"Hookin' Up"

Yesterday, I got to meet Cheri---one of my internet friends. We had our meeting planned for a long time. She was in town to meet up with her sister, Deanna who lives near Memphis. I picked them up around 10 and took them on a driving tour of Nashville. Cheri was amazed at how many wide open spaces we still have here. Of course, Nashville has a way smaller population than Philadelphia. The weather was gorgeous---although they were probably a week too early to catch all the spring bloomers.

Before we parted, we got a few pictures---I nearly forgot, but thank goodness, Cheri didn't. Here are Deanna and Cheri. You can follow Cheri at Scrap Dreams. She's a scrapbooker and a mixed media artist. We discussed paper scrapbooking and digital scrapbooking. She prefers digital---since she gets her hands on, tactile "fix" with her mixed media pursuits. She has encouraged me to give digital a try. I just might! She enjoys it so much that she said when she finishes the few books that she's working on, she plans move to digital exclusively---there are so many options and freedom involved with that. She has definitely piqued my interest. I have wanted to give it a try for a few years, but have never taken the time. I don't really understand the whole "digital" thing. She cleared up my main question---how do you deal with the layouts? She said you have them printed in to a book and it's not all that expensive---at least not compared to paper scrapbooking.

I told Cheri that some of my friends think I'm crazy to meet up with people I don't know. But, what they don't "get" is that I DO know the people I follow on my blogs. That's the whole point---you get to know other people around the world with those glimpses in to their lives. Okay, Cheri's from Philadelphia---not exactly from around the world---but still, I love that. I've only been to Philly a couple of times. We had no trouble finding common things to talk about. 

I took them to the Loveless Cafe for lunch. No trip to Nashville would be complete without one. The Loveless is an "old timey" place visited by stars and people from all over. They are known for their biscuits and fresh preserves. Deanna ordered the catfish with fried green tomatoes and turnip greens. She offered Cheri her first taste of "fried green tomatoes." 

After lunch, we stopped off at a little antique shop on the way back to their condo. It's a cute little place full of odds and ends. Cheri found a really nice chest, but with no way to get it home, she had to pass on it. 

Cheri tells me that there is a possibility that she may be in Nashville again in the future for a convention. If she is---and has the time, she'll let me know. We had a fun few hours together. Now that's what I call a "hook up."