This year I had the opportunity to attend a wonderful retreat called "Beading by the Bay" - I am so happy that I went. Hopping on a plane to attend a beading retreat in California isn't my lifestyle, but through some miracles and good Christmas presents, I was able to go.
I flew out on Thursday morning (March 8th) from Detroit and landed for a quick layover in Denver...or so I thought. Rats. Two hour delay. Actually for me, it wasn't an issue. By the time that I got to the gate at the airport, I knew that the plane was en route. I didn't have a minute of "OMG, I am not going to make this..."
Funny thing was flying across the mid-west/central states - there was no snow on the ground that I could see between Detroit and Denver. None. Frozen lakes - yes. Snow? Nope. It wasn't until the plane left Denver that I started seeing snow in the higher elevations.
The instructors at this retreat were Sherry Serafini, Rachel Nelson-Smith and Marcia DeCoster - with three days of wonderful instruction, inspiration and sharing of learning and ideas. I don't know if I have learned as much as I did in this weekend in a long time.
On my first evening in Burlingame, CA - I went to dinner with Susan, Peggy and Lavinia to the Broadway Grill - what a posh place! To my surprise, Miss California came in and sat at the next booth. My attempts to take her picture were pretty horrible, until the mother of these two kids came up to see if she'd mind having her picture taken with the kids. That's when I snapped this picture.
I re-met some Facebook friends, met some new friends and generally had a really nice time. The participates were split into three groups, so you really got to bond with the women that you spent time with.
The sponsors - Swarovski and Lark, together with Susan Kazarian, owner of Bead Frenzy - and of course Marcia (and Mark) DeCoster - put a wonderful, high quality retreat. I decided today (my first day back at work) that all the $$ that I earn from being a notary will go right into my BBTB 2013 wallet! Earned $15 today!
p.s. These aren't my feet - but someone with very fancy Birkenstocks who has been saying that toe socks are just wrong....
5 comments:
We KNOW who the feet belong to!!
Waahhh...I think I need to start saving my lunch money for next year too.
It was so great to meet you in person! I hope to see you next year, too. Have you gone through all of your loot yet?
I want the books!!!
That retreat looks like interesting. I would love to learn new things about bead making. To meet fellow beads-aholic wouldn't be left out of list too.
gifts to send to australia
Post a Comment