If a picture is worth a thousand words…
As mentioned when we last met, I headed to Dallas to attend the Declare Conference earlier this week. At my first conference, I met Shelly and the rest is history. We attended the next one together and then there was Covid and all kinds of nonsense and they quit having the big conferences.
This year, they decided to kick back in. Attendance was rather small compared to the two I have attended in the past, but it was good to be with other creatives and spend time with Shelly. So here are some photos of the trip…
This l’il Aggie belongs to Shelly and Jack’s daughter Katy. Sadie barked vigorously at me for a few minutes and then cozied up. Occasionally she would forget who I was and would bark, but then it was back to BFF’s.
Thankfully she didn’t fit in my suitcase because they are all rather attached to her. But it didn’t stop me from trying.
They had a “cheer table” where anyone who had produced something could set it out to share.
You can see Shelly has a few books – all of which you all need to check out, but it really choked me up to see a book with my name on it sitting there.
Still crying as I type.
And I owe it all to Shelly for encouraging me and inviting me into the project.
As you can see, she is a 10.
Background on this one…our conference was located near the McKinney historic downtown. I have read all about this place on a blog I follow and couldn’t wait to see it in person. It is cute and reminds me a bit of Franklin, TN but built around the town square.
We tried a restaurant that had great reviews, but didn’t care for the menu selections so headed out to find a place.
We found “HUGS”…
and this sign tells you all you need to know.
The staff was amazing and a guy in a wheel chair helped us to our table and gave us menus. He told us to go to the counter to order and pay and put our number in the block when we got back.
It happened to be 10 and so he wheeled over and asked if we were Bo Derek. He laughed and laughed and made us laugh and so we took our photo to prove we are indeed…perfect 10’s.
Lunch was delicious and it was the sweetest place. As we left I saw the fairy door which sealed the deal for me…
If you are in McKinney – do NOT miss this place!
After lunch, Shelly (who has more energy than any human I know) wanted to duck in an antique store she had read about. She is on a hunt for a particular style of glassware for her daughter.
As we entered, she suggested we split up to cover more ground. The store was huge, multi leveled and made up of a zillion booths. We went up and down them, sipping our HUGS teas and laughing when we would spy the other one down the way.
We did not find the glassware, but definitely have another chapter for the next book.
Because every day…there is a story in the works if you open your eyes and ears.
Tomorrow I want to share some ways the conference renewed me and what I do. For now, I need to switch out my laundry and get ready to head north and see those grands.