Chic-a: Making practical fun!

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays! I love my country and I love celebrating the birthday of it! We plan on spending it with family and are going to BBQ up some unique hot dogs then go watch the fireworks! Last year it was hot dogs from around the world! There were some interesting combinations to try. We are doing the same idea this year… there are so many ways to dress a hot dog! Not sure what I will try but it might be with lentils and chutney! So if I don’t like it with the hot dog at least there will be something good to eat!

Here is a picture from The Rods and Roses Car show in Carpinteria, CA. Our friends Sylvia and Ron have been working on their car and it looks great. Sylvia and her daughter Renee are in the picture. Ron had a small stroke on Wednesday and is still in the hospital. Here is to you Ron, have a quick, full recovery! There are many prayers going out to you! Your car looks great!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Have a wonderful, safe holiday and enjoy the fireworks!

Knit and Pearl Boutique in Santa Barbara is a very elegant and fun knit store. Julie, the owner, has been so helpful and inspiring to me as I have started Chic-a. She has sent me some pictures of her Chic-a display. It is near the front door of the store and she said that it brings in knitters and non-knitters alike! The display is amazing and so fun and cheerful.

Looks great! Thank you Julie for sending the picture!

If you have a picture of how Chic-a is displayed in your store I would be happy to post it on the blog!

Coming up… pictures from TNNA in Ohio!

Strands and Stitches is a joyful and colorful knitting store located in Laguna Beach, CA. They have sent me some wonderful pictures of the Journey Totes, Blossom Bags and Yarn Keepers in their store. The owner, Cindy Hartman, has been so excited to get the Chic-a products in her store and she has been such an encouragement to me.

This is what Cindy has said about the Yarn Keepers,
“The yarn keepers are perfect for holding that slippery yarn that falls apart in your knitting bag. We sell a lot of linen and we always suggest they buy one of these cute bags. Linen wants to fall off the ball and this is way cooler than a zip loc.”
The pictures have inspired me to spend a little more time knitting…hmmm… maybe at least I could knit a few more rows before I fall asleep at night that way I just might finish my vest in time for next fall!!!

I love the shop and can’t wait to go visit on my next trip to Los Angeles. It is a good thing we have family near Laguna Beach!

Thank you for sharing Cindy.

It only took 30 years to see something big! When I was around 12, me and my friend Michele went to Lompoc’s Flower Festival and also took a tour of Vandenberg AFB and Space Shuttle’s new west coast launch area. The program at the base was canceled after the first Shuttle disaster. Today a Delta IV Rocket was launched from the shuttle launch pad! I took my daughter and went with my Dad and his friends to Surf Beach to watch the 1:10pm launch.

Waiting at Surf beach

It was so amazing to see the giant rocket go up into the sky. The firey tail very bright even in the daylight. It took about 30 seconds to hear the sound but it came, a low, long rumble! We were about 7 miles from the launch site. Even my husband, who couldn’t come because of jury duty, saw it in Santa Barbara from the courthouse tower!

This was the biggest rocket ever launched on the West Coast. It is even bigger than the Space Shuttle! The trail of clouds that it made was really beautiful.

It was a very fun day of dreams fulfilled and memories made. So I guess some things are worth the wait, even if it takes 30 years!

2011 is off to a busy start! We exhibited at the TNNA show in Long Beach, CA, this last weekend. It was a fun show and we met many wonderful people. We had our biggest booth ever, a 10 x 10, which gave us a little more room to move around and show our products. Actually, the booth was the same size as my daughter’s bedroom! Turquoise is her color of choice now

Chic.a's Booth

I had a lot of help in coming up with the set up for the booth. I think the pink curtains add just the right amount of attention…Thanks Shelley! I am glad we live a couple hours from Long Beach. That allowed us to bring all the stuff by car so we were able to bring everything we wanted.

That would be me in our booth right before the show opened on Saturday! I was a bit nervous but settled in and had a great time. It helped having my husband there to keep me calm… I don’t think he ever gets nervous… well, unless he is speaking in a microphone in front of a lot of people! Then he gets really funny! It was so nice to get to know the vendors around us as well as all the attendees. We enjoyed meeting a lot of wonderful people. It really is the people that make these events so fun!