Retread the Chuck Taylors

There is no better place to be on election night than at the Associated Press Washington Bureau offices in Washington, D.C. Thrilling, remarkable and electrifying barely scratch the surface.



After the video cast that ended at around 1:30am EST a few of us headed back to the hotel lounge. That is Lisa from Michigan on the left, Kris from Texas in the middle and Renee from Virginia on the right.




The events from the day, evening and early morning hours had left us hyped and we just weren't ready for it all to end.




Neither was D.C. When we stepped out of the AP building in the early morning hours of November 5th, D.C. was alive and ready to celebrate. Car horns honked. People shouted and chanted. Strangers high-fived on the city streets.

I felt proud to be an American. I felt lucky to be part of such an historic event.

Despite going to bed at 3:30am I awoke early so that I could see as much of Washington, D.C. before my flight left later that day.








I schlepped it up and down those city streets. And I took more photos than you would ever want to see here.







The whirlwind trip has left my Chuck Taylors in need of new tread!



And that is fine by me cause I feel like I've seen the world.

-dana

Backwoods meet Washington, DC!

I live in the country. Or as the politicians call it "Rural America". I'm talkin' backwoods. Boondocks. Hinterland. I'd have to walk through many a corn field or cow pasture to find "Main Street". Basically, I live in the boonies.




But some excitin' stuff is happenin' here in the sticks. (By the way, I feel the need to drop my g's just to give you the full sense of how country I am.)





I'm off to Washington, D.C. to be part of a panel of American voters for the Associated Press. Remember when I told you all about this before?

Well, I am one of those pollsters you read about in newspapers. Ya know . . . "according to the AP/Yahoo News poll . . .". I'm one of two thousand Americans that those Yahoos, er . . . um . . . I mean news organizations have been following regarding the Presidential campaign since last November. And, they have invited a few of us to be part of an online streaming video cast during election night.

So, please go here Tuesday evening to watch. I really have no idea what I'll be doing. Well, I have some idea. I mean I know I won't be at a round table with current world leaders. And, I know that I won't be picking my nose. But anything in between is really fair game. Won't you please check it out? Please?




And if that isn't exciting enough for this backwoods family, Razor is racing in the NATIONAL championship adventure race this weekend! Dude! The top 100 teams in the nation will be battling it out and my little smoochie-dupie-do is one of them. I'm so proud.


But wait there is more.

Those three quilts pictured are the three quilts I'm giving away! I'm sewing the binding on the first one pictured and as soon as that is done the contest will begin. I'm shooting for next Monday.

::Ommmmmm:: ::Ooooommmmm:: I'm in a yoga pose practicing deep breathing and careful meditation.

Peace,
dana

Podcasting

I mentioned back in late August that a crew was at my house filming a segment for pod cast.

You can now see it here.

-dana

Back in the swing of things

A quick Google showed me popping up in newspapers and news services nationwide. Here are a few . . .

Washington Post

CBS News

New York Post

Miami Herald

CNBC

Business Week

USA Today

Chicago Tribune

The Huffington Post

Los Angeles Times

Sacramento Bee (This one is especially for you Dad.)



Whew.

On to other stuff.

October is always one of the busiest times of the year for my soap company. Every weekend for weeks on end I'm traveling to art shows and festivals. Sometimes Razor is too. I'm busy. I'm tired. And by this stage of the game I'm a little bit irritable.

::Blink:: ::Blink::

Ok. Alot irritable.

But I'm looking to remedy that soon.

-dana

Now showing on the world wide web

The video portion of my Associated Press profile story is popping up on the web. This embed is from U.S. News & World Report but if you Google me you'll find me elsewhere too.



The print story will hit AP outlets on Friday, October 10th. Same deal. Just Google me and you'll find it.

Eeeeekkkkk!!!

And, since I seem to be all about shameless self promotion here today I thought I would also point you to a recent feature in a quilting industry newsletter. SuzGuz Designs featured me and my company, Old Red Barn Co., in their September newsletter. Check it out. Or not. But do check out SuzGuz Designs as Susan herself has designed and made a quilt to be given away here sometime in the next few weeks.

The quilt is amazing and you won't be disappointed. The only one who will be disappointed will be me when I'm boxing it up and shipping it off to one lucky winner.

Dude, I'm off to Google myself again.

-dana

All Points Bulletin

Crazy thing happened yesterday.





Any guesses?





Any guesses? Come on. Go ahead and try to guess. Cause you could guess all day and never guess this one. I dare ya.








Ok. So, these hip young people are Associated Press reporters. They came down from their Washington Bureau to do a story on me. Dude!! ASSOCIATED PRESS!

To be a proper hostess I fed them coffee cake.




Later it was chips and guacamole. And some of the most amazing heavenly elixir on earth . . . Jones Soda Co. Creme Soda. That stuff is so good. I like a good creme soda but a good one is hard to find. Often they are too sweet and too syrupy. Not this otherworldly concoction. It is the perfect blend . . . um . . . er . . ..

Did I mention the ASSOCIATED PRESS was at my house yesterday from 11am until 4pm?




This is Julie Pace. When I first talked to her on the phone I thought the interview sounded fun but doubted it would lead to anything. I figured she was someones intern making a few calls. But then I googled her. Eeeek! The nerves set in and I was terrified that she would call again. She did call the next day and told me they were coming October 2nd. Oh. My. Stinkin'. Heck.







And this is Matt Ford. He is a multimedia producer from Associated Press. I've googled him and find lots of stories he has produced and others he has contributed to but I can't point you to one concise place to read all about him. Dangit Matt!




So, my story should hit AP outlets next week. I'll provide some links here once I know it is running.

And get this. They are flying me to Washington, DC on election day to watch the presidential election results come in with other voters and political analysts. It will be some kind of live Internet streaming video kind of dealy bob.

Holy crap.

-dana

Exciting and nerve wracking

This week has been exciting for me. And nerve wracking too.




I had a crew of people in my home on Tuesday filming a podcast. I know!!! How cool is that?!! It will be edited and made into a segment all about Old Red Barn Co. I was so incredibly nervous about this. I couldn't sleep the night before. I couldn't eat breakfast. Dude, I was nervous. I was more nervous about this than I ever was about arguing a criminal case before a circuit court judge.

Whew. I'm so glad that it's over and I can eat and sleep again.

Also, this week Gina Halladay featured my headband tutorial at Quilters Buzz. Whoa Nelly. First of all, GINA HALLADAY. And secondly, QUILTERS BUZZ. Wanna talk about a buzz? Try getting news of this in your inbox.





Next week is sure to be a real let down.



Especially since the girls go back to school on Monday.

-dana