ventilation chimney smell less than the outhouses without one:

My husband says no, but my experiences today confirm my theory.

Since this is a hotel post, the best part of tonight's hotel was soaking my aching knees in a hot tub: