Our Time at GNO {Charlotte, NC}

Mar

28 Comments

Anyone interested in a “JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores Girls’ Night Out: Charlotte” recap??? Well – like it or lump it – we’ll attempt to “type” you through our 48 hour adventure. And, YES: It was 48 hours….almost to the minute….from departure to arrival back home. While we are still processing the pure awesomeness, we hope to give you some semblance of what goes into one of Jess’ FABULOUS GNO ADVENTURES!

The week preceding March 9:

GNO “tickets” received – personalized bracelets from Jess. EEEK! Double excitement!!

Shopped for ‘blingy shoes’ but to no avail.

Calling cards completed one hour prior to departure.

Friday, 2:45 PM CST: Good afternoon passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight XYZ to Mexico. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you.

Friday, 3:32 PM CST: So, there was some confusion…..a six year old in a rural Southern state created a ‘whopper of a tale.’ Fellow students questioned peer teachers. Grandparents called the parentals. Emails were sent.

Ahhhhh, the life of a teacher. Rumors were dispelled, and children were able to sleep knowing their teacher had NOT flown to Mexico and WOULD BE back by Monday morning!

Friday, 9:00 PM EST: Are you kidding me??? Atlanta’s traffic looks like THIS?? At 9:00?? How many lanes of traffic are there?? You want me to exit where??

Friday, 10:20 PM EST: “Hi, and welcome to the Holiday Inn Express…. You must be ****” Me {insert shocked face}: “Why, yes…yes I am.” Gentleman {chuckling}: “Well you are the last one to arrive!”

Saturday, 8:30 AM EST: Breakfast eaten, CHECK. Packed, CHECK. Left the building, CHECK. Gassed up, CHECK. Headed north, CHECK.

Saturday, 10:30 AM EST: Arrived at Mary Jo’s.

As we entered the building, we were flagged down by a sweet lady at the information table: “Ladies, if you are planning on having any fabric cut, you will need to grab a ticket.” Did we forget to wipe the word, CLUELESS, off our foreheads??? Why, yes….yes we did!

When we think back to Mary Jo’s, it was all about QUANTITY, QUANTITY, QUANTITY! We were finally able to pull ourselves together and purchase fabric for some upcoming projects.

In the process, our precious blue binder of patterns was lost in the sea of fabric….only to be claimed at the information table moments later. Forget taking a child to the fabric store – we can’t keep up with our ‘baby’ {ie: THE binder}! We kept true to our goals upon entering the store: a few upcoming project ‘needs,’ as well as purchasing textured fabric to sew some lovelies for the girls.

Saturday, 2:00 PM EST: Rejuvenation time with a late lunch because we were only halfway through our fabric shopping. Have we mentioned how slow we are?!?!?

Saturday, 4:10 PM EST: Finalizing our last selection when Ashley {frances} spots and IDs Vanessa and Rachel enter the building. Bloggers beware when you post pictures of yourself for the world to see….you never know who might reach out and gently tap you {of course there are two sides to every story}! And because of that gentle tap, Vanessa gets the glory of being our very FIRST blogging friend to meet! We visited very briefly, before leaving them to quickly shop before the official evening get-together.

Saturday, 4:30 PM EST: Checked into our final hotel {in a town known for its textile mills}, and attempted to figure out why Emily’s {suzanne} instagram pictures wouldn’t post to facebook while Ashley’s {frances} could. No luck. GRRRR! Freshened up, and headed out the door to the MAIN EVENT!

Saturday, 6:35 PM EST: Illegally u-turned outside of Vivace, only to be honked at by our new friends, Vanessa and Rachel. **Glad it wasn’t our first impression! Oh wait….that would be the poke/tap at Mary Jo’s…

Saturday, 6:40 PM EST: Entered the restaurant….possibly the last ones… Maybe? Fashionably late?? Not the way we envisioned — we wanted to make the most of each and every moment, and we had already lost 600 seconds of blogging / socializing goodness!

Saturday, 6:41 – 11:37 PM EST: Well, it is suffice to say we completely lost track of time! Neither of us have any idea how long everyone stood around talking to the each other prior to taking our seats for dinner. Let’s just say, the restaurant was pretty loud with sewing/crafting buzz…and I did feel a tinge of pity for those sitting nearby.

We talked, we ate, we laughed, we talked some more, we mixed, we mingled….feeling at ease among immediate friends.

We met Jennifer and Mary Ann – both with a wealth of quilting wisdom {along with Rachel}! Jennifer was in the middle of planning / organizing a sewing get together of her own: Sew South Retreat. And, although she thinks houndstooth is a fashion statement in the football world {a major downfall to those of us that yell “War Eagle”}, we were immediately taken with her….wishing we could have talked to her even more at length!

And then there was Zoe, with her striking Lisette coat, that made us for the first time ever contemplate sewing something for ourselves. And, yes, we WILL be ordering some of her awesome ipad covers in the near future….

Other etsy friends in attendance were: Becky {sewing and selling children’s costumes} and Cheryl {who does patents by day and patterns by night}. We are looking forward to checking out Cheryl’s basic quilt pattern that is about to be released – a pattern she can sew and complete in a mere 40 minutes {if we remember correctly}! Oh, and if you are looking for the lucky one?? That would be Cheryl — swiping the free ticket for the event! YEA YOU!!

Michele of Coats and Clark certainly lightened the mood with her humor and wit….and passed on some amazing {and extremely useful} goodies in the swag bag!

We were fortunate to rub elbows during dinner with a new friend, Jessica {an avid crafter}, and Alida – a familiar name for all you Project Run and Play followers.

Cards were exchanged, and even with two of us, we still failed to get them all. There were crafters, like Sewing by Mag, there…..Sewing Community “Builders” such as Heather from the Sewing Loft……as well as Alice Andrews, a fashion designer!

Some attendees were ones we had followed their blogs for some time, and placed them high on a pedestal {*cough, cough: Jess, Alida, and Vanessa}….and other extremely talented ladies we met for the first time that night. Each person was so unique and provided such a differing perspective on ‘why they do what they do.’

Well, until we ordered dessert, and then we were all unified – all but one!

It was humorous at times to look up and down the table and see technology at work. Those ladies sure know how to instagram, and instagram {#gnocharlotte} quickly!

The sponsors {Joann’s Fabrics, Pellon, Michael Miller Fabrics, Fat Quarter Shop, and Coats and Clark} COMPLETELY outdid themselves!

I know we completely outstayed our welcome, but we just didn’t want the night to end…

Our regrets??
1. Didn’t get a picture made with THE lady who made it all happen….THE event coordinator….THE one and only, Jess from Me Sew Crazy.

2. There was just too much to say / hear…. too little time.
3. Camera Malfunctions – extremely unhappy with the quality of our photos taken for the night. The ‘point and shoot’ camera let us down….

Sunday, 7:20 AM EST: *post-time zone change, post-GNO, post-springing forward….

“On the road again…..I just can’t wait to get on the road again…..” {sing it with us}….

Sunday, 3:00 PM CST: Arrived home, 836.7 miles later!! And, yes….the passenger door is open. Someone left the driver in the dust as the car was put into park…

Our hope for you? Inspiration will strike as you plan, create, and sew garments of your own, and that we will offer you some sort of inspiration of our own as we blog about our sewing adventures.

And, now …. about that camera….. Any of you that have DSLR want to weigh in with some words of wisdom? We NEED a better camera. But it needs to be simple and basic {nothing that requires much thought or effort to capture our blog pictures}! We don’t need the top of the line, by any stretch! Just one that is functional and operational with a two year old on the move. Suggestions?

28 Comments

Elisabeth Rose