Monday, February 24, 2014

Debby Visits!

I've had the pleasure of meeting several bloggers in person over the years, and one of my favorites is Debby from Debby Weighs In.  We've met up in California a couple times, Plano once (that's when she taught me how to knit), and last week she came to my town for a few days!  I'm not sure which was the bigger lure to get her here, seeing Paco the Wonder Dog in person or going to the really nice quilt store in town, but whatever, I'm very glad she came.

The first night she was here, Jeff made his famous(!) fresh pasta with tomatoes, basil, garlic and onions for dinner and then we went out for frozen yogurt for dessert:
Yum!  He's getting good at this.

The next day I got up and ran two miles and then Debby woke up and we went to Scary Statue park for a walk.  I wanted her to experience the scary statues in person, and she did:
We walked about a mile and a half.  She got to see the statues, and we read the bricks that are inscribed with historical events...naturally, two weight-loss bloggers had to pose by the Battle of the Bulge brick.  Yes, we laid down to get that selfie.  Yes, there was a lot of laughing going on.  Yes, it was even funnier once we realized that another walker was approaching us as we laid on the (very nearly deserted) pathway.  

After that, we went to Blue Baker for breakfast:
Debby dressed appropriately - blue is always the color of choice when one goes to Blue Baker!
Later on that afternoon we stopped by my (my!) local running store, just so she could see where I like to hang out.  Then we went to the quilt shop.  Now, I'm not a quilter, but I was pretty sure it's a spectacular quilt shop, and that Debby would like it, and she did: 
The colorful thread is Perle Cotton and Debby was enthralled.  She loves it for embellishing her quilts and had quite the time with them.  Plus the fabric...oh, it was fun to watch her pick out fabric.  She even helped me choose some so I could make a throw pillow, which I'll show you in another post.

We were pretty exhausted at that point so we stopped for some coffee - the comfy chairs were a nice bonus:
Here I am rudely taking a phone call...sometimes life gets in the way of fun!

That night we went to PeiWei for dinner (chicken lettuce wraps, yum) and Debby got to play with the cool soda machine:
There were all kinds of flavorings you could add to your soda - Debby added vanilla to her diet Coke.

The next day we worked on the design for my throw pillow and I sewed a bit before we hopped in the car and drove to Navasota, to my (my!) local yarn store.  I restrained myself and didn't buy anything after my yarnpalooza from the previous weekend, but Debby found some really nice yarn and roving to spin into yarn - she not only knits, but makes her own yarn!  On the recommendation of Steph, the yarn store owner, we went to Love Pies for lunch:
Our sandwiches were very good, but the mini pies and coffee afterward?  Now that was delicious!!!.

After that I sewed some more while Debby got started on a knitting project with her new yarn.  We zipped over to Koppe Bridge for our traditional Friday night dinner of a burger and fries.  The night was over too soon as we both had to pack.  I woke up early Saturday morning and ran 3 miles with Amy and Julia, then we met up with Jeff and Debby for one last Blue Baker breakfast.  Shortly after, she and I drove to D/FW airport, where she flew one direction and I flew another.  I'm glad we got a few more chatty hours together in the car before we had to part - this visit was jam-packed and lots of fun!

29 comments:

  1. Love, love, love this! It's so fun that you have taken Debby to the places you always talk about. Must be fun for her to see that for real, hope I will one day too.

    But now I'm curious: you flew in another direction? Where did you go? Did I miss it?

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    1. Secret location...I can't say where just yet, but hopefully can come clean in a few days. Helping someone out.

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  2. this made me GRIN.
    HARD.
    BIG.
    and run to my amazing seuss quilt hanging in my office and smile again.

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    1. Debby liked seeing the quilt she made for me hanging in my office - aren't we lucky to have Debby originals! :)

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  3. SO. MUCH. FUN! That's the way a visit with a friend should be. Now you've got me wondering.... "Where in the World is Shelley?"

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    1. It was such a fun visit and much like what I suspect many blogger visits would be... ;)

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  4. That was SOOO MUCH FUN! It was even funner than people think it was. Now I have to write about it and put MORE pictures (a few days with two bloggers = MANY pictures lol.

    I love the photo collages. Thank you again for such a wonderful time (and thank you Jeff for the great pasta dinner!)

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    1. And speaking of pictures, it's nice to have someone understand that certain angles work much better when taking them, lol!

      So glad you came out! What an adventure!!!

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  5. Aww, how fun! :) Sounds like a great weekend with some yummy eats, which is exactly what I want when I visit friends. Also, I love everything at Pei Wei, especially those lettuce wraps. Mmmm.

    And speaking of out of town bloggers visiting, it's looking like I may be in your neck of the woods at the end of May. Maybe we can finally go for a run together? Or skip it and get fro-yo :)

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    1. Those lettuce wraps are awesome. Yummy, and I didn't feel like I needed to be carted out in a wheelbarrow afterward.

      You're coming to my town??? Hell's yes we will definitely have to meet up - a run, followed by some froyo sounds like a great plan. :) Just let me know the details!

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    2. Yep! We're meeting my brother at Schlitterbahn and visiting another blogger friend who lives in Bryan. So I think I'll be pretty close (with a rental car, willing to travel!). I think we'll be there over the weekend of May 30th-June 1st, then heading to Schlitterbahn on Monday of that week.

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  6. That looks so fun - and the coffee shop is totally up my alley. Need to calculate cost to go to TX.

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    1. Let's see, I lured Debby here with quilts and Paco...I could lure you here with several funky coffee shops, Blue Baker bagels, and pie! :)

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  7. Fun! I love that soda machine, we have one at Fuddrucker's in Portland. Good times!

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  8. Pie!! LOL Love the photos. You look like you had so much fun. It's worth the trip alone just to go to the scary statue park! Will you host an AIM GTG?

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  9. Fun time! Like the laying down shot at the battle of the bulge brick. Also love that soda machine, they have one at Pizza My Heart in Santa Cruz. Insanely expensive machines tho...

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    1. Glad you appreciated our efforts with the Battle of the Bulge brick! That was fun.

      I've seen another of those soda machines where I'm at now - it's very popular, and people were lining up to use it.

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  10. What a fun time!! Looks like you gals had a great time together!! :)

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  11. What a great visit - I love the selfie of you guys laying down!!

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  12. What great pictures--it looks like you two had so much fun! (Like I expected you wouldn't, right?)

    I wonder if Debby knows that that fancy soda machine provides my (sporadic) employment? I train stores and restaurants on the inner workings. And drink way too much strawberry ginger ale. :)

    Wishing you both safe travels!

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    1. Yes I did! That was part of our conversation--to document my introduction to Cammy's Special Soda Machines! I loved the diet vanilla coke!

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    2. I had a lime ginger ale yesterday - it was good (and GREEN!).

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  13. This post and the pictures are just a boat load of AWESOME!!! :) I hope you and I meet in person one day Shelley. We'd have a blast too!!!

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    1. I hope to meet up with you, too - and I agree, we'd have a great time!

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  14. That is so nice that you got to hang out with a fellow blogger. Looks like you two had lots of fun. I saw the same pop machines on a cruise ship. You needed to buy the drink package to use it, but there were lot of choices on the machines.

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  15. So fun! What a great few days. Loved the photos!

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  16. Hi Shelley do you live in Bryan or Dallas tx.I live in Plano.Thanks

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