Fabricana & My Silly Suite

The drive down crossed numerous terrain and weather changes. It was a chilly -8 Celsius leaving home and a pleasant +4 arriving at the hotel. The worst part of the road was the first forty-five minutes from home with compact snow and slippery sections. The top of the pass was foggy and slippery as well but after that things were great although the weather man was predicting flakes of snow. I was happy to miss that. Flakes of snow will bring traffic to a standstill in the lower mainland. It's like that dusting at Heathrow last Christmas. A major event that is nothing to those of us who live further north.




Isn't this a welcoming building? It's the Fabricana in Richmond, BC, Canada. I'd been here once before so it was much easier to find this time AND... I knew what to expect. I arrived just after lunch and spent about three hours first looking, then filling my cart while looking, and finally getting the fabric cut and paying for it. An extremely friendly woman named Carol cut my fabric. She's of Asian heritage and look GORGEOUS in her outfit. I ended up buying the same fabric, different color, as her vest. I certainly viewed the whole buying process differently now that I'm working in a fabric store. I was very careful to think through my purchases ahead of time, know what I want, and not make a mess.




Fabricana is HUGE. In the view above, I'm standing in one corner taking the image across and even so, you're only seeing about a third of the lower floor. Notice the mezzanine. In the image below...




... I'm standing on the mezzanine taking the picture back toward where I was standing before and you're still only seeing about a third of the lower floor. There are several sections - dance, quilting, wools, bridal, clearance, knits, maybe more - that aren't in the picture. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing flannel. If it sells like it does at home, there must be a huge section of it somewhere. Fleece and flannel are our top selling fabrics.




The upper level is all home decor. It wraps around two sides of the building and is mostly arranged by color. This image shows a wee tiny portion of the floor. I'm not redecorating any spaces at the moment but next time I am, this is the place to go.

I was intrigued by the pricing throughout the whole store. Many items were considerably less expensive - like half the price - than at home. One wonders about that. I'll show you what I bought tomorrow.




Howard's company has a corporate account at a hotel chain. When I book through them, I'm upgraded to a suite at an inexpensive price. I expected the two floor space as I've stayed in this hotel before. I did not expect the "love" decor. There's a two person jacuzzi tub and only one fleece covered chair that was incredibly uncomfortable to sit in. No desk. No desk chair. I'm typing curled up in the fleece chair only my legs are going numb - LOL. The bed...




... is up the stairs - all fourteen of them. The bathroom - with its two person shower - is directly below the king size bed which means traipsing up and down the stairs every time you have to go. Weird. There's a ton of wasted space downstairs and an incredibly cramped bedroom upstairs. The ironing board is tucked into one corner and the iron is in the cupboard. There is literally not enough floor space to set it up. You'd have to carry it back down the stairs. it's up there because there's no closet down. Someone needs some more drafting, designing, and decorating training. Apparently, this is an "executive suite? What business? - LOL.

I had pre-programmed today's posting but woke up early enough to proof it again before leaving. As you're reading this, I'm already on my way to the ferry planning to catch the early boat and spend most of the day shopping downtown Nanaimo before I pick Caroline up a the airport. I definitely plan to have lunch at the Bocca Cafe. They have gluten free and vegan foods - VERY yummy gluten free and vegan foods. YES YES.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - safe travels