Visit My New Blog

Please come visit me at my new blog and website, Belle and Buttercup.  It's all about my crafty adventures, my adorable pets and my simple, happy, beautiful, creative life.

Hugs,
Jenny

Baxter's 1st Birthday!!!

My sweet, snuggly, loving, curious, adventurous, adorable, joyful, precious baby boy Baxter is celebrating his 1st birthday today!!!  It's been a day full of hugs and kisses and snuggles and love and fun and peanut butter pup-cakes and an oh so exciting trip to the pet store to pick out lots of new toys!

If you've been following along as Baxter has boldly navigated through his first year of life you already know that there was never a dull moment!  Nope - not with a fearless puppy around!  But let's not forget about all of Baxter's big accomplishments.  He really has achieved a lot in a very short time!

As you all know, he was on the cover of People Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful Special Edition......

And who could forget when he was named Time Magazine's Man Of The Year.....

And oh my......BAXTER!  Ummmm......there was also that time when he made it to the cover of Playgirl and was named This Year's Hottest Stud....

But seriously.....there just aren't words to express how much I love this sweet little baby boy and explain how much joy he's brought to my life.  Puppies have a magic that is just impossible to describe!  I can only hope that I'm able to make him as happy as he makes me!!!  

Happy Birthday to my sweet Baxter Boo Boo!  I love you so much and I hope your life is long and blissful and full of all the happiness and love in the world!

Hugs,
Jenny

Dazed And Confused

Wow......what just happened???  The last month been a total blur!  I closed the shop and about two days later I came down with a most unpleasant case of the flu.  Sore throat.  Body aches.  Fatigue.  Congestion.  And I spent the next two weeks either in bed or on the sofa.....but at least I had good company....

Baxter was a devoted companion and rarely left my side.  Isn't it amazing how they just know when we really, really need them!  His epic snuggling skills were very therapeutic....

Emma was also a dedicated caregiver.....

And fortunately, I started feeling well enough to help her celebrate her 8th birthday on March 13th!

There were lots of hugs and kisses and homemade pup-cakes and a "Mommy and Me" trip to the park where we wandered around a very quiet and serene duck pond.....

 And enjoyed the beauty of a spring day in central California.....

And tomorrow we have another HUGE holiday we're celebrating!   It's Baxter's first birthday!!!  My sweet little Boo is growing up so fast!

I can't wait to help him celebrate!  And I can't wait to get all caught up and show you all of the cool things I've been up to but was too sick to tell you about!  And I can't wait for life to get back to normal......even though I have no idea what "normal" is right now because I'm heading down a new path!   But I can't wait to find out!

Hugs,
Jenny

JENuary Recap!

I did it!  I ran and I ran and I ran.......and instead of just running 140 Miles In JENuary, I threw in a few extra miles and ran 150 miles!  And why am I only getting around to mentioning this now......a few weeks after the fact.....when I'd been sooooo excited about my 40th birthday running challenge???

Well......the day after JENuary ended....which some people refer to as the first day of February, I came down with a very unfun sore throat, sinus, cold thing for about a week...

And then Baxter came down with an "I ate my bully stick and I stole and ate my sister's bully stick and I ate a whole bag of doggy treats all in one afternoon" thing....

And then Emma came down with a "my whole mouth is falling apart" thing!!!

Poor, sweet, Emma had been acting kind of lethargic and withdrawn and sad.....and I won't even mention how "aromatic" her breath was.....and then I found one bad, loose tooth way in the back of her mouth.  We promptly scheduled oral surgery and they found not one.....not two....not three....but SIX BAD TEETH!   I won't go into the ugly details but apparently it was a pretty big, infected mess inside her precious little mouth!  My poor baby! 

And at the end of this epically stressful day, Emma and I were spoiled with surprise flowers from Col Sew Fab!!!  Red roses as an early Valentine's Day gift for me....and a sweet, peach bouquet of Get Well flowers for Emma.  Awwwww!!!

And after only three days, Emma was back to her normal, sweet, loving, awesome self!  This dog is my hero!!!  I know I wouldn't be acting the slightest bit pleasant if I'd had major oral surgery three days ago!  Go Emma, go!!!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S.  How did your JENuary running/fitness goals go???

The Valentine's Day Tree!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm spending today basking in the glow of the first of many year round holiday trees!  I have wanted to do this forever so this white tree was one of the many JENuary, 40th birthday presents that I got for myself.  Aren't I so sweet to shower myself with gifts like that???

I had originally planned on making all of the ornaments by hand and my head was swirling with cute ideas!  I was going to cross stitch or embroider or maybe hand paint all of the ornaments.  It was going to be epic!  And then I remembered that there are only 24 hours in a day and I only had one month to accomplish all of this.  Reality can be sooo annoying at times.

Soooo....I decided a much safer plan was to raid my stash of Valentine's paper goodies which I'd been hoarding for a few years and make things a wee bit easier on myself.

And even with the much quicker "paper plan" in place, the ornaments didn't get finished until last night!  Nothing motivates a girl quite like the last minute!

My cheery, sweet little tree is finally all dressed up and ready to celebrate!  She's happily perched atop a table in the corner of my studio well out of reach of Baxter's curious jaws!  This will definitely NOT be added to the list of "Things Baxter Has Chewed On."

And now I'm off to make pecan crusted fish with amaretto cream sauce, roasted veggies and a double chocolate silk cream pie.  Which will be washed down with one of the bottles of champagne that we brought home as a souvenir from the Chandon winery on our trip to Napa last month.  Yum!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S.  If anyone has any advice or knows of any tutorials on how to take pictures of lit holiday trees using an iPhone, please let me know!  

Live The Life You've Imagined

I have been keeping such a big secret and I just can't take it anymore.....I'm not good at keeping secrets......it's just so much easier to always tell the truth.....it means you have less stuff you have to remember.  I would have been a terrible spy....if I had been captured, all they would have had to do is say "you really want to tell us everything.....come on.....you know you want to" and offer me a glass of wine and some cupcakes and I would have spilled my guts!  Anyway.....where on earth was I.....oh yeah....my big news!

I am closing the quilt shop and following my dreams and starting an exciting new adventure!  I can't tell you everything yet.....I'll wait until the new website for my new adventure is up and running so I can have that fun moment of "The Big Reveal"......so hey.....I guess I can keep some secrets, can't I?  But I obviously had to tell you that the shop is closing because that means BIG Fabric Sales for you!!!  Soooo.....as of right now everything in the shop is 25% off the current prices and I have a feeling it's going to go fast!  Please use the Discount Code word Adventure to get your discount when you place an order. 

And if you want a little hint as to what I'll be doing next, here goes.....my passions have always been designing and creating things.  And running a quilt shop just didn't leave enough time for those things.  I'll miss my sweet, little shop but I know I'm making the right decision and I'm sooooo excited about it!!!  And if you're wondering, the image above is my "Mood Board" for my new website.  Looks pretty yummy, doesn't it?!

Hugs,
Jenny

Forty and Fabulous

My 40th Birthday Week has come and gone and it was full of everything I love - lots of sewing, good food, relaxing with Col Sew Fab and the fur babies, running, hot tub soaking and lots of champagne to celebrate.  And so many sweet and thoughtful gifts too!  Here are a few highlights.....

Beautiful roses from my BFF of 25 years....

My favorite photo of Emma and Baxter blown up onto a giant canvas from Col Sew Fab's sister.....

And a pile of wonderful goodies from Col Sew Fab.  He knows me soooo well!  What 40 year old DOESN'T want a mountain of Hot Pink Hello Kitty awesomeness for their birthday???!!!

And I gave myself the gift of time for crafty fun and spent soooo much time happily obsessing over fabrics and sewing blocks for the Economy Block Quilt.  I actually had to start setting alarms on my phone to remind myself to eat and let the dogs out to potty because I would get completely lost in these squares for hours and hours and hours.....

And I'm well on my way to completing my goal of running 140 Miles in JENuary for my 40th on 1/14/14!  118 miles down.....22 miles to go!

Hugs,
Jenny

The Year Of Everything

Wow.....I have no idea where to begin and how on earth to summarize 2013.  I fondly referred to 2012 as "The Year Of Nothing".  Pretty much nothing significant or big happened in 2012.....and that's not a complaint......it was blissfully normal and routine......and then 2013 came along and was the complete opposite!  It was "The Year Of Everything."  It gave me the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and one epic challenge after another.  My mind starts spinning when I think about everything that happened.....when the year started I had 3 cats, 2 dogs, I lived in Florida and I thought a 6 mile run was really long.....when the year ended I found myself living in California with 2 cats, 3 dogs and the belief that a 20 mile run is completely normal.

Soooooo.......here are the highlights......and lowlights of 2013.....

-I ran my first half marathon which was actually my own personal race called the "Run Bunny Run" on Easter Sunday.

-Col Sew Fab got his dream job and we had to pack up, find a house and move to California in 6 weeks.

-Sweet Daisy unexpectedly left for kitty heaven far too soon.....

-We found our dream house on the same day that Daisy left us......and there was a bouquet of Daisies on the coffee table of that house......

-We took an epic cross country road trip from Florida to California in June with 2 cats and 2 dogs and moved into our new home.

-Baxter joined our family 8 days after we arrived in California.  He and Daisy were both born on March 26.

-Emma had a horrific health scare which thankfully turned out to be a mild health issue.

-I became Aunt Jenny on August 7 to a sweet little baby girl named Aurora.

-I went to an amazing, life changing and all around awesome retreat in September.

-I ran a full marathon.  

-I met my idol and favorite artist, Susan Branch!

-And I didn't finish any projects.....not a single one!

And now I'm looking forward to seeing what 2014 has in store for me!

Hugs,

Jenny

JENuary!!!

Can you feel the excitement in the air???  Not only is tomorrow the first day of JENuary........it's the biggest JENuary ever!  I will be celebrating my 40th birthday next month!!!  And no....the JENuary thing is not a typo.  Long ago I decided to rename the month JENuary in my honor.  As you've probably already guessed, I'm not one of those people who says that my birthday is no big deal.  I plan on celebrating ALL MONTH LONG! 

As of right now, I have a 3 part celebration plan....

Part One:  I was inspired by the Mission Statement of Saucony (a running clothes company):

At Saucony, a good day is when we get to run.

A great day is when we inspire someone else to run.

So here's the plan.......I'm going to run 140 miles in the month of January for my 40th on 1/14/14 aaaaand.....I want you to join me!  I want it to be kind of like a quilt along......but we'll be running or walking instead!  But don't panic.....you can drop the 1 and just run or walk 40 miles next month.  Or 14 miles.  Or 4 miles.  I'm so, so, soooo excited that I already have a small group of awesome peeps on Facebook and Instagram that have said they're giving it a go!   I really hope you'll join me for my Run or Walk Along.  I'll be doing weekly updates about my progress....and I hope you'll be posting comments about your progress too!

Part Two:  A week long Staycation.  Yeah.....I know.....I just took one.....but it's my 40th birthday so this is no time to be practical or responsible.  Some people want a huge party for their birthday.  Or a long, extravagant vacation.  I just want to be at home with my pets and Col Sew Fab and hang out in my jammies while watching Netflix and working on all sorts of crafty projects!  I'm sooooo cool!

Part Three:  A weekend trip to Napa sometime next month.  Because I love wine.  And food.  And wine.  Did I already mention that I love wine???

Well, Happy New Year.....but don't stay up too late....because we're going running tomorrow!  Col Sew Fab and I have an exciting evening of sipping champagne, eating a nice dinner of tenderloin, bearnaise, creamed spinach and button mushrooms with warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert, watching t.v. and pretending that we're on the east coast so we can go to bed at 9:00!  Like I said before.....I'm soooo cool!

Hugs,

Jenny

Quiet Holidays

Is there anything better than a quiet holiday season at home full of your favorite things?  It's my favorite way to celebrate!

Puppies in Christmas sweaters....
Staycations with champagne minis and lots of sewing.....
The Twelve Days of Christmas in cross stitch....
Lots of yummy food to nibble on.....

And a quick Daycation to the winter wonderland of Yosemite.....

I hope your holiday season has been merry and bright, warm and fun and full of everything that makes your heart happy!

Hugs,
Jenny

Susan Branch

I can't believe I haven't told you all about this yet but I MET MY IDOL last month!!!

The most amazing artist EVER, Susan Branch, was doing a book tour for her new book, "A Fine Romance" about her journey through the English countryside and one of her stops was at the sweetest little quilt shop about 3 hours south of me.  So, I grabbed my amazing friend Karen and off we went on a mini adventure!!!

It was love at first sight when I first laid eyes on her artwork 13 years ago.  Everything about it was just so sweet and perfect and warm and full of joy and inspiration.  And ever since I discovered her, I have been on a mission to gather up EVERYTHING that has her name on it - books, scrapbooking supplies, fabric, greeting cards, calendars.....if she makes it, I buy it!

I was absolutely giddy with excitement when I got to meet her!  Fortunately, I didn't say anything too embarrassing.....although I do think the first words out of my mouth were "I am SOOOO excited to meet you."  Hey, you should never postpone joy, right?!  Why act cool when you can't contain your excitement???!!!  Just go with it!

And Susan was just as gracious and kind and sweet and lovely as her paintings are.  It was a fabulous day and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to meet someone so inspirational who I admire so much!  I can only hope that one day I inspire someone as much as she has inspired me!

Hugs,
Jenny

12 Days Of Christmas

Just thought I'd pop in for a minute to show you my latest project!  I got caught up in the cross stitch frenzy going on over on Instagram and last Friday I caved......even though I was determined to not start another new project.....even though my addiction to cross stitch had been on the back burner for a few years......but I just couldn't help myself and I started this adorable 12 Days Of Christmas counted cross stitch sampler by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery over Thanksgiving weekend.

It's a mystery sampler which I've never done before because.....well.....I'm kind of a control freak and the thought of starting something when I didn't know what the whole pattern looked like never appealed to me.  But when I saw how cute the first row is, I HAD to throw caution to the wind and just do it!  The second row comes out tomorrow and I'm seriously giddy with excitement!

And now I've gotta run.....no, not to get back to cross stitching....we're having a party for Col Sew Fab's work department tomorrow and I'm nowhere near ready.  I have lots of fun baking and decorating and appetizer making ahead of me and I've gotta get to it!

Hugs,
Jenny

26.2 miles

Well......I DID IT!!!  I finally did it.  On Sunday, November 3, 2013 I ran my first marathon.  Yup.....26.2 very, very, VERY long miles!

This is Col. Sew Fab and I before the marathon (he ran the half marathon).....

And this is me crossing the finish line.....

It was exhausting and exhilarating and epic and it made me feel kind of invincible.   I went from being a non-athletic kind of girl to running a marathon in the course of two years.  Pretty cool, huh?!
 
It was also a bit overwhelming at first.....so much excitement and energy in the air....so many people around cheering on the runners....so many funny signs....so much to take in and soak up!

But somewhere around Mile 8 when I was really starting to "hit the wall" my arch nemesis appeared.....yup.....SHE just couldn't leave me alone.  Maybe you know her too....SHE is the voice inside my head who likes to tell me things like.....

"You can't do this."

"Everyone else is so much better at this than you."

"What makes you think YOU can do this."

"You're not going to succeed."

And finally I decided that I'd had it with her!  Enough is enough!!!

So, I told her "Shut up!  Shut up!  SHUT UP!!!  I am trying to run a marathon here and it's really, really, REALLY tough and I don't have time for your negativity and shenanigans right now.  I need to focus!  I'm done with you!  Buh bye!!!"

And I left her in the dust and kept on running.  And I haven't heard a heck of a lot from her since that day. 

So much of the rest of the run is a foggy blur in my mind.....but I distinctly remember that at Mile 20 each mile became twice as hard as the previous mile.  But all of the wonderful people that stuck around and kept cheering on the slow poke, stragglers at the end of the race really motivated me to keep pushing forward one step at a time and to keep giving 100%.

Wouldn't it be great if every day there were crowds of people that you'd never met cheering you on and telling you you're awesome???!!!

And finally......I saw the finish line.....and started to cry.  Mostly because I was so overwhelmed and proud of what I'd accomplished.....but also because I was so darn happy that I was about to be DONE and didn't have to run anymore!  

And Col. Sew Fab stuck around for HOURS after he finished the half marathon so he could be there to see me finish the marathon in 363rd place!  How sweet!!!

Soooo.....if you're wondering.....

Yes, I'm sooo glad I did it.

Yes, I'll do more marathons in the future.....but I'll probably do a few half marathons first!

Yes......I was incredibly sore and exhausted for several days.  I knew it would be hard on my body.....but I was pretty surprised by how mentally draining it was too!

And I guess the moral of the story is.....

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right."  -Henry Ford

Hugs,
Jenny

Not At Quilt Market....

So I wasn't at Quilt Market this weekend.  But you know what?  I'm totally o.k. with that because I've been looking at the bright side.....

I slept in my own bed all weekend.....

I went for a long run in fresh air, under bright blue skies and along streets full of trees showing their glorious autumn colors.....

I made TONS of progress on my hexie quilt......

I spent my days relaxing with Col. Sew Fab and the fur babies....

And I felt like I was "virtually" at Quilt Market thanks to the all of the wonderful, inspiring, colorful, fun photos all over Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.  All of the eye candy.  None of the travel hassles!

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better.....

I woke up this morning to a super cold, grey, blustery, rainy day......and I LOVE IT!

Because that just means today is full of fleece pants, hot cups of cinnamon spice tea, homemade mushroom soup, a warm, glowing fireplace and snuggling next to the fur babies as I work.  Heaven!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S.  Are you on Instagram?  I'm a wee bit obsessed with it lately!  I'm @SewFabShop.  Who are you???

Still Hexie-ing Along....

It's finally coming together....

I'm almost halfway there.....

Bit by bit.....piece by piece.....a sweet, little, hexie quilt is coming to life....

And as I'm sewing hexie after hexie.....I keep thinking......Oooohhhh.....I should do a Christmas hexie quilt.....or maybe a red, white and blue one......or maybe autumny colors......or maybe a bright one in shades of lime, aqua, pink and orange.....or maybe one with little motifs embroidered in the center hexie of each flower.....how cute would that be???!!!  The hexie possibilities are endless!!!
But for now, I'm just looking forward to a weekend full of sewing hexies, playing with Vintage Valentine quilt pieces, sipping wine, eating warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies, snuggling with my fur babies and chillaxing with the fabulous Col. Sew Fab.  Happy weekend to all!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Things Baxter Has Chewed On

Oh, how I wish I would have kept a list of all of the things Baxter has chewed on since we brought him home four months ago.  In the past two weeks alone he has chewed on......

A bundle of silk embroidery floss

The plastic wrap that held a raw pork roast

A razor

A piece of slate from a patio tile

Col Sew Fab's reading glasses

And a bag of marshmallows.  

That last one was actually pretty darn cute.  I was putting groceries away, I turned my back on him for about 5 seconds.....and when I turned back around he had dragged the bag across the room, torn it open and his face was inside the bag as he happily chomped away on marshmallows!

And a few other notable items that have been chewed on in the past few months....

Col Sew Fab's wallet

The lid to a gasoline canister

A random sharp, jagged piece of metal that he found in the yard

Every snail in the yard

Lots and LOTS of fabric hexies

Spools of thread

A glow stick (one of those emergency, flare type of things)

My needle book full of threaded needles 

Wine corks

And a Christmas ornament with jingle bells on it

Isn't he the best???!!! I love my little guy soooo much!  Puppies are awesome!!!

Hugs,
Jenny

Block Of The Year???

I've never made one of these really fancy, schmancy, highly detailed applique "Block Of The Month" patterns before.....but now I get it.  I really, truly understand why they assume you'll need a month to do each block.  I'm even considering calling mine a "Block Of The Year."  That way if it takes me 2 or 3 months to do each block I can still feel good about myself for getting more than 1 block done per year!  It's a logical way to boost self confidence and keep my motivation going, right?

Even with all of the tedious and time consuming steps of prepping a bazillion applique pieces I still love it.  Every minute of it.  There's something very soothing and calming about tracing and cutting and ironing and then seeing it come to life piece by piece.

And there may have even been a few squeals and happy dance moves once I had the first block haphazardly laid out on my ironing mat.  It's just so pink and green and feminine and flowery and sugary sweet!!!

Now, I FINALLY get to move onto the sewing part.  Yippee!!!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

P.S.  I'm using the Spray Starch and Freezer paper applique technique.  You can find a great tutorial right here.

P.S. #2  The pattern is The Vintage Valentine by Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool.  You can find it here.

First Day Of Autumn

Yesterday was the first "real" day of autumn to me.....

The air was cold.  The sky was gray.  The leaves are starting to turn.  But inside it was cozy and warm and the house was full of the scent of freshly baked rum cake and the sounds of snoring pups and purring cats.

A sweet new friend came over with a loaf of homemade pumpkin bread for a day of sewing.....

We talked and ate....and talked and ate.....

And we even managed to get a bit of sewing done in between all of the talking and eating!

And I finally dove into a quilt pattern that I've been hanging onto and dreaming about and drooling over for eight long years - Vintage Valentine.

I happily retrieved my carefully selected pile of fabrics that were tucked away in a box.  And this isn't just any pile of fabric.......this pile includes those fabrics that you hang onto forever and never cut into because you just love them tooooo much!  But I'm being brave and throwing caution to the wind and using them in this quilt.  I think I'll love them even more once they're in a beautiful quilt.

I'm still at the stage where I'm prepping the pieces for the first block.....the one in the upper left corner....

I'm not even at the sewing stage yet!  This quilt is going to take a LONG time to make......but it definitely made my heart happy to see how the pieces and colors were all starting to come together.  

And no - the hexie quilt isn't done yet!  You know that I'm easily distracted!  But since I don't have any other applique projects going on I felt justified in starting this new project.  I feel you need to have at least one project from each of the "Craft Food Groups" going on at once - applique, hexies, pieced quilt, embroidery, cross stitch, doll houses, hand quilting, hand tying.....I know I'm forgetting a bunch......which ones am I forgetting???  But that just means I'm obligated to start projects in all of those categories to have a well rounded "Craft Diet," right?!  If this theory is wrong, I don't want to be right!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Magic

Bear with me because this might get kinda long.....

Back in February, the talented, hilarious and all around awesome Mary of Spoolhardy Girl told me about a creative design retreat she'd signed up for called "Find Your Lula."  She thought I might be interested because there were going to be a lot of Illustrator classes and she knew that was my current obsession.  There were also going to be life coaching, photography and some craft classes and the whole event was hosted/created by one of my favorite designers - Amanda Herring of The Quilted Fish and it was being held at a fabulous house in Park City, Utah.

I looked at it.....thought about it.....and then made my decision - NO!  Come on.....I can learn Illustrator at home with online classes.  And life coaching.....seriously!  Pfffft!!!  That sounds sooooo silly.  And being trapped in a house full of people that I may or may not like.....yeah, right!  No thank you! 

Great attitude, huh?!

I'd also recently taken a bunch of online classes and most of them were a total waste of money so I was pretty apprehensive about spending money on ANOTHER class.  Especially one that involved forcing my introverted self into a house with a bunch of strangers for four days!

A few months went by and for some reason the thought of the retreat popped back up into my head one evening as Col Sew Fab and I were planning our whirlwind move from Florida to California.  Maybe I just felt a pull deep inside of me to be brave and try new things and break out of my shell......maybe it was some desire to embrace adventure and change because so much adventure and change was being forced upon me....or maybe it was just the wine talking.....

But on a whim, I did it.......I signed up.  I bought plane tickets.  And waited for five months for the big day to arrive.

I thought about cancelling a million times.  I was pretty sure I wouldn't be missing out on much.  And I couldn't bear the thought of leaving my pets!!!  It was going to be the first time that I'd EVER left Baxter alone.....the first time I would leave them all alone in a new house with a new pet sitter......and the worst of all.....it would be the first time I was going to leave my fur babies since Daisy died while we were off house hunting in California. 

Talk about an event that could scar a girl for life.....I'm already so paranoid about leaving my pets behind while I go on a trip.....and after my biggest fear became a reality back in May I just didn't know how I was going to do it.  How on earth could I leave???!!!  My heart would race and I'd get lightheaded at the thought of having to say goodbye, walk out the door and not see them for four days.

But some nagging little voice inside my head.....probably the same one that convinced me to sign up in the first place.....also convinced me that I was about to become an agoraphobe if I didn't get the heck out of the house for a few days. So just do it!  Go, girl, GO!

Soooooo......I packed my bags, faced my fears and headed out on my little adventure.  And I am soooooo glad that I did.

It's hard to find the words to describe just how amazing this retreat was......but the one word that keeps coming to mind is MAGIC.  

Amanda and the Lula Team showered us with gifts all week - adorable tote bags full of crafty and fun goodies, custom slippers made in everyone's favorite colors, fabulous name tags on our doors, a dreamy, colorful room full of a rainbow of candy and snacks, Smash Books (kind of like a scrapbook), a mountain of scrapbook supplies, trinkets and baubles to make an amazing necklace, a needle turn applique kit, aromatherapy samples, a book on discovering your strengths and a pewter "Dream Big" key chain were just a few of the fun surprises.  

My days were full of taking amazing classes learning all about Illustrator, photography, needle turn applique, aromatherapy, photography, stretching and alignment and running a creative business while wearing my pajamas ALL DAY LONG with my snuggly new slippers, learning amazing things about myself and feeling truly energized in the life coaching sessions, eating wonderful homemade food, watching the snow fall on the mountains, having hot cocoa with mounds of whipped cream every morning, making amazing new friends, coming out of my introverted shell, laughing hysterically at least 10 times an hour, watching hilarious videos, eating ooey gooey cookies straight out of the oven and basically feeling completely warm, cozy, inspired, energized, grounded, centered, rejuvenated, pampered and completely lucky to be spending time with such an amazing, talented, fun and awesome group of people.

Leaving Lula was like leaving a safe, warm cocoon but it's o.k because I'm ready to fly.  Ummmmm.......apparently, Lula also turned me into a sappy, sentimental fool because I never would have said something so touchy-feely in my pre-Lula days!  

And the cherry on top of my extraordinary week was that after I returned home and opened my suitcase I found that everything inside was covered in glitter from the goodies I brought home.  What a fitting end to a totally magical and sparkle filled week!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S. - #IMissMyLulaSistersAndBrother (It's a Lula thing.......)

P.S. #2 - It was pretty awesome learning Illustrator from a human who I can bombard with questions and I'm going to give life/business coaching a whirl (being coached.....not becoming a coach!).  The girl that thought it was going to be silly now thinks it's the coolest thing ever.

P.S. #3 - I don't think registration is open yet for Lula 2014 but as you've probably already guessed I would HIGHLY recommend that you sign up the second it's open! 

P.S. #4 - You probably already figured this out but I LOVED everyone there!