Karen’s Opinion

I had a blast with my sisters and my mom this past weekend. We went to the quilt festival in Cincinnati and shopped until we dropped.
I amazed myself by not buying any more projects. Well, except one. I did buy a pattern to make a pillow. I still have things to make that I bought at the Houston quilt show. That was 2 years ago!
I bought two quilt hangers to display things I have made. I had looked at them online so I saved shipping charges by buying them at the show.

I came home to find that my husband and our daughter had put down laminate flooring in the master bedroom. I love it! We actually took it out of our showroom in our flooring store. The style was discontinued. We put new down in the showroom and this flooring has been sitting in our barn (storage building) for a year, waiting to be installed. That is another advantage to laminate floors. They can be taken up and re-installed! I absolutely love the look in my bedroom. My daughter said I would have been shocked at how much dust was under our bed. I can believe it. We have a Select Comfort bed. It is not easy to vacuum under that type of bed. I think our sinuses will feel better having a hard surface floor in our bedroom. I can’t stop going in there to marvel at it!

While visiting our daughter in Florida, we visited St. Augustine. The vicinity of St. Augustine was first explored in 1513 by Spanish explorer and governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de León. You know, the guy who was looking for the Fountain of Youth. Well, we drank the water that was to restore our youth. I have yet to see any results.

St. Augustine is a wonderful place to visit restaurants and shop. I loved wandering in and out of the shops as each was unique with what it had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised to find a Fresh Produce shop! I had recently been approached by Fresh Produce to try out an item of clothing from their line and then write a review. Before we left on vacation, I had been reading about Fresh Produce being co-founded and run by a mom entrepreneur, Mary Ellen Veron. I wanted to see for myself if this shop held the types casual women’s clothing of which I might be interested. It sure did! I loved all the soft pastel colors of the new dresses for spring. I could have gone overboard with spending in that store because their clothing is the care-free, casual styles I needed while we were on vacation. I loved the idea of pulling vacation clothing out of one’s suitcase without having to iron said item. Fresh Produce carries everything from shorts and sundresses to bathing suit cover-ups and more. The majority of their clothing is made in the USA. I think I even saw the dress that I had picked to review. I was excited to get home and see if it had come in the mail while we were gone.

My package was waiting for me! I had been wanting a carefree loose fitting dress that I could put on after work so I chose the Catalina Maxi Dress in the color Oyster.

I love this dress! I love how it feels loose but doesn’t feel like it is swimming on me. The straps are just wide enough to cover my bra straps. It doesn’t wrinkle when I sit down. It is casual enough to wear at home but I think I will also be able to wear it to church by dressing it up with some big jewelry and a pretty pair of sandals. Fresh Produce carries sizes from sizes S – 3X and ships to over 200 countries. I am so glad I know about Fresh Produce.

I love to travel but I sure do like my bed. Why is it, no matter where I go, I don’t sleep as well as in my own bed?

My husband and I traveled to Florida to visit our daughter. She wakes up every morning to this:

She wants to move home to Indiana! She misses the seasons. I think Florida is very nice but we weren’t there during the hot summer. The weather was perfect for our week’s visit.

My husband drives me crazy. He loves to drive through car lots and look at all the new cars. I only like to do that if I know I am going to get to buy one. To me, it is like going to the mall and not being able to come out with any packages. It just doesn’t make sense.

We are not in the market for a new car but my mom is. Now, this is where I can get involved! I have nothing invested except my opinion! LOL

I can suggest a new Honda because my mother in-law has had a few of those and they were so reliable. Or, I can get her interested in a new Saab like our friends who were just here from New York were driving. It was pretty cool and they said it was very comfortable on their long drive to Indiana. My mom needs a comfortable car to drive to warm weather each year when she wants to escape Indiana snowstorms.

How am I coming up with all these links to help mom find her car? I am using www dot carconnection.com. It is fun to use that website and super easy to maneuver. For instance, if I am looking for the new Mitsubishi Outlander Se, I go to the website and search for that particular car. If I want to put in the types of options mom wants and see what it brings up, I can find choices for her to look at that way too. (Doing that brought up a Lexus Gs 450 Hybrid and I am not sure she wants to spend that much money. She likes all those options!)

Try out the website and have fun looking for a new car. It sure beats driving through car lots.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hampton Hotels. All opinions are 100% mine.

Whenever we travel, we are always on the lookout for a good place to stay. We have always had great accommodations at any Hampton Inn we’ve stayed at and the great breakfast they offer is right up our alley! Their pool always looks inviting but we have yet to take the time to use it. Like I said, we are on the road and always in a hurry. One of these days, I want to make reservations to stay at the Hampton Inn in Gatlinburg, TN. I know we will get a comfy bed in a clean room when staying there. We will also have some time to relax around the pool. I can dream can’t I?

Maybe my dream can come true! Right now, during the Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes, I might win a free stay. Yes, during this giveaway, participants have a chance to win a free weekend stay for themselves and 100 of their friends at any Hampton Inn. Wouldn’t that be a blast? I would invite all my quilting lady friends to stay during the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg quilt festival that takes place every year. With the offering of 100 friends on the table, they could even bring their husbands! I can imagine sharing all our fabric purchases as we lounge around the pool.

Who would you invite if you won this fabulous sweepstakes? Where would you go? Be sure to enter so you have a chance to win!