I'm home from OnStage Live in Salt Lake City, Utah and I cannot wipe the permagrin off of my face every time that I think of my friends. Yes! OnStage was great but you know what was even better... these people (and so many more who I didn't get pics with but still contributed to an amazing weekend).
Some friends and I decided to rent a house so that we could spend even more time together during our trip. It was so much fun getting to do this! We did a house gift swap, stayed up late and laughed our tails off and had an amazing time together. We dubbed ourselves the Backpack Brigade as we were all carrying backpacks around. In back: Kathleen, Sara, and Adrienne. Bottom: Carolynn and myself. These ladies made my trip!
I met Adrienne West in April at the San Diego Local OnStage event. We live in the same county and had chatted a little bit on-line but met for the first time on the plane heading to San Diego. She's amazing, has a great mind for business, and I was so glad to share another event with her. I'm even luckier that she is local and we can hang out in person when we have the time. She just started blogging and you can check her out
here.
There are two special people that I spend a lot of time talking to on-line (don't roll your eyes at me!). Whenever my husband wants to know who I'm messaging with and why I won't put my phone down... it's one of these two. On the left is Carolynn Sander from Canada, and on the right, Sara Sauve from Idaho. They took this picture after I was already gone (Adrienne and I left early Saturday evening and these two had another night to kill) and I love it! You can probably tell just by looking at the pic why I love them...beauties inside and out.
I met Sara through the amazing Lee Conrey who I finally got to meet as well!! Lee has adopted me as part of her team and has become both mentor and friend. I'm lucky to call her part of my SU family. We all went to dinner at an amazing Brazilian Barbecue restaurant!
Here are Sara and I grubbing down. My favorite thing was the bacon wrapped chicken-yum! Funny story: Sara's husband was worried that I might be some pervy, fat man luring Sara into my lair to do her no good. Hahahaha! Sara is a total bad a$$ (ex-military) and wasn't afraid to come meet me anyways. Friday was Veteran's Day. Thank you Sara for your service! This woman is one of the smartest, wittiest, most hilarious women I've ever met. She almost killed me of laughter one of the nights as she held a long, and totally amazing, conversation with Siri. I had to leave the room because I laughed so hard I started seal barking uncontrollably. Meeting Sara for the first time was one of the best parts of this trip.
Carolynn Sander and I started talking sometime around the last OnStage (April) and it was funny because it turned out that we were both big fans of each other's work. If you want to check out her awesomeness you can find her at
carebearstamps.com It was so good to finally meet this woman. She lives up to her Carebear name and is a total sweetie-pie. She was one of the display stampers at OnStage and her creations are so stunning! After spending the weekend with these women I realize the importance of good friendships. I don't have a lot of friends at home because I'm always running around taking care of business. That made the weekend with these ladies even more special to me.
If you can believe it there are a few more lovelies that I am going to quickly mention. This pic is of me, Carolynn and the amazing Jenny Hall. Jenny is one of the sweetest and classiest people you will ever meet. I am on the Creating Kindness design team with her and Carolynn and was so glad to finally meet her in person.
And then there's Charlet Mallett! I "met" Charlet when we were on a design team together a while back. Since then I've been a huge fan of hers and was so excited and happy to find out that she has been selected as part of this year's Artisan Design Team!! Only 16 people in the entire world were chosen and you really have to be a step above the rest to be selected. Congratulations Charlet! This honor is so well deserved! Glad to finally meet and spend some time with you. Looking forward to seeing all of the inspiration that you will continue to bring the stamping world as an Artisan.
And then there's this beauty! Lisa Leslie is a newer Canadian demo and was honored for achieving Quick Start! She was so fun to hang out with and even let all of us crash her hotel room for an evening hang out while we waited for the Mexican food restaurant to have room for us. She is such an awesome lady and her enthusiasm for SU is contagious. I'm feeling pretty darn lucky to have made Lisa as a new friend.
Last but not least, Carolynn and I snapped a quick pic with the incredible Brian King. His presentation at OnStage was one of my favorites. He said he was exhausted but he is such a pro that it never showed.
Ok, folks. That's it for today. I always hear people say that they go to OnStage for the people... I'm here to tell you that's a real thing. The people I have met, and the friends I have made, are what have made my experience priceless. I miss these people so much already and can't wait to see them again soon.
Hugs to all,
Maria
