A Story: Canadian Adventure

Dear Fashion Friends:

It’s a busy Saturday afternoon at Little Tony’s in Grosse Pointe, Michigan (see www.littletonyslounge.com). Patrons enjoy a glass of beer and a bowl of pretzels while talking to the bartender about the latest college football scores. Edward, while listening to jazz on the radio, goes about cheerfully clearing and wiping the tables. Lisa hurries about taking and delivering food orders. She is looking forward tonight to dinner and quality time with her daughter, Aleshia

Gabe sits at a booth enjoying a bowl of chili and a grilled cheese sandwich. He has with him a draft copy of one of his fashion blogs for www.aleyacollections.com. Whitney, who works as a waitress, has known our young fashion blogger for several years. They love pizza and enjoy exchanging vintage fashion magazine cover photos on Instagram. (One of their favorite fashion magazine collectors on IG is Stephanie Bernstein Shulman. Her IG handle is @gr8magz. If you have Instagram, I hope that you will check out her page. You will not be disappointed.) Whitney, who enjoys the wonders of epeolatry, once shared with Gabe this quote by Louis L’Amour: “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on” (See wwwthewritepractice.com/winter-writers-quotes/)

A young woman enters Little Tony’s (her name is Sophia). All notice how beautiful she is wearing this Navy Striped Raglan Sleeve T-Shirt (as listed on the AC website). Its floral pattern is quite exquisite for it exemplifies AC’s beautiful fashion collection of blouses and tops. The t-shirt has an attractive Raglan sleeve. (I would recommend you also buy these Vintage Earrings and Set of Crystal Beads Bracelet as displayed on the AC website. They would go beautifully with this top. See photos below). Zoe, who works as a manager at Little Tony’s, sees Sophia at the door. She welcomes her to sit down and asks her if she would like something to drink. Sophia asks for Iced Tea.

Last Friday, Sophia and her boyfriend (his name is Ian) went to Lexington (Michigan) to attend a friend’s party. She was looking forward to wearing her Casual Striped Bohemian Maxi Dress (as listed on the AC website. See photo below) for the Friday evening activities. Sophia even picked out this elegant New Rope Wrap Bracelet to go with the attire (as listed on the AC website. See photo below). Sophia left her boutique early so she could go home to pack a suitcase and wait for Ian to pick her up at 4:00 p.m. The party did not start until later in the evening, so they had plenty of time to drive to Lexington and settle into their motel room. While packing, she listened to one of her favorite songwriters Laini Colman. She loves Laini’s most recent song Take a Breath (see Laini’s website www.lainicolman.com).

Suddenly, Sophia received a text message. It was from Ian. He was running late and won’t be at her apartment until 5:00 p.m. She texted him to stay that it’s okay. Sophia also said that she loves him and is looking forward in enjoying the wonders of Lexington; that “little harbor village right on the shore of Lake Huron” (See www.michigan.org). Ian arrives at 5:30 p.m. and the two of them start on the I-94 expressway for Port Huron. From there, they would then take M-25 to Lexington. At least, they were supposed to.

There was an enormous amount of traffic on the expressway. It took Ian and Sophia about an hour to get out of Detroit. The two of them did not mind it too much – if they are late, they are late. Dinner would not start until at least 8:00 p.m. anyway. Again, plenty of time. On the way, they talked about his work as a veterinarian. Sophia described how AC’s latest assortment of autumn clothing would make an exquisite addition to her fashion shop. While heading north, however, she started to feel sleepy. Her day was a busy one. She met with a client to look at gowns from the beautiful world of www.orendacreations.com.au. Sophia then rushed to Grosse Pointe Farms to breakfast with a prospective fashion designer at Jumps (see www.jumpsrestaurant.com/menus.html). She then spent time answering an endless stream of emails and phone calls. It was time for a nap. Ian – being somewhat absent-minded -- missed the M-25 exit and started to head towards the bridge to Canada. Sophia awoke to Ian’s less than flattering commentary about the state of Michigan’s highway system. When she realized they were on their way to Sarnia (in Ontario), she smiled and quietly accepted her fate.

A border officer was waiting for Sophia and Ian. While good-natured, his physician that morning reminded him that he must cut back on his beloved Coney dogs from www.tedsconey.com. He was kind of cranky when Ian attempted to explain to him their unexpected predicament. Our American officer grunted and mumbled that there was a turnaround somewhere on the bridge. Where that “somewhere” is no one knew. To Ian’s chagrin, he could not find the sacred U-turn which would take them back to the States. Ian had no choice but to go all the way to Sarnia. At this point, Sophia’s smile turned to laughter. She kept saying how she can’t wait to tell her friends about this. Ian smiled at her and told her that this is serious. Happily, the Canadians were very nice about the whole thing. It was no problem. They told Sophia and Ian that they would have to inspect the car. In the meantime, our two heroes needed to go into the office to fill out some paperwork.

Sophia and Ian did not have the relevant documents to come to Canada. They gave the officer behind the counter, however, their driver licenses. They sat for twenty minutes or so waiting for him to confirm the provided information. In the meantime, Ian called up his friend, telling him what happened and that they will be late. Sophia heard a roar of laughter coming from the phone. She tried to get his mind off their current situation with stuff she learned online about Sarnia. Sophia found a place for seafood that they might like to try one day (see http://waggssteakhouse.ca/). She also shared with him some trivia. She learned, for example, that Sarnia has a motto. It’s "Sarnia Semper" --- "Sarnia Always” (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarnia). Usually, Ian loved trivia; at this moment, however, he was not impressed. With papers in hand, they started their return to Michigan. It was now after 8:00 p.m and much traffic to contend with on the bridge. It did not matter. It was okay. Occasionally they smiled at each other and shared a kiss or two. Being together was a joy; a part of life’s great intangibles. When they reached Port Huron, they met up with another border office. They showed him their papers and outlined in full what happened. The officer, taken in by Sophia’s beauty and charm, became increasingly sympathetic to their innocuous situation. Seeing the papers were in order, he allowed them to proceed and wished them a wonderful evening.

As she thinks about their Canadian adventure, dear fashion friends, Ian walks into Little Tony’s. They smile, and they give each other a kiss and a gentle hug. She gives him a card. Inside the card, there is a quote from Amelia Earhart, which summarizes their Sarnia expedition quite well: “Adventure is worthwhile in itself” (see https://quotefancy.com/quote/959757/Amelia-Earhart-Adventure-is-worthwhile-in-itself). In the meantime, Lisa comes to take their order. It’s nothing extravagant: just hamburgers and onion rings. What mattered was being together. Whitney bids Gabriel farewell at the door. He found renewed energy to finish his latest blog post. Zoe and the bar’s patrons wonder, “can the Wolverines hang on (to the football) v. Badgers?” (see https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2019/09/12/michigan-mailbag-can-wolverines-hang-to-football-vs-wisconsin-badgers/2297746001/). As Samuel Johnson notes: “There is nothing which has been yet contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced by a good tavern” (see https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/samuel_johnson_157329).

I hope your visit to www.aleyacollections.com was an enchanting one.

Sincerely,

Gabe xoxo

P.S. This blog post is a fictional account of a bar and grill that I love to frequent – Little Tony’s. It is primarily based on friends that I have met over these many years. I want them to know how blessed I feel that they are part of my life. Thank you! The remaining characters are a result of creative output.