Giz and Viv on the Go!

Initially I had anticipated coming back to Indiana at the beginning of September and had just began to contemplate departing the city for an early August return when I found out my dear friend Lizzie ( aslso affectionately known as Lizzard, Gizzard, Giz) would be visiting her folks in Nappanee for two weeks in early August.  That sealed the deal!  Decision made.

This was the first time I got to meet her Vivian and she is just as amazing as all the pictures would lead me to believe.  She is just about as sweet as can be - plus she has lots of zing just like her mama!

Giz, Viv and I managed to have three really fun outings during their stay.

Our first trip took us to Goshen.  Lizzie hasn't lived in the area for the better part of a decade and didn't know all the fun Goshen had to offer.  Of course our first stop was Maple City Market - one of my most favorite stores in Goshen.  After that we wandered farther downtown and stopped into Found.  I hadn't been in there since their recent remodel and it it BEAUTIFUL!  Lizzard especially enjoyed the Cambodian art, jewelry, and textiles they had for sale.

 She found a sweet horse made of Hmong fabrics for Viv.

 The store was magical because Viv found a nap.

We wandered around 10,000 Villages and over to Better World before heading back.  It was so much fun to share some of my favorite places with Lizzard and Viv.

On our next outing we headed up to Mishawaka and South Bend.  We checked out Down to Earth - I had never been there and it was very nice.  Then we headed to the South Bend Farmers Market.  Viv was wowing the vendors with her cuteness.

 We stopped at Chipotle where Lizzie impressed me with her baby/burrito handling abilities.

After lunch our destination was Erica's Craft & Sewing Center where we met up with Lizzie older sister Jess.  Jess is expecting her own little girl this October and Lizzard is making her niece a quilt.

 We had a good time deliberating over fabric for the quilt.

Standing there with these sisters I just had to laugh at the whole thing.  If you had told me the day I met Jess (which was back when I was in fourth grade) that one day I would be sitting there picking out fabrics for her baby's room I don't think I would have believed you.  But there we were.  How lucky am I to know both these awesome ladies!

Our final outing was the icing on the cake!  We went sewing machine shopping.  Having not done sewing machine shopping for some years I did some research on the various models I knew the local shops had to offer.  Personally, I am partial to Bernina (that is the machine that I have a love) but I know that my friend Jude loves her Janome.  I compared models in both lines.

Lizzard and Viv came over and we headed to test drive the machines.  Our first stop was to try out a Janome.  Lizzard like it.  She could tell the improvement from her old (now dead) Brother.  She knew the one she would buy.  Knowing the importance of comparison shopping we headed to the Bernina shop just to check.  It ended up that Bernina had more models to offer and Lizzie ended up falling in love with a great Bernette machine.  The shop also would ship the machine to her house in Georgia.  She was sold.  I don't know who was more excited over the machine - her or me.  Probably her but I was pretty psyched to have been a part of her machine purchase.

Back at the my place we raided my fabric stashes and made a pile on which Lizzard could experiment.

Viv got an introduction to fibers with some crinkle chiffon. 

I am so grateful to get to spend some much needed quality time with my dear Lizzard and her dear little one.

We both agreed that the older we get the more we find we have in common and enjoy our friendship even more.  Thanks for all the good memories Lizzard.  From that first lunch on River street to all the places we've lived and our meeting Maggy, that cat and those pups, and us marrying you off to Clint and all the insanity in between the fun just never stops.  I look forward to the many adventures to come Mrs. Ross.