Aunt Rozella's Silver

I've told this story many times -- but I never get tired of it. My Aunt Rozella's Silver.

I own it -- I love having it -- and it has a place of honor right in my kitchen. Every time somebody special is eating at my house -- I always use Aunt Rozella's silver.

After Aunt Rozella died, I was helping Uncle Marion clear out the house. This box of silver was under her bed. He said, "That's your Aunt Rozella's silver". I knew she didn't have REAL silver. For crying out loud -- we ate Thanksgiving dinner at her house for nearly 40 years...I'm quite sure if she had REAL silver -- I would have seen it...

But I was wrong. Aunt Rozella, did, indeed, own a complete set of REAL sterling silver. Spring Glory. When she was 22 years old, she began to purchase pieces -- and every receipt was still in the box. The last purchase was this pie server -- which cost $249 in 1976.

Holy Cow...

Here's the sad thing. She never used it. Not even once. So no special memories come with the silver -- because none of us knew she had it. I guess she was "saving it" for a special occasion??

To make a long story short -- I bought Aunt Rozella's silver at her estate sale.

And I use it all the time. I like to think there will be many wonderful memories associated with her silver by the time I'm done with it. Every piece of cheesecake, every special dinner, every book club breakfast, every holiday meal -- if it's a special occasion -- I use Aunt Rozella's Silver...if my sister Ronda bakes one of her delicious apple pies -- we eat it with Aunt Rozella's silver...

If I have special company at my house -- they get to use Aunt Rozella's silver...

Because if you leave it under the bed, nobody will ever know it's special. And getting it out and using it -- well, THAT'S how you show people you love them...

Cincinnati Airport

It has been a VERY BUSY FALL. With a lot of exciting travel. Mary Mulari and I were doing our Ya Ya gig in Cincinnati...(I realize this picture at the Reno hotel...but just work with me here...)

And my first big surprise was that the Cincinnati airport is not in Cincinnati. It's not even in Ohio. It's actually in Hebron, Kentucky...

Who knew??

I was particularly impressed with the stunning mosiacs hanging all over the terminal. They were HUGE...depicting industries that put Cincinnati on the map...

These murals used to hang in the train station -- Union Terminal. They were relocated to the airport in 1973...

It is a lovely airport in every way....but, sadly, with not enough traffic nowadays. Since Delta merged with NWA...they quit using Cincinnati as a hub. They've already closed one terminal...

It's hard to come up with a good use for an empty airline terminal. But I'm thinking maybe they should turn it into an art gallery??

Because they're already off to a good start...and somebody did a heckuva lot of work...

I loved, loved, loved my visit to Cincinnati. Thanks to everybody who came to see the Midwest Ya Ya sisters at the Quilting, Sewing and Crafts Expo...

YOU WERE AN AWESOME audience...!!

Submarine Reunion

So -- about John's submarine reunion.

He loves, loves, loves getting together with his former shipmates. For 40 years, I've been asking what they were doing on those submarines, and he would always say, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."


They were so young...nuclear submarines were a modern marvel -- the latest technology and the best of everything. They were doing things no boat (submarines are called boats) had ever done before -- and, as it turned out -- will never do again. Their time on the USS Haddo was history-in-the-making. But you never know that when it's happening....And it is a joy for these men to get together and reminisce about their halcyon days...

At the banquet, there was an ice sculpture. I always think about the talented, artistic person who spent all that time creating this thing of beauty -- which will melt away so quickly...(like our youth, eh?)

Ray Butters, the emcee for the banquet, presented a special replica of the Haddo to the keynote speaker -- Gregg Larson, the LAST captain of the boat. Gregg's remarks that evening were about "putting one foot in front of the other"...left foot, right foot...and his personal story was compelling.

The Navy played a big role in his life -- and as I listened -- I marveled, once again, about the fact that EVERYBODY HAS A STORY...

Whenever my friend Marion and I are together, we always end up saying, "why would anybody write fiction? Because the truth is so bizarre".

When Gregg (on the right) was five years old, his family home was destroyed by a tornado and he was torn from his bed and woke up in his neighbor's living room, buried by rubble. His house was gone and his mother was severely injured. She spent the next five years in the hospital -- and he wasn't even allowed to see her.

His story is about taking things one day at a time...left foot, right foot...

Everybody at the reunion had a story. John's buddy, Fred -- is a full blooded Cherokee Indian who served on 10 different submarines all over the world during his time in the Navy. He and Frances were our seatmates on the Riverboat cruise...

Jerry and Pat were boyfriend/girlfriend when they were 14 years old. However, "the wheels fell off" the romance and they both married to different people. According to Pat, "Jerry was involved with a string of wildly inappropriate women". Pat was a widow for years before she contacted Jerry again....

And -- hey -- just look at them! I called them "the newlyweds" -- because neither one of them could stop smiling. Theirs is a wonderful love story...

During the reunion, the men did what they came there to do. They told old sea stories.

The women did what women always do. We got to know each other. We talked about our families, our jobs, our children -- and how we were going to accessorize our next outfit...(mostly, that was Pat)...

It is ALWAYS amazing to me that any group of women can be put into a room and find common ground. Because we listen. We are interested in the OTHER person's story.

So -- to all those remarkable women...thanks for sharing...

Really. GIRLS ROCK...that's all I'm sayin'...

St. Louis/Ritaluck

During the cold war -- my husband John was on submarines. Every-other-year, we attend the Haddo reunion. This year it was in St. Louis, Missouri...

John is not in this picture -- but you get the idea. This is the "commissioning crew" for the Haddo. The guys come from all over the country for this reunion. And we "wives" get to know each other in the hospitality room...(there will be future posts, I promise...)

So, there I am, settling into a hotel room in St. Louis -- when Mary Mulari calls my cellphone to tell me she just landed IN ST. LOUIS -- because she has an ASG presentation the next day. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

I was only five minutes away from the airport -- so I went to pick her up...

As you know -- we spend A LOT OF TIME TOGETHER in airports -- but this really seemed like a random coincidence. In her hotel room, I took a mirror shot of the two of us...then we did a little thrift store shopping (I'd been in town for 3 days already)...


On Saturday, I bounced over to Mary's hotel to take a few pictures of her presentation...


The St. Louis ASG TURNED OUT for their Mary Mulari event!! As per usual, she was a BIG HIT!! And I've gotta say -- the outfits were VERY COMPETITIVE...I loved these artistic jackets so much, I lined them up for a group photo...

I recognized this jacket -- and the artist told me she made it at a Baby Lock educational event.

I think her instructor (Linda? or Pam? maybe Dianne?) would be VERY PROUD...

You're gonna see a lot more about St. Louis. WE HAD A BALL THERE...!!

Harry Potter Gifts

For years, I've belonged to a wonderful book club. Actually -- we sooo enjoy each other's company -- we decided to get together once a week instead of once a month. And it's a lot more about the visiting than it is the reading.

One of the best things about our weekly breakfast is the frequent "Sew & Tell". This is a picture of Linda P., with an apron she made for her grandson Eli....HE LOVED IT...


Linda has twin daughters -- and ALL THEIR KIDS love Harry Potter. So, after the latest Harry Potter movie came out -- her granddaughter Abby sent her this project off the internet...

So, in typical Linda P fashion -- SHE GOT RIGHT ON IT -- and she made Harry Potter pillows for all of them. They'll be under the Christmas tree...I'm sure those kids know how lucky they are.

Like so many of my women friends, Linda loves to sew and it's almost ALWAYS about making a gift for somebody she loves.

I am lucky to have these clubbers in my life...they always make me smile...

Or, sometimes -- laugh hysterically. This was Linda last year, coming home from Phoenix...this well known nudist is a bookseller on the side of the road...

At least, that was her story...

Oh, yeah...HYSTERICAL LAUGHING...

After Linda reads this blog post, she will insist I remove the picture of her hugging the nudist bookseller...and I will, of course, with all due speed and haste -- remove the offending picture...

So this is sort of a fun test...

Today, we find out if she REALLY DOES read the blog before coming to breakfast club.

The picture may only be up there for an hour or so....

And you'll always think you missed something, eh?

Trust me. HYSTERICAL LAUGHING...

Best Zebra in Chantilly

There I am, at the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Chantilly -- working in the Schmetz booth...
and I see this beautiful little girl...

After taking a CLOSER LOOK -- Rhonda insisted that we invite them into the booth to have their official picture taken. These fashionable sisters have zebra outfits, zebra bags, and, YES -- THE FIRST TIME I EVER SAW THIS...

ZEBRA EYE MAKE-UP. I am soooo on the hunt for these. The Mom told me they were "rub
-ons" and shes bought them last year at Halloween time.


So -- if I can find them -- next year, at Expo, I plan to have an ALL ZEBRA DAY...

I am sooo excited...

Project Runway -- spoiler

The challenge was fun. Take your inspiration from a bird....then, Tim picked teams of two. But the twist was that the designers were actually competing head-to-head against each other.

The Piperlime accessories finally came into play because Anya killed a roach with a shoe off the Piperlime wall. GOOD JOB, ANYA...

Speaking of Anya. I thought she had two winning looks tonight and was not the least bit surprised when she won. I was actually disappointed that we didn't get to see her first look on the runway...

Their final looks -- Anya, Bert, Joshua, Kimberly, Laura and Viktor. It's pretty obvious which bird inspired which outfit.

But I would have picked Viktor for the #2 spot. The way he shredded the chiffon was very delicate and completely on point for the challenge. Viktor's dress was WAY better than Kimberly's lame imitation. But the judges totally gigged him for being "too literal". Are you kidding me? The INSPIRATION IS A BIRD, PEOPLE....it's not like he used a feather boa...

So, then -- they want it to be a more subtle reference? Like Bert's gray dress? When the model walked, the colors were revealed and you could see the green parrot inspiration. But -- NO. The judges hated it. So much so, that Bert was sent home. I loved his dress. It fit the model beautifully, when she walked, the colorful chiffon was revealed...every detail looked impeccable.

At the end of the episode, Bert and Laura are standing there, and we know one designer is going home. I was sure it would be Laura. Her outfit looked terrible. The cheap satin pants were skin tight, and the back of the jacket jutted out like bird feathers. I think Nina has been too hard on her -- but this week, she deserves to go.

BUT NO -- I WAS WRONG. Bert was auffed...Bummer.

My dream Finale would be Anya, Viktor and Bert. THAT would have been a really great show...