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!

Anita

Ardyth

Darnell

Geri

Kim

Thanks for stopping by and happy dances everyone