Road Tripping (its a long post)

Sorry its taken me a while to get around to posting pictures of my holiday, for one there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day especially when Hugglets is only 12 days away (argghhhhh) secondly blogger has been playing silly b*ggers with my photos and its been taking so long to get photos uploaded, thirdly its taken me well over a week to get myself back to normal and organised, fourthly it was Lex's birthday at the weekend so I spent a great deal of it making sausages rolls, sandwiches and trifle!!! So there's all the excuses out of the way let me take you on a journey............

So we picked up the car in new Jersey and traveled to New Haven

Beautiful Church somewhere around Yale

Yale buildings are so stunning, it was very quiet around town because the students were off for summer holidays.

After one night in New Haven we traveled up the road to Essex, very unlike our Essex here in the UK!

This town was exactly what I expected a small American town to look like, simply charming

While in Essex we had a steam train ride

and then a steam boat ride

With beautiful views, a very relaxing day was had

We then headed to Providence to stay in the BEST hotel I've ever stayed in! It was a shame we only had one night here before we set off for Boston

The Boston Public Library

Cheers!

On our way to Binghamton we visited Woodstock and its wonderful shops

A candle shop in Woodstock

The most amazing sweet shop somewhere that I can't remember the name off

Stockbridge, a town with not one traffic light

A restful time was had in Lake Placid before we hit the city

I wanted to go here after reading about it on Gingers Blog it did not disappoint, I could have stayed all day in here and could have spent a million pounds. I didn't though, I was very well behaved and only brought a birds nest.

The real reason I was so good in Tinsel Trading was because I had already been here and brought myself a naughty present

Lex in the best Pizza place in Little Italy Lombardi's

Washington Square Park

A New York view

A very strange shop, I wasn't sure whether to be fascinated or disturbed, I decided to be fascinated, but be warned its not for everyone, take a look at the website if you dare

http://theevolutionstore.com/

What I love about New York is turning a corner and stumbling across sights like this

Lex made me walk the Brooklyn Bridge, I was not very happy with him afterwards, I hate heights, but I'm glad I did it the once!

The view from Brooklyn

If your around Union Square you must eat here Chocolate by the Bald Man

Chocolate pizza, yummmmm

My favourite shop ABC Home and Carpets

We had a bike tour around Central Park

Alice in Wonderland in the middle of Central Park

Our last night in the city, we had cocktails on a roof top bar

The view on our last night

I hope you've enjoyed this little trip down memory lane with me, it really was a brilliant holiday! The weather was perfect, the people were very friendly, the area beautiful, I couldn't want more from my Great American Road trip.

TBAI

Me and Lex had a fantastic time at TBAI, it was so worth the months of planning, stressing etc. I feel honored to have been involved in such a worth while cause! As they say a picture paints a thousand words, so rather than waffle on about the event I'll share some of my favourite photos from the weekend!

Me standing with so many lovely bears.
The standard of the work was outstanding

Hats, so many hats

A wonderful stand full Chatman Village Bears, check out Art's work here

The Hobbit, Donna's 1st place winning piece

Ginger & her hubby Jay, look at all those fab bears, I wish I could take them all home

The very lovely Linda and Ginger

Collectors choosing at the preview event

Yummy, dessert at the dinner

Welcome to the Woods was made by my friend Ginger Brame, I loved this piece so much I had to have it. Gingers work is brilliant, check out her work here

Me and Ginger before the public show started

Fab dolls and books by Nancy Wiley, such a talented lady and she's lovely too, check our her work here

Part of the fab "Mad Hatters Tea Party" display

Spinning at the Alpaca farm tour

Alpaca's, so cute

My stand at the start of the show

My stand at the end of the show

What a trill riding on a yellow school bus, well it is for an English gal!

Going to school?! Nope we're all going to the Zooooooo!

Jet Lag...........

Well I'm back! Feeling less refreshed than I expected, what a holiday I feel broken, we did so much, saw so much, had such a fantastic time, its worth the complete feeling of exhaustion and jet lag today! I have so much to tell and show you, but need a few days to get my head and photos together, check back at the weekend I should be all sorted by then ;-)

In the meantime look whats sitting at my desk! You'd think it was Binky suffering from jet lag not me :-)

TBAI here we come!!!!!!!

Are you joining us?!

After what seems like months of planning, writing lists, sewing, sewing and more sewing, things are starting to come together for our "Great America Adventure"!

All the bears, mice and even an elephant are all packed and ready to go (to be honest they are better organised than me) and we all set sail (well flight really) on Friday! Me and Lex are having a few days before the show and after to see as much of the area as we can, we are all set for Connecticut, Rhode Island, Boston, Woodstock, Binghamton, Lake Placid and the the last few days in New York! I'm excited, scared, worried, happy, totally exhausted, you name it I feel it! But boy will it be worth it when I'm there! I'm counting down the days now.

Here's a sneaky look at part of my hat! its taken me hours

to make but I think it will be worth the effort

Anyway the bears were expecting me to put up my usual show preview so I had to explain that this time I wasn't going to do one, as the show has a preview hour on the Friday night I thought it was only fair to keep the bears unwraps until then, but I did think a few of them could have a little sneaky peek on here!

This little fairy mouse is not being rude, honest! I made her turn round ;-)

This little guy is my favourite out of the whole collection, if he doesn't sell I'm keeping him myself.

"Well Hello there"

So for now I'm signing off, I'll be back towards the end of August with lots stories and photos of my time away.

What a busy few weeks!

Summer is always a crazy time for me and this year it seems to be madder than ever, over the last weeks weeks I have been busy, exhibiting at the fab New Forest Bear Show, celebrating my Mum's Birthday, my Aunts Birthday and my Birthday! It was also mine and Lex's 2nd anniversary. I took a trip to the Hampton Court Flower show with my Dad and in between all this I've been working hard on commissioned bears so that this week I can start the TBAI collection.

There's now less than 4 weeks till me and Lex leave for the US and there is still so much to do, I have all the bears and mice to get ready and we still have not finalised our travel plans, we are planning a 16 days trip visiting Boston, Cape Cod, Connecticut, Binghamton, Lake Placid and New York, its going to be amazing but its also a little bit scary. I'm not a natural traveller unlike Lex so moving from place to place is a bit daunting for me, at least I have Lex to hold my hand and tell me I'm being silly when I'm panicking we'll miss a flight or a bus!!!
Anyway I must get back to sewing, so let me share with you a few piccy's from the last few weeks..............

Fabulous shoes that Lex brought me for my Birthday (I'm a lucky girl) I was totally spoilt this year and have got a large pot of money now so I can buy myself a bear at the TBAI!!!

Me and the girls at my Birthday BBQ, we've known each other for around 20 years

(can you spot the bear making equipment on the table, I have been working even when I'm celebrating)

Lex demonstrating his poi skills at my Birthday BBQ

This cute little rat was in the Lego garden at the flower show, it was wicked!

This fellow was for sale, I couldn't afford him :-(

I don't know why but a basket of veg make me happy!

There was a teddy bears picnic theme throughout the Floral marquee

Such a pretty colour

Sitting on my desk right now