Tuesday, February 15, 2005

There’s No Place Like Home....But Getting There Bites Without Ruby Slippers!

I’m home from Nashville and finally coherent after a day of mostly sleeping and fighting some nasty cold/flu symptoms. Quite a few of us at the show were hacking, stuffy and scratchy-eyed by the end of the weekend, so perhaps it was something with the climate system... or just that you get so tired getting ready for a show like this, you are more prone to germs.

The show was a blast! We had a great response to the Fantasy Faire pieces for 2005 and people seemed a little less shocked to see us all in full garb this year. We did make a very impressive bunch as we walked down to breakfast the first morning in everything from leather and swords to velvet and satin. As soon as I get some of the pictures from folks with digital cameras, I will try to add them to the site. The response to the new designs was great as well and I am hoping to put them up on the site by the end of the week.

Traveling back and forth to the show was NOT fun. Going out, I was just ahead of a snowstorm and the plane took off 2 hours late, so I had very little time in Toronto to get through customs and onto my next plane. Luckily it hadn’t been a tight connection or I would not have made it to Nashville!! Coming home, I ran into ice rain through Chicago and Toronto, so the flights were late and the turbulence pretty icky. I got home about an hour later than they’d scheduled. My big plastic tote on wheels was also smashed beyond repair. One handle got sheared off completely and the top lid was cracked in several places. Thank goodness the models weren’t in there since I sent them on to A Stitch In Time where we will be visiting in just over 2 weeks! We had to tape it shut in Toronto with bright Orange tape that read DEFECTIVE on it. I felt like screaming at them “You are the ones who made it that way!” but there wasn’t time to raise a fuss in TO when I had a connection to make. Nick had a good laugh as I dragged my “defective” trunk over to the counter in Moncton and filed my report.... but it WAS Valentine’s Day, so he didn’t try to tape any scraps of that to my butt. Instead, there was a lovely pair of earrings waiting for me in a little velvet box on the seat of the van and the girls took me out to dinner. We settled for something fast because I was SO tired. I was fast asleep before 10 last night and went right back to bed once I got the girls on the bus this morning.

Tomorrow, I will spend unpacking, sorting, filing and getting the site updated as quickly as possible with the new releases. Boy, it is good to be home!!!