PR Weekend Diary

Wednesday, April 24
     I made it!  I'm in San Franciso for PR Weekend 2013!  I'm so glad I came early.  I got to see Gina, Lindsey's best friend from high school. She is my "other daughter from another mother".  I haven't seen her since graduation.  She's all grown up and a wonderful young woman.  I'm so proud of her.  She picked me up from the airport and drove me to the Marines Memorial Club and Hotel.  We talked for hours, even though I was still on east coast time and was dog tired!
   

There is no way anyone can stay in The Marines Memorial Club and Hotel and not be made aware of the sacrifice US soldiers have made.  I was on the 5th floor, which housed the Memorial Hall.  The walls were covered with plaques honoring deceased soldiers, most of whom were killed in action.  The 11th floor housed the library/reading room in which were many artifacts, including Gen. MacArthur's corn cob pipe and hat.  The resin sculpture of the bulldog mascot was so realistic looking I thought it was taxidermically preserved, a process I find a little creepy.

Thursday, April 25
     I got up early and walked the short distance to Chinatown.  When I got to the Chinatown Gate and saw the steep hill, I almost turned around. But I needed to buy a rolling bag for bringing my fabric purchases home.  Then, I went to Britex, also a short walk from the hotel.   Britex has an awe-inspiring inventory and eye-popping prices.  People warned me about the prices and when I saw the other stores in the immediate area (Neiman Marcus, Bulgari, Chanel, etc.) I knew they were right.  I bought only a piece of khaki cotton on that trip and went back to the hotel.  Later, I met up with  a group of PR People and went back to Britex for more shopping.  On that visit, I bought black crepe and a batik to match the khaki cotton.

Cotton Khaki twill and Batik

In the evening, I had dinner with Gina and then hung out at the registration table to chat with and meet other attendees.

Friday, April 26

V1260

     Today was the Sandra Betzina seminar.  She had so much  information to share, she hardly finished a sentence before she began to talk about something else.  It's a good thing I have many of her books.  The best part was the afternoon trunk show.  We got to see clothes from her Today's Fit collection up close and personal.  She was wearing a blouse from the collection that looked nothing like it's patten envelope photo/illustration.  If I'd seen only that picture, I would never have considered the pattern.  But I liked it so much on Sandra, I plan to buy the pattern tomorrow without waiting for a $3.99 sale at Jo-Ann.  Unfortunately, something I ate for lunch didn't agree with me and I didn't feel well enough to have dinner at Buco Di Beppo. I'm going to bed and pray I feel better for shopping tomorrow.

Saturday, April 27
     SERIOUS FABRIC SHOPPING TODAY!  I had three stores on my Fabric Shopping Bucket List.

1. Mood Fabrics in NYC
2. Vogue Fabrics in Chicago
3. Britex Fabrics in San Francisco

I've been to all three!  After hearing Sandra Betzina mention Stone Mountain & Daughter about 153 times, I added it to my list.  I had my own personal guide, Mary Beth, who took me, via public transportation, to Stone Mountain in Berkeley, Fabrix and Satin Moon back in San Francisco.  Stone Mountain shipped purchases if requested. I can't wait until it arrives home safely. We didn't have to pay sales tax if we had our purchases shipped.  Here is my haul (minus the Stone Mountain purchases):

From Satin Moon: Italian cotton and Indian cotton:  I forgot which was which.

Close-up of Italian or Indian cotton

From Fabrix:  Cotton/poly twill and soft knit.

Sunday, April 28

     On the plane home, I reflected on the weekend.  This time around, rather than traveling in a large group by bus, we were left to our own devices to shop.  On Friday, I felt confident that I could get around by my myself if I had to, but on Saturday, I was extremely grateful for Mary Beth, my own personal guide.   We ran into other PR shoppers at every stop, so it was almost like we were traveling en masse. 

I had two goals for the weekend:

(1) something black for my youngest sister's 40th semi-formal birthday bash (She wants everyone to wear black - don't ask me why.)  

(2) something blue for my Mother of the Bride Dress.

I got black crepe (sounds so funereal), but I didn't find anything for my MOB dress.  Oh, well. That's a 50% success rate.  Not too shabby.

I wish we had the show-and-tell post mortem after shopping.  It was a fun event in previous PR Weekends.  I hope there is a way to include it next time.

PR Weekends are always fun.  Eighty-five people who are just as obsessed with sewing as I am!  How could I not have a good time?

Next year, Austin, TX.