You got a first view of the BABES together here on Sunday… and today, as promised, here’s more. We had an extraordinary adventure that took over a year in the planning … we travelled 32.558 km (20,350 miles) by air and by road to make it happen … and on Saturday 18 October 2014, the BABES converged on Minneapolis from various points on the globe … and met … in real life … in person … together …
BABES … huh? Yep … this group of blog buddies … our self styled (with a little help from our resident word expert, Darnell) … Benevolent Association of Beloved and Esteemed Stampers! We are (from the back left, round in a circle to the front left): Kim (Cupcakes, Cards And Kim), Darnell (djkardkreations), Bev (Happy Dance), Ardyth (Maskerade), Geri (Manitoba Stamper), and little old me (fresh off the plane!). It was as though we’d just stepped out of our blogs … to say we hit it off is an understatement of epic proportions … it was like being with old friends (in the sense of being friends for ages, rather than being with aged friends!).
We spent the whole exciting, laughter filled, glorious week together here …
using all this (brought from near and far far and further) …
to laugh our way through doing this …
and make goodness knows how many cards … as a group that is. I managed a whole four … in between the child-in-a-toy-shop effect of having all those crafty goodies around (my stash is small!), popping out to a few bricks and mortar craft stores, eating and drinking a little, and the delights of simply chatting, learning and laughing (till we ached and the tears flowed!) with the other BABES, I was an even slower card maker than usual! Oh, and there was a visit to the Mall of America for shopping ice cream …
and we made a new friend … Snowflake (as we named him or her), the albino squirrel …
who lives with these views every day …
and who very generously shared them with us while we were there!
All too soon, our truly unforgettable week was over … to paraphrase Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, it’s one that I will treasure in memory always. Meeting, laughing with and sharing time with these charming, delightful, sweet, caring, generous and downright wonderful people was simply a joy … my life is richer because of them. Thanks BABES … from the bottom of my heart!
Do go and visit with all the other BABES (links are above) … there’ll be other stories and different photo’s to enjoy … you’ll get a different view from each of us! Thanks so much for making it through this photo laden post … I so appreciated all your visits and comments, especially as I still haven’t reciprocated since I got back … will be with you soon! Anita 🙂
My Papercraft World 
Wonderful post, Anita! Great to read about your get-together with those fabulous ladies . It sure looks like you and the BABES had a lot of fun! That is true dedication – flying across the Atlantic! Great to see your pictures. Thanks for sharing!
How did I miss this??? What fun photos!! You must’ve had a wonderful time! Stunning view and crafty messes & PIZZA???
I kept thinking, how did I miss this?!?! Then, I checked the date…oh, I had a two-week-old baby…that’s how. 🙂 What a glorious trip. Though I’m a year late finding out you ever took it, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post tonight. 🙂