Contact info while I am in Ohio

I will be using Tim's sim card...the number is (360) 909-3382.

I arrive on the March 27 and return to China on April 11th

We had a gorgeous sunny day in Shanghai. Our weather has been very fickle...it goes from really nice to really bad in a matter of hours. After a morning of running around the city, I settled in on our orange loungers in the sunny window and took a short nap.

Abi had a half day of school with interviews for internships this morning. It looks like she will be working at Hyatt on the Bund for two weeks in May. I took her and Peter to lunch after school. They still had on their "grown-up" clothes so I pulled "the mother card" and snapped this picture outside the restaurant. It is hard to believe that they will be off to college in just a few short months.

I will be leaving Shanghai on Friday for another exotic location......drum roll please.....Columbus, Ohio! Yup! It's true. I have an opportunity (thanks to Tim) to attend a two week fabric arts workshop given by Nancy Crow. I have to take a ton of fabric with me...oh darn...too bad I don't have any....see photo below. Ah....two glorious weeks of nothing but creative opportunities.

Fabric cabinet after trip to Korea. Look there is still room in the cabinet.

I actually sold 1/4 of the fabric that I bought in Korea. I cut it into fat quarters and packaged them in coordinating sets of three. I had a blast matching the fabrics and I sold enough to pay for my trip. I am soooo ready to go again!

Today I was scrolling through my last few blog entries and a thought occurred to me. (I know it is a surprise!) Anyway...We have described Shanghai as a city of contradiction. There are many social, economic, political, and generational differences here. So...if you look at our last two weekend activities you will see a good example of this. Two weekends ago we were in a charming village just a few miles away from our house. Last weekend we were at a stylish fashion show with a runway...also just a few miles from our house. And that is how it goes in Shanghai...

We rousted Abi out of bed this morning at 10:00. Driver Tim took us to breakfast at Thumb Plaza and then we came right back home so Abi could get some homework done. Tim showed me some helpful tricks for PowerPoint and then went to JinQiao to hit a bucket of balls. I spent most of the day working on a presentation that I need to have for my class next week. I am sure my children could have done the same amount of work in 1/4 of the time....it has been a while since I used PowerPoint AND I have Vista. So...the learning curve was pretty steep. Even with all that time spent on the computer I am not finished. Ugh! Tim and I treated ourselves to a massage this afternoon and it was a very nice break from the computer.

Tim cooked tonight...a really nice steak dinner.....AND....he did the dishes so I could continue working on my presentation. What a good husband!

Tucker was in CA this weekend attending an industrial design show with his classmates. A nice break after a week of finals.

It has been a very busy week for Abi. 10 International high schools led a fund raiser for "Healing Home". This organization provides funding for orphans that need surgery and have been abandon by their parents. The event was held at "the Loft" a small boutique shopping center in downtown Shanghai. Abi worked every night after school creating decorations and installing them in the event room. Along with the decorating project she decided to participate in the student fashion show. She was a model for one of the brand name clothing lines and also showed four of her own designs. Two weeks ago she sketched four outfits on paper and hired Mrs. Wang to sew them for her. I think she might have discovered a new talent.

The runway

Abi modeling a dress by Chloe Chen

The Chloe' Chen Collection

The American Apparel collection


And now.....the Abi Spofford collection

Sooooo Cute!

The models are all high school students that volunteered their time for the show

Another design by Abi Spofford

So beautiful...

>

#3 in the Abi Spofford collection

And then.....the designer modeling her own design...

Love the hood

Hey....who turned out the lights?

The complete Abi Spofford collection

More student designs

And to end our super fun day....

I won a round trip ticket to Hong Kong!

O yea! O yea! I'm dancing I'm dancing!

Today was our weekly SEA (Shanghai Expat Association) quilt group meeting. I use the word "meeting" very loosely. Our mission today was to collect more Bingo blocks to complete the charity quilt we started in December. To incent everyone to make more blocks we had another "Bingo" Day. I hosted the meeting at our apartment and it was a very large gathering.

Julie, Thelma, and Sheryl visiting....

Verni and Gluchen. Gluchen moved to Turkey but was back in Shanghai this week for a visit.

Ah....Beautiful....looks like stained glass in the window.

Preparing for ultimate Bingo!

Deb W. and Julie collecting Heart to Heart blocks. Julie designed this block and will make a quilt to raise money for the Heart to Heart foundation.

Coffee time!

Ready for Bingo...

Look at all those pretty blocks!

Playing bingo with buttons

The goal was met! 36 blocks....now all we need is a boarder and a binding.

Our group has grown during the past year (today we had 21 quilters) so we decided that everyone would bring a "brown bag" lunch so the hostess does not have to prepare food for a large group. So.....I found a quilted bag pattern that is small and works great for a lunch bag. This one was part of the Grand prize today for Ultimate Bingo.

Two of my students made these lunch bags on Monday and finished the hand stitching today during our "meeting". So fun! All the cool kids have these bags...ha ha!

Yesterday we were invited to Roger Wang's (Roger works with Tim at HP) home in the country. He was celebrating the birth of his son. It is Chinese tradition to celebrate when the baby is 1 month old. The celebration is a gathering of friends and family and a huge feast is shared. Okay...and a lot of Chinese white wine is consumed. This particular wine is very "strong" and Tim and I stay far away from it!

The celebration was at the family farm and we were lucky because it was sunny and warm. Here are some pictures of the celebration. Tim drove us to the farm...it was about 1 hour 15 minutes from our apartment.

Family home

Family busy preparing for the feastSoooooo cute!
Most of the meal was prepared outside on a patio.
The family hired a cook to prepare part of the meal.
Inside the family home....this is the kitchen...look at all those plates of food!
Family well
Family cooking area inside the home
Chef for the day
This farm area is owned by many families....all with the last name Wang....they called this area a village.

HP families

it was fun to see all the children...



This is what they grow on the farm. It is made into cooking oil.

Flower of the oil plant
Kids playing in the water

Hanging out with the babies...

Look at that face....! You can tell she loves hanging out with me!
She loves her daddy!


Dining room

crab legs
Spring rolls
More food
and more food...


In the dining room.....this was only half full when I took the picture. And...there was another dining room at the neighbors home that was just as full.


Ah...the guest of honor....What a sweet baby.
Grandma and mom brought him around to show him to all the guests while we were eating dinner. Then he was whisked away and we never saw him again.


Turtle soup...it does not taste like chicken

Fish.....it was very good

nuts

meat dishes

I think there were about 25 different dishes served. Our table was completely covered with different plates of food. It was very colorful.


Kids in the tree
I love this picture....
It was a very fun day in the country!