SuzeBlogz

Remembering

Two years ago The Lenster and I decided to take a Caribbean cruise on New Years eve. It was an easy decision....it left out of New York City, so, no having to fly somewhere.... and... it got us out of the cooooooold and wet winter for a week.

We met a wonderful couple on the ship...(The Norwegian Gem)...Arnie and Wendy Udell from Toronto, Canada. We hit it off immediately.

in fact...we had so much fun with them that we decided to do a second cruise with them on the same ship...from NYC to New England and Halifax, the following year.

we shared a love of Judaism and so many other things. We never ran out of conversation.

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Wendy wasn't feeling very well on the second trip and within just a few months after we had all returned we got an email from Arnie telling us Wendy had died. From cancer.

We were devastated.

We told Arnie that if he ever got back to NYC we'd make a point to come into Manhattan and spend some time with him. And so we did !!  It's been 11 months since Wendy passed.

We went to lunch at an Irish pub...delicious fish and chips... and we walked around Manhattan even tho it was bitter cold and snowy.

and we talked about Wendy and we reminisced. Because sometimes you just know there are going to be people you meet that will forever be in your life.

In fact, they say its such a small world....and I believe that's true. On that first cruise we also met Laurie Ann Gardner...one of the ships premier entertainers....

and discovered, through conversation, that The Lensters sister Jane is Lauries doctor in Nashville.

Yes...tell me again how small a world it is !!!

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 I'll share some of the sights from our walk yesterday

 This is the Jim Dine Venus de Milo sculpture on Avenue of the Americas... its a headless sculpture to the "naked eye"...BUT...if you look VERY closely you'll find 3 faces hidden in the sculpture by the artist. You need to be there to see them.

Robert Indiana's LOVE began as a simple Christmas card and grew into one of the most recognizable images in American art. It is made from COR-TEN steel.

 

Then, of course, you have the Halal Guys food carts. The Halal Guys was founded in 1990 by Mohamed Abouelenein, from Egypt. The cart began as a hot dog vendor, however Abouelenein believed that the hot dog was not a satisfying meal and switched to the current menu of chicken, gyro meat, rice, and pita in 1992

 

St. Patricks is always a must see. It is a decorated Neo-Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States and a prominent landmark of New York City

 

These guys up in the tree were first now taking down all the twinkling lights in the city trees. They just cut the lights off...no unraveling and saving them !!

Do you watch "The Apprentice"...."You're Fired"

 

But...you need not worry if you're in need of a hat, a purse, a watch, an umbrella, a scarf...or anything else in NYC...there's always a street corner with something for sale...

Bundle up now

(unless of course you're one of my friends in the southern hemisphere) !!!!!!!

LOL

 

 

So, Back to CHA

Yes, sometimes I feel like I'm always on a plane going somewhere...and that's because I retired going into my 5th year and now I can go anywhere at any time and..... I DO !!!

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So, going back 2 weeks ago, here's a little trip down the CHA aisles

Running into friends I've had for years and years and adore every one of them

doing a Make It-Take It at the Crystal Ninja Booth

they have a new tool....The Crystal Kubaton

Steve, at the Plaid booth, was very busy demoing and never even looked up !!!

 

Running into MORE friends

Impress Art has a brand new ergonomic hammer coming out for jewelry makers...I played with it and I love it.

Sakura Glaze Pens are amazing...they may not be new but they'll never be old

some examples of Sakura pens by artist and calligrapher Joanne Fink

 

Prima had the most delicious booth...filled with art and the artists latest products. Here is Anna Dabrowska (aka) 'Finnabairs' offering

 

Friends just seemed to magically appear

more goodies from The Prima booth

I actually sat down and wrote an order for the magnificent products that will be coming in March from Sandra Evertson

I'm also a very big fan of NUNN design and love her new opaque pigments that you mix into resin. I ordered them too.

here is an example of the "look" you can get using them

Everywhere you looked....friends...gotta stop..do the picture !

Stopped at the Chain maille booth and their 'make it take' was a pair of little earrings.

Ranger had new little dabbers, new ink pads, and new colors

Spellbinders designs their booth so, as you walk around it, you get a taste of all the different things they're into

Fun Stampers Journey

A Gilded Life

some of the items in the display cases featuring new and innovative products were....

Artistic Wire/Beadalon won an award for their new bracelet JIG

more in the jewelry related field

 

and some way cool wood stamps from India

but of course, as I said before....the BEST part of going every year is seeing friends.

I love every one of them.

More from CHA later...c'mon back !

 

Where Ideas Can Come From

so, you know you're in Orlando when you're greeted by Mickey.

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We loved that the weather in Orlando wasn't hot hot..but a balmy 60-70ish which, to us, felt like spring !

and...we loved that our close friends Angela and Wayne Bannatyne lived so close by!

we went crusing through Winter Park to see all the artsy shops and the overpriced, but cool, 'stuff' !! We also dropped in on the Mall at Millenia (I call it my Holy Land Experience !)

 

and why do we spend time looking at this "stuff"....??...cause we see what the trends are and get funky ideas for our own projects...right?

I was very proud of myself...I didn't ask anyone "DO YOU SHIP"??

I did, however, feel Instant LOVE for that bracelet !

and, if I didn't already own a bazillion scarves I'd have owned this one too. I controlled myself....beside..it was was too expensive !

 

I can't remember the name of this trendy clothing store but I sure loved their industrial steampunky fixtures

and I LOVED this wood display table wth the little tags. 

 

you know what else was so cool....the people in the streets. I've seen shoe-shiners in NYC inside Penn station (etc) but I haven't seen one out on the streets in, like, forever.

and all the doggies were adorable...and there were lots of them.

fun jewelry too

We're expecting a B-I-G blizzard tonight so I'll just keep dreaming of the nice warm air I'm missing in Orlando !

 

 

 

and go about planning out my next adventure.






 

What A Great Week

When you need a vacation from the cold it's great to hop on a plane for 2 hours & head to Orlando, FL.

We used a week of time share and stayed at a lovely resort called Legacy. Our room was HUGE ! Way bigger that your usual hotel room. This was the view.

 

One of the cool places we breezed into was called Adjectives (in Winter Park) and had very interesting antiques and more current artifacts & jewelry.

There's no lack of things to see or do in Orlando, so a visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Universal was a must!

 

and there's so much more to share...so, tomorrow we head home to the snow and cold (yuck!) but I promise to play catch up on CHA and the rest of the Florida trip.

Promise ME you'll come back !!