Treasures Found

I got up at 4:30am to ride the Megabus to NYC...

The morning was rainy and foggy and the bus driver, Yvette, informed us that she was sick, had spent most of yesterday in the E.R., and had been driving for 12 hours overnight without any sleep...What?! Not what you want to hear from someone who will be driving you the 3.5 hours to New York...

So I made it a point to sit up front. And Yvette became my new best friend...I was going to keep that woman awake no matter what. At one point, as I asked her if she wanted another Red Bull, she gave me a sly look and asked, "What? You're worried about me, aren't you?"

Uh. Yea-uh...

Luckily, I made it to New York without dying, met Shirlee who took the train down from Massachusetts and we were off.

Now. You're going to be really mad at me. But I just have to face the music and get it over with. I only took ONE picture.

Okkkkkkkk...I know.

I hear your pain.

I know you don't like to hear excuses either but since it's my blog I just have to write them to make me feel better.

It was raining. A grey day makes the light terrible. I didn't have my good camera. I have to be in the right mood to want to photojournal my day. I like to photojournal my day when I'm alone (so I can take my time). Or, I like to photojournal when I'm in a large group (then no one knows I'm missing). It's hard to haul bags, hang with Shirlee, manage an umbrella and try to think about photos. So...I dropped the photos.

But I do go often so I promise one day to be better at pictures.

I do want you to understand what it feels like for two needle friends to be let loose in the Garment district of New York.

So here's the best analogy I could come up with...it's the 8-year and 5-year old British Youtube stars, Sophia Grace and Rosie on a shopping spree courtesy of Ellen Degeneres and their singing idol, Nicki Minaj:

Now. You know how we felt.

I find it's easier to go shopping with a few specific projects in mind. So, Shirlee was looking for fabrics, sequins and flowers for her current project (you can see here) and I was looking for tiny beads, some gold ribbons, and other "goodies".

We hit Schmalberg's flowers where Shirlee placed a flower petal order, then we hit Mood, Elegant Fabrics, and Lace Star. I had never been to Lace Star -- the place is floor to ceiling with exquisite, expensive laces. I wasn't in the market for lace but I loved finding out what was available.

I'm in a bit of a netting and bobbinet phase of my life and would like to explore this material more so I bought some gold and silver silk tulle and peach cotton bobbinet at Mood...

And I have a Heart of Gold project I'm starting when I'm finished with Audrey so I picked up these gold ribbons at Mokuba...

We hit Joyce trim and a few of the bead stores recommended by Anonymous (I don't know how you're supposed to thank Anonymous but thank you!) We didn't eat until around 2pm (we forgot) and when we were done there, we headed over to Tinsel Trading as our last stop of the day....

And....

We hit the mother lode!

Marcia, the owner had just bought out the entire stock from another store and old boxes were piled all over the floors and tables. They had just brought it in. No one had yet gone through it. No one had even gotten to look at it.

Shirlee, quick to sniff out the best loot, asked, "Is this for sale?"

The clerk answered, "Not yet. We haven't gone through it yet, we just..."

Then Marcia walked out, interrupting her by saying, "Sure, it's for sale!"

OMG! Now you know why we felt like Sophia Grace and Rosie!

See all those boxes piled on the table? There were at least a hundred to look into...Most of the dust-covered, age-rotten boxes contained sparkly little cabochons and sew-ons wrapped in these paper packages...

We opened and squealed and hunted and found!!! It was glorious! Both of us use these sparkly bits in our work so it was a true goldmine for us.

If you live nearby or can plan a trip to Tinsel Trading, you should go soon.

But for those of you who can't...And because I feel so terrible that I didn't take any pictures...

I'm having a giveaway.

One shell full of New York treasures to one of the friends who comments on this post. Just leave a comment by the time I wake up on Tuesday morning. About 6am EST. I'll choose a winner and let you know who it is in my Tuesday post.

And if you want to see more enthusiasm and unbridled joy, watch these clips of Sophia Grace and Rosie's appearance on the Ellen Degeneres show:

All the treasures in the world aren't worth as much.

If they could only bottle and sell that!

Happy weekend everyone!