Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Creative Exploration to Canada & New England - Boston!

Waaaay before we ever set foot on the ship, there'd been chatter about finding a way to get to Absolutely Everything, a scrapbook store outside of Boston.   Patti (who works at the store, and was on the cruise) stepped up and made the arrangements, and we had our dream excursion all set to go!
Now, before you start thinking that I should have been sightseeing instead of finding yet another way to spend my money, I should point out that I have been to Boston many times and though it is one of my favorite cities, I didn't feel the need to see the sights again.  And I REALLY wanted to visit what people have described as the best scrapbook store in the world!
And I had another motive.  One of my online friends lives in the area and she was planning to be at the store when we arrived.
At about 9:15 we left the ship and found the area in the terminal where we'd be meeting our bus.  
No, this is not the bus we rode.  Hah!  I just thought it was cool looking.
 Milling about, waiting for the bus to arrive:


 No guessing which group Wendy and Maurene belonged to:

 Stephanie (AKA the Mad Woman of NJ) and our list mom Gloria:
Our bus was right on time and we are off!  Don't know (or maybe I did know and just don't remember) what bridge this is, but I love bridges and think this is a beauty:
 We were lucky not to run into any of the notorious Boston traffic, and arrived at the store in under an hour.
I only took a couple of photos inside the shop, but trust me.....it does have absolutely everything!  
Clara and I, meeting for the first time after being online friends for quite a while:


The store was huge!


The following shots were taken in their BATHROOM!





Kate, the owner came on the bus before we left to thank us for coming.  She thought I wanted a photo of her breasts, but honestly, it was the necklace I was interested in.
We were back in Boston before 2, and our very cooperative driver dropped some people off to do a little sightseeing.  The rest of us were taken to the ship.

After a nice lunch with Pat, Lori, Wendy and Maurene we went up to Dizzy's Jazzy Lounge for drinks and a free scrapbooking event.  Well, truth be told, we went up there for drinks and the free pack of paper.   Because we hadn't already bought/received enough.  Hah!

That night Pat and I had dinner at Portofino, the Italian specialty restaurant.   It was just lovely, and the food was wonderful.

I didn't take pictures of the food (too busy eating it), but did manage to catch Pat just as she was about to catch me.

And we enjoyed another beautiful sunset while dining.
Tomorrow is our final day at sea, our last class with Tim, and our farewell cocktail party.  Sigh.......

15 comments:

Tammy D said...

Awesome. Wish we would have all been there at the same time!

Elena said...

Everything continues to be awesome!! Thank you for letting me live it vicariously through you! LOL!!!

Elaine A said...

Eileen -

Sound like a really lovely excursion day. I've never been to Absolutely Everything, but I have bought from them. They now sell on line using ecrater. Here is their link: http://shop.absolutelyeverything.com
They also said that they can add anything to your order that is not yet on the online shop by just calling their store - 978-887-6397. Now I am not enabling you - I'm just saying . . .

Elaine Allen

Helen said...

What a great store! your trip was just magical, I wish I could have been there.

Patzee said...

Absolutely Everything really lived up to its reputation. They post completed projects right next to the supplies needed to recreate. My basket was full, and so was my camera! I am so glad Patti arranged this awesome trip!

Angie Hall Haviland said...

SO ENJOYING your posting about the cruise, Eileen!! THANKS so much for taking the time out to share with us all :)

Joan G said...

Eileen, I just found your blog via the All Things Tim group. It is lovely and I have thoroughly enjoyed your cruise review. You are on my list of favorites so I will be checking in often...and love your altered book blog. Thanks for the inspiration

Dorothy said...

Looks like such a great time!!!
Thanks for this!

KAT said...

Thanks for posting the pics of AE - I am traveling 11 hrs on Friday to take Tim's classes there and I can't wait!!!! And looks like the store will be the icing on the cake (I am more of a cake (Tim's classes) than an icing girl!!! Good thing I have money to spend!!!

Lori said...

Great recap, and great pics of the store, which I neglected to take, so I'll just reference your blog, lol! I'm really loving reading your posts!

Anonymous said...

Love your photos and enjoying the cruise again via your blog.
Maurene

Healing Woman said...

The posts of your trip are wonderful. I feel like I was traveling right along with you. Thanks so much..tomorrow we go to the cocktail party..Weeee.

Unknown said...

Wasn't that the best store ever?! We needed almost the full 2 hours to shop and see "absolutely everything"! lol I'm dreading that your recap is almost over, because yours is my inspiration to get mine started but I'm STILL trying to get in the swing of things since being home.

Kathy2eggs said...

I am so bad at bloging I wonder why I even try...your's is just perfect...really enjoyed reliving all the moments with you.

WW said...

who needs sightseeing when you can go to a store?