Best week ever!

Good Monday to you all! Wow, it’s been a total whirlwind of a week! I’m not sure I’ve ever packed more into seven days in my life.

Bear with me as I share a little bit of it with you today – it’s been an wonderful, overwhelming, lovely week and it really couldn’t have gone much better!

First up – Haven 2013! For those of you who don’t know, Haven is a conference dedicated to DIY and decor bloggers specifically. It’s the first of it’s kind because we (the team) knew there was a need for it – and a few years ago we decided it was time to make it happen!

This was our second year and it was even better than the first!:

This is about half the group – all together we had about 450 attendees (that includes sponsors) so it was much bigger than last year. I’m not sure we’ll go too much bigger because we love the feel of this size – we still want everyone to feel like they have a chance to meet most everyone.

It was just a great week, really. We were just so happy with how it all turned out and are all so thrilled and humbled by it all! There was a lot of learning – I have a HUGE to do list written down – but most of all it’s just so amazing to hang out with people who totally get what you do.

We goofed around plenty:

It’s hard not to with these ladies. I laughed, a LOT. ;)

But most of all, like always, I walked away having learned so much from just chatting with other bloggers throughout the week. I was so happy to see old friends:

And meet plenty of new ones, even though I’ve “known” them for years:

As always, I didn’t get nearly enough pictures. I know took one with many of you and I’d love a copy! (Or we have a 2013 Flickr account going, so you can load them there!)

It was an honor to have been a part of it again this year and to work with some amazing women:

Our event planner, Kristin, isn’t in that pic but she is a rock star – there is NO way we could do this without her.

Next year’s conference is already booked for July in Atlanta! We’ll share details soon. :)

So I got home from the conference, slept for a few hours and then moved on to the next adventure…the NKOTB concert:

I know I’m a little teensy bit biased, but DANG, they put on a great show! I was exhausted just from attending.

This time they were joined by Boys to Men (they were fantastic!) and 98 Degrees and the place was packed!:

It is absolutely electric. And LOUD. Grown women can SCREAM.

My hubby’s cousin hooked us up with some incredible seats – six rows off the floor:

We had one of the best views there! Excuse my Farah hair by the way. I’m bringing the 70’s back. Apparently.

Yet again, I came home, got a few hours of sleep and then this morning we were up bright and early for a very special appointment.

Today we learned we’ll soon have a grandson. :) Yes, I’m going to be a grandma – my stepdaughter (23) is due in December and we found out this morning it’s a boy. It was very emotional and sweet and they had a room full of family and friends there to find out the big news. Our son is THRILLED. :)

We are just so happy she and the baby are healthy and doing well.  I haven’t mentioned it yet just because I kind of feel like this is their story to tell, not mine. I will of course share more as we get closer to the due date and will most likely share a few pics over time, but I want to respect their privacy and desires too.

I can’t wait to meet this sweet boy!!

So, yes, I think I will set some kind of record as the youngest grandma ever. Especially being 27 and all. Or something.

Well…there’s my week in a nutshell. See, a little crazy huh? But every bit of it makes me so incredibly thankful – I am so grateful for this life I live. I am a lucky woman. A lucky woman who is off to take a nap for six hours or so. ;)

Weekend fun: Famous folk

Hey there! I hope you’re having a fantastic weekend! I’m getting ready for another trip to NYC next week (pinch me!). I mentioned last week that, thanks so my friend Rhoda at Southern Hospitality, I am off to a taping of the Nate Berkus show, along with a whole slew of decorating/design bloggers.

I can’t WAIT!

So, I’m in the midst of laundry and trying to find SOMETHING to wear that is worthy. (And not having much luck.)  ;)

It will be a thrill, to say the least, to be within feet of Nate! Isn’t he the cutest? It’s had me thinking of some of the famous people I’ve come close to in my life – it’s not a really long list, but a few trips to NYC sure has helped. :)

I LOVE hearing stories from people who have met actors and musicians – the good and the bad. ;) So I thought I’d share some of mine, although most are just “walk bys,” not so much interaction!

Years and years ago, my BFF and I were at the Indy airport picking up my (then) boyfriend, now hubby. We were waiting on him at the baggage claim when my friend gasped and grabbed onto my arm like a vise.

SARAHSHUTUPIT’SDAVEMATTHEWSSHUTUP.

OHMYGAWD.SARAH.

ISTHATDAVEMATTHEWS?

SHUTUPTHAT’SDAVEMATTHEWS.

Shut. up. It was Dave! Walking right towards us, guitar case in hand:

We FROZE.

(I should have explained first that we were BIG, early Dave fans – like we bought his first album, rocked out freshman year of college, went to every concert every summer, FANS.)

He was within feet of us, and then he saw us. The two girls clutching each other, googley eyed, mouths hanging open, staring at him, ready to pounce.

We saw the fear in his eyes. I don’t know how else to explain it – it was dear God, get me away from these freaky fans as soon as humanly possible, fear. :)

He turned on his heel and quickly walked out the nearest door. My friend, with zero pride,  RAN after him, pushing through the doors. I saw her look both ways and walk back and forth outside -- but he was gone.

Seriously, to this day, we think he literally took off running when he got outside. There was no way otherwise he would have gotten away that fast.

C’mon Dave!! We weren’t that scary!! :)

We found out later that he had come into town, by himself, to sing to a local girl who was sick in the hospital with cancer. No wonder he didn’t want to deal with us crazies, now we don’t blame him one bit.

I may or may not have mentioned my slight obsession with New Kids on the Block for roughly the past 20 years of my life. Roughly.

When they were on the tail end of their early careers, they came to town on their last tour and did a meet and greet at a local store. We stood in line for hours and finally got to get our autographs. My favorite, Jon, had quit, but the fans didn’t know that. They made up some story about an injury, and when I got to Jordan and asked him about Jon, he was not happy about it.

I’m thinking it was probably the 593th time in the past ten minutes he had been asked, so I guess I don’t blame him. ;)

Joe and Danny were complete and total sweethearts – so friendly and funny and nice. Jordan and Donnie, notsomuch.

But that was then, and I know it was just a bad day and they are all just the nicest, sweetest people in real life. I’m sure of it, OK? Don’t tell me otherwise. I’m not listening, nananananaaaaa! I don’t hear you!

Last February, I had the pleasure of meeting the amazing Harry Connick Jr. at the Blissdom conference in Nashville:

My friend AnNicole and I were so busy chatting it up with Kevin and Layla from The Lettered Cottage, we totally missed his performance! But we snuck up to the very end of the meet and greet line and were the last two to get a picture with him.

Heavenly. :)

And of course, on just about every New York trip, we see someone famous. Usually it’s while were out shopping or just walking on the street.

On one of our first trips there, I was shopping right next to Christine Elise at Macy’s:

Remember her from 90210?

When I was in NYC earlier this summer, we walked by Melanie Lapatin, one of the choreographers from So You Think You Can Dance:

She was so beautiful in real life – pictures don’t do her justice!

On the way by the back door of the Promises Promises theater one night, we saw Sean Hayes and Tony Goldwyn signing autographs:

We didn’t have time to wait to get one, but it was a thrill to be that close. Hubby and I saw the show earlier this year and LOVED it – he’s a huge Kristin Chenoweth fan and I’m a huge Sean Hayes fan. :) Remember Tony Goldwyn from Ghost?:

The January after 9-11 we took hubby’s band students to NYC.  (An overseas trip was originally scheduled and that was canceled because of obvious reasons.) We had dinner at Tavern on the Green one evening with all of the kids and it was stunning.

At one point we walked by the restroom and the one and only Liza Minnelli was heading in:

That was pretty cool! 

I think my favorite brush with famousness is from a trip about seven years ago. We were heading back to our hotel (the Marriott Marquis – before it was $400 a night :) ), and we noticed a HUGE crowd gathered outside the hotel.

It was Jennifer Garner, shooting the limo scene for 13 Going on 30:

It was SO COOL! We watched forever, as they wound around the Marquis over and over and OVER. She was about ten feet away from us at times.

When the movie came out, my stepdaughter and I waited for that scene and watched like hawks, but we were just cut out of it:

Still, so fun and what fun experience!!

So those are my famous sightings. I’m sure there’s been a few more over the years, but it’s late on a Saturday night and my brain is MUSH.

Have you met anyone famous? Were they lovely or not so nice? SPILL it! (In a really nice way.) Any good sightings or stories? I’d love to hear!

And we’ll see if I see anyone fun next week! I’ll be sure to let you know. ;)

Girls’ weekend

Well HELLO there! I’m back, I’m back! It was a whirlwind of a weekend, for sure. We had a BLAST in the city that never sleeps. I’ve told you before how much I adore NYC, and this trip was special because I brought two friends with me who are now in love with the city as well.

It is now my mission to make every single person I know a NYC lovah. :)

We were there for three days, which translates to about 300 pictures. I’ve seen it all a million times but I never tire of the sights.

It was HOT, but it was a beautiful, sunny weekend. Times Square was hopping Friday afternoon:

We stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square (to the left by the Bank of America and Kodak signs above). We used to stay there ALL the time – in my opinion it’s the best spot in the city for a tourist. We don’t stay as often anymore because the room rates have gone up so much – ours was $350 a night!

But divided by three, it was way affordable for a Times Square view!:

Geez, I am SUCH a goober.

That first night was the main reason for our trip – the last NKOTB concerts ever (at least that’s what they say now.):

There is something really special about going back in time like this – we felt it at the concert last summer and at this one as well. You are in space with thousands of women, all who grew up having so many of the same experience you did. And when you get together again 20 years later, there is such a wonderful feeling of camaraderie that is so sweet:

Of course, just like last year’s concert, we followed the instructions on our tickets and DIDN’T take in our cameras. WHY do we listen and follow rules? WHY?!

Um, every. single. person. had their cameras. We had our camera phones.

Translation – crapola pictures:

Actually that one isn’t so bad. ;)

Radio City was a an absolutely fantastic venue – amazing! Even though our seats were closer last summer, this seemed more intimate. At one point Joe and Jon came up to the side we were at:

Of course I ran down there. :) I may or may not have been screaming. I will never tell.

Back in the day, Jon Knight was my fave – something about that tall dark and handsome – I married one of those. ;)

So I figured this was going to be the closest I would ever be to him. But I was WRONG my Squeezies!!

After the show, we went around the side of RCMH and found a gaggle of women and decided to see what we could find. There were many large men walking around with walkie talkies, and barricades up everywhere.

We waited around for a while and then were about to take off, but I had a FEELING. A white van pulled up, and all the sudden there’s SCREAMING and who walks out but Jordan, his son and JON.

This is the part where my eyelids flutter and hearts fly out. :)

The crowd rushed them, of course, and the bodyguards were SERIOUS. (I don’t blame them.) I pulled back a bit (I was about five feet from the van) and then my smarty little head was a thinkin’ – and I realized they would pull out and have to drive away, so I ran down the street about ten yards and waited.

I’m smart. :)

And as the van drove my way, the gaggle ‘o women came with it, but I was in the perfect spot to put my hand right on Jon’s window as they drove away.

And he LOOKED at me. And smiled. SQUEAL!!! :)

Let’s ignore the fact that there were women all around me, umkay? Whatev.

Did I mention, I didn’t have my camera?! Good Lord, when will I learn?

So I walked away a happy camper. I checked one off the bucket list folks.

The next day I took the girls to Ground Zero (more on that in a later post!), Little Italy, and Chinatown and the shopping commenced! HA!

There is NOTHING like the shopping in NYC – the variety of stores is one thing. The street vendors (especially in Chinatown) are another.

Want (cheap, really cute) earrings?:

   Pendants?:

Blingity bling?:

 

Purses and scarves?:

Belts?:

:) Those New Yorkers are funny.

The prices are great, and you can usually get them down even more if you try. Some of my favorite jewelry pieces are from NYC – they are the cheapest I own and they’ve lasted years.

I thought of you all as we walked down 6th Avenue and saw M&J Trimming. You’ve NEVER seen such a selection of buttons:

That was just one wall!

Nailhead trim:

Ribbon:

And trim:

Isn’t that insane?? It was GORGEOUS! :)

If I had only thought to bring my fabric swatches for the office redo, I would have had it made!!

Oh my goodness, we smooshed a LOT into three days – I can’t even begin to tell you all of it! Well, I could, but I got 14 hours of sleep in four days, so I need to get to bed. :)

We truly took in the sights and had a blast – our last night there, we were up till 5:30 a.m.:

That’s me at 5 a.m. See the sun coming up in the background? CRAZY!! (Notice the pic of Sean Hayes to the right? We saw that show last month and this time I came within feet of him as he left the theater that night!)

We weren’t even that tired – there’s something magical about New York City. It has my heart.

That’s the view from the Top of the Rock, all the way up there…

:) Sigh.

I love you New York!!

I am so glad to be home sweet home though – and looking forward to getting back into my crafty mojo with a fun item I got last week.

And I’ve got a little surprise for you tomorrow! Whoohoo! Stay tuned!