What I Did On My Weekend In Charlotte NC!
Charlotte is certainly beautiful in the springtime!
EVERYTHING was blooming. Pollen everywhere. 85 degrees when we left the showhall yesterday! (um...why yes, my allergies are now in full-swing, now that you mention it!)
We had a really good trip - the hotel was nice, we had a couple of really good dinners, had fun spending time with our friends, Pat & Chuck from The Cat's Closet. The showhall was a decently sized one, and I was delighted that driving into the hall to unload and then load up again was permissable. It's not always the case in different venues, but it surely saves the strain on my back!
We got the booth set up fairly quickly but had to improvise a couple of things because I forgot certain critical items (the feet for the curtain/backdrop, a couple of the sheers we've used in the past for curtains, that sort of thing!). Actually what we improvised worked better, so I'll be making improvements in the booth setup as a result...it's always a learning process.
Saturday was fairly busy, and we met a lot of new people. But Sunday, which I realized too late was Palm Sunday, was really very slow. All in all, with everything considered I'm glad we went especially because we made a lot of new acquaintances for Nana Sadie Rose. In light of the economic environment, we probably did reasonably well for a two-day show. Will we go back? Yes, probably, but we'll wait till the economy improves!
I was completely blown out of the water when someone walked into the booth, looked up at the banner and said, "I've seen you on the internet!" It seems that she was doing a search on cat fabrics and found me. That is always a delightful surprise, as I wonder how many folks out there are searching on terms I would not put together (okay, yes, cat fabric really isn't an unusual stretch for my items, I realize). Still it's fun to hear I'm being "found" without prior prodding!
We didn't have a lot of "time off" that wasn't essential to relaxing, but we did manage to get to the new Ikea, and also to the Southpark Mall for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (a new experience for me) and enjoyed a few minutes of window shopping while we waited to be seated for our dinner there. If their patronage was anything to go by on a Saturday night? Charlotte is weathering the recession pretty well...(we had to wait an hour to be seated!)
As usual in my trips to North Carolina, it was impossible to escape without at least one missed exit, and we spent a couple of times going way out of our way, or even deciding last night that since we'd missed the exit to get onto I-77 and were about 10 minutes along when we realized there wasn't a good way to turn around, we headed home via Greensboro (where I've never yet managed to find my way smoothly to Rt 220 North). What is it with North Carolina road signage anyway?
(Maybe they just don't want people to leave, do ya think?)
The Meezer, I see, let you know how put out she was by my leaving, and apparently the "good vibes" she originally had with the new sitter, faded into the ether once I was gone. The sitter never saw her the entire weekend, but she immediately slithered into the room, looking left and right, low to the ground when I walked thru the door. A very happy Siamese snoozed the night away right next to me. All is now forgiven, but she was certain to let me know how unhappy she was to be left alone.
CC looks better than when I left. Not sure why, but I'm not complaining!
I'm very glad to be home, glad to have made new friends, and also delighted that the Bernina is in the shop for annual maintenance for a few days to a week or so. I think I need a bit of a break!
(((hugs)))
EVERYTHING was blooming. Pollen everywhere. 85 degrees when we left the showhall yesterday! (um...why yes, my allergies are now in full-swing, now that you mention it!)
We had a really good trip - the hotel was nice, we had a couple of really good dinners, had fun spending time with our friends, Pat & Chuck from The Cat's Closet. The showhall was a decently sized one, and I was delighted that driving into the hall to unload and then load up again was permissable. It's not always the case in different venues, but it surely saves the strain on my back!
We got the booth set up fairly quickly but had to improvise a couple of things because I forgot certain critical items (the feet for the curtain/backdrop, a couple of the sheers we've used in the past for curtains, that sort of thing!). Actually what we improvised worked better, so I'll be making improvements in the booth setup as a result...it's always a learning process.Saturday was fairly busy, and we met a lot of new people. But Sunday, which I realized too late was Palm Sunday, was really very slow. All in all, with everything considered I'm glad we went especially because we made a lot of new acquaintances for Nana Sadie Rose. In light of the economic environment, we probably did reasonably well for a two-day show. Will we go back? Yes, probably, but we'll wait till the economy improves!
I was completely blown out of the water when someone walked into the booth, looked up at the banner and said, "I've seen you on the internet!" It seems that she was doing a search on cat fabrics and found me. That is always a delightful surprise, as I wonder how many folks out there are searching on terms I would not put together (okay, yes, cat fabric really isn't an unusual stretch for my items, I realize). Still it's fun to hear I'm being "found" without prior prodding!
We didn't have a lot of "time off" that wasn't essential to relaxing, but we did manage to get to the new Ikea, and also to the Southpark Mall for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (a new experience for me) and enjoyed a few minutes of window shopping while we waited to be seated for our dinner there. If their patronage was anything to go by on a Saturday night? Charlotte is weathering the recession pretty well...(we had to wait an hour to be seated!)
As usual in my trips to North Carolina, it was impossible to escape without at least one missed exit, and we spent a couple of times going way out of our way, or even deciding last night that since we'd missed the exit to get onto I-77 and were about 10 minutes along when we realized there wasn't a good way to turn around, we headed home via Greensboro (where I've never yet managed to find my way smoothly to Rt 220 North). What is it with North Carolina road signage anyway?
(Maybe they just don't want people to leave, do ya think?)
The Meezer, I see, let you know how put out she was by my leaving, and apparently the "good vibes" she originally had with the new sitter, faded into the ether once I was gone. The sitter never saw her the entire weekend, but she immediately slithered into the room, looking left and right, low to the ground when I walked thru the door. A very happy Siamese snoozed the night away right next to me. All is now forgiven, but she was certain to let me know how unhappy she was to be left alone.
CC looks better than when I left. Not sure why, but I'm not complaining!
I'm very glad to be home, glad to have made new friends, and also delighted that the Bernina is in the shop for annual maintenance for a few days to a week or so. I think I need a bit of a break!
(((hugs)))
posted by Nana Sadie at 2:12 PM
6 Comments:
So glad you had a happy time (well, except for parts of the driving!). I am not surprised at the Meezer's reaction; I have always heard that they are 'one person' cats.
When our DD comes twice a day to take care of our Meezer Pride in our absence, she typically sees only Minky, our "greeter". The other two evidently hide under the bed. Since Minky is the one on twice a day meds, it's good she is a social baby.
Boy, that takes me back to my days living in Charlotte. Good old Southpark Mall. The last time I was in that neck of the weeks my SO and I got so lost because we managed to find an exit on the freeway that went nowhere. I mean it - you got off and there was a parking lot and a dead end. Looking back, it was hysterical but not funny at the time. :-)
Congrats on the good show. I don't envy you all the hard work before and after but it is great to hear there are some areas of our country that seem to be getting on as usual.
I hope the trip paid for itself. But if not, it sounds as if it was a lovely place to visit.
yay for a good time and yay for the break in action! you deserve it.
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