Road Trip

Now before I start, let me apologize for the dearth of photos. I just kind of forgot...

My friend, Amanda, and I decided to make a little road trip yesterday to Maryland. Our ultimate goal was Ruth Schmuff's shop, Bedecked and Beadazzled.

Our first stop was one of my I-visit-a-few-times-a-year places - the Stitching Post. Normally, I can find plenty of things here that I somehow need. Yesterday, not so much. I only bought that last issue of Jill Oxton's Beading and Cross Stitch magazine, one of the Blackbird Designs monthly stockings pamphlets from 2009 and the Dinky Dyes Halloween cat. They were having an interesting time in here as their computer system was down and they were having to write out invoices by hand. Ah, the good old days. 

We started here because I'd recommended a place around the corner for lunch - Duesenberg's American Cafe and Grill. (Yes, Bonnie, it's still great!) I had the chicken cheesesteak with sweet potato fries and Amanda had the steak and gorgonzola salad.

Next stop:

The ladies in here were very nice. The shop itself seemed kind of small, but I think  that's just a reflection of all the stuff that's in here. They had two trunk shows and suitcase full of canvases that came back from Dallas with them recently. 

I bought the last copy of Sandy Arthur's new book, Needlepoint Shapes. Hopefully, they will have more soon. And a small painted canvas of a cat in a birdcage with a bluebird sitting on top of the cage. The cat's expression made this one irresistible to me.

The GPS took us the back way to Bedecked and Beadazzled where I was properly dazzled by the colors of Ruth's store. Love the lime green walls. There were many, many beautiful finished projects to admire. We kept finding new ones even as we were going out the door. 

My purchases in here were just threads. Amanda and I agreed that we need to bring a couple of canvases from our stash here and pick threads. She's got a tremendous selection. 

I'm going to be keeping an eye on her classes. If I lived just a smidge closer, I'd be attending the mystery classes. 

A very satisfying day. Didn't spend tons of money. Had great conversation. Just a lovely day for a drive!