For Love of (a) French General

Last month, when the kiddos and I were in Seattle, my sister introduced Beautiful Daughter #1 and I to a fun craft store - Ben Franklin Fabrics and Crafts.

We had such a good time in there.  The first time we went, I was actually a little bit proud that I didn't buy very much at all.  In fact, I didn't buy any fabric at all!  So totally out of character.  I bought some ribbon, and some greeting cards that later became birthday gifts, but I didn't buy any fabric...

And then I went home and the remorse set in.  I guess you would call it "reverse buyer's remorse".  Truth is, I was in love - with French General.  Nothing would do but I make the trek back (this time with Beautiful Daughter #2) and satisfy this intense craving.  I just love this fabric.  It is somehow so elegant.  I had visions of all the things I could do with it.  It stirred all my creative juices and the ideas just started flowing.  The store had both Lumiere de Noel and Rural Jardin together, and I couldn't wait to get home and start putting it together, but I could only get fat quarters of some of the pieces.  Funny how the reds went so fast.  

Honestly, I like it just as much now as I did in the store. 

And I really seem to be into table runners this year.  Not so much trouble as a quilt, and they don't take as much fabric, but you still get the thrill of the creation of it.  I especially like the way the patch in the center pulls the piece together.

Here is the finished product.  Do you think it will make nice Christmas gifts?

Souvenirs

 

So what do you buy when you go on vacation?  We all know there are plenty of places that sell what we like to call "rubber tomahawks" - those useless things that you can't believe you bought and dragged all the way home.  Some people buy local wares, art or local crafts, that reflect the flavor and the ambiance of the place you visited.  Me?  I tend to buy fabric.  

Seattle has lots of good choices in the fabric genre that we don't have here in Florida.  Just a couple of blocks from Dear Sister's house is Pacific Fabrics, where Beautiful Daughter and I spent an hour or more perusing the awesome selection.  I could have spent a fortune, but I was actually a little bit proud that I walked out without a single purchase.  (So TOTALLY out of character!)  Beautiful Daughter #1 proved that she is her mother's daughter by purchasing several items here.  Chip off the old block, as they say.

My dear sister introduced Beautiful Daughter #1 and I to the Ben Franklin store in Redmond (once again, the photo is off Ben Franklin's Facebook page - when will I learn to think about the photos I need to take while I am actually THERE?). 

I remembered Ben Franklin as a "5-and-10 cent store".  Boy was I wrong!  We found the ribbon area first.  Such a great selection, and relatively inexpensive.  I found the ribbons to finish Ari's tiered skirt, while Beautiful Daughter was thinking hair bows for Abby.  Then, I found some great greeting cards with the cutest pictures of all the places we had been so far.  At the time, I had no idea what I was going to do with them - and I thought they were a little expensive, but I had to have them.  For lack of a better plan, they became the birthday gift and birthday card for the two September birthday folks in the family, both of whom shared parts of this Seattle adventure with me.

Finally, we found the fabric section.  Heaven!  Yes, it is my weakness, but once again, I exercised more will-power than I thought possible, and walked out with just the ribbon and the greeting cards.  And then (after another great lunch at Ivar's - this time at one of their drive-in restaurants) I went home for a nap and dreamed about all the things I wished I had bought.  Thus, nothing would do that I had to go back at the next opportunity and (exercising great restraint even then) bought the things I couldn't live without.  It is so much fun to imagine what it will become.  Join me?

Tourists, Part II

A view of the Seattle skyline from the Bainbridge Island Ferry, "Tacoma"

So, Beautiful Daughter #1 and Abby went home this morning, and Beautiful Daughter #2 arrived yesterday.  So today was Tourist Day, Part 2.  We started out by visiting the fabric store Beautiful Daughter #1 and I visited on Tuesday.  I have been regretting not buying some of the beautiful things I saw there.  More later in another post, but it was a good thing it wasn't food, or I would have made a pig of myself.

Then we went into Seattle and had lunch (yes, again!) at Ivar's, this time at Acres of Clams.  Even though the day wasn't perfect, we sat outside on the terrace and watched the ferries and fed the gulls.  They sure know where to come for a free meal.  And boy are they greedy.  And noisy.  But, that is part of the ambiance, after all.

Why is it that all the gulls gather together on one buoy, while another buoy is totally shunned by their kind?  Some kind of gull radar?

Naturally, we took a ferry boat ride across the Sound.  I believe the Seattle skyline is beautiful from almost any vantage point, but it is best from the water, and the ferry is inexpensive entertainment.  It was chilly, but the feel of the wind in your hair is - while not conducive to having every hair in place - very refreshing.  One new aspect of ferry rides that was new to me is that all passengers must get off at the far end and re-board for "security reasons".  Hmmmm....  How our lives have changed since 9/11!

 Then we paid a visit to Pike Place Market.  The Market is much less crowded on weekdays.  (Imagine?!)  We succumbed to some farm fresh marionberry jam, and took pictures of the flowers and vegetables - a feat that was impossible in the crush of folks at the market on Saturday.  Look how beautiful!!

 While at the Market, Beautiful Daughter #2 and I wandered through some of our favorite haunts.  In Kitchen Basics, we met a couple who raved about the merits of Butter Keepers, and insisted that every family needed one.  Apparently, you put water in the bowl part and a stick of butter in the cup part.  The water keeps the butter from getting dry and crusty.  No one is sure if the device will stand up to Florida weather, but based on this enthusiastic recommendation, Ari and I each bought one.


Our final visit of the day (after a lengthy stop at the Verizon store to figure out why Beautiful Daughter #2's Blackberry wasn't working, and where the store manager was VERY helpful - although the stop itself wasn't exactly fun) was NORDSTROM.  For more than 40 years now, Nordstrom has been my very favorite store anywhere on the planet.  Their touted service isn't just an urban legend, it's a fact.  Time and time again, Nordstrom employees have demonstrated that their job is to help customers, and they do it so well!  I bought my first pair of grown-up high heels at Nordstrom when I was twelve, and the clerk treated me as courteously as he did any of his other customers - that means a lot to a 12 -year old.

Then, the day before my wedding, when my bridesmaid's dresses (purchased at another store), had not arrived, the buyer in the Bridal department sold me better dresses at the same price as the original ones - and did the alterations for free while my bridesmaids waited.  Who can ever forget such service???

Another time, Wonderful Husband bought a pair of trousers literally after the store closed (at 9:15 pm!), and someone did the alterations in the middle of the night, and had them delivered to our hotel before we left at 10:00 am to catch our flight home.

And this time, Ari had a pair of shoes that she received for her birthday that were the wrong size, Nordstrom  exchanged them because they carried the same shoe, even though they weren't purchased there.

I just can't say enough good things about Nordstrom.  Or Seattle, for that matter.  It was a great day!