Stamp Away Once More Upon a Time
Last year i opted not to go to the annual rubber stamp convention in Cincinnatti and I was sorry. Not heartbreakingly sorry, just something was missing and even though I have another trip coming up I decided I wasn’t going to miss it this year. I bought the ticket and made reservations. Jodi was able to accompany me so that makes it SO much more fun! We started out with a very glamorous dinner of Culver’s, ice cream and all! The trip was uneventful and though I had been offered the grand opportunity to do contactless check in, I opted for human contact. Lord, I get so frustrated with businesses using my phone for their business. I am that person who just refuses to go along with that program! Regardless we got to the room and no tub, called down to the front desk and, no tubs here. Note to self, Delta ( A Marriott product and it is going to be a repeat of the Marriott product of a month ago! We were about to encounter USP plugs that didnt work and TP that is so thin, well…..) off the list. We got ready for bed and to watch a movie and we could not figure out how to watch anything other than regular TV. But I had brought a bottle of petite Syrah and we were going to have a glass dammit, even if accompanied by MSNBC!
I got up with less urgency than I had in years gone by. We used to be there before the doors opened, tail feathers shaking, all excited. But I am SO blessed with stamps and supplies that is it not the earth shaking rush to get to the grab bags that it was. As a matter of fact there are no longer grab bags and I would not need it anyway.
It was relatively quiet at first so the shopping was fun, it was mush more spread out and many of my favorites were there and many were not. I did a cursory slow run through taking photos of things I thought I wanted but wanted to see what else was out there before I purchased. Long story short I didn’t take a pic of the company name and could not find them back! I was not terribly naughty, got some great stuff and am ready to go home and play!
I picked up Jodi and we went to the Bluebird cafe for lunch. I just love it and the weather was so lovely that we ate outside. I had mushroom soup and the perpetual curried chicken salad on a small croissant.
Jodi had egg salad on a large croissant. This place is just lovely, they bake their own croissants, pies and other goodies!
The owner and I had had a chat about the fact that we are from Indy, the stamps and our impending trip to the Jungle. She suggested we try a new place called Dororthy Lane, she said I would love it. I might have, but it was not open yet! So we went to a park that we had visited previously and Jodi read and I TRIED to draw and paint Jodi sitting there reading.
She took it well as her head was the same size as her feet and we joked that I made her microcephalic. I am just not adept at drawing which frustrates me to no end. Regardless, we had an enjoyable afternoon in the lovely weather. The weather is amazing, usually we are sitting in the park suffering in the heat and it was JUST absolutely beautiful!
There was a family reunion behind us, somewhere behind the trees, but they had a DJ playing R&B and a microphone which we could hear VERY well. They also had the accompaniment of a canine companion.
We had reservations at 5:30 at Meritage, a restaurant I have long wanted to try, and we needed to leave.
I had not made reservations for outside but they had a spot and it was great to be outside, enjoying good food and wine, and even better company. I had monkfish, carrots and Brussel sprout.
Now these were not just carrots or sprouts. The fish was in a crab butter, which if I had it to do over I would have had in the beurre blanc sauce they were serving with the fish special. {The lovely thing about this restaurant is they are willing sub about anything out!}. The carrots were is a sweet sauce of some sort, and the sprouts, well they were scorched, sauced and topped with panchetta. I had a white Cotes du Rhône to accompany my meal.
Jodi had a hamburger, salad and a loaded baked potato, and her usual of a White Russian. NO dessert, we were stuffed!
We went back to the park as we wanted a closer un-peopled look at the waterfall. It was absolutely lovely, no one was there and we had a grand time taking pics of each other and trying not to skid down the rocks!
We came back to the room after and watched “Conclave”. It was o.k. But ended rather abruptly. Regardless, I am rather glad I decided not to skip this year, Good time with Jodi and a renewed enthusiasm to try to find time to stamp!
