Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Prior Lake Adventure

It took over a year, we traveled 20,350 miles (32,558 km) to make it happen, and on October 18, 2014, six card blogging BABES met in real life! BABES stands for Benevolent Association of Beloved and Esteemed Stampers and here we are:


On the left side of the table, from front to back are Kim, Ardyth, and Geri. On the right side front to back are Darnell, Anita, and yours very truly. These women are amazing and it was a privilege to spend a whole week with them.

In searching locations, we'd seen a house on a lake south of the Twin Cities that looked like the perfect getaway for us. And ohhhhhh....it was! Here are a few shots of what we saw outside everyday from our crafty spot:




Seriously, how gorgeous is this view???!! And we got to see this from the dining room table, where we spent hours crafting, every day. I've taken to calling it the 'Lake House.' *Sigh*




Here's our first group photo! We had lunch at Buca di Beppo's with the intention that all the leftover food, and there was tons, would also feed us dinner once we got to the Lake House. No one wanted to go out on that first night - we needed to have that time to get to know one another. And wonderfully, oh so wonderfully, we clicked! It was one of those things; it was like we'd always known each other. *Sigh*


Now, the other ladies probably have more interior shots of the house, so be sure you stop over at their blogs and check that out. Nice house. Big enough and comfortable for our stay. Three bedrooms/two bathrooms on the main level, and two bedrooms, an office (which we converted into the sixth bedroom), a full bath and laundry room, PLUS a huge bar, family room with a walk-out, and pool table on the lower level. 

We did a little shopping. Michaels, JoAnn's, and a sweet little craft store we found.



We also hit the Mall of America. 




Had a nice steak dinner out at a local place, and pizza at Punch. With all our good intentions, we never once fired up the stove or oven...imagine that! Be sure you ask Geri all about her wing dinner....lol! We snacked, we laughed, we solved world problems, we watched the World Series (the only time the TV was on other than the music channels) while we crafted, we made cards, we did projects, and we laughed. We really laughed. You know what I mean. Tears in the eyes, can't stop, but when you do, you start all over again...We got up early, we got up not so early. We were silly, we were serious. We enjoyed every single moment we spent together. The hours spent at that dining room table flew by.  


Notice that Geri is wearing not one, but two pairs of glasses! We all chuckled about that.


We crafted in our jammies.


And we made beautiful cards! Lovin' Miss D.'s little snowman card...don't you?!




Ask Darnell about her coin purse project...Great project and super fun and relaxing to make! Thanks Kim!


Sharing the love



And sharing the sillies! We're backwards here, aren't we?! How silly is that???!!!!

Sharing this week with these wonderful friends was one of the best times I've ever had. I have memories to treasure for the rest of my life. What an honor and privilege to be with these five beautiful women. I'll leave you with a photo of our week-long mascot, an albino squirrel we named Snowflake. Thanks Darnell for this shot of our little pal.


Now be sure to visit the other BABES for more fun and frolic!


Thanks for stopping by and happy dances everyone










33 comments:

Ardyth said...

That was the fastest week ever! So much fun and laughter! Love your selection of photos - such good memories!

Darnell said...

Loved every bit of your post, Bevie - well, maybe except for the photo of me licking my poor dry lips - nah, I love that one, too!! I had such fun meeting you and being silly with you and getting to know you better! Thanks again for all you did to make this happen and for doing all that driving around and back and forth to the airport! You're very generous and kind and have given me memories I will treasure always!! Hugs, Darnell

sandie said...

These are all such fun, you girls sure had a ball xx

Anita in France said...

Oh, Bev, reading your post and seeing such a wonderful selection of photo's brought thoughts of our wonderful week flooding back ... it was such a joy to share it with you! Thanks for everything you did to make it so amazing ... you're a gem of the highest order! Hugs, Anita :)

Loll said...

Such a wonderful and fun adventure. Memories to last a life time! Loll xx

Tracey McNeely said...

Sigh, what another fabulous post of the BABES week. More fantastic pictures and much more envy, I hope next time. What a beautiful group of ladies both inside and out! I am so happy that I had an opportunity to Facetime with you all!! The next best thing to being there!! xoxo

Kristie Goulet said...

Such a great post. I think I love reading more about these posts than seeing cards posted by you all. ♥ Thank you for sharing.

Lynn said...

Bev, your week away looks absolutely perfect. I said on the other fabulous ladies blogs all of these posts make my heart happy! Lots of love and fun to all of you!

Aileen said...

Bev, brilliant post. So jealous of you all. What a brilliant way to spend a week. To catch up with a group of friends from all over. A crafters dream I think.

Kim Heggins said...

So many wonderful memories relived while reading you post today...and I loved each and everyone of them. Your photos are just beautiful and really, could you have found a better place to spend the week??? I don't think so! The view was slightly over shadowed by all the BABES and all the sweet and wonderful personalities...Such a lovely week. I can tell you I will be going back and rereading these blog posts many times, like reliving our trip. As for your Cubbies, if they ever make the World Series, I will cheer very loud for them. So happy to have another baseball loving friend...thank you again for all you did!

Craftychris said...

What fab fun you all had! It's so cool you all got on so well. The photos are lovely, thank you for sharing them with us xxx

Susanne Vargas said...

It really sounds like you had the time of your lives! I can almost hear your laughing here! Thanks for sharing stories and photos of your amazing adventure! It's funny how I follow all of your blogs!

Granmargaret said...

Thank you for sharing all these great photos. Glad you had a wonderful time.

Melissa said...

A wonderful week in a wonderful place with wonderful people. Can't beat that! :) Thank you so much for sharing this with us! I can definitely see personalities shining through in all the photos everyone is sharing!!! :) Too fun!

Geri said...

Your post is awesome!!! Your kindness and warmth shines through in your words! I smiled all the way through it! Like Kim, I know that I will be going back to reread all the posts over again. It would have been nice to have an extra 2 or 3 days...something to think about for the next trip!

You're the best Bev! My pal forever and ever! Thanks for all you did to make this trip happen!

Karen M said...

Love your post Bev and what a wonderful bunch of ladies to spend time with! Hugs xx

Sarn said...

I've come to visit you from Darnell's links.

As I've said on the other comments I've made . . . looks like you all had a ball.

Hugs, Sarn xxx

Vicki Dutcher said...

Sounds like an amazing get-together and have a blast time! Good for all of you planning this. That house looked perfect :)

Linda said...

Its been so much fun visiting each of your posts. Laughing seems to be one of the same themes on each of them.

Bobby said...

I'm just happy dancing for you all. What a wonderful week you had and so many memories to keep and to share. It's not often we get to make these things happen in our lives. I'm so glad you all did.

Jacquie Southas said...

The fun, warmth & joy of the week come shining through in your photos, Bev! What a fabulous opportunity you all made happen, thanks for letting us have a little peek at it :)

cm said...

Bev, the photos and stories you BABES have written about your epic, dream-of-a-lifetime adventure are inspiring, delightful, heart-warming and heart-melting! I see six amazing friends crafting up a storm and building a strong, solid foundation of companionship, with LOVE infused in every moment you spent together. Friends forever, indeed! I consider myself blessed that each one of you is part of my life, and it is all the richer because of that! My dream: at some future point to be part of this extraordinarily special group when you meet 'in real life' once again. Mega-watt smile and heart singing with joy...Thank you for inviting us to be part of this momentous event!
Hugs~c

shirley-bee said...

What a wonderful time you all must have had, Bev! Stunning scenery, brilliant company, and all those crafty goodies to play with!

Marybeth said...

I am so happy for you all... sounds like a little bit of heaven and I think is was just what you needed. The house location looks amazing. I am so glad everyone hit it off and had fun! Kim is the only one from the group I have the pleasure of spending time with and we laughed a lot too. Love the crafting in jammies just like at home. Wow and talk about the talent!
You were all so blessed and I am o happy for you all!

Joyce said...

I don't think I will ever tire of hearing about your guys' crafty week by the lake. It really sounds like such fun, and you had some pictures I hadn't seen before.

Virginia L. said...

Oh my goodness! How fun and fabulous to hang out with the BABES!! So happy that you had this chance to meet, Bev! Stamping friends are truly the BEST! I am glad that you got a big dose of this! HUGS!

Patti said...

Oh Bev what a joy it is to see all our your smiling faces looking so relaxed and happy!! SO HAPPY for all of you!!

(((Hugs)))
Patti

Anonymous said...

I'm enjoying all your pics. You ladies had a blast.Thanks for sharing.

Kylie said...

Oh this is completely wonderful! I LOVE that you were all able to get together and spend some quality time getting to know each other and creating too. Looks like such a marvellous time! hugs!!

~amy~ said...

A crafty gathering, it doesn't get much better than that, does it?! Looks like you all had such a wonderful time!

Kelly Griglione said...

Oh Bev, I'm so thrilled that you got to go on this adventure and hang out with 5 wonderful ladies for a whole week!! I sure hope your migraines were polite enough to stay away until the vacation was over. The shot of Kim you included in her pjs is awesome ... perhaps next time you will designate an entire pj day and just never leave the lake house! Hopefully you've unpacked by now and are getting back to normal : )

maria f. said...

Hey BABE. I'm so glad yours is the first post I'm reading about the week. It appears that you were the enabler and that just makes me love you more! What a wonderful location. And the squirrel there to make Darnell feel at home. BTW, didn't anybody tell that girl that she wasn't in CA anymore. Put some shoes on girl or you'll catch a cold! Two pairs of glasses... didn't know that works. And crafting at a dining room table (which of course is the perfect excuse to have to eat out every night), how heavenly that must be. SOOOOOOOO happy for you. Hugs and thanks for taking us all with you on your beautiful retreat.

Kim S said...

Clearly a weekend to remember forever!!! The scenery, the food, the shopping, and of course the crafting. But mainly, what an amazing group of wonderful and talented ladies - now friends forever!