What a week!

WOW!! I was so excited by your response to the giveaway! The winner of The Vintage Pearl�s giveaway is Laura from The Chenoweth Family. Laura, email me and I�ll get you in touch with Erin! Congrats!

Last week was one of those when I wondered if I could fit one more thing in � it started with my speaking engagements at the Indy Home Show�three days, two times a day. Whew! It was a new experience and I�m so glad I did it. I was so thrilled to meet so many of my readers there � I was honored you came out!

I had Thursday to pack both myself and the Bub for our weekends away, and by �I had Thursday� that meant I waited until 11:30 p.m.  on Thursday night to even start packing.

I started to get nervous about getting to Blissdom in Nashville earlier in the week � the weather was supposed to get downright nasty here by Friday morning. Watching the weather report Thursday night was NOT a good idea because it just sent me into a tizzy.

But we woke up Friday to no ice, decent temps, no snow. Huh. Then, just because someone up there thought it would be funny, the snow freakin� blizzard started quite literally the minute I headed out to the airport.

My flight was delayed once, twice, three times, then four. The fourth time I called hubby and may or may not have cried. Just a little. Maybe.

I took off on my first flight at the exact time my connecting flight was heading to Nashville.  :) I got rebooked on a later flight, and after fastwalkingjoggingrunningsprinting to the gate, I was FINALLY on my way there!!!

I was so excited to meet the fellow �home� bloggers who were going to be at Blissdom and I have to tell you � it was like we had known each other for years. So completely comfortable, so easy. It was truly a joy and a blast to meet these lovely women (and one man named Kevin!)

Layla, me and AnNicole: 

(I swiped this one from Layla cause it�s way better than mine � they have some skills!)

We missed Harry Connick Jr.�s performance by minutes, because we had been gabbing so much.  :) But we found Beckie, Julia and Rhoda right away:

AnNicole and I got in line to get a pic with Harry at the very last second and were the last one�s in!!! I still can�t find out how to find the picture, but when I get it, I�ll show you fo sho!!

Then we spent hours 30 minutes trying to find the Incourage party. (Have I mentioned the Opryland Hotel is MASSIVE?? And stunning.) We made some photo op stops along the way, then the Kimba, Kate and AnNicole couldn�t help but fluff some drapes:

OK, they were just trying to figure out how to open the window, but you know us decorating girls. No window is safe!!

That first night I had the pleasure of just sitting down and talking with Kate, Rhoda, Kevin and Layla and AnNicole for HOURS. I learned SO much from them all, and had so much fun, especially seeing Rhoda (and Kevin!) laugh so hard they cried!  ;)

The next day I met more fantastic women � pictured here are AnNicole, Beckie, Julia and JJ:

 Traci is just absolutely lovely. I mean, just a doll. And you know what? I knew she would be!: I finally met the Nester (I think you know which one she is!):

My friend Beckie and I have known each other for a while now, but I always love a chance to catch up with her:

We have a FUN event planned for next month that we hope to tell you about in the next week or so!

I met so many more wonderful people but don�t have pictures yet. It was an honor to share that time with them.

The last night, Kate, AnNicole and I decided we HAD to go experience the city of Nashville. We took off for the Wildhorse Saloon and chowed down on fried pickles:

OH dear LORD they were good.

Speaking of fried, have I mentioned that every. single. woman. I met was gorgeous and skinny? Like, I�m not even kidding. Gorgeous and skinny, skinny and gorgeous. What the ?! My booty has grown with blogging!! ;)

To work off the fried pickles, we learned how to line dance:

Can I tell you how fun Kate is? F.U.N.

And we couldn�t resist these:

Our big group of home bloggers got a picture together, and I�ll be on the lookout for that to share with you soon. We were just a teensy bit annoying when we passed 15 cameras to every person taking a picture.  ;)

My roomie was AnNicole from Our Suburban Cottage and although we have known each other for years, we had never met. She was lovely, beautiful, such a blast to hang with and she didn�t snore. YES!

Layla and Kevin created a mad lib video with some of us that is pretty dang funny � check it out here.

I am so beyond thrilled with the friendships that were created, and the knowledge I took away with me. I know have 20 new forever friends, and that is a blessing.

Now, it�s time to keep decorating! The help with the stairs hit another road bump, but I think there may be some progress today. I will show you the progress this week, no matter what!