Gah! On My Own!!

Holy hannah! I'm flying! I know. Crazy. Not to mention i was on my own for this trip. A "solo trip" if you will. You would never know this, but beneath those clouds is a very dreary, wintery, Minnesota day happening. I was pleasantly surprised that there was sun! SUN! SUNNNNN above that layer of gray clouds. Of course, my ever-fascinated-self had to snap a photo. I'm such a tourist...

I arrived in the night. I was in a teeny twin-prop plane, that swayed in an effort to land on an island. It landed. I was fine. So was everyone else. My concern was navigating the airport and finding my husband which involved taking a ferry across dark waters.

I made it. I saw my husband patiently waiting in the ferry lobby. The look of, "seriously... what did you do? swim here?" because it took so long to get to him.



In the morning, i woke up in his apartment (excuse me... CONDO i.e. really expensive, teeny tiny apartment located on a busy street with this for a view). I was on my own for the day. I had all thursday and friday to wander the streets by myself until jason got off work. oh what to do?what to DO? WHAT to do?



Wander. That's what i did. Jason's place is not too far from all of the action. There is Queen street for example. Much different than Queen Ave N. where i grew up (ha!). Queen street stretches for miles. on this particular mile there is shopping. Nope. Not mall shopping. This is what we would consider "outdoor" shopping because you have to walk outside to get to each shop. Bet you didn't know that about "outdoor" shopping (well, neither did i until just this moment).



What i noticed about the shops are a:) they have crazy window displays and b:) you can't really see their store signs unless you are across the street which then means; 1. you are busy paying attention to what is across the street and you almost get nailed by a car because you aren't paying attention to the street you are about to cross and 2. the shops need to rely heavily on their store fronts. That my friends was a long-winded explanation for; listen up shops! get creative you shops you! Quit relying on "fancy" signs that no one can see and beef up your window displays. You aren't selling a sign, you are selling a product and telling people your store's philosophy.

Perfect example is shown above. This window is stating, "everyone should wear white including children when you are in a house of white that relies on light for color". The end. Well, not really. It's enough of a story to think, "i wonder what in the hell this shop has for stuffs. lets go in and look! who cares if i seem out of place! i wanna see how much they are charging for this stuff." OR you could be thinking, "interesting display. interesting clothing designs. i wonder if that comes in black... i think i need to go in and see."

I had another picture of a window display. Apparently i uploaded the one below instead. Ah well. below is simply a pub. Interestingly enough, this is a pub that reminds me of exactly how they were in England. Sort of.

Wouldn't it be fun to live on the top floor and have the gorgeous view? Well, yes the view would be of other buildings but i LOVE the windows on the top floor. or are they doors? do you think that people live just below and that the top floor is their private patio? Instead of those being windows are they doors? No. I suppose they aren't doors, but wouldn't that be a fun idea?

More pictures soon! Particularly because i need to show you the picture of the window display with cats in it.