Honesty is the best policy

Last weekend the hubby, my dear friend Liz and I went out to Free Spirit Siberian Husky rescue to volunteer. We must have walked about 10 miles and around 20 dogs between the 3 of us and Liz and I scrubbed out several dog pens. As a side note, while there were many dogs I totally wanted to bring home, Cat (listed in the mixed medley) was totally my favorite. She was sooo sweet and walked so very nicely. When I called her name she would come running back to me, curly tail wagging, just so pleased to be loved. And that wrinkled head is just the cutest. Her friend Wesley was also a total sweetheart. Most people pass up the mixes because they want a purebred, but I'll tell you, mixed breed dogs are just phenomenal pets.

We passed the Dairy Queen sign on the way into town and it just completely cracked us up. How many jobs have we all had that this sign should have been posted in the job description? Do you think that knowing this information up front would help?

Everyone has had at least one totally crappy job w/poor compensation in their life time. Most people have had several. I guess it's those jobs that make me appreciate my current and past jobs with fabulous bosses and co-workers.

I went to the Country Living Women Entrepreneur's event at Navy Pier today. Last year's event was amazing and so inspirational. I actually met Heather Bailey!! And she couldn't possibly be any sweeter. They also featured Anna Griffin and the ladies of Country Threads. I realized that it was the Country Threads ladies that made me fall in love with quilting. Their "Frankie" pattern was my first quilt ever, and it totally hooked me. They were very nice and engaging women. I also met another big designer for Moda whose fabrics I love, but shall remain nameless since she was so ridiculously rude to me, even after I had told her that I read her blog and love her fabrics. Apparently I wasn't anybody to be bothered with as I wasn't a "big-name". I guess being a customer didn't really matter to her.

This year's wasn't as good as last year, but it was still definitely worth the price of admission. I met up with Janet, who I sat with last year. Most of the women you meet at these kinds of things are really great and Janet is sure one of them. I also met two new ladies this year, Karen from Long Island who sells the most amazing handmade cards, and Mary from Illinois who makes things out of salvaged architectural items. I know that Karen sells on Etsy, so I'll have to find her link and post it. The cards were truly stunning.

Two speakers in particular were stand-outs, Rosanna Bowles and Mary Liz Curtain. Rosanna's story was fantastic and her dishware is to die for! She also donated a ton of it to give away for raffle prizes. Extremely generous. Her packaging is phenomenal!
Mary Liz talked about trade shows and the like. In addition to owning a fabulous store in Michigan that's in an old roller skating rink, she's also a speaker. And boy is she fantastic! She's absolutely hysterical and imparts an amazing amount of information. I really need to make a trip up north to see the store. It looks fantastic.

And the most exciting thing today was that I met Amy Barickman of Indygo Junction! We talked for a while about publishing and patterns and what not. She has a book she's been working on about a women's cooperative from I think she said the 1930's and 40's where they taught women to sew and make a living. I'm really looking forward to reading it when it comes out. Again, another super nice woman in the quilting industry. I must say that most people in quilting are really, really nice. It's a bonus when thing thing you are most passionate about is filled with helpful, generous, genuinely nice people.

Another by product of the day is that I think I've decided on what fabrics I'm going to use for my Mark Lipinski mystery class in July. I've been completely tortured trying to figure out what I want to do. There are so many options! To commit to just one is nearly beyond me. Mary Liz Curtain was wearing this absolutely fabulous green duster length coat with a brown shirt and pants underneath. It was a totally cool outfit. One of the choices I had been pondering were the brown and green batiks from Hoffman that I have in my stash. That coat sealed the deal for me!