Finding your Smile

Dear Friends,

Before I get started, I want to tell you how sorry I am that I have been out of the loop for a while. My life spun out of control this summer (and not in a good way) and I am still recovering from it. Things are getting better - slowly and I have wanted to get back to blogging but just haven't been very motivated. I owe so many of you thank you notes (hover over names to see if there is a blog link) - Loraine, Andrea, Robin (no blog), Mylene and Melissa and will get them out soon, I promise. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for you generosity, love and understanding. I have lots to catch up with all of you and will be doing that in the week or two to come.

Do you remember the line from City Slickers where Billy Crystal's character says he went out west to find his smile? I felt like I did the same thing with our trip to Utah this past week. You'll see.....

Have you ever utilized an on-line dating service? Did you have success? Nah, I'm not looking for one but I was thinking that blogging is a bit like a dating service. We are attracted to men (or women) for different reasons, aren’t we? We like them because they’re smart, they’re witty, kind, generous and hopefully, attractively packaged. We are attracted to blogs for the same reasons. Those blogs that we all know and love feature all the attributes we’d like to see in another person, I think. I’ve often wondered with a dating service whether the reality of the date would match the expectation. I don’t know. But, I do know that the people behind some blogs I love really did live up to my expectations!

I went to the Shepherd’s Bush retreat in Utah, last week. What a thrill!!! The retreat was fun and believe me, I came home with lots of stash. But, the very best part was meeting and spending lots of time with friends I’ve gotten to know thru their blogs. They ALL lived up to (and surpassed) my expectations. Julie and I left Michigan on an 8:30 AM flight for Utah early on Tuesday morning (Sept 21^st). We wanted to take an early flight so we’d have the full day to buzz around that first day and visit with our new, old friends (Deb came in on a later flight). Julie (no blog... yet!) and I shared a beautiful suite at the Escala Lodge with Loraine, Jolene and Kathryn (no blog, yet).

Looking out of our balcony (pics should be clickable):

This place was gorgeous! The first night, Julie and I both woke up at 3:30 AM (5:30 AM our time) and couldn't go back to sleep. We went out and sat on the balcony and watched the stars in the sky. The sky was the most beautiful shade of deep blue that seemed to be lit from behind it was so luminous. That spot is the only place I've ever been where I really felt like I could see and feel the earth moving. It was spectacular!

Anyway, while Loraine, Jolene and Kathryn all knew each other, they had never met us, nor us them. Meeting these wonderful women was such a thrill! Sweet Loraine, whom I’ve grown to know and love over the last couple of years, is just as her blog would lead you to believe. She is the most cheerful, talented and upbeat, glowing from the inside out kind of person I may have ever had the privilege to meet. Jolene, as you may know from her wonderful giveaways, is the most generous person ever. She spoiled me rotten and is the type of person who gets obvious joy from doing for others. Kathryn was our gourmet cook! She fixed most of our meals and did so with a cheerful heart and her fun and silly personality. She prepared the most amazing dishes for us: salmon in pappiere’, squash bisque soup, chicken over rice pilaf with the most amazing and decadent sauce, pizza, gazpacho soup, omelets and more! All the dinners were homemade and absolutely scrumptious!

Also staying at the Escala were our good blogging friends Cari (who really is “Simply Fabulous”) and her sister’s Cathy and Joan (no blog). Oh, my gosh! These gals were a ton of fun and they were exactly as I expected. Cari is gregarious, hilariously funny and was exactly as I imagined her to be. I am sure that she and I could get in a lot of trouble together (sorry about the spilled soda, Cari - you all know it had to happen to me at least once during the trip. No stitching was harmed.... too much!). Cathy was also very funny and couldn’t have been sweeter. Their sister Joan, a little more quiet than Cari and Cathy was just as sweet and kind and I felt like I knew her well after only a few minutes! I can imagine what a laugh filled home they had while growing up! We also met Cari’s good friend Karen who attended the retreat and Julie and I latched onto joined her whenever possible. Karen was a lot of fun and had a great pair of red cowboy boots that I’m still coveting!

Yep, had all this been set up by a dating service it would have been on one of those commercials that tells you how successful they are at matching people! What fun! Here are a couple of pictures of the group. I’m sorry but this pic was taken late into the evening and most of us were pretty tired……

From left to right: Julie, Deb, Jolene, Moi, Loraine and Kathryn.

This is a pic with me and “the sisters” as they came to be called, along with Karen. From left to right: Joan, Simply Fabulous Cari, Moi and Cathy with Karen sitting (no, she wasn’t that vertically challenged) in the bottom front. I absolutely loved these gals and can't wait to see them again!!!

Here I am with Jolene and Loraine who are the sweetest people ever and I love them, too!!!

The final picture (worthy of sharing) is this one of Cari, Cathy and me. We got ready to pose for this picture and I said "Okay girls, chins up!" Cari and Cathy quickly informed me that the best way to hide those chins is this delicate little pose. What do you think? Does it work?

Finally, I have to show you all the goodies that we were gifted. From Jolene and Loraine we got the most beautiful appliqué bags that were made from an old army blanket. They were all done in different colors that the girls thought matched our personalities. Aren’t they gorgeous? We carried them throughout the week and got comments and complements everywhere we went. Inside the purse were a ton of patterns from Hidden Heart Designs (Loraine’s business), and a wonderful little pocket of stitching essentials including pink scissors (what’s not to love)!? They also gave us wonderful pincushion that they punched and attached to a ribbon so you could hang it and a small pair of scissors around your neck. I love it!

This is a more accurate representation of the color of the bag:

I wanted to show you a picture of the wonderful pin cushion Jolene and Loraine made but I can't find it..... if one of you girls packed mine by mistake, please let me know. I'm distraught!

Cari, Cathy and Joan gave us these really pretty bags with a pretty flower on them that Joan made for all of us. Inside were these wonderful goodies:

A pincushion, a pin made with bright cheerful buttons, an awesome finger ring pin cushion, and old spool of thread, an old key and a vintage clothes pin. Is this not a great gift?

Here they are, all lined up in their pretty glory:

There is so much more to share…. Of course we visited Shepherd’s Bush and dropped a bundle of cash but we also visited Temple Square and the Brigham Young house and to say it was inspiring would be an understatement. We spent several hours in this area and got hit by a bit of rain but the fun of the day was not dampened one bit.

Here are some pictures from around town and at Temple Square:

The statue of Christ and the Creation at the Visitors Center:

Carvings on the banisters and furniture at the Brigham Young house:

Utah is the beehive state, after all. You just KNOW I had to come home with a beehive charm!!!

This water tower wasn't anywhere near Temple Square but it has a great old, green color, don't you think?

We had an absolute ball! I am sure that this will not be our last retreat together as we all felt like long, lost friends after the first few minutes!

I also got to meet some other famous bloggers; Valerie and Katrina and lots of other wonderful ladies, too! This was so much fun and I highly recommend it. Thanks to Julie, Loraine, Jolene, Kathryn, Cari, Cathy, Joan, Karen, Deb and all the other fabulous women I met, I found my smile - it was in Utah. Who would have guessed?

Thank you!

Peace,

Terri