Beautiful Places...Beautiful Things...

 

Would you find it hard to leave this beautiful setting?  Paul and I talked about that for nearly the whole day as we made our way back home from being at the lovely Osthoff Resort in Lake Elkhart, Wisconsin.  If you ever have the opportunity to stay at this lovely hotel, I highly recommend it.  Our anniversary always falls in the off-season of most resort areas, so we have come to expect the locations to be devoid of the crowds and this was no exception...but the staff took care of us as if we were royalty.

Of course I took a boat load of photos, but I will just share a few.  The weather, although chilly, was just beautiful.  The sunshine off of Elkhart Lake was so bright, it was hard to get a good photo.
Make sure you click on each of these photos for nice close-ups!

The rooms are actually condominiums that could be purchased and were complete with kitchen appliances, dining and living rooms, fireplace, patio and of course bed and bath.

The photo below is one half of 'The Elk Room' which had an enormous stone fireplace and the most comfortable seating.  The views of the lake from this room were unforgettable.

But alas, we did eventually get in the car and head home.  We stopped in Port Washington, where we celebrated our 3rd anniversary fifteen years ago at a lovely B&B.  This port town for salmon fishing is still so lovely and it was nice to visit there again.  After that, we stopped off and visited a number of wonderful gift and antique shops in Historic Cedarburg.

While in Cedarburg, we stopped at the local scrapbooking store and had a great surprise.  As my items were being scanned for purchase, nearly simultaneously, the lovely woman ringing my items and I shouted our respective names.  It was Cheryl Hussman.  Cheryl taught a variety of workshops at my store, but you may know her as a former artist on call for Stampington & Company.  Cheryl has always been a very talented artist and crafter and with a background in marketing she now does the purchasing for the store in Cedarburg.  So that was a most lovely surprise.

While there, I replenished some of my Stickles and Diamond Glaze.  I found some fabulous Christmas papers from My Mind's Eye, Creative Imaginations, SEI & Bo-Bunny.  I also found sweet baby-themed paper from Melissa Frances and some wonderful dimensional stickers from The Gifted Line & Dover.

I was truly happy though, to find a wonderful selection of Graphic45.  This photo shows just a small batch of what I bought.  The Christmas Past Collection is indescribable!  Cheryl said they cannot keep it in stock.  If you know anything about me, you know I love me some Graphic45 and GCD.  No GCD there, but that's ok.

Last but not least, we stopped off at Barnes & Noble in Brookfield as our last stop of the trip.  We needed some 'caffeinated fuel' for the final 90 miles, so while there, I picked up a little reading material for these chilly nights.  The 'Merry Sitcoms' DVD was a little bonus find.  I love retro television, so this collection of holiday-themed sitcoms will be just the thing to have on in my studio while I work...I mean, play!

So all in all...a beautiful time away.  BUT!  I missed you guys and am now glad to be back and ready to play and create and chat and challenge.   When I returned home, I had a number of messages from folks who are ready to share their stories for my new 'Autograph Sessions', so I thank them and YOU are going to love the creative stories coming up!

Thank you for letting me share my anniversary with you!
Thank you for caring...