Be still, my HGTV-lovin’ heart! Today thru Sunday, the Jacksonville Home and Patio Show has taken over the convention center. And the celebrity speakers are Michael Payne and Frank Bielec! This is almost as cool as the year that Norm Abram came here.
I didn’t intend to go - what with my sweetie being out of town and all. But the kid is going to her Homecoming Dance on Saturday, so I may just go downtown and hear these guys speak. It’s worth $6 plus parking. Besides, without my husband along, I can linger at the exhibits that appeal to me and ignore the ones that don’t. Plus I can hear Michael and Frank. Yeah, Michael is a bit onthe gushy side and I’m no fan of Frank’s painting extravaganzas, but I still think it’ll be fun.
Somehow, I didn’t expect to read that in Frank’s profile. I always thought he was just fabulous. He does do some weird stuff, but I kind of liked the last show I saw when he re-did the kitchen. (Not the whole kitchen, surely not the colors he used, but the border he did around it was cute.)
Have fun, FCM! I wish I could go! I love doing stuff like that.
Frank is an absolute hoot!!! He talked for nearly an hour, taking questions from the audience and sharing stories about the show. Then he did a quick little project at the end with a folding screen. Actually, he had 5 people from the audience come up and do it after he demonstrated a couple of techniques.
Did you know he used to teach FIRST GRADE?!?!? What a lucky group of kids they were! And he seemed to be genuinely nice - just a regular guy who happens to be on a wildly popular TV show! We didn’t hang around for the autograph session tho - the place was packed!
We popped in for a few minutes of Michael’s talk, too - I dunno - a bright yellow shirt with a dark suit is just too weird for my tastes. I also started getting miffed with “Women this - Men that” as if we are all defined by our hormones. I knew he was clueless when he declared that women all like to hang tassels on everything. My husband and I looked at each other, made the appropriate comments about strippers, and decided to leave. He was no Frank.
We didn’t want to break it to you FCM but yes, Michael is a sexist twit. It’s good that you found this out for yourself before any permanent damage was done.
I’ve never watched Trading Spaces, the ads turned me off. Maybe I’ll have to try that.
And yes, HGTV is one of the best channels on the cable. Along with Food TV.
I always thought he was just fabulous. 
He does do some weird stuff, but I kind of liked the last show I saw when he re-did the kitchen. (Not the whole kitchen, surely not the colors he used, but the border he did around it was cute.)